Small Reward

[Thunderclapper]

After applying in several states and drawing nothing my son and I decided to scout some spots here in Idaho. We slept in our own beds at home, woke up late, ate a good breakfast and left for the trailhead. The weather was perfect, cloudy and cool. My son was a great sport.

We hiked for quite a while finally reaching the top. Again, perfect conditions, about 62 and a slight breeze.

The top of the mountain looked like a moonscape.

We had an idea where we wanted to glass so we sneaked out along this ridge trying to remain concealed.

When we popped over the ridge this was the first thing we saw.

One of the bucks was a twinkie. The other was quite nice already branched into a four point with an additional 3-5" on each point. He had decent mass, width and eye guards.

On the way home we caught this little varmint.

I always thought bachelor groups usually consisted of bucks of similar size. What's been your experience? How much more antler growth can be expected? This area has very low deer density and these were the only bucks we saw.

 

[rmanwill]

Sounds like a great day with your son. Could be a fun general season tag close to home if you have or can purchase a tag. Good luck and thanks for sharing.

 

[brymoore]

Good report!

 

[Yoyak]

In my experience bachelor groups will have everything from two-points to Tankers. By now the mature bucks will be grown enough to tell what they are going to be. If their tips are really blunt or "balled up" and darker in color they probably have some growing to do. If they are more sharp and taper to a point, then they are probably close to being done growing. It really depends on the bucks maturity and I think it depends on how well they wintered and how good the feed is. Should be some early growers this year because of the mild winter and good feed.

Looking at the country you're in, I'm sure the population densities are very low. You might only find a few small bachelor groups, if you're lucky there might be a great buck in the group. But often times there aren't any great bucks, just young guys and you gotta keep looking elsewhere.
Good luck,
Jason
www.pure-elevation.com