Some hunters can’t get excited about early season. The weather is often warm-to-hot, mosquitoes buzz around, and those crawly things can be active. If you fall into this category, look what an excited Kentucky hunter took in early season: the trophy of a lifetime.

Antlers in full velvet are one of the coolest things about early-season hunting, and the venison is often the best of the year since big deer basically act like beef cattle, eating and sleeping without the activity or hormones of breeding. This Field & Stream post captured the action right on the spot.

Early-season venison is the best of the year. Without the stress of mating, animals are in super prime condition.
Early-season venison is the best of the year. Without the stress of mating, animals are in super prime condition.

If you’re following the Rut Reporter posts, you know that I’m hunting the opening week of bow season with Cabela’s Outdoor Andventures at Whitetail Heaven Outfitters in Nicholasville, Kentucky. Last night, I climbed out of my stand when I saw my driver approaching the field in his truck. He was barreling through the alfalfa, crazy fast, and hardly slowed down when he reached me. Owner Tevis McCauley stuck his head out the window and yelled: “Hang tight. We’ve got a 200-incher on the ground!” … [continued]

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