So I get a call today during lunch 10 minutes ago from my dad. He said both he and my uncle saw the biggest buck either of them have seen in PA in their lives...twice. Once at 8AM, and my dad just saw him at 11:30AM, both in the same spot and heading in a specific direction. Excuse some of the markings on here as it's an older map and I don't want to take the time to make a new one. The red marker is where we was spotted both times (that's my uncle's house/yard). Both times he was heading up to the W/NW. It's a STEEP and thick ridge. I have a stand NW of the red dot up top near that inside corner back in about 60yds that I haven't set foot in this season, but it's never been a great buck stand (have seen doe from it, and shot two from there). I also have a stand on the inside corner of that finger splitting the two corn fields (hunted that last evening to no avail but has a decent buck checking a mock scrape I have in that finger of woods). The doe bedding to the SE of the red marker is the one I was referencing in my post earlier yesterday and that is where I shot my buck last year. The doe that frequent that were all still with their fawns two days ago. They tend to feed in the food plot (marked in orange) in the evenings. Now, I want to strike while the potential of this guy being in the area is good. He's not living here because from the description of him, I don't have pictures on any cams. I have a SSW wind forecasted tonight so either spot on the map is usable. My plan of attack before the phone call was to hunt the NE corner of the plot in hopes of catching an early seeker coming in off the property line to the East. Now I'm not so sure. Granted, this is all a guessing game, but having a second, third, fourth, and fifth opinion sometimes helps:D Thoughts?
That doesn't really prove that he is not living there ... he may not travel where your cams are ..or am I thinking wrong?
Not you're not thinking wrong. I only cover 90 acres, but do so with 6-7 cams from spring until late winter. I NEVER get pictures of bucks on cam until November. Some in April-May at mineral stations but ALWAYS on the cams that are along our borders. There's other anecdotal observations I'm made throughout the past few seasons that lead me to believe I don't have any mature bucks LIVING on the property. They may be on the fringes (and likely are), but nothing holding consistently all year long. I haven't seen any of the pictures yet (my uncle got a few this morning but his camera is terrible, so we'll see), but if I had to guess, it may be this fella one year older:D
Regardless - we have had our best luck killing mature bucks within days of actual sightings, especially multiple sightings. You need to hunt him hard today/tomorrow/etc...he will be in that area still. I like to get as close to the actual sightings as you can as he's proven he is OK with traveling that ground - only thing to worry about at that point is wind direction. Good Luck! You cannot beat actual daylight sightings such as this - night time camera pics really mean nothing to me...
Unfortunately work and weather will prevent hunting all of the time in the next few days, but I can hunt this evening, tomorrow evening (if the storms hold off), and I'm definitely going in that doe bedding area Saturday morning). Tonight I'm just so unsure. It's either the NE corner of that food plot or the inside corner of the standing corn.
Wish I could. Don't have a job that allows vacation time outside of our summers really. Tonight is my best shot imho. I honestly think I have to just pick and hope for the best. Luck of the draw right now.
If he is moving back and forth from that bedding area to the corn field then you might be better off targeting him while he is on the way to the corn field so you you have a shot at him during shooting hours. If he is traveling the same trail use that to your advantage.
I'd be near the corn. Does will likely be coming to feed there this evening, maybe he'll be in tow. (Of course, as a disclaimer you must know that whatever I decide to do when I hunt is usually always the wrong choice. So take my advice accordingly LOL :D ) Just be out there somewhere for sure, you never know where or when he might show.
I'd be just inside that little hump s of the "c" in corn. In the timber 30 yards or so. But what do I know. Never hunted near a cornfield before
hunt the wind and the does. He's gonna be after them hard here the next few days and you need to be out there asap. Let us know how it turns out.
Pretty excited now. Came home from work, went over to the parents, and my dad proceeded to show me pictures of this guy 10 yds from the house and at times only 30 yds from where I'm sitting tomorrow AM in that doe bedding area (this runs right down into just above their yard) This was at noon! He and two other bucks were chasing a doe (one of the ones in the bedding area) for 20 minutes. I have a mock scrape in the bedding area and will try a drag rag in the AM. Wish me luck!
Looks good man, I'd definitely try to hit it hard this weekend. I had a nice buck I saw twice during the week of shotgun season last year. Bith tines he was out of range and I didn't go the first day of gun season at all. He was shot on that Saturday, 2nd day of gun, not 100 yards from where I spotted him twice. Getting pics is one thing but after that experience actually putting eyes on is when you need to really go after them. Good luck.
