Public land nemesis

[Hilljackoutlaw]

You're a master of restraint! Chief is huge, no doubt, but there's no way I'm passing either of those guys. Nothing trumps hunting one buck exclusively on the difficulty scale but don't get sucked in and forget to enjoy yourself along the way. I did this a few years ago and I just about drove myself crazy. He met his demise in the off season, a car got him is what I'm guessing. I've already subscribed and I'll be rooting for you. I think your plan is solid, your best chance is early season when they are a bit more patternable and they aren't on full alert yet or during the rut when they get a little stupid.

Yeah I'm a little bummed cause both those ten points are mature bucks for sure. And I hear ya about the crazy...the last 2 weeks of season I was a zombie . My wife sat me down and said you need to take a few days off cause ur out of gas and not all there...lol

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Interesting thing happened Saturday. I was hunting chief sheds and ran into a guy. He starts showing me pics of sheds he or his son has found in the area over the years. And I see a pic from 2016 and instantly grabbed this strangers wrist and said wait I know that antler. Now you wanna reason to pass on a young deer here is the reason!!! That's 2016 shed and 2017 shed. Let young bucks walk!!!!

 

[Horse]

Looks like you have a lot figured out already. A few of those camera spots look like good areas. I'd hang a stand near the Nov 22 pic area. That area just looks like a big buck travel corridor, where a buck would feel safe and cruise to look for does during the rut. During the rut in bottoms, I'd between his bedding spot and where the does are. If all isn't working by end of rut, I'd maybe consider rattling with a decoy, since you saw him 2x's at a distance this year. The decoy could draw him in for a closer look. Just watch his behavior when rattling. He might be boss buck or he could be not looking for a fight, so start rattling on the light side. Good luck

 

[publichunter1]

That's some dandy whitetails. Good luck with them this fall and hope you find his sheds.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Still no sheds this pic was yesterday at 730am. He is awfully attached to them heavy beams!

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Looks like you have a lot figured out already. A few of those camera spots look like good areas. I'd hang a stand near the Nov 22 pic area. That area just looks like a big buck travel corridor, where a buck would feel safe and cruise to look for does during the rut. During the rut in bottoms, I'd between his bedding spot and where the does are. If all isn't working by end of rut, I'd maybe consider rattling with a decoy, since you saw him 2x's at a distance this year. The decoy could draw him in for a closer look. Just watch his behavior when rattling. He might be boss buck or he could be not looking for a fight, so start rattling on the light side. Good luck

I do know alot about this buck. But all and any pointers are good. I haven't tried rattling yet. Being public land with lots of human activity I just haven't thought it would be very effective, but it's worth a shot when it gets late in the rut. Got nothing to lose at that point. I did give him a snort wheeze on Nov. 20th last year when I seen him. Not sure if he heard it or not. And you have a good eye the Nov 22 pic is a bottleneck strip of timber between a big field and the river that connects to another big lot of timber. I have a stand in that spot and have seen lots of good bucks from it. Just not chief yet.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Well the big dog finally shed his head gear. I got a pic of him this morning with fresh pedicles showing. The search is on now!

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

I was getting a little worried I haven't seen him since this pic on Feb. 15th.

 

[JLS]

It all went downhill when you named him.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

It all went downhill when you named him.

I name all the deer, helps me keep track of them and their growth year to year in my hunting journal. If they didnt have a name in the journal how would i know what deer i saw that day at which stand. It makes sense. Plus this particular buck spends alot of his time on the bordering reservation so it was a fitting name.

 

[Alabama]

I have no problem with guys naming them. I only have named one on my land: I call him Asshole. He's a 3 legged obviously freaky-racked buck that is super aggressive, he bullies all the other deer except for one. You'd think they would kick his butt with him missing the bottom half of his back right leg, but that's definitely not the case. He would be hell if he had all his legs!

 

[Straight Arrow]

Just recognized that this thread is under "Forum Rules and Announcements" ... can someone explain?

 

[BRoth82]

Hilljackoutlaw,
Check out The Hunting Beast, maybe some of the tactics that Dan talks about will help you.

 

[noharleyyet]

That one will keep you awake at night and make you pop up early in the morning...

 

[C Bow]

As Doc Holiday told Wyatt Earp YOU ARE AN OAK Stay Focused Good things come to those who wait. Good luck

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Just recognized that this thread is under "Forum Rules and Announcements" ... can someone explain?

I accidentally posted it in the wrong place is all. I didnt realize until it was to late.

 

[Mallardsx2]

I do boat in depending on wind and stand I'm going to. And it's a pain cause I have to get written permission from the Indian Tribe to park and walk across a small stretch of reservation land to access the river close enough to my stands. I don't have a motor powered boat so I have to get close so I don't have to paddle upstream very far on the way out. The other way in requires waders and is a much farther walk so it's a pain either way. I very rarely get daylight pics of him during season and that's always in the rut when I do. Other daylight pics are always after season ends. Worst day ever was December 17th. I went to stand that morning after he showed up there 3 out of 5 mornings on 2 cams. The wind was good and was only 2 days left in season so it was now or never. I climbed out of tree at 8:25am because I had a previously scheduled conference call for work at 8:30am. So started back to my kayak and called into the conference while walking out. I went back to stand at 11:50am and as I got settled I popped the SD card in the reader, and at 8:42am I got 6 pics of him 12 yards from my stand! 17 minutes!!! As I soaked in my sorrow I heard a twig snap back to my left and a few minutes later he skirted by about 80yds away. Saw him twice in over 300 hours in stands. That day still hurts me! The season was still great tho. I learned a lot more about his travel habits. Its all about right place right time and catching him on one of the 4 or 5 days he appears in daylight at this point I think. Some might think this is crazy but I'm thinking about hunting him hard the first week of season starting Aug. 30th and then pulling out of there completely until Nov. 1st. It really seems like a wild goose chase the rest of the season because he is so nocturnal. Thoughts on that????

You have to get as close to his bedding area as possible. Get in there AT LEAST an hour before sunrise. Most big bucks in archery are killed by either being caught with a doe (Most dont let this happen) or are killed within 50 yards of where they routinely bed.

 

[Alabama]

You can definitely kill him like that Mallards or blow him out and make him even more nocturnal. It is a high risk/high reward strategy.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Thats the weird thing about this deer. I dont think you can blow him out. He just knows his territory like nobodys business. Ive watched this deer sneak out the back door of one his known bedding areas from my treestand. There is massive amounts of waterfowl hunters in the area all through the rut and late season. On this particular encounter i was within 100 yards of his bedding. While in my stand i watched some waterfowl hunters come walking in and setup on a flood channel a couple hundred yards from my treestand. While they were setting up the buck appeared out of his bed and slowly and almost crawling at times snuck right out the back door. The very next day i got him on camera in the same bedding area. So i think he is used to pressure and just knows how to avoid it and when to avoid it. Someone mentioned in this thread to try and learn those back door escape routes and try to use the waterfowl hunters to my advantage. I think this may be a good idea.

 

[Mallardsx2]

I would damn sure rather blow him out of there trying to kill him than find out someone hit him with a car, getting poached, or him dying of natural causes and never to be seen again....