One elusive buck....

During the summer of 2007 I got one trail camera photo of what looked to be a pretty nice 10 pointer in velvet, entering a woodlot where I had my CamTrakker at the time. Even though I ran several cameras for the rest of the season and my dad did as well, we never got another shot of this buck. He simply disappeared off the radar.

I looked over this photo a hundred times and couldn't help thinking that this particular buck was definitely spooked by the flash of the camera, and thus was avoiding any trace of our scent or of anything he saw on a tree that looked unfamiliar. At the time I questioned my sanity, but the thought still nagged at me.

Here is the photo of him from 2007.



Fast forward to summer 2008 and I have a new Moultrie I40 IR camera out about 150 yards from where my CamTrakker was at the year before. Low and behold I get two pictures of the same buck, and he's definitely not happy about the camera. In the first photo he sees the red glow of the IR emitters I'm sure. In the next photo he's perked up and ready to get the hell out of there. And as you guessed, there is no third picture. Not a trace of him after these two photos.

First



Second



I'm convinced this old boy is avoiding the areas where my cameras are, and is super freaked out by them. I can read it in his posture in all three photos. He's definitely around the area, and I may catch another photo of him on a scrape during the heat of the pre-rut but even then it's a long shot.

I'd like to be able to pinpoint him down and possible get a look or a shot at him sometime this fall. For now he's the best buck I know of on the property, so he's the one I'm gunning for. He's definitely mature judging from his body size, and like most of the bucks in this area seemed to top out around the mid-140 mark. If you looka at the curvature in his beams there's no doubt it's the same buck, despite the fact that his rack looks identical to last year.

 

Looks like the same buck. Good luck Justin. He's a dandy in my book.

 

Thats a really nice looking buck. Good luck.

 

That buck is a dandy. Good luck tagging him.

I had a similar experience. I caught the biggest buck I have ever gotten a picture of, this summer, and he was obviously mature. The camera was on 3 pic burst mode (It's an I40 as well)

1st Pic: He is standing broadside, feeding.
2nd Pic: He is staring directly into the camera and looks tense.
3rd Pic: He is turning and walking away.

I haven't seen him or gotten a picture of him since

 

Nice buck for sure!