Bruiser...

[Shack]

Hey guys, I would watch out with popping up to many links to other sites! It could get this thread locked or tossed out completely!

Just a word to the wise! They have been pretty lax about it thus far. I think it goes against forum policy! Not trying to be a stick in the mud!

[Steve Foss]

These days it's easy to change all kinds of things in photoshop. No problem at all to fabricate, and the level of realism is limited only by the photoshop skills of the manipulator.

That's not saying these are doctored photos. They don't look doctored to me, and I've pulled them over into photoshop and gone over them pixel by pixel. There are some irregularities in the way some of the pixels are arranged but, while that's sometimes a telltale, it's not always, because low-res, small jpegs like these posted online get compressed, which can easily introduce irregularities.

If these are doctored (I don't believe they are), they were done by an expert.

Also, unless you're experienced in looking at wide angle photographs, it's easy to make mistakes when trying to estimate proportions. Wide angle skews the lines and angles and perspective somewhat. The wider the angle, the more out-of-proportion things are compared with our human eyesight.

[Shack]

stfcatfish, thanks for the run down and your opinion.

If anyone on this internet site is qualified to do a ruling on these images, you are the one to do it.

If anyone doubts what stfcatfish has to say, check his posts out in the Photosharing area. This guy knows what he is talking about, but he leaves him self a little room for error!

[harvey lee]

Lets try and be a little more happy for this hunter with this huge buck. For as much as I can tell from the research I have done, this baby is for real. Its not the intent on this forum to doubt ever deer posted. Yes, some are photoshopped but there are also many that are for real.

[Eckie]

Good post, Tom. Couldn't have said it better myself. Seems most of the time when photos are posted, a small handful of folks always throw the talk card, without knowing any facts. When facts are presented and confirmed, the story is still deemed shady.

I do not know Steve Hanson personally, nor do I have any biased agenda on this post. My personal opinion is, like Steve said, the photos look very real, and if they were photoshopped, it was done by an expert. After researching this, I have no reason to doubt it's real. The links I posted also corroborate the pictures (my apologies to the moderators for posting unauthorized links -- felt they were necessary in this case for this reason).

All opinions have been and will continue to be welcome.

Bottom line -- the deer itself is a brute, the pictures do it justice, and the story behind it is impressive. That's enough for me!

Good luck this weekend everyone!

[McGurk]

Quote:

---

A buddy (not the shooter in the photos) emailed these to me...

---

How many emails/posts start like this, and how many are actually true as far as the claimed hunter/fisherman? Too many for me not to second guess this deer. Please don't come down on people for not instantly believing a story and some pictures. How many times has the Amish buck been sent around attached to different stories?

That being said, it sure seems like it's the real deal. Very impressive, and a hearty congratulations to the hunter. I still hope that it is not a penned-in buck, and it sounds like this guy has put in his time and deservedly found a monster. Good for him.

[Heartman]

CNC MIke - thanks for sharing the picture. Photographs are always a bit distorted - that's a heckuva deer, and it'd be fun to hear what kind of measurements they carry - just a nice big, superbuck. There are a few of these out there - just gotta be in the right place at the right time, eh?

[Steve Foss]

shackbash, I ALWAYS leave room for error. Comes from 45 years of making errors.

[Shoot2Kill]

To those non believers....go to Iowa...hunt there. Iowa has those deer because the GUN SEASON IS NOT IN THE RUT and people understand what it takes to get deer like that because more and more people are letting the DINKS GO - MN could have those too if people would stop shooting the first buck they see just so they can say "I got my buck!" and then throw the rack in the pile in the garage.

Just because it's over 200 inches doesn't mean it has to be on the front page of every paper in the country...200 inches is big, but they are getting more and more common every year because people let them mature.

If you want to enjoy pictures of big deer like that all the time then join [Note from admin: Please read forum policy before posting again. Thank you.] . That deer was posted on there about 10 days ago and NOT one person thought it was fake on that site because they know that deer like that exist.

The other buck...yes, the Timberghost Ranch buck...high fence, blah blah blah. That buck has been making it's way around again...it's OLD news.

[Shack]

You do not know the Star and Tribune!