Hunting 1 buck is the hardest of all hunts. I have faith you have the patience. Just remember him Everytime you see a smaller buck. You got this Sent from my Pixel 6 using Tapatalk
I will amend my earlier post to say, I wouldn't consider an all day sit. Then again I don't do them in the rut either. Not in one spot. I'd still be there at least during the times he's consistently there.
I’m curious about something. What dates was he on camera at 1:30 and 9:50? I want to check something out.
The first video I got of him was on 8/21 at 1:03am, then the second video I got was on 8/27 at 9:50am. These videos were from two different cams about 60 yards apart. Not aligned with each other, but pretty close distance wise. He's traveling the same route, but in opposite directions. The videos being almost a whole week apart lead me to believe he's not just passing through. I'll check my cams again on Sunday. I check them every seven days. The first night he went past both cams 3 minutes apart. I've only had that happen once before, many years ago. The odds of that aren't real good.
I asked because I was wondering what the moon phase was when he showed up. Not sure where you are, but I plugged in Reading, PA which is in the SE of the state. Your info shows SE PA. It shouldn’t matter much timewise if you’re in that general part of the state. On the 21st the moon overhead period was from 1:29 am to 3:29 am. You got video at 1:03 am, very close to the moon overhead prime movement period. On the 28th the moon overhead period was 7:46 am to 9:46 am. You got video at 9:50 am, right at the tail end of the moon overhead prime movement period. So, when does your season open?
Just saw that your season opens on 21 September. The moon overhead periods for the 21st through the 26th are as follows: 21st: 2:45 am - 4:45 am 22nd: 3:42 am - 4.42 am 23rd: 4:41 am - 6:41 am 24th: 5:39 am - 6:39 am 25th: 6:37 am - 8:37 am 26th: 7:56 am - 9:56 am I know a lot of folks think hunting the moon is silly, but I swear by it. If I were after this buck I would probably wait until the 24th and 25th to hunt that spot. If he’s on a pattern that takes him through that location during the moon overhead period I’d stay out until you can be there for the entire period. To answer your original question, you could sit all day those days but I think you’d be wasting effort. The 24th and 25th are fantastic days where the moon is overhead at prime time in the morning and it’s underfoot at prime time in the evening. I usually only do all day sits on a full moon or new moon during the rut.
That's interesting. I hunt Delaware county. Our season, in Special Regs WMU 5-D opens Sept. 21st. I actually hadn't considered the Moon phase, because frankly, I don't follow that too much. I do like a New Moon/no Moon for entering the woods when I do dark to dark hunts though. Thanks for posting the charts.
No problem. The moon phase is one thing. Moon underfoot and moon overhead times is what influences the times I hunt on any given day and that is primarily what I was getting at.
That buck showed up for a third time on 9/4 at 5:09pm. He has come through at three very different times (1:00am/9:50am/5:09pm) over a three week period, making me scratch my head. This at least tells me for sure he's not just passing through. The sporatic times are what really puzzle me though. Also, in two of the videos he's spending a good bit of time rubbing his preorbital glands on branches. Neat to watch.
Weather permitting, I'm going to make it a point to hunt those two days specifically. I never hunt opening day anyway. If I am lucky enough to even see him on either of those two days, I'll consider moon phase much more seriously going forward.
Man, it sounds like you got a shot at that buck before the rut!If he's already showing up at 9:50 am, it’s worth considering some early hunts, I’d focus on exactly where he’s headed.Maybe scout his paths a bit earlier.And with public land, you know competition could be tough, so I'd say don’t wait too long.Might be worth a few hunts before the rut kicks in, 'cause he could change his pattern later.
