Is this a penned deer?
 

We got this picture of a buck last week from one of our trail cameras. It seems as if the points on the buck have been clipped off near the top, and we heard that a pen roughly 12 miles away lost some of its big bucks in a storm during the summer.



That seems like a long way for a deer to travel, but this buck doesn't seem to be normal.

It isn't now. That makes him fair game.

Well heck... If he stays around let him go till next season, He'll get bigger!!

hes gona have a nice non cliped rack next yr if ur right

He won't hurt the gene pool either..:happy0001:

He may not be a bad thing for the gene pool, but do you think he'll survive the winter?

Good point, Wisconsin's winters can be brutal and a pen raised animal probably won't..

12 miles isnt very far at all, especially being he doesnt have an established territory of his own.

why do they clip the antlers? to make it safer for the other bucks or something

Just wondering, How ethical would it be to shoot this buck? If he was pen raised?

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.

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".:confused0024::confused0024:

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.:hit:

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.

Nailed it. :fighting0007:Couldn't have said it better, myself.

I cant see anyone getting a saw that close to a deer without some sort of injury caged or not caged unless they put it to sleep.

So are deer attracted to trail cameras? Then maybe I should get some..lol

The brows and drop tine look cut to me?
I think they're all cut, to reduce puncture wounds.
Usually they will cut them off completely.
Maybe this guy does'nt cut them off to show the rack on the deer for sale purposes?
I really don't know, but they all look cut to me.

i dont think so, the other tines are square while the brow and drop tines to me appear to be half way rounded

it looks like something is distorting the pic, there just to flat and sharp to be cut, maybe the top of the tines where higher then the camera could take a pic of so the cam. cut them off in the pic? idk

EDIT:, after a closer look at the pic, it seems his main beams look cut also, the camera would go that low, so i have no idea. maybe track down the game farm that lost him and see if they cut the deers antlers like that

imo deer moved his head up or down as the pic was taken i think the pic is just distorted a little

I don't believe they cut headgear at pen raised locations...and if they did it would just above the head >>>>>>>>>>>>>> reason being is simple TWO CUTS VS 6 or 8 or 10 !!!

Yeah I have read they will cut them off at the base so they wont kill each other but to cut them like that would make no sense because they still would puncture.

I have a friend that raises deer. He's got some absolute whoppers. He normally cuts the racks completely off the bigger bucks that he does not intend to sell that year. This year he had a typical 10pt that scored 160". It was gored by a small 4pt a couple weeks ago and died.

That's abotu $3k down the crapper for him.

I asked him and he's never "trimmed" antlers before...just cuts them off. His deer are like dogs for 8 months out of the year. From the time the velvet comes off until they drop, they are as unpredictable as any wild animal.

On a side note...you'd be surprised if you heard some of the places that he's sold deer to. He said that it's not unusual for him to open a magazine and see someone holding a buck that they shot...and the buck was running around one of his pens just a few months before. Damn shame, but he makes a nice chunk of change at it.

I'll bet it happens more that you think..Real Men,,Real Hunters..:cool15:

Well, if you see him in the woods, talk to him, say "Come er, c'mon, ya hungry, c'mon". I did that to a doe that stood up not 50 yards from my stand. She shook off the snow, looked at me for about 5 minutes, then started walking toward me. Jeez, I took off my backpack, put down the gun, and got out a package of cookies. She's now 25 yds, and walking slowly toward me. "Come on, come on, are ya hungry?, here ya go. The doe walked about 10 yards away from me. I thought about it, but undid the cookies and said, "Here, I'll place them on the ground, and you eat." I packed up and walked to my stand. She walked right behind me when I left, had her meal, stayed around for 5 more minutes and walked away. I'll bet if I held out those cookies, she would of ate right out of my hand, and if she did, I might of gave up the sport right then and there. I know she was probably being fed by some of the houses along our road, but she knew when I talked to her, it was time to eat. Maybe it's time to eat for your penned in guy.

Not at all! Check out this photo, its almost the same, it seems as if the antlers have been cut.

I think its the combination of the slower shutter speed and a little bit of movement. Looks like to me you have a heck of a deer there!

The reason i believe it would be unethical is because of the nature the deer has with humans. They do not have fear...and our used to human interaction and being fed by humans...if he is indeed a pen raised deer. To shoot him wouldnt be sporting by any means?

can you go ask the game farm people if they cut antlers like this? that seems a good way to be 100 percent sure

I really think this is just like the above, a slow shutter speed.


That being said, I'd wait to shoot him until you talk to the farm. Some of them offer some SERIOUS rewards for bucks that get loose. We had a farm around here recently offereing a 100k reward after someone trespassed on their property and shot a trophy buck breeder. 100 THOUSAND DOLLARS. :jaw:

Was that $100K for the head of the buck or the poacher?