I saw a nice one tonight eating in one of the alfalfa fields about a 1/4 mile from my house.. He's not a booner by any means...but appears to be a really good 3 yr. old and is currently just beginning to knob out on the ends of his mainbeams. He'll be a 6-pt. by next week. What's really caught my eye is he's already got a spread that sticks out well over an inch beyond the tips of his ears on each side and it appears that he's still gonna get a little wider too. He really dwarfed the 3 other bucks he was with. I'm guessing he'll be a really good 8-10 pt. with a 18-19" inside spread when he's done growing...depending on how much alfalfa he eats between now and August . I hope he walks by one of my stands during October or November. I think I'm gonna try to video him over the next couple of months and document his growth.Hopefully some more bucks will start showing up in the alfalfa fields over the next few weeks. I really can't wait to start spotlighting and cruising the backroads before dark with the video camera looking for bucks. There were hardly any bucks taken in the area last season and there was a good number of nice ones around so I'm expecting to see some real buisers this summer. I think I'm gonna give it a good month or so before I start my hardcore scouting. Man I love watching the antler developement of bucks over the summer. It always amazes me how much bone they grow in so little time.

I saw a 4 pointer while driving home from fishing today. It appeared to be a two year old but had a little height to him. Maybe he'll be more than a basket rack four. He was on the state restricted property so if he stays there he will grow to a ripe old age.

Its been my experience, watching antlers grow, that some of that spread doesnt stay wide. As those G-2s and G-3s come up, the main beam seems to pull inward. All my bucks look like theyre going to be real wide, yet they wont be as nice, spread-wise, as they seem today. I hope the buck youre looking at stays that wide or wider! My older bucks are forming G-3s and G-4s, the young bucks vary, some only now are splitting at all. It IS a fun time of year watching antlers grow!

saw 3 nice bucks dead on the thruway southbound from albany to newburgh. all within 10 miles of each other. hate to see that....

Saw a couple dead ones on the side of the road 2 weeks ago in Stueben County. Both were bucks with about 4-6" spikes - I did not notice knobs on them - they looked like 1 yr olds.

Ive been seeing too many doe/fawns hit these last few weeks. Its a shame, especially when guys think theres less deer already. Wish they werent being wasted like that. I follow behind folks driving that just dont get it. They dont even seem to see ANY of the deer, like they have their heads up their yoohoos.

Last Thursday saw a nice 6 pointer in Oneida county near Hinkley Lake.

The buck from my original post is looking pretty good .I watched him for a while tonight about 60 yds.off the road. Currently,he's a really nice 6-pt. with around an 18" spread and 5"G2's and he's just knobbing out on the ends of his beamsto form G3's. He should be a 8-pt in a few days. I can't wait to see him a month from now. There's been 6 otherbucks feeding in the alfalfa with him every night...three look to be 2 yr. olds and are all just starting to form G2's and the other three are yearlings with just brow tines and mainbeams. I took a ride around tonight to look for some otherbucks...but all I saw were a bunch of does. The big boys will be showing up before too long.

The big surprise thatI had tonight was having a bear run across the road in front of my truck. When it reached the woodline on the other side it stood onits hind legs looking at me from about 25-30 yd. away. I'm guessing it was last years cub and probably weighed 130-150 lbs...itwas a healthy looking bear with a reddish colored tint to its coat. It was pretty cool because its only the second bear that I've ever seen here in the western Finger Lakes Region.

I get weekly pics from my deer cam that show a group of 6 bucks running together, all are at 6 points right now, but one looks like he's going to be really impressive, I have the video feature on my Cuddeback and it shows that he's very aggresive toward the other five bucks. All of thier racks are out beyond thier ears. I also have pics of 2 spikes that are running together, thier racks are only about 2 inches high. Not many does right now, I assume they are still keeping thier fawns hidden.

I was just checking old posts and see that you're also from Steuben County...where abouts? Ido most of my hunting and scouting in the town of Pulteney not too far from the Yates County border in units 8P and 8R.From the sounds of it, you've got something to look forward to in October . You oughta post some of your Cuddeback pics. on here. I'vedrove around the area a few times before dark over the past couple of weeksbut have only seen a bunch of yearlings bucks and a few 2 yr. olds so far. I know that there are some big ones around because they were there last year and I didn't hear of very many nice ones being taken last season.On a buddy of minesfarm a couple miles from my house I saw and videoedat least30 different bucks in velvet last summer with a bunch of nice 8-pts. and several really nice 130-150+ class bucks.I can't wait to hit the clover fields up with the spotlight in a month or so and see whats hanging around there. We've got some really nice bucks running around in the county, I can only imagine whatcaliber of buckswould show up if we had a little better management in the state and more of our young bucks could make it to maturity. On a side note, I really haven't seen many does or fawns around either. Most of the does that I have seen are feeding out in the fields all alone so I think they probably have their fawns hidden close by.