No doubt it would mean more to me to kill a buck I have history with than one I don't...even if the buck I know has much less bone on its head.
Well the 2.5 yr old five point i killed last year we believed was a three pointer the year before which i past on several times as well as my brother.
doesn't mean too much to me either way...never am I sitting a hunt for 1 particular buck. ...but those bucks that we do know somewhat...I love the "lore" of the ol' biggin around the camp fire
I here you Scott, Id lover to kill a slamer thaty i have History with. matter of fact, the biggest set of sheds i found last year I do have history with that buck. close but not close enough. I think I have a good chance with him this season.
Two words... "Freak Daddy" Ive been building a history for 3 years now, some good, some bad. Sometimes i wonder if it has effected my "morals" a little too much. Either way its been fun and its not over yet. Season 3 starts in 5 days.
I like history with bucks, It just don't happen around here all too often being not many live to 4.5 years old or I just suck as a deer hunter. 2 years ago I saw the biggest 2.5 year old I've ever saw In my woods, twice I had him at 12 yards. I figured he'd score about 110" tops. Last year as a 3.5 year old I saw him again the 2nd hunt of the year but passed on him again. I wasn't very happy at all with what he put on from the last year. He was lucky If he made 125". I figured he'd easily be a 130 to 140 Inch buck at 3.5 years old being he was so nice as a 2.5 year old. I've been using trail camera's for 3 years, I've never gotten a picture of this buck. What will he be like this year as a 4.5 year old? Shall be Interesting, hope I see him.
i love to have seen the deer at least once... helps me get a handle on what is out there and which one im going after each yr. if i see a deer for the first time it kinda takes me by surprise and im more reluctant to shoot.
I don't use trail cameras and I hunt in areas without high deer numbers so I have little opportunity to build a history with deer. The only experience I have in this area would involve moving a stand to where I saw deer moving. Then it was shoot at the first opportunity. I killed the saw doe I saw the day before so it was a short history!
I have history with a few deer now, and each time they may both die of old age before I kill them:p I hunted a nice 8 for 2003,2004, and 2005 I called him the log splitter buck. I almost shot him in 2003 2 times that season. In Dec and it was cold that day, he was about 30 yds out heading my way, when Dad cranked up the log splitter about 300 yds behind me. After gun season he as a bit jitter, so he went the opposite way. In 2004 I had him at 7 yds Nov 14th, but I never got a good shot, I watch him walk away never to see him again I think. I may have saw him in 2007, but just not sure and not on our farm. Having history with a buck is just like having history with an old girlfriend. You think about the great moments and they make you smile. Then you think about the times she frustrated you to the point of breaking and it makes you want to cry. Besides MR. Mass there is a buck I call Sprout. He appeared to be a 2.5 11 point I had by me for 15-20 mins on Oct 24th last year. I think he made it, but I have yet to see him. Histroy with a buck makes a season exciting, but I also like to see who else is there. In 2005 I shot a big 8 and 10 I had never seen before, I was ok with that for sure
Wanna hear some history. In 2003 I was hunting a small 130 acre farm near my current home.. that year I saw 1 particular fork about 12 times that season.. even had him almost run me over while I was ground hunting that year. Always came out of the same willow thicket on the edge of a swamp. Like clock-work. The following year I set a stand 30 yards away from that thicket.. who showed up the first day of 2004.. you guessed it.. the forky.. only now at 2 years.. had the same characteristic wide head and HUGE throat-patch.. but now a better rack... 8 pointer.. decently wide.. right antler slightly better than the left.. short tines... still had the biggest bull of a head. He walked directly underneath my stand that day... and slowly fed in the direction of first year bowhunter (at the time) DrAndy. Andy shot him of course.. but hit him way back and very low. Never found him despite much effort. Assumed dead. 2005.. never saw him.. forgot about his very existence. Late November of 2006.. hunting a scrape line in a fencerow.. killed him.. didn't even know it was him til I got the mount back 16 months later. The first day on the wall I recognized him.. right side still slightly bigger than left.. short tines.. great width now.. big ole bull head.. and ghost white throat-patch. Now how bout that.. Andy shot him in 04'.. I killed him in 06'... he now hangs on my wall today.
This is something I've been working on for the past few years. The combination of running trail cameras, putting in food plots, and passing on young bucks has given me a sense of accomplishment over the past few years. Last year we had three or four bucks on our property that we were really gunning for and we had several trail cam pics of them all. I was fortunate enough to take the third biggest buck during last years archery season. That buck really meant alot to me, he would have without the history as well, but this made it very personal. After you watch a deer develope and even naming him, harvesting that deer was one of the most enjoyable hunting experiences I have ever had. I have really enjoyed watching these deer grow and become healthier deer because of the additional food sources and better hunting strategies. I feel it adds an extra challenge to the hunt making it that much more enjoyable.
