What a week in the "16"

[ilovesprig]

Lots of ups & downs...Good buck on the opener (MCC), then I bagged a pretty good one on Monday, the hunt with a friend on Tuesday and see lots of bucks, but none of the MCC shooter variety (3 points or better)...Then get a call from a friends saying he had knocked down a buck. When he walked up on it, it ran...Doesn't get another shot...I look for that sum bitch for 2 hours that night...Came back the next morning and found a single drop of blood after 3 hours...Never found the buck...Wednesday hunt with another friend and see 2 shooters right at the end of shoot time...He doesn't get a shot at either...Dr. stuff Thursday & Friday...Today, I go back to the MCC spot where I saw the 2 shooters...Pussy foot up to a small ridge and we no sooner sit down and there's one of the two...Takes forever to find that kicker 3rd on this nice "forky"...Then kapoow!...No flinch from the buck at 215 yds...And he just runs to the right...3 hours later and no blood, we just conclude that he flat missed (copper?)

This afternoon I was hunting with Stefanie & Jacob on the "best 40 acres in SD"...At about 2:30 pm, I get a call saying they needed to take their little pooch to the vet... And the only opening was 4:30 pm...So, I put the Savage .243 away...1st it was does, little spikes, forkies, and a medium 3x2...Then at about 5:45 pm, a big boy shows up...Quality 4x3 and in full blown rut...He encounters a small forky and instantly shows him who's boss...He then just walks up the hill and gone...Back at it tomorrow with Stef...Unfortunately, bucks like this are almost always just passer throughers.

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[TRICER]

Dang that’s a good buck Steve. Hope Stef lefts him have it tomorrow.

 

[SurfNHuntSD]

Was at Specialty Meats this morning.. didn't see any bucks like that in the freezer. But hope to see some in there soon..

 

[Snake Charmer]

I'm dissappointed with mcc because of their policy and how it is affecting the herd. Forks should be the first to go to get rid of that gene. It's very short sited in my opinion to only allow a three by or better to be taken (and probably IMO opposite as to how it should be handled). ( Hatchet please check in on this) Because I live in proximty of MCC and I see that the populace of deer are sub standard from what used to be around. It should be kill the sporks and forks and let everthing else go. Think about it, if you take the gene wise better animals out what's left ? Used to be some nice animals up here ten years ago but not so much now and from my on the ground observations living up here mcc is doing more damage than good by requiring the animal be better than a fork, they need a qualfied biologist to direct them and take care of there propeeties. I am neighbors with two life long resident's of Mesa Grande (1880's and there abouts so not new comer's )and they tell me from all they have observed its more upside now than it has ever been because they and others are limited as to how they used to control predators and that as ranchers that the lions are decimating the deer herd and from their observations and when the deer are gone livestock will be the next to be preyed upon and the lions will be the fox in the hen house at that point. Stupid bioliolgy combined with stupid politics leads to where this state is headed I'll say it again to all you newbies stand up and fight or die.

 

[ilovesprig]

Well Fred, where to I start...1st off, there is qualified biologist on VID property...I have done the regular deer counts many times...The buck to doe ratio is watched closely and the deer population overall is solid...How many guys on public land can see 1-5 legal bucks most every time out? (saw 7 bucks together one afternoon last year)...This year, I have seen at least one legal (state) buck every time out.

Your property is not close to any MCC deer hunting property and MCC members are NOT allowed to hunt any Cauzza properties...What is next to your property is Mesa Grande Indian Reservation...And I don't think I have to tell you what has happened there (per their own members)...I can tell you there's at least one ranch not far from you that has a very good herd...Some habitats just hold deer better than others.

Forky's are taken on MCC with the general rule being, antlers must be outside the ears (and every year someone shoots a small forky or two)...The 3 point or better gene is alive and well on VID...Remember, there's miles of land around VID that is barely hunted or not at all (thick chaparral)...These areas produce some great bucks that only come down into the MCC/VID hunting property because of the rut (per studies)...Pretty much the same as my property in Julian...And another common denominator is NO does are shot on VID or Julian prop lands (G-13 or A22)...IMO shooting does in D16 is not a good thing...These deer for the most part are not in herds of 40-80 like the Sierras...Plus, we have cats that eat plenty of does...My whole goal in Julian is to keep does (& hen turkeys) on the property...The bucks and gobblers will come.

Lions are an issue on VID properties, but with the exception of a cat eating someone's livestock, they're untouchable...Something that will not change in our lifetimes.

Hope this explains a little about the philosophy of MCC management and VID rules.

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[HATCHET1]

Great buck stevo! , i had to educate a new land owner this season that was under the impression that a fork or 2 point as some call them, was an imature deer that just had not grown a 3rd point yet..LOL.. he thought that the older a deer gets..the more points it would have(sadly there are many uneducated that do)....when we sat down and looked at film of bucks from past and present.. he finally understood genetics, our 2 acres obviously has an ungodly amount of forks.. and we like it that way...LOL..cant wait to see stephs buck up close with the grip and grin!!!

 

[BOWUNTR]

Great hunt... sounds like a great place to hunt. Wish i would have looked into it. Congratulations Ed F

 

[ilovesprig]

Was at Specialty Meats this morning.. didn't see any bucks like that in the freezer. But hope to see some in there soon..

Jason,

There's one in the freezer that puts this buck to shame (Audie said Pendleton)...Big 4x4...Should've taken a pic.

ps...Well, maybe not to shame....lol

 

[Snake Charmer]

Well Fred, where to I start...1st off, there is qualified biologist on VID property...I have done the regular deer counts many times...The buck to doe ratio is watched closely and the deer population overall is solid...How many guys on public land can see 1-5 legal bucks most every time out? (saw 7 bucks together one afternoon last year)...This year, I have seen at least one legal (state) buck every time out.

Your property is not close to any MCC deer hunting property and MCC members are NOT allowed to hunt any Cauzza properties...What is next to your property is Mesa Grande Indian Reservation...And I don't think I have to tell you what has happened there (per their own members)...I can tell you there's at least one ranch not far from you that has a very good herd...Some habitats just hold deer better than others.

Forky's are taken on MCC with the general rule being, antlers must be outside the ears (and every year someone shoots a small forky or two)...The 3 point or better gene is alive and well on VID...Remember, there's miles of land around VID that is barely hunted or not at all (thick chaparral)...These areas produce some great bucks that only come down into the MCC/VID hunting property because of the rut (per studies)...Pretty much the same as my property in Julian...And another common denominator is NO does are shot on VID or Julian prop lands (G-13 or A22)...IMO shooting does in D16 is not a good thing...These deer for the most part are not in herds of 40-80 like the Sierras...Plus, we have cats that eat plenty of does...My whole goal in Julian is to keep does (& hen turkeys) on the property...The bucks and gobblers will come.

Lions are an issue on VID properties, but with the exception of a cat eating someone's livestock, they're untouchable...Something that will not change in our lifetimes.

Hope this explains a little about the philosophy of MCC management and VID rules.

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Thanks Steve, thats stuff I did not know about, sounds a lot better than what I have heard over the years

 

[baboltin]

Heck yeah congrats !

 

[Juan]

Congrats Steve!


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[Muledeerhunter]

Nice buck, Steve. Congrats.

(They could definitely thin out the coyotes on MCC.)

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[TheGDog]

Wow... looks like such a fun place to hunt and see lots of activity/interaction! Must be such a joy to have that!

 

[QuePasaJames]

Nice buck, Steve! Congrats

 

[Kellendv]

Great bucks Steve! Sounds like a lot of action. I’ve been seeing bucks doggin’ does but not the numbers of deer I usually see.

 

[TrapLine]

Gettin it done!

 

[Lungpopper]

That’s a healthy buck Steve. Congrats

 

[WaterDawg]

Way to go Steve.

 

[ilovesprig]

Just as I expected the big 4x3 was a no show with Stefanie this evening...Yesterday, the place was crawlin' with deer...Tonight not so much...In fact, of the 5 bucks that I saw last night...None were there tonight...We did have a smaller 3x2 come in with 5 does...Stef decided to pass on him with 3 weeks to go...

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[ppbets]

Nice kill congrats , and nice pics too.