re: No brow tine 6pt.

ABucks:
1) Up until last 3-4 years I cut the jawbone out of virtually every deer I killed and compared it to a chart I have. I feel like I’m a pretty good judge of age now.
I also weigh every deer I kill.Interestingly,as many deer as I’ve weighed I still tend to over estimate weights by about 10 lbs. or so.

2) I killed my first deer here in 1991 but I was always in a club,went to Texas for a few years.I only hunted here occasionally so I averaged less than 2 /year.
2007 I quit the club I was in and started hunting my property exclusively.In 14 years I’ve killed 30 so avg.2.1 /year.I’ve actually passed a lot of bucks.First year I retired(2010) I saw 14 and only killed 2.I passed a 9 pt. and 2-3 8 pts. hoping they would come back bigger the next year.

3)The 2 spots I hunt the most are the high line,I have a box,I can see 300 yds one way and 200 yds the other way.I have a gravity feeder on the high line 100 yds away on 300 yd.stretch.
My best spot I have a box with 4 lanes radiating out like spokes,2 center lanes are 300 yds ,I have a feeder on 1.My rationale for that is to attract does which brings bucks around and it has actually worked,I’ve killed 20 there.
My other 2 spots are feeders with food plots,I only hunt them with East winds because I can’t hunt my other 2 spots with E wind.
I have 5 cameras out plus a cellular camera on road in front of my yard.

4) Does, I might need to shoot 1 or 2.I’ve seen more this year than I ever have,personally and on cameras.Best I can tell,I have 8 does and 12 yrlgs.
There is 1 big old doe I almost shot,she probably weighs 135 lbs. and has 2 yrlgs.Besides the meat I’d like to check her jawbone and see how old she is.

5) Rut-Typically around No 15th plus or minus a week.Since I retired I hunt virtually everyday except Sunday last week of October through Thanksgiving,After that bucks go completely nocturnal. Anyway I don’t miss the rut.
I could start another whole argument about the timing of rut.For years before I retired I hunted hardest following the full moon called the Hunter’s Moon,I read about it in Dr.James Kroll’s book and found it to be very accurate way to time the rut,most years..David Moreland’s Rut Report in Louisiana Sportsman magazine is obviously based on Dr. Kroll’s data but he never mentions the moon.It wasn’t at all accurate this year though.

Reflecting on all this I have to be honest,while I’d like to kill more mature bucks,I’m not really putting in the effort to do so. Every year I get pictures of a monster buck I’d like to have on the wall but I’m not really hunting the right spots to do so unless I just get very lucky.
Up until I was 65 I hunted exclusively out of climbers,now I’m spoiled to box stands and seeing a long way.
Then,I have the old timer mindset that I just don’t like to shoot does.The club I was in wanted each member to shoot 3 does a year,I did it but I really didn’t like to.I liked the meat but I didn’t have any antlers for a souvenir.
All in all,I can’t really complain.I have 300 acres to hunt where I want and when I want.Hunting clubs always seemed to end up with some of the members squabbling,that’s one reason I got out of the club I was in.