I agree with you,
"a big rack without much in the way of brow tines seems to detract from my personal appreciation. "

 

Great buck my man !!!! Thats a dandy

 

I don't have a dog in this fight as most of my deer only have two brow tines, and that's it. 😉

 

When I was stationed at Camp Lejeune we called that a "North Carolina 11 pointer"....

 

One of the biggest deer I've ever seen in the wild had ZERO brow tines!!!! Main beams at least 20" across, bases were like Redbull cans... I couldn't shoot him because he was just a forkhorn!!!! He was a BIG deer with 4 points!!!! I had him on camera for 3 years and I had 2 encounters with him while hunting...

Note - In my part of PA, he needs to have 3 points on one side (brow tines over 1" count)... So I had a 220ish pound buck on camera and broadside to me that I couldn't legally shoot....

 

Just got my 22’ buck back the other day. Big double splits. Didn’t know he had them till I walked up on him

 

Here's my WV 11 😆

 

These are my 3 best brow tine bucks. Anywhere from 5 1/2 inches to just over 7 inches.

 

Big ones, small ones, I appreciate them all. Kind of like…

 

Also… PS… you can hunt those deer you see on TV. Don’t be a slave to your MI traditions, sacrifice a few things you “always do,” every year, and go actually hunt some real deer. It’s been almost a decade for me now, I’ll never waste another rut in MI.

 

I've done out-of-state hunts several times, but typically for game we don't have in the mitten. A few years ago, I went out west and didn't see a buck that was any bigger than what I encounter in a good year back home. The money for the hunt, tags, travel, etc would have gone a ways in paying off our hunting property, so I am not even considering another 'away' hunt until 2026. I'm on track to have our land paid off by the end of '25 and then will be looking at cabin plans. We all find our nitch and enjoy the process accordingly.

 

This is a young buck on trail cam from a few years ago with good tines already. In MI, I'm pretty confident he didn't get much older.

 

There’s always a chance he made it!!!…. Even if it’s a very small one. I know this feeling all too well.

 

One nice one, one very interesting one. Both lived to hopefully see next year if a lion or yote doesn’t get to them before then…

 

 

Brother killed this one in Ny this season

 

Here's a couple on my place that appear to have made it through last season

 

Big fan of brows with some character!
I never caught up to the tall brow 9 but did shoot the split brow. These are from my farm in Pa.

Good buck I shot in IA, had some junk and cool bladed brows.

 

Here's a couple.

 

So I admit/confess that I subscribe to the Outdoor Channel and watch it a couple evenings a week when other programming is poor. Sometimes I turn the volume way down or even off and just watch the animals....because that is the interesting aspect to me. Not the doofus whispering to the cameraman and retelling exactly what the video footage just showed in action sequence.

As I have watched really big bucks that I will likely never see in person let along get to hunt, the differences in brow tines is surprising. Some really wide and long tined bucks have virtually no brow tines. Then some other "cull" or immature bucks that they pass have lesser racks and more brow tines. Clearly it is a function of genetics, but a big rack without much in the way of brow tines seems to detract from my personal appreciation.

So what say ye about brow tines? Photos of mounts or trail cams (gasp) are more than welcome. I just enjoy seeing nice whitetails and find brows catch my attention very quickly.....or not.

love'em

makes the buck a real devil dog

here's me with my biggest buck ever

i also love big burrs all over the brows and general area which that buck also had a lot of

https://www.archerytalk.com/threads/what-info-does-pope-and-young-require-for-entry.6218695/post-1115796104

 

This guy had decent tines

 

That is an outstanding buck! Notice the side with the drop tine also has the spiral brow tine. Did you find any sign of injury? Looks like he has a kicker off the left side as well. Thanks for sharing.

 

The top 8 pt has a split brow on his right side

 

At my place, there is a strong genetic thing with really short brow tines, and also backwards pointing brow tines. The buck I killed this past season has the best brows of any I have killed on my place.

This is an example of the backwards facing brows I was talking about. This buck was over 20” wide and I thought he was a 6pt with no brow tines til I finally saw him in person.

Bisch

 

Although this is only a 6” brow I always liked the character of it. It reminds me of a black morel mushroom.

 

Keep 'em coming, boys! I love the photos of deer on the hoof and also mounts. This thread is putting a smile on my face. Cool stuff....😊

 

 

 

 

Here's some sheds from the same buck 2 years apart with some nice brows.