In 2011, I was able to get a buck on the trail camera 1 time, and 1 time only, earning the name “Waldo”.  Not knowing if he was just passing through during the rut or if he was just an elusive buck that was able to skim by the trail cameras without getting his mug shot taken.  After getting the 1 trail camera photo, I never saw anything out of him for the rest of the year, no sightings or trail camera pictures.  To be honest, I chalked this guy up as being gone.

Fast forward to July 2012, I am on the same farm scouting soybean fields for sign of good deer movement and replenishing mineral sites with Extreme Hunting Solutions “Big Buck Mineral.”  Utilizing mineral sites this time of year is a great way to gather trail camera photos for an early season inventory and for the overall health of the deer.  With “Waldo” being checked off list as being gone in 2011, I really had no intentions of seeing or getting any signs of this buck.  Sure enough, wouldn’t we all know what was coming… there’s Waldo!  He came in to the trail camera on 2 occasions in 1 week.  A bit shocked and excited, I felt that I had a good shot at getting a good feeding pattern on this buck.  With the Missouri archery season kicking off in September, I felt that I had a good chance of being able to get a crack at Waldo while he was still on his early season feeding pattern.

As the summer months progressed and no other sightings or trail camera pictures of Waldo, and continually hearing stories of great deer falling victims of EHD, I became a little nervous about Waldo.  I made the decision to walk the farm, thinking I would probably find that he was another statistic of EHD.  To my surprise I did not find him on my farm; of course he could have fallen on another farm, but I was keeping high hopes for Waldo.  I still have not been able to find Waldo, but with the trail cameras moved to recent buck signs, I am hoping we can pick him back up and get a shot at him.

Happy Hunting,

Josh McMillen