You know the drill..same thing as last season I will start this one out by saying I checked cameras and confirmed my #1 buck from 2017 is alive and had dropped his antlers! I have never been so fired up to find a set of sheds in my life. I am taking off work early to go look for them. here...I'll even post a picture of him... His left ear makes him identifiable. I'm 99.9% sure it's him.
Glad he made it through but I reserve the right to wish you bad luck finding his sheds if you never post a pic of him wearing them.
I was really hoping you would have put him down this past season! So what happen? Did you ever see him while on stand?
Woohoo, big yip...you obviously have very very small hands. Worlds biggest tease...go step on a frozen antler weenie.
He disappeared in early September. Not a single picture in October or November. So I targeted and ended up killing other deer. When I went back and checked cameras after I tagged out, he was on camera in daylight on December 4th and 5th, and night pics about once a week since. he has been a regular on camera since early January. So my 2018 plan is to hunt him late muzzleloader...that is if he dissapears again late summer.
Never know what he will do once he gets another year on him. You hear it all the time that there home range shrinks as they get older. Hopefully this happens to him and becomes a home body for you. This year should be interesting for you!
Whats interesting is I have cameras spread across over 400 acres, and he was not on a single one for 2 1/2 months. But when he came back, he came to a very specific spot. I found his shed literally 10-15 feet from where I first saw him in July.
Hell yeah. Makes you wonder where they disappear to and how they know when to come back to that particular spot.
Do you think something pushed him out of that area this past season? I bet he will be back in there next year. Another theory is he may not be the dominant buck in there and once velvet is shed, another buck may push him out. Have any bully bucks in that area this past season?
No I don't think another deer would have pushed him out. He is 25" bigger than anything else on the farm. My theory is this: My neighbor to the west owns a very large tract of land and it has a ton of green food plots (clovers, cereal grains, etc). That property holds a huge amount of does. This buck is old enough ( I think 5 1/2) to know this. My farm has a lot of seclusion and minimal human intrusion, plus lots of beans and alfalfa in the summertime, so he felt safe spending the summer there. Once the beans turned yellow and the farmer cut the alfalfa the last time (both late august-early September) The best food source in the area became the huge green plots a mile to the west of me. I think he relocated there, and spent the primary rut in that area because they are plenty of does to chase over there. But what is very interesting is the first picture I got of him was at 10:00 AM on opening day of shotgun season. But he was clear in the middle of my farm, not on the western edge, so he wasn't actively being pushed in. I almost think he knew the shotgun pressure was starting and retreated to his safe zone. He was also walking with his tongue hanging out, clearly looking for estrous doe fawns. the 2nd rut had him on his feet. Whatever his system is, he has found one that has kept him alive so far. I will be dedicating more time and cameras to this deer in 2018 to hopefully put a few more pieces together.
This is the coolest thing about deer hunting to me still after 30+ years of hunting and having killed more deer literally than I can remember. It's amazing to me to watch and learn how these amazing animals learn and adapt to the environment for their survival. To try to get everything to come together in one singular moment in time to harvest one of these beasts is just awe inspiring to me. It doesn't matter to me if that one moment is a kill or a fantastic photograph either. I'd be as proud of a professional quality pic from a tree stand as sliding an arrow through one. Ok, well maybe a smidge prouder of the arrow, lol. (The pic would be cheaper than a mount though)
Two things... get that other side.(we are shed teammates) and kill him next year so we can finally see this buck! Sent from my SM-N920P using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
Checked a few cameras over the past few days. 2018 is looking bright! My number 1 target for 2018 will be a 4 year old I call Dizzy. I have confirmed he survived and was alive and well as of 01/20. He will be my biggest ever if I can make it happen. The good/bad news is he is on my best farm, so there will be a lot of really nice bucks that will walk this year...It's Dizzy or nothing with my bow tag. Here are a few other bucks on the farm where he lives. Roman was a 6x6 in 2016, and a 6x5 in 2017. He is definitely on the downhill side. Oldest deer on the farm. i figured him8+ in 2017. I was hunting him in late season but took another old buck instead.
Jerry... was a 4 year old in 2017. Funky looking rack with a lot of mass. Was another deer I was hunting in late season. Only so many of these Older genetically inferior deer I can take out per year.
The back 40 buck. THIS buck has superstar potential. 3 years old in 2017. I have both sheds from 2016 as a 2 year old 5x4 . put on 35-40" as a 6x5 in 2017. He will be a booner 4 year old this year...but he will still get a pass.
