Fair game, that's if he doesn't get clobbered on the road first.

Don't see that, even if he notified the game farm, they would be able to catch it. Then again I guess it would depend on how tame it is, but the simple logistics of trying to find one deer in the woods.... can we say needle in a hay stack?

Trail cams are unethical and unfair to the deer. Just like baiting.

If the buck escaped from a pen during the summer, the antlers would have been in the earlier stages of growth and all the points would have not been developed. Why would a game farm cut the antlers like that, if they cut the antlers when they are shipped they cut the main beam about the brow tine. I think it is just a reflection/glare in the flash caused by the deer being so close to the camera.

Timbercruiser is right, you guys are jumping to conclusions. A deer farm wouldn’t cut antlers like that. If you look, they’re sharper now than they would be naturally. When a deer farm cuts antlers they cut them off at the base for safety reasons. I think something’s distorting the photo, though I don’t know what.

is it possible thats just how the antlers grew? the brow tines arent cut and it even looks like it has a drop tine that isnt cut

Yeah I thought that they wouldn't cut them at a sharp angle like that, but I can't come up with any other reason for a deer's antlers to look like that.

That is quite odd, what ever the case ground that dude & you'll have the "rest of the story"! They do appear cut off to me, even the drop tine. Ten to twelve miles would not be out of the question. That may be like me sending my small town son off to big town college, there is "lot's" to look at, and I'm sure he is constantly checking the "wind".

How is this? Trail Camera's don't shoot deer? Even if you get a picture of a big buck on it, you still have to be able to connect with it during legal shooting hours. That is a ridiculous statement.

Here we go. How do you justify this statement????? Is scouting from the road unethical? Taking pictures of deer or scouting for deer has nothing to do with ethics. The hunter still has to hunt those deer in the same fashion an ethical man like yourself has to. It is nothing like baiting, does a trail camera bring deer into the property or keep deer on the property?? I think not.

Baiting is legal in a lot of states so again as long as your are within the law and hunting by regulation I dont think this is an ethics issue.

If you have oaks planted on your property is that unethical?

How would it be unethical to shoot him? How do you determine what animals can and cannot be ethically shot? Is it unethical to shoot a yearling? Is it ethical to slaughter a chicken from your backyard?

If he was pen raised, then his winter foraging and survival skills may be low. So what would be worse, to die of starvation or a gunshot to the heart?

I'm not saying he won't do just fine in the wild (assuming he was pen raised), but certainly the odds are against him when competing against the "more experienced" deer.