Buck Hollow Sporting Goods - click or touch to visit their website Midwest Habitat Company

DSM backyard buck - what would he score?

R

realtree1974

New Member
forum
So I came home for lunch back in August (center of Des Moines area) only to find this guy munching away with a 150ish 10 pt on my hostas in my backyard.

Two questions for the community:

1. what do you think he'd score? He still a few weeks of growth to go.

2. Des Moines has a tight lottery on city buck tags, and almost never (unless special permission is granted - to my knowledge) allows hunting outside the usual city parks. Even if you did have the opportunity to shoot in your backyard in the middle of the city (off my deck, in my case), would you take him?

I've had this conversation with many of my friends and my position is that regardless of how big he is, this deer has probably never known any sort of "pressure" and has got where he is by eating backyard vegetable gardens and decorative plants. I respect everyone's right to make their own decision, but I wouldn't feel like it would've been a "hunt" deserving an animal like this.

Thanks in advance, looking forward to all your thoughts...
 
Last edited:
What a cool deer! I'd have a hard time stepping out the back door and shooting a "tame" deer. Might as well step inside a high fence.
 
Now I see.... Dandy. Idk.....guess 187". I feel that if you can get a city tag and just can't break away enough for other hunts whether private or public, then I would take advantage of the city tags, although without that special permission tag I wouldn't hunt my backyard. My city just started park and edge of city limit hunts. We are much smaller than desmoines but the deer do seem tame(r). Last year I watched a 150" deer breed a doe in my backyard and I actually walked to within 15 feet or so taking pics.
 
Agree with Lyon, But how do we know it's tame? Op, Does it let you give it a hug? Does it let you put a saddle on it and let you ride it like a pony? Does it readily come up and eat food out of your hand? Does it come up on your deck and want to be let in be fed, watered and sleep on your living room floor? Op, these are serious questions.

Personally, if It's allowed to roam freely, and doesn't have a disease that takes the 'wild' away from them than imo it's worthy to hunt. Not saying that I want to hunt -- May enjoy sitting, reading the newspaper while it's in the backyard. But just because It's an city, Wild, deer doesn't make it less of a hunt. And how do we measure what's worthy of a hunt? Personally, if people are going to say a City, Wild deer is less than a hunt -- than the same can be spoken about people who hunt with all the modern luxuries of Box stands, foodplots, Trail cams, Electric warming devices etc. etc.. Not saying that these things automatically discredit a persons hunt, but if people are going to say that about this situation, than the same can be said about the above. This is a good debate topic, op. The Key thing to know if it's Tame --- as in the true sense of the word or If it's really wild.
 
Last edited:
rc10pt said:
^^^ the more I look at it the worse I think my guess is. Haha, prolly way low.
Click to expand...

Im not going to put a number on it- but I agree- 187" seems low- and im pretty sure I have seen this buck in the last week or so by some rail road tracks in DSM

And you're saying I need to replace my brassicas with hostas?
 
Last edited:
rc10pt said:
If it's real tame feed it some apples while you tape out his rack and get back to us ;)
Click to expand...

My reply wasn't meant to offend. Was just replying to something he wrote earlier in his post. Dandy Buck would probably temp most people regardless of what he scores.
 
tHAT IS A SWEET LOOKING BUCK i THINK i WOULD FEED IT & HOPE IT SHEDS ITS ANTLERS IN MY BACK YARD YEAR AFTER YEAR.NO NEED TO SHOOT IT THEN.
 
I live in rural NE Iowa. I have does that feed and bed close to my house in the timber all the time. They are use to me coming and going and letting the dog out. He does not chase them, so they may run to separate themselves a bit but then just watch as he does his thing. In a way they could be considered tame, by some. They know the difference when I am up in a tree not to far from the house. There is still that one old doe that busts me no matter what.

"City" deer still have a fight or flight mechanism, they may just be more tolerable to activities around them. But I think they can tell the difference of someone just out for a stroll and someone stalking them.

Getting the sheds off of him would be awesome to just see what they would score. I would be more worried about poachers trying to get him, more than anything.
 
Forestryguy said:
"City" deer still have a fight or flight mechanism, they may just be more tolerable to activities around them. But I think they can tell the difference of someone just out for a stroll and someone stalking them.
Exactly. That was what I was trying to elude to. People shouldn't assume that just because they reside near city that it automatically makes them tame.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Wow! Be nice to watch in the back yard! IMO I would have a hard time taking a deer that runs around the neighborhoods like this one, if it was more like out in a more secluded city park I would have no problem with an urban tag taking any deer( I'm gonna try next year to get an urban tag) just my opinion Thoe! Good luck!nice pic
 
True monarch! I'd shoot him given the opportunity. I hunted city deer for 2 years when I lived in Illinois and it was no easier than any country deer I ever hunted. An animal can be completley "wild", having no contact with a human at all in it's entire life and be so naive that they actually come in closer to investigate a human. Also, awesome pictures by the way!
 
Great buck!! I'd be after his sheds as well. I would also get dirty looks from the wife next year when I tear up the lawn and put it into a food plot!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom