I didn't even pick up my bow

[Buckfever]

when I heard the deer coming in this afternoon. I knew it was a buck. I can't exactly really map it out but bucks, especially when they're in an area that they feel comfortable, come in sloppy. They meander and things crack loud, they break things and they come through slow. So I didn't even bother picking up my bow. I just watched for the first visual and it was bone white antlers. He was a decent ten, actually a real good ten except that he had no mass. The width and symmetry was there and he had real long tines, but they were spindly, so thin for a rack of that size and kinda weak brow tines again spindly. This looked to me like a 2 year old buck with real good genetics. Small body size too. He worked a scrape licking branch and offered a broadside shot at 15 yards, then another broadside at 20 and again at 25. I did really appreciate how he used the terrain features, coming in through the thickest stuff and using a furrow in the terrain he looked like he was crawling through. He body wasn't revealed fully until he exposed himself to work the scrape and then again only through shooting lanes that I had cut earlier in the season. Actually watching him come through gave me an idea for possibly a better stand placement or at least the need to cut another shooting lane. When he worked the scrape licking branch I thought for sure he'd pick me off as he was looking right at me, a big ++++ for the Predator fall brown camo, he never noticed me and he was around for a good 10 minutes.

So while the antlered deer are safe from me for the balance of the season. I continue to gain knowledge on public land that will be applied in years to come. Should he survive the season, next year that will be a fine buck. But perhaps more importantly I continue to gain knowledge of how the bucks are running through. And I'm really enjoying this whole process.

[hatracked]

[shadow=red,left,300] "I did really appreciate how he used the terrain features, coming in through the thickest stuff and using a furrow in the terrain he looked like he was crawling through. "[/shadow]

Observing that and realizing it for exactly what it is a bucks nature will not only lead you into thicker stuff but net you more looks at great bucks. Your hunting changed yesterday whether you know it or not.

I passed up a similar 8 pointer in Maryland this year. I never had what I would call a super shot on him 45 yards but that is well within my range with a compound and a shot I have made everytime I have ever treid to take it. I to got that feeluing this just wasn't the buck for me to kill, this year.

Sounded like a great hunt .... seems you've been having alot fo those this year. Congrats on great season.Been fun following along.

[Buckfever]

Lot of changes to my hunting this year. Probably the biggest one which sort of encapsulates the whole deal to a degree, is that I've made a shift from my previous thinking, of figuring out how the buck is running through. Now I ask: "Where can I kill him?" And I don't stop the process until I get to the point where I'm saying: "I can kill him here." Every spot where I've had opportunities at quality bucks this year, and there've been a lot of them, was an "I can kill him here stand". It's not just figuring out how he's running through, but figuring out where he's running through where he can be killed during daylight hours. Where he can be killed so that you can get there without detection. What stand setup will provide adequate cover so that you won't get picked off. And that means that substantial shooting lanes will often have to be cut because you'll find yourself in cover so thick where the lanes need to be created. I have become extremely aggressive in terms of putting myself where I need to be. And that this hunting is occuring on public land doesn't matter much. Even though these are highly pressured parks, the areas that I'm hunting have one consistent characteristic. They are so thick they recieve no pressure. The only principle difference on public land is that the setup must have adequate cover because these deer are extremely educated and here too I've become extremely assertive in picking the stand setup from the point of view of the animal, from the various ways that he might come in. For instance on one setup the tree had minimal cover, but the travel corridor of the bucks was so thick that my treestand was not visible on any of the three trails that come through until the deer was in the shooting lanes.

I mean it seems elaborate, but it's not. It's becoming very simple and methodical, but requiring discipline and precision. Assess the terrain features using aerial photos as the starting point. Get on the gorund and locate the staging areas and the breeding scrape area. Ascertain the buck bedding areas. Anticipate the travel corridors based on the terrain features. Answer the question, where can I kill him? Figure out how to get in undetected. If necessary cut your way in. Select the stand setup based on the vantage of the deer to provide adequate cover. Setup stand and trim only as necessary for shooting. Get on the ground and clear adequate shooting lanes. Get the hell out and stay out till the wind is right.

[Twanger]

Buckfever - That's one of the finest short pieces on how to set up on a buck that I've ever read. Very, very nice. That one is going in my hunting folder to read and ponder. Thanks!!!

[freedomrules3]

nice read buck, i think you need to take the camera with you and "shoot" them with it .

[Buckfever]

'i think you need to take the camera with you and "shoot" them with it ."

Originally I was going to do just that and what a buck picture library I would have right now. But the first time I tried I was in a doe stand and I had the palmated 7 come in and I tried to take a picture and a doe behind me that I didn't see, picked me off and the dummy 7 looked to where she was looking and finally spotted me. He still went back to browsing but after that I decided no extra movements, unless I intend to kill.

[hatracked]

Might want to try one of those gorrilla camera arms that mounts to the tree. Hands free operation and if your really high tech you can rig a remote so its out of the way and looking at the entire area. You can set most digital video cameras for still photo . No extra movement.