Critter Cam

fishlessman

Ozzie_Isaac said:

alaskanassasin said:

Yotes killed 4 of my buddies sheep last night 

Get your buddy a donkey.  They are great herd protectors.  They will stomp a 'yote to death.

Edit:. Looks like I am late to the party as usual.

 moose would be better, they hate anything that looks canine

wwinnc

Donkeys are good deterrents.  @TechsasJim has the answer too.  Coyotes can read havoc.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

wwinnc said:

Donkeys are good deterrents.  @TechsasJim has the answer too.  Coyotes can read havoc.

They can read now? We are doomed

my ranch neighbor has zebras out with her cows. Way more angry and deadly than donkeys. A zebra will eff you up if they want to. 

Legume

Get some llamas

Botch

Legume said:

Get some llamas

They spit, if their morning coffee's cold.  It ain't pleasant.  

JohnInCarolina

Legume said:

Get some llamas

Aren’t they hard to feed?

The Cen-Tex Smoker

The neighbors:

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Hogs broke through my rocks. I have a 2000 lb rock I dug up a few weeks ago looking for a home. This is war. 

TechsasJim

Sounds like an evening hunt is in order.  

shtgunal3

My 2 sons and I love to hunt. We eat what we kill. Between my family, my adult son and his family, and my parents we can eat 4-5 deer a year. I’d love to live on a property with an endless supply. I am glad that wild hogs haven’t made it to our part of the state yet. I’m sure it’s just a matter of time.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Bucks coming out of velvet. Bucks shed antlers every year after the rut (mating season- late winter to early spring). When they grow back (starting immediately after they shed), they are protected in “velvet” (a furry protective layer) while the antlers grow and harden. Once the antlers are hardened up, the bucks will scrape off the velvet on tree trunks or whatever they can find to help them out. While they are coming out of velvet, they can have strips of it hanging from their newly minted antlers for a few days. It’s super fun to watch them come out and get ready to murder their buddies with their shiny new antlers over some (white) tail this fall. 

Fun fact- deer antlers are among the fastest growing and most regenerative materials on earth when they are active. They can grow an inch a day during peak growth periods.  Older baseball fans may remember the deer antler spray Mark Maguire had in his locker (next to the androstenedione) that led to the steroids exposé in MLB Iin the 90’s. That spray is made from the velvet of deer antlers and is said to help recover from injuries and help joints etc (this statement has not been verified by the FDA 😂) 

this pic was taken in my iPhone from my living room ha ha. He is about 20-30 yards away.  They aren’t normally this close to the house since we moved the feeders but we have had a ton of rain this week and they are grazing on new shoots coming up all over the ranch. We have gone from super dry tinder box grass to lush green grass in a week. 

I have some better pics from a real camera. I’ll try to upload those later tonight. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Btw- for those scoring the guy above i(if it’s the one I think it is) s 22 points and 5 years old. He’s a baby. He’s the only one strictly off limits for a few more years. We have 4-5 16 point and above bucks- all 5-6 years old which is not a fully mature deer. These guys have a few years left to fill out.  You can see how lean his body is and how thin his neck is. A mature buck will have a “beer belly” and much thicker neck from the shoulders up 

alaskanassasin

 What’s his name?

wwinnc

Great thread - what a beautiful property you have! Thanks for sharing all the pics and info! Keep it coming and watch out for those smart donkeys! 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

alaskanassasin said:

 What’s his name?

Pork chop

The Cen-Tex Smoker

wwinnc said:

Great thread - what a beautiful property you have! Thanks for sharing all the pics and info! Keep it coming and watch out for those smart donkeys! 

Thanks. We have really enjoyed having it and all the critters within. It’s a pretty cool life out here. 

EGGjlmh

I am pretty sure a 3 and a half year old white tail is mature. Not sure where you guys are getting you information. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

EGGjlmh said:

I am pretty sure a 3 and a half year old white tail is mature. Not sure where you guys are getting you information. 

From the biologists we use to manage our land. Im sure you are smarter than them though. 

caliking

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Hogs broke through my rocks. I have a 2000 lb rock I dug up a few weeks ago looking for a home. This is war. 

Drop it on 'em. Problem solved.

TechsasJim

Or just invite some good friends over to eliminate the problem. 

EGGjlmh

Wow,, you are saying the 5 to 6 year old bucks still have a few more years until they are mature. I am not sure what to say to that. 

Just ask any whitetail hunter their opinion. Don't take my word for it, apparently you dont like me anyway. 

JohnInCarolina

Wow indeed!

The Cen-Tex Smoker

EGGjlmh said:

Wow,, you are saying the 5 to 6 year old bucks still have a few more years until they are mature. I am not sure what to say to that. 

Just ask any whitetail hunter their opinion. Don't take my word for it, apparently you dont like me anyway. 

You actually said a 3.5yo whitetail is mature. That is actually accurate in a way a 12-15 year old human is mature. If you are sitting out in the wild shooting deer on public lands, taking a 3.5 year old buck would be acceptable. The reason people do that is because if you don’t shoot them today, someone will tomorrow. That said, if you think a 3.5 y/o deer looks anything remotely like my 6-7 y/o deer, I think it would be fair to ask you where you are getting your information from. My 6-7 y/o bucks weigh 50 lbs more than their 3.5 year old selfs and their antlers are 75% larger and thicker. this is all confirmed by the biologists we have working with us via camera and physical surveys of our herd. 

Ask any whitetail hunter their opinion??! Are you kidding me?  I live this every day while you jerk off to deer hunting YouTube videos.  we took more deer from my land last year than you and your entire family have taken in a decade -we shot 65 deer last year and will shoot 50 more this year.   

I actually despise high fenced/breeder deer hunts, which is why we are taking so many deer now. We are moving our land back to natural. That said, don’t tell me a 7 year old buck is the same as a 3 year old buck. 

 

littlerascal56

I bow hunted trophy whitetail for many years (as well as KS mule deer).  Also was president of Northwest Kansas Bowhunters Association.  And operated a 10 acre 3D archery club with monthly tournaments. And taught a bowhunters class for the wildlife dept.  So I am familiar with the subject, as we have the best beards I the states.

A trophy buck in KS wii be 5+ years old, grey in color, and a potbelly with lots of points (typical) or lots of sticker points (non-topical). They don’t usually live much longer than 6, due to firearms season.  The only reason bowhunters harvest the monsters is because we can hunt during the rut.  Most of my trophy bucks were shot between Oct 31 and Nov 6. They are peaking at 5, and in decline by age 6. Their teeth are also very worn after their 5th year. Yes I did assist their antler growth by planting good food plots and mineral blocks, but a Kansas deer already has the best trophy genetics inbread in their genes. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

littlerascal56 said:

I bow hunted trophy whitetail for many years (as well as KS mule deer).  Also was president of Northwest Kansas Bowhunters Association.  And operated a 10 acre 3D archery club with monthly tournaments. And taught a bowhunters class for the wildlife dept.  So I am familiar with the subject, as we have the best trophy bucks in the US in our backyards. 

A trophy buck in KS wii be 5+ years old, grey in color, and a potbelly with lots of points (typical) or lots of sticker points (non-topical). They don’t usually live much longer than 6, due to firearms season.  The only reason bowhunters harvest the monsters is because we can hunt during the rut.  Most of my trophy bucks were shot between Oct 31 and Nov 6. They are peaking at 5, and in decline by age 6. Their teeth are also very worn after their 5th year. Yes I did assist their antler growth by planting good food plots and mineral blocks, but a Kansas deer already has the best trophy genetics inbread in their genes. 

Im sure the boys at corporate are super proud, Bob. I fed my herd at 5:30m this morning before heading out to the airport for my day job for a few days. Im pretty In Tune with their health and age. i feed them personally twice a week and maintain cameras and use biologists surveys. Im not the president of my ranch but I am a humble manager of the animals I have under fence. 

EGGjlmh

Wow, I am impressed. 

dmchicago

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

EGGjlmh said:

Wow,, you are saying the 5 to 6 year old bucks still have a few more years until they are mature. I am not sure what to say to that. 

Just ask any whitetail hunter their opinion. Don't take my word for it, apparently you dont like me anyway. 

You actually said a 3.5yo whitetail is mature. That is actually accurate in a way a 12-15 year old human is mature. If you are sitting out in the wild shooting deer on public lands, taking a 3.5 year old buck would be acceptable. The reason people do that is because if you don’t shoot them today, someone will tomorrow. That said, if you think a 3.5 y/o deer looks anything remotely like my 6-7 y/o deer, I think it would be fair to ask you where you are getting your information from. My 6-7 y/o bucks weigh 50 lbs more than their 3.5 year old selfs and their antlers are 75% larger and thicker. this is all confirmed by the biologists we have working with us via camera and physical surveys of our herd. 

Ask any whitetail hunter their opinion??! Are you kidding me?  I live this every day while you jerk off to deer hunting YouTube videos.  we took more deer from my land last year than you and your entire family have taken in a decade -we shot 65 deer last year and will shoot 50 more this year.   

I actually despise high fenced/breeder deer hunts, which is why we are taking so many deer now. We are moving our land back to natural. That said, don’t tell me a 7 year old buck is the same as a 3 year old buck. 

 

Dude's gonna need a salve for that burn.

alaskanassasin

Fwiw, a quick google search revealed that “Deer living in captivity, afforded protection and good nutrition, will commonly live 15 to 20 years,” writes James Heffelfinger in his book “Deer of the Southwest.”

While googling about wild deer "Most white-tailed deer live about 2 to 3 years. Maximum life span in the wild is 20 years but few live past 10 years old."

TechsasJim

CenTex is spot on.   I’ve been in the space a while, have multiple friends in his space.   He is doing the right thing having the state involved and if there is one thing Texas does very well is help manage game.   

saluki2007

TechsasJim said:

 if there is one thing Texas does very well is help manage game.   

Unless it's the Cowboys...(ducks and scampers away.)