Tell me about a buck(s) that is a known target for you this coming season. Give us all the details, (ex. sheds, cam pics, history etc). I have a couple I wouldn't mind running into if they are still around this fall. Can't wait to get into shedding and summer glassing to see what I am working with!
Hope he makes till this season. There is not alot to tell about him. I was on him 3 days in a row. He never did come out in same spot. He acted as if it was his home area. The way that he was moving from spot to spot. I hope he is still around.
I just want to see more deer. period. I do have a couple bucks on my radar, but I don't really know what they look like, cept ones a 160 plus class 8 point I know for sure.
As far as I know, none of these bucks were killed by hunters. They are spread out over a couple of different properties. Who knows if they will all make it through winter............ The "Mean" 7. I don't know why, but he just looks mean to me. This guy doesn't look that old, but I'm 99.9% sure he's 2.5 in this pic. I've got video of him from the 2008/2009 season sparring with another buck under my tree and a couple hundred pics of him too. Don't know if he will ever be a "shooter", but he's gonna be a 3.5 next year. I'm not sure if this is the same buck as the first pics, the body looks younger on this deer.......I'm guessing he's gonna be 3.5 next year. I have no idea what deer this is, could be one of the others I've got pics of. Looks like he's 3.5 years here. This SOB is awfully lucky. I had him under 60 yards on 2 occasions last year. I'm pretty sure I've got one of his primary bedding areas pinned. I hope he makes it till next year because he will be a true slammer for PA. This one is the buck that Rob watched for several minutes at 10 yards broadside while he ate acorns this year, and decided not to shoot at him....... I probably would have let the air outta this one........I'm guessing he's 3.5 in this pic. Definite shooter next year and I know exactly where he's bedding. I had him under 50 yards one this year. This one looks like a really nice 2.5 in this pic, one of the other bucks Rob had under him that morning and didn't shoot. I'm really glad this buck got passed, he may be a real stud next year. I've got one more 115" buck that Dan saw at 30 yards this year (bow on the ground ) and that Rob, Dan, and I watched tending a doe after dark this year. No pics of him but I had him pretty close this year too. Beautiful tall 17" inch wide perfect 8 pointer. The "Wide" 8. This guy is #1 on my hit list next year. I wish I could tell a story about how I managed to get close to him, but fact is, he seemed to completely vanish this past season. No one that I know got him, I really hope to have an encounter with this guy next year, I have no idea how old he is. And finally, the "Tall" 8. Same story as the guy above. Dan saw him several times this year but just before the rut, he completely disappeared. Hopefully he surfaces next year.
He was on my radar 2 years in a row now, and i figured id have a better chance with him then FD...but he never made an appearance... Absolute monster of a whitetail. Rack, body...the whole 9 yards.
This guy is right where he has been 2 seasons in a row. Maybe next season. He is definately "one" of my targets.
Mr Mass Jr The Michigan Bull(named by Jim) This guy did not make!!! I think he would have been a studd
Got him through the spotting scope out shed hunting. I hunted this 80 acre property all season and ran trail cams. I've only seen him this one time. I really hope to get his shed once some snow melts.
As usual, I don't have any tangible evidence to use in targetting a specific buck. I am trying the shed hunting thing out this year and I hope to score in some key areas once the snow melts. Also, I am trying to locate specific buck beds. That is about as good as I can do because I cannot use trail cams and summer scouting pretty much does not exist due to lack of crop fields, and from restricted access on the military base. Good luck guys! So far I am going on some evidence of a buck I have nicknamed "The Grinder" in honor of the trees he grinds up. I have found large rubs, scrapes, and a potential bed. KILL
This is my main target: I would also like to find this guy: I would like a better picture of this guy, but he looks like he could be a good one:
Hoss eluded me all season. As of now I have no reason to believe he's dead. I found his 4.5 year old set of sheds last shed season. Got several night time pix of him at 5.5 after that this past 09 summer. Hes gonna be a 6.5 year old buck if he's around he will show up in July/August at a mineral lick he likes and has frequented the last two summers. A-Frame definately made it, got pix of him passing by one of my stands after season was over. Haven't found any of his sheds yet, but have seen him a couple times total on the hoof in the daylight last year. Hes gonna be 5.5 next year. Split 6, a buck I really like for a 3.5 year old, he's gonna be a real nice 4.5 this fall. Pix of the three mountain bucks I will definately target next season.. Hoss will be 6.5, A-frame will be 5.5 and Split 6 will be 4.5,.. I am sure I will find 1 or 2 more bucks to target after I start shed hunting hard real soon and scouting later this summer.
I was almost done talking about this guy, one more time won't hurt I guess. Here's a short version of one hell of a long story. I wounded this buck on October 19th of 2009. Had him at 10 yards and hit him a tad high. Took him about 500 yards the next day and ran out of blood which there wasn't much of to begin with. 4 more times I saw this guy through out the deer season. The 2nd sighting was from the same exact tree I wounded him In. I had him at 8 yards for 20 minutes but ran out of shooting light. I could still see the outline of his shoulder pretty good when he 1st came In but was hesitant on taking the shot. Was It still legal shooting hours? I'm pretty sure It was but I already screwed up on him once (Oct 19th) and didn't want to do It again so I sat there and watched him for a good 15 minutes feeding right In front of me at 10 yards. The 3rd sighting was allot the same In a way. He came In right at that time where you say to yourself, SOB It's almost too late!! This time he was hot on a doe's tail and came trotting by at 18 yards. Normally I'll take a shot at a deer on a slow trot but this time I passed knowing that there was allot of under brush and there could be a chance my arrow could hit one of them being light was fading and I couldn't see the under brush as good. I could see his body plain as day but elected to pass again on the shot because of low light and under brush. The 4th sighting was a very frustrating one. Once again just before legal shooting time ends I hear something coming from the west so I got ready (ready as one can be with a recurve anyway). I only have two small 10 Inch holes to shoot through from this particular stand I put up just a few days ago setting up on this buck. This stand Is In some very thick stuff. When he finally came through my small holes at 12 yards I didn't realize It was him until his head and rack was almost through. By the time I got pulled back all I had was liver and guts to shoot at. If I knew for sure that It was him coming I could've been a little more prepared but there's no way possible to pull a 62lb recurve back and hold It like a compound and wait. This expierence really stung me. The 5th and final sighting. It was December 18th and I had just set up a new stand on the complete opposite side of the 120 acre woods I've been hunting this buck In. I hadn't saw him for damn near a month so I figured I'd try an old bedding area that has held mature bucks before and sure enough my 1st sit there proved my thinking right. This time he came out a good hour before dark 70 yards away checking a doe which didn't Interest him none so he then made his way towards me being I had 5 other doe's and fawn's at 10 to 15 yards. At the time the doe's and fawn's that were In front of me had no fear what so ever. They were all down wind of me and I was shocked they hadn't smelled me. Well, you guessed It. They decided they wanted to finally smell me after being In front of me down wind for 20 minutes. My buck gets with In 30 yards at stops broadside looking at the body language of the doe's. He knew something was up and stood there watching. I could see where my arrow hit plain as day the evening I wounded him. Honestly It didn't look to be that bad of a shot. Yes It was a little high but I honestly think I hit the shoulder blade and didn't penetrate through It. This bugs me like you won't believe, this buck should've been dead as far as I'm concerned. Anyways I watched him take off with the doe's and fawns when they decided they had enough of my scent. 30 yards Is too far for me and my recurve so I had no problem letting him go In the least. What pissed me off the most that evening was where I saw the wound. As far as I'm concerned I should be looking up at the wall at him right now. I switched to a bigger Snuffer In 2009 then what I've normally shot the last 14 years. I believe that switch might of cost me a 150 Inch buck. One will never know for sure I guess unless I can get this buck this year. God I hope so!!! I guess this wasn't a short version. To answer your question Scott, this guy Is my targeted buck as he was last year after getting my 1st pics of him on October 11th. Wish me luck!!!! My very 1st pics of him on a mock scrape. Look for the black circle. I was planning on hunting this stand this evening (Dec 5th) but the g/f reminded me an hour or so before noon that day that we had to do the Christmas thing which I completely had forgotten about. I wish she would've forgotten about It too. I sure was bummed when I checked my trail cam. These last few pics here are the last ones I've gotten of him. I just pulled all of my trail cams on Friday and put them away till July or so.
