Giant buck standing near a road in Missouri

It’s August the 23rd. I’m starting to have that feeling that can only be compared to the night before Christmas when I was a child. There wasn’t much sleep happening because the excitement was almost too much to bear. Plus, what little rest I did get was filled with dreams completely engulfed with new toys, stockings and reindeer. Years later I’m still dreaming about deer, but this time it is whitetails! Lately I’ve become so entangled with the upcoming season opener (September 15th) that I can’t even go to sleep without thinking about it. The good news is, I’m not alone. In fact, just this week Grant shared with me that he has started his usual preseason dreams about hunting whitetails. This is something that is often true with deer hunters.

To make this problem worse, last week I received a photo from a close friend of mine with a GIANT buck he had seen standing alongside the road in Missouri. At first glance, you’ll probably do the same thing I did and assume it is a fake or in a pen. After some questioning, I finally came to believe his story. Check it out!

Woodland prescribed fire

Did you notice the second buck standing behind that monster? At first I overlooked him. That buck isn’t too shabby either. He was just dwarfed because he was standing next to a GIANT! Out of respect for the landowners and hunters in that area I won’t give any specifics. This definitely gets me pumped for deer season.

Even with all this talk of deer season we’re still continuing to manage the wildlife habitat here at The Proving Grounds. This week we had a little fun with a woodland/glade prescribed fire. With a “summer burn” or “late growing season burn” we are helping the wildlife by stimulating the future growth of forbs and killing the many small saplings that have tried to take over the glade. Our goal was to kill as many small saplings as possible while not killing any large, mature trees in the process. We safely accomplished our goal and now are planning our next fire for (hopefully) sometime next week.

It’s that time of year! Whether you’re out scouting fields for bucks or practicing prescribed fire keep your eyes peeled and a camera handy. If you see a buck like my friend, you don’t want to miss an opportunity for a photo! If you do capture a cool photo, and want to share it, head over to Facebook and post it! We would love to have our Facebook page covered with photos taken of giant whitetails so we all could dream together! With a little luck maybe those dreams could become reality for all of us!

Dreaming of Giant Whitetails together,

Adam

Warning: This blog contains information about prescribed fire which is a management tool for trained professionals using the appropriate tools for the situation.