What do you do with a buck that only shows up at 3AM?

[xpauliber]

3am isnt a bad time really. Getting him 3 times in a funnel is pretty good imo. He probably went threw the funnel more than that just not in front of your cam. The older he gets the more predictable he will be. It might turn out that you get more pics of him this year than ever before.If I get a couple pics of an older deer after velvet I'm hunting him.I have killed alot of bucks that I only have a few pics of.

Do the pictures you get have to be in daylight in order for you hunt him? Where this buck is living is a public land tract with thousands of acres available to him in any direction and from 3am until dawn, he could cover some serious ground.

[Cchez]

1. Is he only showing up in that area a certain time of year?
2. Is he traveling in the same direction in every picture, or different directions?

[Edcyclopedia]

Considering you have a connection with him you have to choose on HOW much time you want to invest in HIM.
Either find him (easier said than done) or find another...

If you choose to get on him, some gentle bumping by a friend might speed things up

[PK_]

If it were me and it were a deer I truly wanted to kill I would literally grid off the area in 1sq mile blocks. I would go about 3 miles in each direction. I would walk each block thorough enough to feel confident that I found any buck sign. Then I would focus on what I felt was most likely his core.

That pic cspot posted tells the story. That topo looks monotonous and likely terrain for bucks to be nomadic. But the gps shows the truth.

[justdirtyfun]

Ed is right.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day!!!

No offense, trying to keep your style going strong.


But, if you are willing to take the time go bust up some suspected bedding. Maybe do it all on 1 ridge or general direction and then observe the cam results. And before season would be great. Disturbing enough of an area COULD, POSSIBLY, MAYBE add a funnel effect and help get him more predictable.

[headgear]

I'm not sure if western-PA has the mountain laurel like the central region does but he is located smack dab in the middle of a several thousand acre tract of mountain laurel. It's probably the reason he's survived this long but I am thinking about putting cams out like you suggest and just let them soak.

This sounds like an area I would be spending a lot more time at in the off season, there has to be some areas within that mess they bed more often than others.

[xpauliber]

1. Is he only showing up in that area a certain time of year?
2. Is he traveling in the same direction in every picture, or different directions?

1. My brother found his sheds in this area in the spring of 2018 which is what tipped us off to even knowing he existed. Hung cams there last October-January 2018 and he showed 3 times in October and November 2018. Didn’t find his sheds this past spring even though we looked. Hung cams again end of June 2019-now and he’s showed 3 times but with weeks between showings.

2. This funnel is the outside corner of one of those fences that the Department of Conservation & Natural Resources put up in the woods to try and keep deer out to see what the regrowth is on the inside of the fence where the deer can’t browse versus the outside. Anyways, there are trails paralleling the fence and I have 2 cams at the corner, one facing down each of those trails. He has come from both trails and heading different directions before. No consistency in his movement patterns.

[Cchez]

Sounds like his core area is a ways off. Like others have said, I'd look for likely bedding within a couple miles and see if you can get on him.

[iowa whitetail]

3am isnt a bad time really. Getting him 3 times in a funnel is pretty good imo. He probably went threw the funnel more than that just not in front of your cam. The older he gets the more predictable he will be. It might turn out that you get more pics of him this year than ever before.If I get a couple pics of an older deer after velvet I'm hunting him.I have killed alot of bucks that I only have a few pics of.

Do the pictures you get have to be in daylight in order for you hunt him? Where this buck is living is a public land tract with thousands of acres available to him in any direction and from 3am until dawn, he could cover some serious ground.

no they dont have to be daylight pics for me to hunt them. From 3am to daylight he could be covering alot of ground but I bet you a buck hes within a half a mile by daylight and been there for at least an hour. If hes a night runner wait till late oct and kill him with wind.

[Outlaw10]

Maybe start leap frogging your cams back to where you think he's coming from??

[dan]

1st off... Dont start throwing cameras everywhere, or muddying up the whole woods. If your picking him up that often on a funnel cam, he is there in the area. The cam's did the job... Now you gotta do yours. Hunt down the bedding areas and terrain. These bucks generally don't travel miles they just don't move much in day light outside there bedding areas. Get mobile, and get the mindset that you have to find him, rather than picking a spot and drawing him to you. What you did with your trail cam is what I try to do... Its not a kill tool, its there to tell you the bucks in the area, its up to you now to use your skills to hunt him down. He tipped his cards, don't tip yours.

[iowa whitetail]

1st off... Dont start throwing cameras everywhere, or muddying up the whole woods. If your picking him up that often on a funnel cam, he is there in the area. The cam's did the job... Now you gotta do yours. Hunt down the bedding areas and terrain. These bucks generally don't travel miles they just don't move much in day light outside there bedding areas. Get mobile, and get the mindset that you have to find him, rather than picking a spot and drawing him to you. What you did with your trail cam is what I try to do... Its not a kill tool, its there to tell you the bucks in the area, its up to you now to use your skills to hunt him down. He tipped his cards, don't tip yours.

Agreed cams can be one of the best tools for a busy person but it can be an enemy to a non patient person. I use cams allot but always on the outside edges just to see whats there.