Hope he makes it

[Brittany Chukarman]

Our deer herd is in terrible shape but during the rut some good bucks always show up. This is the best one so far. They come into the yard to eat the apples that fall off, usually at night. This guy came in a few nights ago when there were 4 small bucks and some does under the tree. They all gave him a wide berth as he followed a hot doe around. We forgot to put the trail cam out that night but could watch him out the kitchen window. I think he's wrapped with electrical fence tape, maybe nylon strapping. The tag ends keep getting longer, when we first saw him they were only down to the bottom of his chest.

 

[Hobbs]

Those are some pretty cool pictures!

 

[bowhuntmontana]

Beautiful deer with great forks. Hopefully that extra junk he is packing around doesn't create any problems for him.

 

[F250]

When do the bucks normally drop their antlers where you are ?

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

December through January mostly. I did see one shed around Thanksgiving one year but I think that was rare to shed that early.

 

[Rzrbck918]

Nice Deer. Hopefully he loses those antlers before he gets caught on something.

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

Quite a few came in last night with one pretty nice one I hadn't seen before.

 

[Duck-Slayer]

Great deer!
Matt

 

[rtraverdavis]

The last of your four night photos looks like a real nice buck. Hope the guy with the tape hanging off him can get clear of it.

Also, what do you attribute to the declining herd in your area? Last I was through there it looked as though cheat grass was abundant, to say the least.

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

I think the drought leading to poor nutrition and birth rates, fawn survival due mainly to an abundance of coyotes, then the winter of 16/17. We lost at least 1/3 of the already depressed herd that winter. We haven't seen these bucks all year until now. I wonder just how far they travel during the rut.

 

[aws1963]

What a beautiful deer. Hope he makes it to shed.