stoopid big deer tonight

[luvhuntin]

how big was it? as soon as i thought of hanging that deer in my garage i was worried about the rafters buckling. my nephew was almost crying

1 because he has to hold his buck tag for another week

2 he was 170 yards away

we were on our way out at dusk tonight after a very slow afternoon (only 2 does in five hours) and there he was standing along the edge of the food plot even from that far away the second we saw him SHOOTER was all you could say. he`s as big if not bigger than the trail cam pic i posted last year of the cemetery buck. bet he was at least 310 on the hoof just an absolute stud of a deer. he noticed us and did run down a finger of the food plot after we dropped everything and moved up to try and get a better look at him, but did`nt seem super bothered. he`s big enough i`m ready to scrap my plans for the year and try to hunt him all rut long.

what are the odds i see him again? i`m afraid i`m getting antler addiction over this brute.

[Woods Walker]

Well first off, there's no guarantees, unless you're hunting on a game farm. But having said that.......

1. If you are seeing him now then that probably means that where you hunt is in his core area or "home range". That's good.

2. Once the rut starts, if you have a good buck/doe ratio and not a lot of hunting pressure, then there's a good chance that you may see him again. If the does are there then he will be there and will "come a courtin'".

3. When the rut starts hunt as much as you can, all day long if possible. We're talking math here now. The more time you are in the woods the better the odds are that you will see him. Simple as that.

GOOD LUCK AND POST PICS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jslotter]

Woodswalker pretty much said it best. Keep the pressure off him too. Don't go into his area until you are ready to hunt him.

[luvhuntin]

Guys remeber this is public land we are hunting and the stories you hear every now and then about a deer living in the most unlikely places are true after seeing this brute last night yes he has a good block of timber on either side of this food plot but nothing you would consider prime territory.

i think my best option is to take the nephew back as many times this week as i can, set up close to where we saw him last which works because 9 out 0f 10 times the wind will be in our faces and nothing but houses and farm fields behind us if he can`t connect by the 30th he can use his youth tag for early muzzleloader season so that gives us two more early season weekends to see what happens, honestly i`d settle for a physical picture instead of the mental one i took looking through the binoculars for a couple of minutes as he stood there wondering if we were a real threat or not.

i`m not sure honestly how many points were on his rack i just know when he lumbered off down that finger his head swaying side to side and the mass of shoulder meat rippling his fresh winter fur i was in awe of god an nature all over again, that is why i luvhuntin!

now I`m off to sweet talk a buddy into letting me borrow his muzzleloader.

[Woods Walker]

Thats a good game plan luv, and I wish both of you the best. But if that young hunter gets a good clean shot at ANY buck, have him kill it. Do not hold out for that big guy. At this point that's FAR more important than shooting a deer of a lifetime. In fact it could be argued that may well be the worst thing that he could do for his first deer, because then all others will be a letdown.

He needs to be blooded, first and foremost!

[Jslotter]

Guys remeber this is public land we are hunting and the stories you hear every now and then about a deer living in the most unlikely places are true after seeing this brute last night yes he has a good block of timber on either side of this food plot but nothing you would consider prime territory.

.
There are some bruisers on public land. Alot of people dismiss public land too. I would safely assume your strategy for this certain buck is at risk because of other hunters that might go there and push the buck out of there, or even kill him. I would make a plan to go in and kill him quickly and efficiently as possible before someone else does. Keep us updated.

[luvhuntin]

Well we had no luck locating this deer over the last week but the weather has not cooperated in the least, high 70`s to mid 80`s all week.matter of fact we only laid eyes on one buck all week long little 4 point that was 400 yds away. we took a walk down some trails i shed hunted last spring, to my surprise the oaks produced a pretty good acorn crop this year not stellar but enough to hold overheated deer in the timber. He had a chance at a doe last night 60 yds and missed it clean i was out of position to help him much since we noticed them as soon as we left cover he tried to reload and shoot again but after seeing him pull the trigger multiple times while closing his eyes i had to move and scared them off. turns out in his haste to make the shot he did`nt get the breech closed all the way. I`ll have to stock up on slugs and have him practice more to get him over that flinch, squeezing the trigger and keeping your eye on target is one thing i have focused on with him he just needs more experience.

a funny thing happened yesterday morning we were told of a "fawn" that had a collar last weekend and to please not shoot it so on our way in at 6 we hear all this rustling in the woods and out comes this doe running into the yard of a house after snooping around some freshly uprooted pine tree holes she followed us into the public land, hung around us to watch the sunrise, then wandered off, some people I even had time to take a pic i left it big since it`s so dark did`nt want the flash to spook it.

we still have muzzleloader season! and i get to hunt this week WOOHOO!