I wonder if your snake-proof boots would stop a monster western diamondback rattlesnake of this size. Something tells me, no. This sucker would probably strike you in the thigh. I wonder how many wouldn’t wet their pants when running across this giant. Seems I recall that you can tell the age (in years?) of a rattle snake by counting the number of rattle segment on it’s tail — something related to how many times it sheds its skin. Any herpetologists out there? I count 14 segments. Very impressive, no doubt.
I hope the hunter had the common courtesy of mounting its hide and consuming its flesh after killing such a beautiful specimen.
Wow.
Maybe it's just perspective? Paralax from the camera lens?
Maybe it’s blown out of proportion due to the camera lens. Kind of like when you catch a fish and you want your picture taken. You hold the fish as far out in fron of you as possible to make it look bigger. I’ve heard that, anyway. Ahem.
Maybe he’s holding it that far out in front of becuase he’s not 100% convinved it’s dead…
Seems like this should be the norm. With the sometimes extreme hunting pressures in the US it seems odd that this monster whitetail buck would be spotted and photographed only to go on to live out a natural life.
Looks like a gamecam photo, to me.Nice rack for a monster whitetail buckBeautiful rack
I love whitetail deer. They are beautiful animals. Their tale of survival and adaptation as a species is fascinating. They inhabit nearly every county in the US. They’ve adapted to humans and the changes humans have made to the environment and landscape.
Here’s a picture that I received recently of a magnificent Whitetail Buck snapped near Interstate 10 and Callahan road in San Antonio, Texas.
Monster Whitetail Buck Seen near San Antonio Texas
Here’s what can happen in the wild. A nice sized whitetail buck has gone to the local rub. The “rub” is a tree that bucks use to rub off their velvet.
OK, here’s how this works. Most bucks (males) will develop antlers. I say most as some do not and, some females will grow horns. See one of my first posts to this blog, Spike Dyke. The antlers usually start to grow near the end of the first year of life. Antlers are not “horns”. Antlers grow every year and horns are permanent. Antlers are dead bone. Horns are more like the skin material used for nails and hoofs. As antlers grow they are covered with a very hairy skin covering that is usually colored red or deep burgundy. This gives the appearance of felt or velvet covering. Near the end of summer the Buck’s horn growth stops and the velvet dies and starts to shed. To help this shedding bucks find a sapling or other soft shrub in order to rub it. The rubbing helps the buck shed the velvet.
What is interesting is that bucks will tend to favor a particular species of tree or sappling depending on which part of the country you are in. And, sometimes more than one buck will rub the same tree. They seem to prefer soft barked trees. I understand that the antlers are rather sensitive at this stage so rubbing a soft barked tree makes sense.
This poor fellow got his antlers stuck and probably starved to death.
These pictures came to me via email. They’re tagged with www.fouraranch.com. I checked their site but didn’t see the pictures posted there. Give them a visit for more spectacular photos of monster trophy whitetail bucks. They have a big protein feeder that helps the nutrition of the buck which inturn causes massive antler development. One photo shows 4 real nice bucks snacking at the feeder at one time.
Poor fellos got stuck and expired.Another view of the whitetail buck that got stuck while rubbing. Another view of the whitetail buck that got stuck while rubbing.Another view of the whitetail buck that got stuck while rubbing.
