Bucko

ToddsPoint · Oct 25, 2025

A friend took this pic this morning in Macon Co. IL. His house butts up against a state park. The rut is about to start any day. Notice how his neck is swollen. An 8 pointer with two stickers. That would be a trophy for most of us.👍🏻 Also have to mention it’s an excellent quality pic. The friend that took this has cancer and I’m afraid his time is limited.

Cariboo5 · Oct 25, 2025

Bucko is a beauty, I'm guessing a 4 1/2 year old in his prime and as you mentioned getting into the rut....

Chilli · Oct 25, 2025

ToddsPoint said:
A friend took this pic this morning in Macon Co. IL. His house butts up against a state park. The rut is about to start any day. Notice how his neck is swollen. An 8 pointer with two stickers. That would be a trophy for most of us.👍🏻 Also have to mention it’s an excellent quality pic. The friend that took this has cancer and I’m afraid his time is limited.View attachment 2230870

Cool. Why do their necks swell up?
Sorry to hear about your friend. 🙁

ToddsPoint · Oct 25, 2025

Chilli said:
Cool. Why do their necks swell up?
Sorry to hear about your friend. 🙁

Hormones raging. Testosterone I suppose.🤔 Bucks can occasionally get aggressive with humans. I’ve read about cases but have only seen it once. My wife and I backed out of the driveway and 4 bucks were standing in the field across the road. When we stopped reversing we were maybe 20 yds from them. The largest buck charged the car but stopped about the time we moved forward. I hunted deer for 20 yrs with a bow and come face to face with many bucks and they always high tailed it the other way.

robertk · Oct 26, 2025

ToddsPoint said:
The largest buck charged the car but stopped about the time we moved forward. I hunted deer for 20 yrs with a bow and come face to face with many bucks and they always high tailed it the other way.

Deer are not great at recognizing humans operating machines. I can be on the lawn mower and mow fairly close to them, and they just watch with curiosity. But if I take the mower out of gear and step off, they bolt. I assume because once I separate from the mower they suddenly realize there's a person there, not just some mysterious noisy animal.