Hunting Forum

        Ok, here is the story. 3 years ago when I first started deer hunting (I had to teach myself to hunt because my uncle who got me into hunting was diagonosed with muscular distrophy. That is why I have limited experience. ANYWAY) Me and my friend were sittin in my blind. Waited untill 9 am and we didn't see anything. I told him to get out and check the corn to see if any deer have been eating at my corn pile.

  And wouldn't ya know, about 30 seconds after he gets out, a very nice 8 point buck walks right up behind me. As he starts to come around, he spots my friend and takes off.


I never saw him again that season. Not even on trail camera. I had figured someone else shot him.


3 years later.........

    
 This season, I talked to another hunter that hunts a property close to mine, and he said he got a trail cam photo of a extreamly nice 12 pointer. And I started to wonder, so I hit bow season hard. And there he was, that 8 point lives and now is a 12 point. Sadly, he was well out of bow range. And once again, he has dissapeared. I havent seen him anywhere. And I still can't get  him on my trail cam.

Im stumped. Any tips are welcome.

 

 

PATIENCE. Put your time in the woods. Before, after and during the season. Learn your woods. There are other more knowledgable individuals around here that will give you a ton of advise.

I have spent countless hours in these woods. As far as scouting is concerned, this is what I have found. It is only a 10 acre tract of land that I can hunt. but there is a 150 acre field on one side and 100 acres of woods across the road on the other side. The deer travel from the field to my land, Bed down in a large patch of thickets near my blind, then move into the woods.

This buck has no routine. He does have a couple of scrape areas, but again, he rarely goes there.

Oh, and for some reason, using scents doesn't work. Or any calls for that matter. Including ratteling, grunting, and bleating.

Im stumped.



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Maybe it's your blind? They have possibly associated it with danger? Using good scent control and keeping downwind? Can you get up into a tree? They may be skipping right by you and you aren't seeing them from the ground. What time are they bedding? You may be too close to their bedding and bumping them when you enter? Keep in mind, deer are patterning you also, especially on a small tract of land.

Ok. Mabey it is my blind. I try not to over hunt it. And as far as I know, I have never spooked this buck while I have been in my blind.

I am a strong beliver is scent cover. From the bottem of my boots to my face cover. I use scent-away if it matters.

I don't beleve they are getting by me without me noticing. Although, i will admit, I did fall asleep a couple of times.

They bed down late evening. Around 6:30. Way too dark to shoot.

My blind is about 100 yds away from their bedding area. And I have made a quiet walking trail to and from my blind.
And I have been killing deer out of this blind this year. When I do, ill wait 2 weeks before I hunt it again.

I will defenatly try moving spots. I dont think I will put up a stand this season. I dont want to risk disturbing them.
Next season I will.

Keep the tips comming. They are helping.

You said that this particular buck doesn't have a pattern; but he does. You just haven't figured it out yet. Trail cams will help but also remember that bucks don't follow the same patterns during the rut that they follow prior to and after the rut. Instead of setting up where you've been, set up on the trails leading to and from the big agricultural field to your place, and make sure you're in the stand way before you expect the deer to move. You should also try sitting during the middle of the day.

plus, there's no magic formula or everyone would have huge trophies on their walls. Yes, research, scouting, and MORE scouting, patterning etc all increase your chances. But no matter what "anyone" (not intended toward anyone here or in specifics!) tells you, a LARGE part of it is simply being in the right place at the right time.

If it's a 12, then it's likely 4-5. They don't get that old by being predicatable and stupid.

They are bedding at night? That's usually the time they feel safe to come out of bedding and head for the fields. They may be using your brambles as more of a staging area before they head out to the fields. Set up next to the field in the evening.
I have a climber stand, I guess that is what I was thinking when I mentioned getting up in a tree. I use it to pattern deer movement. If you can stay up there all day, you will see their movements and can then plan an ambush strategy. This is how I've gotten my 3 deer this year season. I'm hoping for something nice during late archery.

Thanks for the info guys. Next time I hunt there, I will move closer to another deer trail that has been active. Mabey since the NC rut is going now mabey he has started using that trail. Im gona hit it hard the next few days and see their movement. If I somehow get him Ill put a pic on this forum.

Keep it comming. Yall are teaching this noob some good stuff.

It's all a matter of chance. I'd been seeing a big buck on my trail camera for about the last month and a half, but he would only show up at night between about 8 in the evening and before 5 in the morning, and even then he would only get his picture taken about every four to five days. He finally came by this morning about 7:45am.

My first question is how can you be sure that this 12 pointer is the same deer as the 8 pointer that you saw 3 years ago, does it have some distinguishing markings that sets it apart from others?

Next lets talk about those scrapes, and the rut in general. Did you know that there are several phases to the rut?

The scraping phase is the territorial phase, the bucks are claiming their territory's. They call them rut lines, but they're actually more of a circle. Scrapes trails are affected by weather. Here in Northern Minnesota when we have a chilly Fall, scrapes are very abundant, you'll find them everywhere you go. If we have a warm Fall the absence of scrapes would lead one to believe that there are no bucks around, but they are.

Following the territorial phase comes the first round of the breeding phase of the rut. It is triggered by a phenomena know as photoperiodism, which is just a fancy way of saying daylight to darkness ratio. Photoperiodism triggers many reactions in nature concerning plants and animals.

Once the breeding phase starts, scrape trails are pretty much abandoned, but it's not necessarily time to give up on them, I'll get into that later. I don't know if the lack of scrape activity in your area is weather related, or rut phase related (breeding) only you can determine that.

Now lets talk about your set up on that field. I've said this many times in this forum. The wind can be your best friend, or your worst enemy. As your making your plans I would suggest that you pick out a few "stand sites" so you will be able to best take advantage of the varying wind directions. If your expecting the deer to come from a down wind direction, it's a bet you'll lose an overwhelming amount of times. Try to set yourself up in a spot where the deer will not scent you as they approach.

Before I get back to those scrape trails, lets address the breeding phase again. I mentioned the first phase, which is also known as the primary phase. Study's here in Minnesota have shown that 85 to 90 percent of does are successfully bred during the primary phase of breeding, which only lasts for about 7 to 10 days. Those not bred in the primary phase will go into estrous again roughly 28 days later, those still not bred in this supplemental phase will again go into estrous in roughly another 28 days.

Okay, now back to those scrapes. Remember that a scrape trail encompasses a bucks territory. After the primary phase of breeding, whenever there is a weather event, bucks take to their scrape trails,tho they seldom refresh them.They're searching for does that were not bred in the primary phase of breeding. For example, we just received about an inch of snow today, I have no dout that I'll find the fresh tracks of the dominant buck in my home area following his scrape trail within the next 24 to 48 hours, depending on the winds, and how big his territory is. This is a phenomena I read about, and have been observing for almost two decades now, so depending on how long your season lasts, it may not be time to give up on those scrapes just yet.

I hope this info helps you out, and good luck

As a caveat to what I've said above, bare in mind that none of it is a 100% certainty. Studies here in Northern Minnesota have shown that most does go into estrous in early to mid November, but one doe in one study went into estrous in late August. I don't know the dates that deer breed in your region, but if you learn them, I have no doubt that what I've said above will hold true throughout those dates in your area.
 

 

Thanks. And as you said, he scraped a moderate amount during preseason and early bow season. But when the first rut came in, he acted like he didn't know what a tree was.

And you mentioned earlier, asking weather I know if its the same buck or not, is a good question. The only trait that both of my sightings had in common was a really white rack. Almost bright white if you will. And I really haven't seen any other deer that could have grown that big in the area. (I live right down the road from my blind.)

But he may very well be a different buck. Either way, there is a huge buck running in those woods.

Now as far as the rut goes, I am pretty sure that the local rut came it at about October 26. I saw quite a few bucks running does, and running in front of cars around that time. And now that you mention it, that is around the time they quit scraping.

Thanks for the stats. Very very helpful.

And as a side note, if it makes a difference, both times I have seen this buck, it was around 9:00 am. So I know he can move late if wants to.

I am in ocean city Maryland right now and I will be getting back late tomorrow. So I will let you guys what I see.

Thanks for all the help guys. And if anybody wants to put in their .02c go ahead. Keep it coming.

I saw 8 different bucks this year while bowhunting. I did not get one on camera, even months before? We had very few scrapes and very few rubs? If I went on the info from the land and camera's, I probably wouldn't even want to enter the woods? But, time in the woods is the key to success.

"Thanks. And as you said, he scraped a moderate amount during preseason and early bow season. But when the first rut came in, he acted like he didn't know what a tree was"

I think we may be having a little communication issue. When I refer to a scrape, I'm referring to a "ground" scrape. You seem to be referring to what I call a "Rub", which bucks do to tree's.

Not to be misunderstood, both are territorial phase rut activity's, but are different things. Quite often you'll find scrapes, and rubs together in close proximity, but not always. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that rubs and scrapes are territorial markers, bucks make them to warn other bucks to stay away, and tend to make them in places where other bucks will find them. My point being that when your hunting scrapes and rubs, your hunting areas that bucks frequently visit. The chances of seeing a buck are at least theoretically increased, even if it's not the buck that made the initial scrape or rub.

Thanks foe the correction. I do know the difference between a scrape and a rub. I just use the terms interchangeably. And I have found both on my property. One scrape was so fresh I could still smell the urine. And right next to it, he rubbed half the bark off a cedar tree.

Here is an update to the situation. I found another game trail a little farther into my hunting land. And not far away from it was a large rub site. It was very fresh too. Which is great, for one simple reason, this buck will always rub the same 3 trees, the same way. Last season is when I first saw him rub on the ceders, but as soon as mid-october he quit rubbing.

So, now I know where he is moving this season, I put doe urin about 10' away from his rub and, in turn, the game trail. Then I put a trail cam in a great spot so it can take pics of anything that uses that trail, and any deer that check out the scent wick. I just hope tonights rain dosen't mess up my set up.

Anyway, I plan on posting any trail pics of him, and I am trying to get him on video. My friend and I are going to put out some youtube videos with us hunting deer, turkey, squirrels, and mabey coyote. Check out our first episode.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKt0WLWz6cQ

I know its a little rough, but we had to make use of what we had.

You may be pleasantly surprised to find multiple bucks using a scrape. A cpl years ago, I got trail cam pics of 6 different bucks working a single scrape, but there was one particular medium sized 8 pt that would come to the scrape after every one of the other bucks came by. It was almost like he was saying "Oh heck no, that is MY scrape!"