Not a bad year but could have been better.

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Jmax

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Yesterday was the last day of the 2020 gun deer season here in AR. Having killed that big 6 point and a wild boar I am not going to complain. Have some meat in the freezer and saw a bunch of other deer this year, just not the right ones. emoBooHoo I had passed on a five point that I saw on three different days and also on another six point but he was a small guy. My concerns have always been with passing on these small bucks and being surrounded by other deer camps, are you letting one walk just to have another camp shoot it? emoScratch You may be, but if you shoot it then it is for sure not going to make it to adult mature size. That little six point I let walk did make it as best we know. One of the other guys who hunts with me was checking the cameras this past weekend and guess who showed up? Yep, that little six point. emoApplause It looks like a five in the picture but the way he is turned on that one side you can only see two points. He had three on that side too, I saw him well but could not bring myself to shoot him with only one buck tag left. Picture of him is below. Hopefully he will fill out this summer and come back with eight points and we will try for him again. That other picture is a big three point that we think is about five years old. Issue there is he is not legal with the mandatory three on one side rule. emoRolleyes If he does not ever have that third point show up on one side he may die of old age or get shot by mistake when someone thinks he is legal at his size. That three point was with two doe Sunday afternoon and walked by my buddy on his stand. My friend had been hunting that big seven point in the picture but never saw him while hunting. That picture was back in the early part of Oct. and the seven point was seen twice more. Once on another camera and then once by two of our guys in a big clear cut while he was chasing a doe at full speed. Neither tried to take a shot at the distance he was and the speed he was going. It is possible he may have been taken by a neighboring lease because he has not been seen by any of us since. emoBawl

Pulled up a ground blind, one climber and some cushions before leaving the lease Sunday. Will return in a couple weeks to pull batteries from our feeders and clean the feeders up for the summer. We leave the feeders going through the month of January to give the deer another food source for one more month. Time to go fishing!!!! emoAngler Jmax
 

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Thats the reason that antler restrictions, by number of points, is a terrible management policy. You end up in a situation where the 1.5 year old 8 point gets shot, but the 5 year old 3 point isnt a legal kill and he ends up doing the breeding. The result is a herd with inferior genetics. Although you cant dictate over all genetics of a wild herd, you can have a major influence over time. Many WMAs in TN have gone down hill as far as antler quality is concerned because of management policies like this. That being said, I do applaud AR for trying to take some steps to improve the age structure of the herd.

JMax, great year bud! We are all jealous of you!
 
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