ORIGINAL: pigiron
That buck is a big massiveanimal, no doubt. What your not seeing is the heavy gut that hangs down on a mature buck. If that heavy gut was showing, believe me, a few reactions would be different.
I think another aspect of it is that not many of us get to see a big buck eye to eye. It's always up from 15-25 ft. up in a tree. The animals look alot bigger up in a tree than if we were to stand eye to eye.
I got that impression at Bass Pro Shops and Cabelas where all of those huge monsters are full body mounted and looking at you at eye level. Theirhead gear was huge but the bodies looked small.
By the way, beautiful mount...........39 inches exactly.
Exactly, pigiron nailed it 39" to the top of his shoulders. At least on my deer.
Bloodcreek, I did see a really nice buck chaseing a doe out in a field on the way home from work around Thanksgiving that season. It was in the same area where I got this guy in Jan. It may be the same deer but not positive about it. He gross scores 165 and nets 155.