Is he a keeper?

[ridgetop]

I finally got a nice buck on film and a cactus buck to boot. I kind of think he's cool and wished I had a frontal view of him. Would any of you guys take him over a 160" buck on a general season unit?

[MuleyMadness]

Cool buck Ridge, I like the weirdoes.

But over a 160" buck, I doubt it. He'd have to be a bit bigger. Front shot would be nice though.

[killerbee]

very cool, and i just might take him over a 160"buck.
i have some of those, and wouldn't mount another 160" buck, but i would mount that buck

[waspocrew]

I agree, a front shot would be good. He looks pretty cool though. I'd take him if I came across him during the general season. I'm actually still looking for my first buck. Hopefully the search will end this Oct!

[derekp1999]

I'm more of a sucker for symmetry, but he's gnarly enough to make that a tough decision. I think I'd take him. Cool pic!

[stewberd23]

Thats pretty sweet if he was with a 160 buck it would probably come down to which one gave me a better shot i'd take either one though

[dahlmer]

Just doesn't do it for me, but if you like him and can get him, go for it.

[a_bow_nut]

The two questions that I would have go through my mind are.

1. How many bucks have I had a chance at when hunting that look like this one or how many bucks have you had a chance at that go around the 160" mark?

2. Is this buck far enough off the beaten path that you might be able to let him grow for another year or two?

He would make a cool euro mount.

[ridgetop]

The two questions that I would have go through my mind are.

1. How many bucks have I had a chance at when hunting that look like this one or how many bucks have you had a chance at that go around the 160" mark? I pass on 160" bucks almost ever year, so this year would be more of the same. I'm even thinking of passing on a 170"+ buck I've found in another area, for this cactus buck. Over the years I've seen hundreds of 160+ bucks but only a handful of cactus bucks. This one may have the most points of any I've seen, with at least 10 points per side.

2. Is this buck far enough off the beaten path that you might be able to let him grow for another year or two? Yes, he's pretty far back in but he hasn't grown all that much from last year(maybe 10%) and there's a high chance a lion could get him anytime.

He would make a cool euro mount. That's what I was thinking.

I sure am having a hard time deciding on what to do, especially with this being my first year in the 3 year DH program.

[ridgetop]

UPDATE: After checking with my cousin and a couple of friends. We have concluded that this buck is the little brother of the cactus buck I was chasing last year. I had seen this buck last year on the rifle hunt and he was much smaller. My cousin saw "big brother" yesterday and he is much bigger than this buck I caught on camera. I'm hoping we can get some pictures of "big brother" in the next couple weeks.