dissapointing opener

[tim]

i went up on saturday withplans of hunting. i checked all 4 cams on my field edges that i was getting pics of a monster, he hasnt showed since early august so i decided not to hunt my place and came home early sunday morning. hes the only buck i want in my area so i didnt want to risk stinking my land up early in the season fo no reason. disaapointed to say the least. he disappears every year at some point but not this early. now im going to wait it out to see if he starts showing back up or another buck im willing to kill shows up, else it will be early season in the racine--kenosha area. it was hard to not go in and hunt anyway but if im to have any chance at this buck i think waiting was the better option, what do you guys think?

[FRH]

I think it's a smart choice. I have a huge 9 point that disappeared 3 weeks ago. Seems like every year there gone until mid oct. this year I decided to stay out and hunt public until theyre back around. Really tough decision but it will hopefully pay off.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[dan]

Me and Andrae had a conversation about cameras the other day and he made a good point... He said he only needs to see the deer on camera a time or two, he said once hard antler comes they get real smart and avoid the camera locations and that he knows there in the area and uses observation stands and glassing to find them then moves in for the kill. He said in years past he used the cameras to tell him when the deer are on the property but has since found that the mature bucks are avoiding his cameras, especially after hard antler occurs but they are still there.
And if there not, you can't spook what isn't there.

[backstraps]

Whew...that would have been tough for me to NOT hunt the area . Similar to Dan's comments I have witnessed bucks walking by camera sites but avoiding the camera by 50-75 yards.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Stanley]

I would have checked the cameras and hunted. I like the dual task approach. You had scent at the cameras so hunting wouldn't have caused any more scent to be distributed.

[tim]

good points, if not there i wont spook him.i only have cameras on crop fields.i hope he is still around,just makes me nervous no pics since early august. on a sie note the earliest hard antler pic was august 22 and again nothing in velvet after 9/6 as usual. had 1 pic of 1.5 year old and velvet was hanging off his rack,i never get those pics so that ws kinda cool

[dan]

good points, if not there i wont spook him.i only have cameras on crop fields.i hope he is still around,just makes me nervous [glow=red]no pics since early august.[/glow] on a sie note the earliest hard antler pic was august 22 and again nothing in velvet after 9/6 as usual. had 1 pic of 1.5 year old and velvet was hanging off his rack,i never get those pics so that ws kinda cool

Sounds like he moved to acorns in early August when they started dropping... I stop seeing them shining the fields here in early August when they shift to acorns, but they are still here, and still huntable.

[jlh42581]

This is where a cam with plot stalker technology can shine. It can cover the entire field due to not triggering by movement. Its about like having a 3 day observation stand. Tell it to only take pics during certain hours and you can extend that even further.

[Stump]

Just because you aren't getting pictures of the buck, why do you think he isn't around anymore? Any 1 camera can only take a snapshot on a very small area of ground. Set it up wrong, deer moves 10-20 yards and you'll never get a pic of what you want to.

I wouldn't let this discourage you from hunting your land or that buck.

[tim]

thanks guys, im probably being way too cautious on this animal but ive waited a long time to go after him. i barely hunted my land last year due to logging and hoping he would make it 1 more year, and now that he did i dont wanna screw up. he probably is on to acorns, our woods is loaded with white oaks and red oaks and there are always tons of acorns it seems. im getting lots of daytime pics from all the young bucks coming into the crops. i was planning on going back up in 2 weeks if i get the chance . im pretty sure i know where he beds when hes on the property and we get a north/northewast wind according to sightings. something strange that is happening this year is , i have lots of buck pics along with doe/fawn pics. almost every year its one or the other . when the bucks are around early the does arent and viseversa. seems the does wont tolerate the bucks but theres is some agression im capturing in the photos such as does laying back there ears with bucks nearby . i got one photo of a young buck goring another deer in the hindend very hard because the other deer is lifted up and blurred...