HUNTING BB
Active Member
Time to recycle ol popcans!
First of all.....AWESOME story. One thing I have to say is, for how well you know this buck and how much history you have of him, there are still things you don't know. To me that just solidifies the idea that no matter how much technology we come up with, the nature of things is tough to overcome.
Why do you call him "Popcans"? It may have been mentioned, but I didn't notice it.
Good luck with him..... either way you have way more memories of this buck than most people do of the bucks they have hanging on their wall!
Why do you call him "Popcans"? It may have been mentioned, but I didn't notice it.
Good luck with him..... either way you have way more memories of this buck than most people do of the bucks they have hanging on their wall!
sureshot
The Hunt Never Ends....
Just thought some of you may be interested in what old Popcans has been up to.
Like I had stated earlier in this post, Popcans only stayed on the farm for a short while after shedding his velvet. I expected this year to be the same, and in preparation for this I acquired permission on a few other surrounding farms in hopes of finding out where the old boy called home during November. However, this particular year Popcans stuck around. He disappeared for a few short weeks, but then showed back up on a few different cameras that I had placed on scrapes. I feel the reason for this was because a large bodied mature buck that I called Holyfield who lived on the farm was harvested in the fall of 08'. I think that Holyfield was the dominant buck in the area, which caused Popcans to leave in previous years.
Holyfield;
Popcans on scrape;
I hunted him hard but never layed eyes on him even though he was on the fall during the entire rut. The last video I got of Popcans was in the early morning hours of December 5th (opening weekend of shotgun season). I left the camera there until January 10th and he never showed again. I wasn't sure if he had outsmarted the orange army another year.
Once hunting season ended I dumped a few bags of corn out in the area where Popcans called home all summer/fall and hoped he would show up. Sure enough, he showed up, but without antlers. He had shed them early. Some people find it hard to believe that one can recognize a specific buck once he is shed, but as soon as I watched the video I knew it was him. He looked somewhat worn down from the rut and the tough winter. He had a big scar on the right side of his body which i'm not sure what the cause was. Popcans has a 'cleft' like lip/nose and he a very deep chest which was the giveaway to me that it was him. I was happy to see that he was still alive and hoped to find his sheds.
Yesterday afternoon Brewcrew, Dwilk, Brownman, and myself set out in search of his sheds. We were having quite the afternoon, finding sheds off of multiple bucks that I had pictures of. As we were making our trek back towards the truck Brewcrew yelled to me, "Chris, get over here!" He had found Popcans left shed. Sorry, I don't have any field pics of the shed as it was raining out and we didn't want to ruin our cameras. Brewcrew was gracious enough to allow me to keep the shed.....Thanks buddy!
It will be interesting to see what he turns into this summer/fall. This deer is a survivor, but i'd be surprised if he makes it past next winter. He'll likely die of old age. Time is not on his side, but he looks fairly healthy judging by the pics.
Like I had stated earlier in this post, Popcans only stayed on the farm for a short while after shedding his velvet. I expected this year to be the same, and in preparation for this I acquired permission on a few other surrounding farms in hopes of finding out where the old boy called home during November. However, this particular year Popcans stuck around. He disappeared for a few short weeks, but then showed back up on a few different cameras that I had placed on scrapes. I feel the reason for this was because a large bodied mature buck that I called Holyfield who lived on the farm was harvested in the fall of 08'. I think that Holyfield was the dominant buck in the area, which caused Popcans to leave in previous years.
Holyfield;
Popcans on scrape;
I hunted him hard but never layed eyes on him even though he was on the fall during the entire rut. The last video I got of Popcans was in the early morning hours of December 5th (opening weekend of shotgun season). I left the camera there until January 10th and he never showed again. I wasn't sure if he had outsmarted the orange army another year.
Once hunting season ended I dumped a few bags of corn out in the area where Popcans called home all summer/fall and hoped he would show up. Sure enough, he showed up, but without antlers. He had shed them early. Some people find it hard to believe that one can recognize a specific buck once he is shed, but as soon as I watched the video I knew it was him. He looked somewhat worn down from the rut and the tough winter. He had a big scar on the right side of his body which i'm not sure what the cause was. Popcans has a 'cleft' like lip/nose and he a very deep chest which was the giveaway to me that it was him. I was happy to see that he was still alive and hoped to find his sheds.
Yesterday afternoon Brewcrew, Dwilk, Brownman, and myself set out in search of his sheds. We were having quite the afternoon, finding sheds off of multiple bucks that I had pictures of. As we were making our trek back towards the truck Brewcrew yelled to me, "Chris, get over here!" He had found Popcans left shed. Sorry, I don't have any field pics of the shed as it was raining out and we didn't want to ruin our cameras. Brewcrew was gracious enough to allow me to keep the shed.....Thanks buddy!
It will be interesting to see what he turns into this summer/fall. This deer is a survivor, but i'd be surprised if he makes it past next winter. He'll likely die of old age. Time is not on his side, but he looks fairly healthy judging by the pics.
bigbukfevr
New Member
ol brewcrew is good for something once in awhile
killer buck
Member
Wow that is an awesome story keep up the good work!!
sureshot
The Hunt Never Ends....
Ok guys, I need your help. Let's roll back to March of this year (shed season). As you all know, my friends and I were lucky enough to stumble upon both of Popcans sheds. However, his right shed antler had a large amount of pedicle/skull attached to the base. I have heard before that when this happens it can cause a buck to grow in a 'messed up' manner later in the summer.
Here are a few pictures of the base of his right antler. As you can see there is a large amount of pedicle still attached. It almost looks as if he 'ripped' it off of his head by kicking it off. There is dried skin on the bone attached to the base.....looks pretty painful to me.
This is where my question arises; Will shedding out in such a manner as Popcans did in March cause a buck to grow a messed up antler later that year?
The reason I ask this is because a deer showed up today (about the same time that Popcans typically shows) that really screams "THATS POPCANS" to me. However, his right side is messed up.
The key for me to identify Popcans over the years has been his left mainbeam which curves up like a bobsled on the end. This buck has that same mainbeam. I just didn't expect Popcans to get bigger at 9.5 years old, and actually, if this is Popcans i'm not sure if he will actually have more inches of antler.....just looks bigger.
So, will shedding with large amounts of pedicle cause a deer to grow messed up later that year, and do you think this is Popcans? Your help is greatly appreciated.
This deer has changed so much year to year that I wouldn't put it past him to pull something like this :grin:
2007
2008
2009
2010?
Comparing the clean 2007 rack to this years clean rack may help?
Here are a few pictures of the base of his right antler. As you can see there is a large amount of pedicle still attached. It almost looks as if he 'ripped' it off of his head by kicking it off. There is dried skin on the bone attached to the base.....looks pretty painful to me.
This is where my question arises; Will shedding out in such a manner as Popcans did in March cause a buck to grow a messed up antler later that year?
The reason I ask this is because a deer showed up today (about the same time that Popcans typically shows) that really screams "THATS POPCANS" to me. However, his right side is messed up.
The key for me to identify Popcans over the years has been his left mainbeam which curves up like a bobsled on the end. This buck has that same mainbeam. I just didn't expect Popcans to get bigger at 9.5 years old, and actually, if this is Popcans i'm not sure if he will actually have more inches of antler.....just looks bigger.
So, will shedding with large amounts of pedicle cause a deer to grow messed up later that year, and do you think this is Popcans? Your help is greatly appreciated.
This deer has changed so much year to year that I wouldn't put it past him to pull something like this :grin:
2007
2008
2009
2010?
Comparing the clean 2007 rack to this years clean rack may help?
DWilk
Active Member
Boy it sure could be! You need a front view to look for the cleft lip.
He looks like an old ass buck that's for sure.. I always noticed his G3s had that little ridge on them... this buck has it also.. and it was always about on the same place on the tine... so that matches.
That shed had more bone on it than any shed I've seen, so I could definitely see it causing abnormal growth...... I'm going to wait until later in the summer to say its 100% Popcans, but I think you may be right.... crazy as it sounds.
He looks like an old ass buck that's for sure.. I always noticed his G3s had that little ridge on them... this buck has it also.. and it was always about on the same place on the tine... so that matches.
That shed had more bone on it than any shed I've seen, so I could definitely see it causing abnormal growth...... I'm going to wait until later in the summer to say its 100% Popcans, but I think you may be right.... crazy as it sounds.
DannyBoy
Well-Known Member
I agree that looks like an OLD deer, but I dunno dude. I'm back and forth on it. For having all that traveling junk over the years he sure looks clean right now but that's not to say it won't show up yet and like the 07 pic shows, he's been clean before.
Those left sides look awefully similar. My gut tells me it's him! Hope you get some more pics!
Those left sides look awefully similar. My gut tells me it's him! Hope you get some more pics!
sureshot
The Hunt Never Ends....
Ya, my buddy raises a few good points.
Good points from a friend; He doesn't have any junk on his bases this year. Also, for a 9 year old whitetail the buck in that photo looks in prettys good shape= most likely not him.
Hmm....
Also, in past years the I have always known it was him right away...this year is different, but I was thinking maybe its just because this buck has a messed up side.
Here is a pic from the front. Hard to say if he has a cleft lip or not. Uhh...no way it can be him, right?
Good points from a friend; He doesn't have any junk on his bases this year. Also, for a 9 year old whitetail the buck in that photo looks in prettys good shape= most likely not him.
Hmm....
Also, in past years the I have always known it was him right away...this year is different, but I was thinking maybe its just because this buck has a messed up side.
Here is a pic from the front. Hard to say if he has a cleft lip or not. Uhh...no way it can be him, right?
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hillrunner
PMA Member
looks like him to me, left side is to similar. That is an old buck in that pic, most deer don't look that old in their summer coat.