Just wondering if any of you guys have some tips/secrets you want to share! ever since about the first of November seems like I'm not seeing the deer during the day time! I've been hunting hard and trying different types of stuff to get the one I'm after but haven't had any luck yet! He shows about 30 min after dark but never during shooting light! I know he's that big for a reason cause he smart but I'm hoping to catch him slipping up! Just seeing what anyone else might do. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
Is he consistently showing up at the same place and time? You could have one or two shots at moving closer to his bedding area and catching him before dark.
Most of time it's probably more like an hour or so but yes on both. I'm on the edge of the property and the neighbors are big anti hunters! Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
Sounds like your hands are tied if you can't get access. Is he coming to your plot to eat and using theirs as his bedding area?
If there is any kind of rutting activity still going on, you might be able to call him out of bed early enough to get a shot. As long as they still have antlers, there's a chance that estrus bleats and antler rattling could work.
Not really rutting anymore tried the bleats but not the rattling give it a shot! Can't hurt I know that. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk
Every situation and deer is different. In the case you're talking about, I'd say you need to figure out where he's bedded and get in closer to the bed without bumping him. Or, if you know where he is likely to be at night, get into his bedroom very early in the AM and wait for him to return. I've always found that bucks like this are tough before and after the rut and very common. Most likely have to wait until the rut to catch him being stupid, or gamble a bit on his bedding area.
I had a very similar situation in that all the deer seemed to be nocturnal. I hunt at the paper mill where I work. In one of the spots I hunt, there is a landfill for old wood and chips that grows some sort of mushrooms that the deer and pigs love. It's directly to my east and a pipeline and thick woods to my west with a small food plot and a watering hole where my stand is. All the deer seemed to be nocturnal because of the heavy dozer traffic during the day at the landfill. I set up a few more cameras to see if there was something that I was missing. Turns out that the deer were at the landfill during daylight too. They were going to the landfill about 300 yards north of where my stand was in a small slough (4-5 ft lower than the surrounding area). They would feed all day, then make their way through where my stand is to hit the watering hole and eat some of the sweet beets and beans in my plot on the way back to their bedding area in the early AM. Lesson learned was that figuratively I was looking at it too closely. I just kept thinking to myself that I know the deer are using my spot because of tracks, scrapes and pictures and that if I stick to it long enough, I will catch one slipping up. Sometimes we need to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Approach the situation like you're doing some preseason scouting. Look at google earth again. Go in scent free. Walk those trails and wood lines one more time. Move your cameras to get different intel. Move you hanging stand to a different tree if the situation calls for it. Sometimes, persistence does not mean keep hunting the same tree. My 2 cents on that matter.
I use an app on iOS called HuntStand that allows me to mark a google earth map on my phone. It allows you to mark rubs, scrape lines, trails, food and water sources etc, righ on your phone. You can even turn on your geotagging for your photos and take pictures too look at where you saw that big rub on google earth.
Night vision goggles.... just joking. Without cold weather it will be super hard to kill a mature buck. All my pics show activity from about 7pm till 5am. Cold and food is the late season go to. It's just a horrible year.
