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I’ve had the privilege of following the growth of this buck through the years since he was a yearling in 1999 and have named him Honcho. As a yearling Honcho had a small 8 point frame with a small sticker point near his base. As a two year old he had the same 8 point frame with 2 small sticker points near his bases. He kept this same antler pattern over the next 3 years growing larger overall.
Starting out at an estimated 80-90 inches Boone and Crocket at age 2, he has gained an average of 12 inches each year till age 5. In this photo at age 6 1/2 he exploded from a typical 4x4 frame to a 4x9 frame scoring around the upper 140’s. On his left antler he has a split g1, split g2 w/ kicker, and a g3 w/ 2 kickers.
Whitetail bucks don’t reach their full potential (as fully evident in this photo) till 6 1/2 - 8 1/2 years of age. Consequently this buck is off limits for hunters until at least next year. We’ll see what he does then.
It was the peek of the rut when I took this photo. He was on a doe and would not leave her even though I drove near him in a truck. Whitetails get very aggressive too in the rut fighting other males. I saw him the day after I took this photo and he had broken off one of his main tines. Obviously another buck tried to take his doe away from him. |
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Update |
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We harvested this awesome creature the fall deer season of 2005. He was 7 1/2 years old and gross scored 159 1/2. It was a great experience to watch him grow to maturity. “Honcho” will be missed. |
