So unfortunately my season is over however, I have an interesting question to see what y'all think. I posted this pic of the giant I was hunting earlier. He showed up almost the day after my archery only season closed two nights in a row. Then he disappeared. I didn't get any more pictures of him until the day after the general season closed. This pic is in a different location but where I'd been getting pictures of almost all the other bucks entering the property shortly after dark. So how smart is this buck really? I know he didn't get this big being stupid but down to the day? The property is a fairly active mandarine farm. People and equipment on it all the time so I'm fairly certain the lingering odor of human is there often along with a dog, coyotes and other creatures running around. I wasn't perfect with scent control when I was hunting but I did a pretty good job. I'd been getting pictures of other bucks for the past month entering in this location. And they weren't just young spikes, at least 3-4 year olds I would think are "educated" bucks. But is this guy smart enough to know the day the season closes? I find that a bit hard to believe but like I said, he didn't get this big being dumb. Was it smarts or luck he waited? When I hunted this spot, I sat about 10 yards into the trees. I sat there about 6-8 times and did nothing different from sit #1 to Sit #8. Other bucks walked by just as this guy did throughout the season and there were some older bucks too. So was it luck or education? What do you guys think?
Couple years ago had all activity on my camera in front of my bow stand stop 3 days before the Rifle season. The two biggest bucks were back about 8 hours after that rifle season closed. Coincidence maybe.
Crazy! I figured when I hadn't seen him for a month, he'd moved onto another area but then the day after the season is over he shows up. IDK I'm just baffled kind of. I'd like to chalk it up to coincidence or luck but just can't believe, or don't want to, his luck was that good. I'm hoping to be able to put up a tree stand somewhere near that spot next year which will hopefully help me out. This is the frustrating side of deer hunting I'm trying to learn to deal with! Haha!
There was probably some underlying reason he wasn't showing up during that time frame. It is kind of strange. Some are just wearier than others. The deer I posted about missing earlier today was missed during rifle season by 2 of my dads friends 3 days apart out of the same stand and came out at the same time post rut. First time I hunted him this year(bow) he presented a shot. He is also a 5 yo deer, how he managed to get that old as patternable as he has been and as much as he likes to move during the day I have no idea. I have another really nice buck that shows up on camera up until rifle season kicks in and then goes into hiding until February and he shows back up. I think he is more or less leaving during the rut and living on us during the spring/summer/early fall though. They are interesting creatures for sure.
No kidding! I know deer move, bucks especially, during the rut so if it were that time, I could understand more I guess. I just don't see how this guy is so lucky, or smart, to show up on 9/18, 9/19 and then not until 10/30. I'm leaving my camera out there to see if he starts to consistently return or it was just another one of his "walkthroughs" so to speak. If he doesn't show up again for 3 or 4 weeks, I'll have a better idea it was just one of his walk around days, but if he starts showing up more regularly now, I think I'll give him more credit for knowing what was going on. The only thing I'm certain of is next year I'm gonna try to have a better plan in place and try to get off the ground in a tree. There's a good size oak tree just on the other side of the fence separating the property I can hunt from the neighbor. I'm 99.9% sure those people don't hunt and I think if I ask nice they might just let me put a tree stand in it, and maybe a camera over there to get a better idea where these bucks are coming from.
Could also be a possible food source change that starts dropping middle of sept and is out by end of October? Any other Ag in the area? I know for us our Persimmons start dropping anywhere from end of september to now depending on weather and our deer definitely change their pattern for those 3-5 weeks
6-8 times.... "Insanity Is Doing the Same Thing Over and Over Again and Expecting Different Results... " LOL.. j/k. I am with the man...who knows why they do what they do
I've been after a buck for 4 years. I've only got ONE daytime pic of him.... Till last week, now he's moving all hours of the day.
What's so odd about that, seasons are clearly posted on each state's DNR website. Everyone has wifi these days. Duh.
I hear ya but when you've only got 20 acres and basically one place you see bucks, kinda gotta sit there and just keep your fingers crossed!!! I figured at least one day one of them would walk in with just enough light left.... but sadly no.
There is AG all over the place but that area is known for the mandarines primarily. The property does have a few persimmon trees but they weren't falling yet. There isn't any corn or alfalfa type AG though. I know the deer love persimmons and was hoping some would hit the ground but they didn't ripen as soon as I was hoping they would. And even if they had, the farmer would probably have been picking them to sell so not sure how much it would have helped. Although the ripe scent could have helped even if they weren't on the ground. This is the first year I've hunted this property. If nothing else, I've learned a lot more about what the deer do and where they are. And if I get lucky enough, there's a giant out there. And a few more pretty nice bucks that will be bigger next year.
Last summer I had a very distinctive buck close by all summer and fall up until the last week of Oct. Then he disappeared. He was shot almost 3 miles away, in another town, in late Nov. This is in a suburban setting where deer don't tend to stray as far as they do in more open areas. If there is some rhyme or reason to it, I ain't figured it out yet!
