The Unlikeliest of Places
Contributors to this thread:Whitetail Deer
From: Kevin Dill
23-Jul-21
My wife and I are in VA enjoying a relaxed getaway and buying some wine. Today around 1 PM we were in northern VA's Loudon County heading for the Lovettsville area. Rounded a curve and there stood a magnificent statue of a huge typical whitetail. Wait....not a statue, but real. Tall in body. Outrageously tall typical 10 pt rack with supremely long and straight brow tines. I won't guess a number but he was B&C or I'm not a bowhunter. And he was backed by 3 of his buddies to boot. My wife was basically speechless as she initially didn't think it was a live deer. When it turned and trotted back to its buddies we both about lost it. Loudon County is one of the richest counties in America and studded with unbelievably gorgeous homes and farms. Deer are thick, but I had no clue anything of this size lived there.
From: Norseman
23-Jul-21
Always nice to see majestic animals, no matter where you are.
From: WV Mountaineer
24-Jul-21
VA has sone absolute monster deer running around. That part of the state is no different. The Shenandoah NP is way under hunted and way over looked. Plus, there are tons of bears too.
From: Wild Bill
24-Jul-21
Manicured lawns, exotic shrubs, wooded nooks here and there, what's not to like about living there as a deer? Top that off with a scarcity of hunters and you have deer Eden. Places like that have been described for years in the deer hunting magazines.
From: Jebediah
24-Jul-21
There is a guy who has some videos about deer hunting just outside of Washington DC. I wonder if this is his area. Evidently deer so abundant he’s allowed to hunt basically year-round.
From: ahunter76
24-Jul-21
Little to no hunting areas make it possible for the animals to grow big & the excellent browse, food available makes them use their head & adapt to "us humans".. There is a "sanctuary" type place not far for me (residential) & big boys are often seen among the homes. I've had this guy hanging around my house for nearly 2 months.. Lots of corn, bird seed & water + many bushes. He seems pretty content & we've been within a few feet of him. He was sleeping on the hood of my car a few days ago.
From: Jaquomo
24-Jul-21
I have a friend who lives there. He is the only hunter for many miles around. Kills some real dandies.
From: Jaquomo
24-Jul-21
Not many whitetails by my house in town in NoCo. But have to shoo these pests away regularly.
From: Jaquomo
24-Jul-21
Not many whitetails by my house in town in NoCo. But have to shoo these pests away regularly.
From: wildwilderness
24-Jul-21
Backyard Bucks are the Biggest!
From: Rickm
24-Jul-21
Kevin, years ago we were up near the soo in Ontario. Saw 2 moose billboards in small towns. The 3rd billboard walled across the road. Nearly hit him. Biggest Canadian bull I ever saw!
From: GF
24-Jul-21
Life is good in the ‘burbs; but better for the deer than the deer hunters, it seems ;)
From: Altitude Sickness
24-Jul-21
Here’s one in a very populated area In Michigan
From: EJG
24-Jul-21
Wow! At the Michigan buck
From: Owl
24-Jul-21
Yes, NOVA has big deer. And Urban Archery season. :)
From: orionsbrother
24-Jul-21
Biggest buck I ever saw on the hoof was within a mile of the boundary of the city of Chicago. It had been in an old driving range and had raked some Astro-turf that got caught in its rack and over time, the Astro-turf broke down so it looked like it had a green Pom-Pom on one side. My buddies and I saw it several times and thought we’d take a look in the late winter to see if we could find its sheds.
Well, word had gotten out about this deer. We went to take a look where it had been hanging out and found three retired guys with binoculars, following the buck around waiting for his rack to drop. We didn’t stand a chance at getting those sheds.
Unfortunately, that buck was killed by a car the next year.
From: Mint
30-Jul-21
Staten Island NY which is part of NYC has some monster bucks but of course you can't hunt them.
From: DanaC
31-Jul-21
Not quite the same league as some above, but this was taken by my sister in central Connecticut, not far from UConn
From: Old School
31-Jul-21
A few years back I drove through Ridgway CO and in the city, in someone’s back yard, inside their chain link fence were 2 absolute slammer Mulies casually browsing without a care in the world. They were both 180+
From: Zbone
31-Jul-21
Once seen a photo of a huge buck crossing a railroad track with the New York skyline in the background...
From: drycreek
31-Jul-21
Several years ago I was stockpiling clay for a local brick plant, and the clay was on coal mine property. This property was in the thousands of acres that was off limits to everyone (except poachers). I had to move my loader early one morning and drove ahead of my haul truck to open the gate. As I was driving down the road through an old grownup field, (scattered brush and a fence row), I began to see pieces of deer throgh the old fence row. It was at a right angle to the road and when I passed it there were seven bucks standing there within about 50 to 75 yards. A couple of dinks, three respectable bucks, and two that would probably go 140s to 150s, maybe more. Not B&C bucks, but damn good bucks for East Texas. Just shows you what happens when they are allowed to age.
From: Kevin Dill
31-Jul-21
Imagine you just threw all your gear in a truck and drove out of Whitehorse, YK headed for a moose hunt. Your mind is on moose, caribou and big bears. It's far north country and not where you expect to see....a monster mule deer. That happened to Grub Matthews and me many years ago. We were both stuttering and astounded to see such a huge buck casually eating along the road edge.
From: Zbone
31-Jul-21
Dang, hadn't realize mule deer were that far north...
From: Footshooter
01-Aug-21
Last November a buddy of mine sent this to me from his neighborhood. As we tried to find our Ohio bucks, this one was in his neighborhood roaming the sidewalks. The area is all homes, there is a small park nearby but still scratching our heads on where he could have come from. I have rotated the pic to make it better to see, the original has the street signs showing it is at the intersection of his neighborhood
From: Grey Ghost
01-Aug-21
I routinely see the biggest bucks in my area living in town amongst the tightly spaced houses. These 2 old boys know where they are safe.
Matt
From: gobbler
01-Aug-21
A number of years ago there was a buck killed on the road beside Dulles International airport that was over 200 typical. My brother had a replica of its antlers
From: cath8r
01-Aug-21
This was from a co workers backyard in windsor Ontario. Seperated by a big ditch from Detroit Michigan.
This was from a co workers backyard in windsor Ontario. Seperated by a big ditch from Detroit Michigan.
From: drycreek
02-Aug-21
My backyard bucks ain’t near as impressive as y’all’s are.
From: Zbone
02-Aug-21
Zbone's Link
cath8r - That's a really cool looking buck in Winsor, thanks for sharing...
From: KHNC
03-Aug-21
The 200" bucks living in suburbs of Atlanta are just ridiculous. I like watching the Youtube guys hunting them in peoples back yards though.
From: Habitat
03-Aug-21
We had a mountain lion walk down the alley in Wichita ks a month ago.
From: timberline53
03-Aug-21
This guy might be pushing 200"--he's been here in our yard all summer feasting on alfalfa, clover, apples, apricots, peaches and cherries, and grapes--its all adding up to a tremendous buck! Might be great eating as well--if only I had drawn an archery tag!
From: Zbone
03-Aug-21
Holy Moly timberline53, reminds me of a couple giants I seen within the city limits of Colorado Springs years ago...
From: timberline53
05-Aug-21
Now that's a big two point! Right in the driveway!
From: Grey Ghost
05-Aug-21
timberline53,
I might be able to help you get rid of that nuisance buck who is eating all your groceries. What unit are you in? ;-)
Matt
From: woodsman
06-Aug-21
Back When I lived in Maryland and worked in DC I use to drive that route almost every day. This doesn’t surprise me. There are some really nice deer in that part of VA. I use to see a lot of really nice bucks in and around that area.
From: Twinetickler
06-Aug-21
CO town buck
CO town buck
From: DanaC
06-Aug-21
Dang. Just...dang.
