The Firing Line Forums

Go Back   The Firing Line Forums > The Hide > The Hunt

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old November 15, 2017, 10:53 AM   #1
Bwillsonhunter4
Member
 
Join Date: May 30, 2016
Posts: 44
Big buck problems

i am having troubles with a big buck (160+). i am sittin on top of a hill on the edge of a woods overlooking a few acres of small cedar and pine trees roughly 200 yards away. i do a doe call, grunt, rattle, spay dominant buck urine, doe in estrus urine, but nothing will get him to come in any ideas? i see him down there often, i think it might be were he beds down on a regular basis.
Bwillsonhunter4 is offline  
Old November 15, 2017, 04:02 PM   #2
bamaranger
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 9, 2009
Location: North Alabama
Posts: 8,273
trophy buck

If it were easy to take a 160 pt class buck, we'd all have one. Since you have another post re bowhunting, I'm guessing your bowhunting this deer also? Otherwise, you'd have shot him at 200?

Rather than try and get this buck to come to you, can you go to him?
In other words, can you change spots and cut him off BEFORE he gets to the area you describe?

Don't rule out a ground blind, if you brush it in, and leave it for awhile. I've not had much luck with ground blinds for deer, but I've not tried it much either. It's an option if there are no trees to climb. Pay attention to the wind, hunt the deer only when wind is in your favor. I'd give him a rest anyhow, as he's bound to have detected you"re on him, and more than a bit wary.

Good luck, a 160 class buck with a bow would be the deer of a lifetime.
bamaranger is offline  
Old November 15, 2017, 08:36 PM   #3
Mobuck
Junior member
 
Join Date: February 2, 2010
Posts: 6,846
I watched a similar sized buck traipsing through and around a 3 acre brush patch a few years ago. I saw him probably 5-6 times over a 2 day period but didn't get a shot. Other bucks would enter the little thicket only to be chased away but big boy only came out while chasing does back into the thicket. I finally shot a lesser buck leaving big boy for another season.
Mobuck is offline  
Old November 15, 2017, 10:30 PM   #4
Sure Shot Mc Gee
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 2, 2012
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 3,876
Grain him in if its legal.
Sure Shot Mc Gee is offline  
Old November 18, 2017, 09:57 PM   #5
std7mag
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 23, 2013
Location: Central Taxylvania..
Posts: 3,609
Mom's apple pie? Lol
std7mag is offline  
Old November 18, 2017, 10:24 PM   #6
Ridgerunner665
Senior Member
 
Join Date: June 22, 2007
Location: Upper East Tennessee
Posts: 476
Ground blinds aren't ideal for smart bucks.... Unless you leave the blind out all year... But if you put one up and he notices it, he may well never pass that way again... Ever.

They don't get big by being stupid.

This ole boy busted me on the ground back in September... And hasn't left his bedding area since... Its on another property, a mere 200 yards away, but no hunting there... By anyone... And I reckon he knows that.

I have cameras on all trails in and out... He hasn't left that 5 acres not a single time... Has everything he needs in there, food, water, and does... I had him coming to a mineral lick on my property, took 2 years to get him on it... And 2 days for it all to go down the drain when he busted me on day 2 of archery season.


Last edited by Ridgerunner665; November 18, 2017 at 10:35 PM.
Ridgerunner665 is offline  
Old December 16, 2017, 05:27 PM   #7
reynolds357
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 10, 2012
Posts: 6,161
Hey, he had time to get big for a reason, smart.
reynolds357 is offline  
Old December 17, 2017, 07:24 AM   #8
buck460XVR
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 28, 2006
Posts: 4,341
Everytime you use a deer stand, you "contaminate" it. Regardless of how careful you are, you'll leave a bit of scent at the stand, and leading to and from it. You'll make a tad of noise when there also. So the more you use the same stand, the more contamination you leave behind and the fewer deer that will pass by it. Use the same stand over and over again during the course of the season and you'll burn it out(as I call it). While not so much during a short gun season, during a long bow season, many times if one hunts the same spot all season, by the time rut rolls around and big bucks are vulnerable, they have learned to avoid the area. If you are 200 yards from a big buck's bedding area and have been rattling horns, and spraying scents around all season, believe me, the buck knows you're there. The only hope you might have is that while chasing a doe in estrus, he blindly walks by you. While attractant scents work, they usually only work once in a spot. Spraying them on the ground or on surrounding vegetation leaves them there and attracts deer while you are not there. Refreshing that scent on another day, in the same spot, may alert a deer more than attract it.

You already know where the buck sleeps, that is half the battle. The other half is finding more than one entrance and exit to this spot that you can get to without contaminating it, and using it only when the wind is right. Rotate spots to keep the deer from patterning you and rattle/use attractant scents sparingly and only when deer are really attracted to them. Place your attractant scents in bottles you can cover or pads/cotton balls you can remove and take with you when you leave and only avoid contaminating them with your scent when using them.
buck460XVR is offline  
Old December 17, 2017, 10:41 PM   #9
reynolds357
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 10, 2012
Posts: 6,161
I use the opposite approach, I stay on the land year round. I use it heavily. I shoot very few deer there. The deer don't pay me any attention. I recently had to stop the tractor because 7 does did not want to get out of the way. Most of the deer will let me walk within 20 feet of them. They associate me with food, not with danger.
reynolds357 is offline  
Old December 18, 2017, 11:48 AM   #10
Mr. Hill
Senior Member
 
Join Date: November 21, 2015
Posts: 384
Maybe you could plant some crops that he’d like to eat so that he’ll mosey on over for a snack?
Mr. Hill is offline  
Old December 18, 2017, 02:03 PM   #11
Double Naught Spy
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 8, 2001
Location: Forestburg, Montague Cnty, TX
Posts: 12,714
He may be big for a reason, scared.
__________________
"If you look through your scope and see your shoe, aim higher." -- said to me by my 11 year old daughter before going out for hogs 8/13/2011
My Hunting Videos https://www.youtube.com/user/HornHillRange
Double Naught Spy is offline  
Old December 18, 2017, 05:03 PM   #12
Saltydog235
Senior Member
 
Join Date: October 20, 2010
Location: Pawleys Island
Posts: 1,563
Change locations to where you can intercept him going to the thicket. Find an area that’ll give you one or two shot angles on that trail. Set up on him early and quietly. Quit with the calls, rattling and scents. He’s big and old, he knows every buck and doe in the area for miles around which means he knows their scents as well. Play the wind at all times and never hunt the stand if it’s even marginal. Stick with it, no matter how frustrating, he’ll slip up one day. Taking him the first week of the season will be easier than later for sure.

Good luck, I got one like that. Even put a hole in his ear two years ago but, that’s another story.
Saltydog235 is offline  
Old December 18, 2017, 10:43 PM   #13
Whistlebritches
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 18, 2017
Location: Northwest Texas
Posts: 107
I have a place I hunt in the Panhandle of Texas that has some big bucks on it and around it.I hunt it twice a year.......Thanksgiving weekend and after Christmas before New Years.I slip in in the middle of the night and get in the stand 140 yards off the creek.I hunt it all day then I slip out after dark if I passed on all offerings.I usually tag here every other year.These bucks are old and smart,150+ class,they didn't get that way by being stupid.I could stick around for another day but I've been made by all the shooters and don't feel like recounting those young'uns that keep passing by.I meat hunt locally,deer and pigs,and reserve the panhandle place for bragging rights.My point is big bucks don't respond well to pressure at all........no calling,no rattling,only complete and total silence leaving as small of an imprint on the land as possible.
Whistlebritches is offline  
Old December 19, 2017, 01:20 AM   #14
Pathfinder45
Senior Member
 
Join Date: January 7, 2008
Posts: 3,224
On the other hand, you could just leave him be and consider him as prime breeding stock to upgrade the deer herd for the future. If he outsmarts you, just salute him and congratulate him for his victory. Remember that the game you play with him is life or death to him, but you have no skin in the game. It's OK if he wins. Take a lesser animal for your meat.
Pathfinder45 is offline  
Old December 19, 2017, 06:11 AM   #15
Danoobie
Senior Member
 
Join Date: April 27, 2017
Posts: 351
If you can find a decent tree downwind, put in a climber. Try to leave a
decoy or mannikin in your regular stand.
Danoobie is offline  
Old December 24, 2017, 12:21 PM   #16
jimbob86
Junior member
 
Join Date: October 4, 2007
Location: All the way to NEBRASKA
Posts: 8,722
Quote:
They don't get big by being stupid.
Depends upon hunting pressure ..... the video that I've seen from some high fence operations show a lot of ignorant deer with massive headgear .....
jimbob86 is offline  
Old December 24, 2017, 07:40 PM   #17
reynolds357
Senior Member
 
Join Date: December 10, 2012
Posts: 6,161
Quote:
Depends upon hunting pressure ..... the video that I've seen from some high fence operations show a lot of ignorant deer with massive headgear ....
were not talking about shopping at the high fence zoo. Nothing about zoo hunts is realistic.
reynolds357 is offline  
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:25 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.
This site and contents, including all posts, Copyright © 1998-2021 S.W.A.T. Magazine
Copyright Complaints: Please direct DMCA Takedown Notices to the registered agent: thefiringline.com
Page generated in 0.12324 seconds with 10 queries