Buddy's 2003 A zone buck

Hi, these pictures are of my buddy's 2003 A zone buck.We first saw this buck on the second weekend of season and let him get away.We didn't relocate him until week four, once again he outsmarted us. Weekend six we found him again. He was with two does and a small forked horn. He was in a very stalkable position. We closed the distance and peeked into his canyon.

We instantly spotted the forked horn bedded 40 yards below us.Then one doe 80 yards out, but no 4x.We glassed the canyon for 5 minutes before my friend Jeff spotted the buck's muzzle watching us from behind a juniper. The buck must have known he was spotted, because he was on the move. Jeff hit him with his first and third shot and put him down.

Again, not the biggest buck, but tall and with lots of character. Another 4x4 for us in place where forked horns are the norm. By the way we shoot the good forked horns too. Also all of our hunting is done on public land. (lots of scouting and getting away from the crowd)

Nice buck. It is about time some action started on this site. Seems to be very little talk about blacktails this time of the year. Has anyone done any scouting yet? Antler growth in A-zone seems slow. I have seen a few that should turn out to be great bucks, but not as many as in the past. Seems to be alot of smaller bucks this year.

Bill

Great buck. Congrats to your buddy.

Very good buck. A solid taker in the A-zone. I have been out in the hills alot and the horn growth is not very good in my area. I have not seen one that looks big yet. I'll keep looking!

Very nice buck!! I've been hunting PUBLIC land in SB County all my life and would have to say it's about as tough as it gets..Very hot, very little deer.. I'll post some pics. of some of the better deer I've shot over the past 10 years..All were taken between 2 and 9 miles from the truck in 90+ degree weather..youy know what I'm talking about..ANY public land buck in southern A zone is well deserved! Good job!!

Here are a few SB County public land bucks from the past few years. They are my 2000, 2002, and 2003 bucks.The last pic. is my buddy's 2002 buck. After hiking 60-80 miles a season and seeing very few bucks, I swear that I'm going to stop hunting southern A zone, then I shoot a respectable buck and I'm hooked for another year. Lot's of work and persistance..oh yea.. and a little luck! Enjoy the pics..Time to start scouting!

Nice bucks everyone. Maybe this site will pick up as the antlers continue to grow. I do not know about everyone else, but I would enjoy seeing pictures of deer others have gotten. Big or small. Recent or from years past.
Bill

Nice bucks Jason.It looks like you guys have more than luck on your side.Hard work I'd say.I've been scouting a little, but mainly for new areas. Seen a couple of small bucks, but in places that will be a circus come season. I'll probably start checking on the "honey holes" pretty soon. I'm sure we'll be back in the same old spots that we have had success in, in the past.Good luck on the scouting, hope I see something worth getting excited over other than rattlesnakes.