Success at the Zoo
 

So Len, his boy Sean, myself and a guest of Lens(Grant) went to the zoo this AM. I saw several deer(a dozen) with a couple bucks. I let them all walk. One I almost shot just on principles. He had a massive set of main beams that stuck out way beyond his ears.... but he had NO POINTS. He had that old bigger deer swagger, worked a scrape, rubbed a tree and worked on a licking branch. I just knew something bigger would show up.... NOT.

Well it really did. Except they were on the other side of the woods this AM. Len put his guest grant in between where I shot the big 8 point last year and himself. Grant shot the smaller of two bucks that came by. The bigger one got by before he could get off a shot. Take a look at what second place looks like.[:-]:D Grant is the guy in the crazy hat.;) I forgot.... 10 point, perfectly symetrical, 20 inch spread.

RE: Success at the Zoo
 

Congrats on the great looking deer!

RE: Success at the Zoo
 

congrat' s on a nice buck...

RE: Success at the Zoo
 

Thats one case where second place is a great place to be.:D Nice buck.

RE: Success at the Zoo
 

I' ll take a 2nd place like that anytime![:-]

RE: Success at the Zoo
 

That' s a beauty.

RE: Success at the Zoo
 

Congrats! Very nice. :)

RE: Success at the Zoo
 

Actually, this deer was #3 of the ones we saw this morning. There was a bigger 10 pointer and a BIGGER 8 pointer by at least 20 points/P&Y. That 8 pointer was a monster and was acting crazy. The does didn' t seem to be ready yet, but the bucks sure are putting on a show.

I saw two other bucks besides these monsters. A 16" 8 pointer gave me a broadside pose at 22 yards. I scared the heck out of him with a deep grunt call. He must have thought one of the BIG boys was after him. He jumped, ran 20 yards, and then stood there looking back.[>:]:D

I think I' ll go back to that same spot Monday AM and try my luck again. Are you going with me Dave??? :D

RE: Success at the Zoo
 

Congrats, guys. Sounds like you are having fun, and obviously have a fantastic place to hunt!:D

RE: Success at the Zoo
 

Twist my arm Len.:D

RE: Success at the Zoo
 

Thats a deer to be proud of even if it' s 2nd.place.

RE: Success at the Zoo
 

great buck

RE: Success at the Zoo
 

David, Len and Sean,

Beautiful buck-congrats! Just curious, with the quality deer you encountered in such a short duration do you conduct some sort of QDM on your property? Plant food plots or is it co-located near crops? How many acres do you have to work with - hunt? Impressed with the amount of " trophy" bucks in your area. Just wondering what type of program you use to promote deer of that caliber.

MD Piney

RE: Success at the Zoo
 

nice buck.


go deep hunt hard.;)

RE: Success at the Zoo
 

The whole place and the surrounding farms have been under mass crop damage permits for about 4 years. 4 years ago the neighboring farm shot 190+ deer. They again shot 100 in each of the next 2 years. I have no idea what they did last year. We' re hunting on a 260 acre peace of private land that is surrounded by farms on 3 sides and houses on the other. The land we hunt is about 70 percent woods. We have NOT really conducted a QDM campaign. Probably the reverse. We let a bunch of smaller bucks go, but over the past 6 years or so that I' ve hunted it a lot of them have been killed too. These particular 3 bucks we had not seen 2 of them before Sat and we' ve been hunting off and on in there since August. I believe I saw this 10 point the opening AM of crop damage hunting. We take around 20 deer off the place every year.

RE: Success at the Zoo
 

Nice buck and congratulations. Happy faces and all!!!

RE: Success at the Zoo
 

Awsome looking deer!!! Congrats!!

RE: Success at the Zoo
 

Nice buck Dave. Congratulations to Grant.

You have no idea how jealous I am of you and Len for having the opportunity to hunt that petting zoo of yours....:D

RE: Success at the Zoo
 

We know. My old hunting buddy and I asked for permission every year for about 10 years. It was always the same answer. We don' t allow hunting. My old buddy(who still hunts about once a year) serviced their phone system for them. It was an old system and went down everytime the tide changed I think. He lived close so finally suggested they just call him at home and not the central office when they had a problem, day or night. So one night he was called out there about 10:30. He had to shoo a herd away from the shrubs by the door when he rang the bell. A conversation insued and one thing led to another about the deer destroying their bushes. As he was leaving about midnight, right out of the blue, with no discussion, the head man said, " OK, you and your buddy can hunt, but no one else" . We hunted it for 3 or 4 years and then I got Len and Will permission to hunt. As payment I mow the big lawns with a bush hog all summer long. They' re good to us and we thin the herd. It' s really becoming a tough hunt at times. We' re not seeing nearly the deer we used to or the bucks. I guess that' s to be figured with probably something like 500 deer being taken in the immediate area that I know of in the past 4 or 5 years. There are others hunting around us that I have no idea what they shoot. 4 or 5 years ago you could go and literally shoot a doe anytime you felt like it. The first time I took Len as a guest was in late January. He saw something like 30 deer his first night hunt.