layin on the smackdown

I think that deer is mature for sure. Guessing 4.5 - 5.5. Also, most bucks top out at 5.5, and from 4.5 to 5.5 ive seen a very small increase regarding inches. The biggest jump is generally from 3.5 - 4.5. I'd say he'll grow as much in the field as he will on your wall. I honestly don't thik he's gonna get much better than that, so unless you are managing a giant farm and you can be absolutely certain no one will shoot him, no poachers will shoot him, he will survive the winter and he'll be bigger next year then let him go...However, he's getting a free truck ride if he comes by my set. I think Hoosier might be right....this deer may be older than 5.5 which, if true, makes him extremely special. dan

Well Johnboy, the important thing is you recovered the deer...so +1 and well done for persevering. As for the dogs, well, sorry bud but that just makes me laugh. I guess you never know when a dog is officially retired until you experience an evening such as yours. In IL, you can use dogs to track, but they have to be on a leash...maybe might want to try that if you or your buddies have another situation such as this. hopefully that will keep the dogs from jumping and bumping the deer. Again, congrats on the doe, and good work on the recovery. dan

I have a 5 arrow quiver maxed out. All arrows are tipped with Rage 2 blade 100 grainers.

done.

do you guys see that inside G3 on his left side? regardelss of age, that bumps him up 9-10 inches...not due to the mystery left side G3, but he has made the hit list...he's a mature deer and his "get out of my freezer and off my wall" card recently expired. dan

holy crap...after posting this, i noticed another tine. He's got a G3 right after his G2 on his left side that sticks out from his main beam on the inside that is almost as tall as his G2...i didn't see that before. Well thats a nice little suprise.. dan

+1 Absolutely. only thing is, you think he is 4.5? Part of me says yep, without a doubt, but then part of me says, nope, he's 3.5...i'll agree and i think his body says 4.5....he'll get one "get off my wall and out of my freezer" card, and after that, he might be in trouble.

got this new guy on camera..he looks like he has a good full body, but his rack looks like it is lacking. thoughts?

YadhtriB YppaH !!!!! Hope its a great one for ya! dan

I asked him how and why this would increase your mpg, and he continued to talk about flash points and oxygen intake and how this formula makes your engine run cleaner and bla bla bla...The only reason why i say "bla bla bla" is because i cannot remember the exact details of the conversation, and i am mechanically challenged. However, as he was telling me about this whole flash point and oxygen level deal he walk to the back of his car and pulled a lighter out of his pocket...at this point i was a little nervous, but he pointed to his exhaust pipe and mentioned something about how your exhaust pipe is constantly pushing vapors out...well he lit his lighter and put it up to his exhaust pipe and the flame was being sucked into the exhaust instead of being pushed out or blown out. I think he was demonstrating the idea that the engine was somehow burning cleaner??? i dont know what would make a flame want to navigate towards the direction of the engine and against the flow of the exhaust, when normally exhaust fumes would be pushing the flame away from the engine. Again, i wish i could remember all the details of this, and i wish i knew more about this so i wouldn't sound like such an idiot right now. That being said, does this shine a little more light on the chemistry and relevance behind this? dan

So the other day i was dropping fuel into the ground and next to me was this older gentleman pulling dielsel from a pump into small plastic container (he was driving a newer chevy cavalier). He waived me over(i think he thought i was someone important from a different fuel company), and shows me a 1 oz seringe (spelling?) full of diesel fuel. He proceeded to tell me that by adding 1 oz of diesel fuel to every 10 gallons of regular unleaded fuel, you will increase your mpg by 35%. He must have seen the look on my face, because he then proceeded to pull out this giant packet with a big patent thing on it from Alexandria VA. In this packet were all the studies, results, specs and information regarding this formula from SIU Carbondale, and John A Logan in southern IL. After reading through all this information as quick as i could i was pretty shocked. He kept saying that this was going to be a "game changer" and so on...He also said that his patent on this was worth 200 Million dollars....?????? So for all you guys out there who know a heck of a lot more about mechanics than i do, what do you think about this? I thought about trying it, but am pretty apprehensive because i don't want to possibly ruin my truck...Im sure with gas as expensive as it is, everyone would want to increase their mpg...Please let me know your thoughts on this. Over all, it was a very odd but intriguing encounter. dan dan

Awesome photos Matt! The beaver one is hilarious!!!! Definitely looks like he's loafing one downstream... dan

Here is my 2 cents...Although you may not be getting pictures of any bigger deer on your farm, that doesn't necessarily mean they are not around. For now, maybe their core area is on an adjacent farm, and they have't had a reason to move...maybe you just havent captured a picture of any of them becuase they use different travel routes. I am willing to bet that as the season moves into late october and early november, you will get more pictures of bigger deer. As for the buck on your post, give him another year and see what he turns into. The bottom line is, this is all personal preferance. Like stated above, if you have a ton of pressure around your farm, and they shoot anything with antlers - then this guy is in trouble. however, if your neighbors are on board with trying to grow mature deer, then you gotta let him go another year or two...Also, if this dude is a shooter in your book, then he's a shooter in your book and you can try and harvest him. Ultimately, if you feel he is a trophy, then pursue him...if someone has a problem with that, thats their problem...good luck with whatever you do. dan

Looks like a good deer...and good call on the deep chest. Also looks like a pretty good neck for this time of year. He has got to be at least 3.5, possibly 4.5, but its hard to tell without the rest of his body in the pic. In terms of his rack, i think you all may have underscored him, but again, i think its really hard to tell from a side view because you cant get a perspective on his width. His mass looks good, and tine length is good, his left brow (is that his left brow, or his right???) looks pretty impressive, and for a main frame 8 with a 9th point, im gonna give him the benefit of the doubt and go with 135 - 140...Its a "the glass is half full" guess coupled with the hypethetical inside spread of 18 inches....Its just really hard for me to fathom a 4.5 (if he is 4.5) year old main frame 8 from the heartland scoring less than 135-140...if he's 3.5, then in a year he will be one heck of a deer. Keep us posted if you get any other pics. dan

Hey everyone, I was bored so i figured i would share some trail cam pics with you all...i made it simple, so just click on the link for each pic. Got a drop tine buck in here, too bad he's not a mature buck ... short G3 8 shortg3sept2011002.jpg picture by dmbmegafan_41 - Photobucket short G3 8 again shortg3sept2011001.jpg picture by dmbmegafan_41 - Photobucket up and comer #1 sept2011024.jpg picture by dmbmegafan_41 - Photobucket up and comer #2 sept2011022.jpg picture by dmbmegafan_41 - Photobucket up and comer #3 sept2011017.jpg picture by dmbmegafan_41 - Photobucket up and comer #4 sept2011016.jpg picture by dmbmegafan_41 - Photobucket not too sure about this dude sept2011010.jpg picture by dmbmegafan_41 - Photobucket another look at him...(pretend youve had a twelve pack). sept2011011.jpg picture by dmbmegafan_41 - Photobucket he'll be awesome in a year (great 8) sept2011027.jpg picture by dmbmegafan_41 - Photobucket Mr. Droptine himself...looks wide,possible shooter, but needs some closer assessment...also blurry, by this point maybe you should lay off the booze... sept2011018.jpg picture by dmbmegafan_41 - Photobucket up and comer #5 (may be pictured above, not sure) sept2011012.jpg picture by dmbmegafan_41 - Photobucket enjoy...any thoughts, shoot em my way. dan

i took the video camera out with me again to the same field i videoed a few weeks ago to see what was going on. Nothing....then this dude walks within 20 yds of the truck and starts blowing like all get out. It honestly scared the living crap out of me because 1.) i haven't heard that sound in a very, very long time,2.) ive only heard that sound when i was actually hunting, not scouting from a roadside, 3.) i was in my truck, and 4 .) it was just way way to close and unexpected...i didn't see him til he blew. Anyhow, he looks like a very big bodied deer, almost old, but his rack is very small and spindley for his body. When you watch this, look at the mass of his body right before he enters the woods - you can see a distinct swag in his back, his neck is fairly large and his rear end is large as well. what do you all think? I think he's a mature deer that needs out of the gene pool, he is old or he has suffered an injury resulting in a weak rack. please let me know your thoughts. thanks, dan

I know a lot of guys like to run cameras year round or just the majority of the year...I dont. I don't start running cameras until late august and early september. I do as much scouting from July through august in as i can, and i do it from a distance with optics (binos, video camera, spotting scope etc.). I want to get as much information as i can without posing a threat. When i think i know where they are feeding most of the time, i set a trail camera up and only try and go in and out when its raining, or in the middle of the day. I will play this game until they change their food pattern which happens around here right around now through the opener. As a matter of fact, i moved a camera today in the pouring rain to a different part of the farm that will capture these transitions. I will leave these set until i start seeing natural scrapes...Once scrapes are being made, i am extremely careful on my approach in and out, but will hang a cam a tree that can monitor these scrapes. This, to me, is the best way to get inventory on what is on, near or traveling through your hunting ground. All in all, i use my cams mostly for an inventory tool, and if possible for patterning - the only problem with patterning deer where i live, is that they generally switch patterns right after they shed their velvet, and if they don't, they begin to turn nocturnal. Bottom line is, if used effectively, and carefully, trail cams can be an enormous and priceless asset to your arsenal... however, ive seen more people bump mature deer permenantnly or keep mature deer nocturnal on their ground by pressuring it while checking cameras. In my mind, even though its a camera, you have to treat it as if its one of your stands....always play it smart...the pictures will tell all. dan

I have no idea bud....but what i would do is just bring the broadhead to the store with you and ask someone for a little help. dan

One factor i would also consider is how accessible the stand is. can you get in and out without stinking the area up and blowing deer out? Also, determine if this set up is more of a morning set or an evening set. Most sets in the woods are hard to get to in the morning without blowing deer out, especially when you are between bedding and feeding areas. Lastly, i would agree with William, if all conditions are right and youre getting morning daylight pics of these bucks in that area, that may be your best opportunity at tagging one of them big boys. good luck dan

Hopefully your allergies have subsided enough to where you can enjoy your time in the woods. If so, i am willing to bet you won't be hangin her up again for a long long time. Good luck! dan

hey everyone, I hope all of you are doing well... I haven't been on much lately due to work, however, i have as of today, i started a new career which actually offers some time and flexibility for myself. Anyhow, the other day i grabbed my video camera and went to scout/video a new farm i have to hunt from the roadside setting up in the bed of my truck, and see what may come out to feed in the beans. I had a few does and small bucks come out, one which came within 12 yds of my truck. As light faded i ended up getting footage of a few bigger deer that i couldn't see through the view finder, and a buck that i did see that has me scratching my head. At first i thought he is probably just a younger deer with great potential (guessing about 130-135), but every time i watch this clip, i second guess myself. He has a double white patch on his neck and is the last buck on video. my insticts prove accurate until he turns and runs. Thats when you can get a decent perspective of his width and size. Now he is no booner, but i would like to see what you guys think...Also, this is the first video i added music to, and youtube's audio library is far from steller, so let me know what you think about the tunes. thanks dan

Watchin the 2011 CMT Country Music Awards....Toby Keith just played his newest song, Made In America, and once again, he crushes it out of the park!!!!!!! Great Tune Toby!!! (No offense to our friends to the north by any means, just an awesome Tune). if you missed it, you won't be dissapointed. :rockon::clap::rockon: anyone else see this, and if so what did you think? Dan

Yep...I know what youre talking about - on a first paw basis...So about two weeks ago, it was my 31st birthday - Feb 15th - and i got home from work at about 11 p.m. Grabbed a few adult beverages and headed to the garage to continue boiling a deer head my neices found for a Euro mount. My wife is outside with myself and our two dogs. Im standing there enjoying whats left of my birthday watching this Euro advancing through its stages and my lab takes off - wife immediatly starts yelling - i immediatly think there is no reason to be yelling - wife starts yelling louder and says the phrase..."Grabe the gun!"....so the neandrothal i am, i dont grab the .22 and instead start running out of the garage and in the direction my screaming wife is pointing.....I round the corner and am greeted by the sight of my black lab "Gage" about 3 feet behind a skunk that is running away from him with its tail straight up...At the same point i rounded the corner i was also greeting with the most nose hair burning, breath taking, putrid, gag reflexing stench that i swear i could taste. So i immediatly run the other direction and begin screaming my dogs name as if he would actually listen to anything at that moment. About 30 seconds pass and my dog comes rounding the corner foaming and drueling out the mouth like a fat kid after a 100 yd dash...For some reason, i instinctively walked up to my dog to smell him, i think in an effort to confirm he had actually been sprayed - a genious moment in my life - and he was in fact sprayed...point blank....directly in the face, particularly in the section of face that lies between the bottom of the nose and the upper lip. It sucked - and still sucks. Kill them ALL! Dan

Here's my Black Lab...Gage...He is 6 1/2 now. I think these pics were from 2007 and 2009. and he loves to smile!!! Love this picture!

Holy crap batman!!! With that many, you should just start renting them out... Oh....YES...id say you need to attend a few Box Call Anonymous meetings.