Kaolru

There appears to be some sliding going on here, but approximately how big do you think this deer is?
My dad and I came across these tracks just as I was coming in from my stand yesterday, he flushed a few deer out of the field as he was walking out, but didn't get a good look at them.

That's my shoe, which is a size 8 in women's, and judging by that the track appears to be six inches from tip to tip, but that's just a guess.

bigge_al

Very Very large. I am thinking about 220 to 250 lbs. buck

Kaolru

That's right around what we were thinking. My dad said it's the biggest track he's ever personally seen. We hunt our own 60 acres, and we usually have a pretty good idea of what is on our property, but those big ones tend to hide pretty well.

Right now the biggest deer we have on our cameras is a three-legged buck. The right antler is all screwed up due to the opposite rear leg being damaged, but he's a really nice deer otherwise.

zigoapex

I'd bet he is over well over 250, that's a big print,look at at girth between prints,impressive!
I shot a 178 b&c (gross) and he was 275(not gutted)
and that print is bigger than his was.

JCarver81

Not sure where your from but that could be a small Moose. But I don't think so. To me it looks like its at least 200 lbs.

Kaolru

I certainly hope I see more of this big boy than his tracks. I'm going out tomorrow again, but I will probably be hunting the field where this guy was.

It's still early in the season, any tips on getting this guy to show himself? (This is my first serious year of archery)

EDIT: Hmm, definitely not a moose. I'm in west central Pennsylvania. It's not an elk either.

Deepsouthdeerjunky

if he got run out of that field yesterday i would be careful about going back in there so soon... bucks arent stupid and are very careful. especially about goin into places where they have had human scares before. I may try to leave that area alone for a lil while and let him get use to coming back in there without being interupted

Kaolru

That's very true. I may stick with my current stand placement then.

My dad is out in the woods almost daily, and sees the deer out there just as often and they see him. I know it is always very different during the hunting seasons, but to some degree I believe these deer are used to people a bit more than they should be.

It's kind of strange. I'm surprised there were deer in that field at all. My uncle just bought a muzzleloader and was practicing while I was hunting(he didn't know I was out) and he was shooting in that exact field. I was only out there for three hours in the afternoon, so the deer seem to be moving normally despite the human presence. Then again, they don't get a lot of pressure due to the limited amount of hunters.

isatarak

Generally a bigger, thus older buck will have more rounded toes. I think the nature of the mud has made the tracks look misleading. Could be a nice buck, just not necessarily a monster.