I finally broke the ice and pulled the trigger. I had been hunting a buck with split back tines and a kicker when this old boy showed up. This was the first time our paths had crossed this year. Last year during the rut he was chasing a doe and came within twenty yards of me. He was a really nice wide ten pointer that I judged to be 6.5 years old but decided to let him go another year to see if he would get bigger.

As it turned out he dropped to a nine pointer this year. I knew he wouldn't be a high scoring deer but the shape of his horns and wide spread tripped my trigger. The deer was roughly 200 yards away when I shot. I shot hit him in the neck and he went down. We just let him lay when after about five minutes my wife who was hunting with me said "he's getting up"! I shot him again this time behind the shoulder and he dropped for good.

He has nine typical points and the outside spread is 24.5 inches. Beams are over 24 inches and the longest back tine is 11. We rough scored him last night at 154 and change. Field dressed weight was 184. Even though he's an upper level management buck I'm going to put him on the wall. Here is a picture.

Hell of a deer!... Congratulations. At which county/ranch were you?

Very nice -- congratulations.

Most impressive! Dark horns look great, too! congrats!

Beautiful deer.

What pose are you going to have him in when you take him to the taxidermist?

My ranch is located in La Salle county east of Cotulla. It called Rancho El Mino.

A deer to be proud of!

Nice buck, Larry. Love those high and wide deer!! I take it this cool snap has the bucks running in the brasada?

Hi Russell, Sorry to hear about how your hunt in Oklahoma went. The bucks are starting to run at the does a little bit. I would imagine they will get the show on the road in another week or so. Here is a close-up picture.

Got to love those "management" Deer.

What a horse. Congrats on taking a heck of a deer.

He'd a 'tripped my trigger' too....or I'd a tripped it--whatever.

Handsome deer--upper level management buck for sure!!

Good on ya!

gotta love the deer and the rush. Great deer
GWB

Nice deer Good Job

m16 - a very nice buck - congratulations -

quote:

Even though he's an upper level management buck I'm going to put him on the wall.

i am unfamiliar with the term, "upper level management buck." what does that mean?

Great buck. I had a hog do the same thing, shot in the neck then get up minutes later, this weekend. That really gets the heart pumping!

Perry

quote:

i am unfamiliar with the term, "upper level management buck." what does that mean?

Most people who hunt in Texas do not want to shoot a trophy deer unless it has ten points or more. So eight and nine point deer are considered management deer. Most management deer will score 120-145. Every once in a while an eight or nine pointer will grow larger than 145 and we consider them upper level management since they have less than ten points. Also some bucks with ten or more points are considered management when they are mature and don't score more than 145. Mature deer less than eight points that score less than 120 are usually considered cull deer. Different regions and different ranches have their own definitions of cull and management bucks.

i understand now -

thanks for the explanation, m!

M16,

Great explination. To simplify it, and expand a bit, I just say a Management deer is a 4 year old deer that does not show the potential or traits to become a trophy. Regardless of number of points. I have shot 10 pt management deer and passed on 4 year old 8 and 9 point deer because they were huge, and a trophy by darn near anyones standards.

An important note is that it is usually not possible to determine if a deer can not grow to a trophy before he reaches 4 yrs. old. It is possible to see 2 and 3 year old deer that you know will be true monsters when they mature. But some just need time to show their potential.

I prefer to shoot the Management deer at 4 yrs old and the trophies at 5 or 6 or older. Reasoning is to let the trophies breed a few more seasons and prevent the management bucks from passing on their genes any longer than necessary.

While no system is foolproof, and this is a rough plan at best, this is the method I use to determine trophy vs Management.

Of course, trophy is relative to your areas genetics and ones definition of trophy.

Great looking managent buck

Beautiful old deer - congrats!