MI farm country buck. More than a just a “J hook”?

[trob_205]

So tell me if you guys think I’m seeing this right or way off base. I got a 4.5+ year old buck that is racking up the frequent flier miles on my cameras. You’ll see by the map I have them set up very close to the farm house and just off a path that is very much frequented by humans (farmer and home owners).
At 5:27am (about an hr before daylight around here) he walks in front of the camera farthest to the north, heading north. At 5:36 he was in front of the camera to the south also heading north. At first I went back and checked the date and time on me pulling the cards to make sure either camera doesn’t have a messed up date and time. Good to go there. So I sit and look at the map and see what really happened according to the times post on the camera and was relating back to the bedding (red dots and bedding icon on the map). This is the best idea I came up with and if I’m right I can pretty much give up on sitting up on this guy in the morning. It would appear he’s scent checking the bedding area and the fields to the north of it from damn near an entire field away. (All fields are standing corn).
I’m assuming I know the beds based on previous scouting and encounters and is the only explanation I can think of on why and how he traveled this way. It is definitely the same buck with a very distinct left main beam that just stops at the G3 (I’ll attach some his random pictures to show what Im talking about). I’d really like to connect on this guy. He’s not huge and in the past 2 years hasn’t put on a whole lot and maybe even lost some inches with the main beam not fully finishing this year. But it would appear to me that I’m not dealing with a dummy and this won’t be easy. I have some larger bucks on this farm that I would definitely shoot but I’m rather drawn to this guy for whatever reason. He’s definitely mature and probably why a lot of the good looking 3.5 year olds don’t stick around.

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[stash59]

I remember Roger Rothaare telling about a buck doing something similar. He never got him but he figured out how he could have years later. His thinking was an out of the box type thing Dan talks about.

The buck traveled in the open enough in daylight that he could have watched him make his progress on his severe j-hook. Once the buck went passed a certain point. Roger figured he could have quickly made it to a spot that he had already scent checked. And set up for the kill.

Maybe if the buck is still on this routine into the pre-rut. He may get back close to the bed after daylight. Whether you lay eyes on him that morning or the trail cam pics point to a time that you could make your move. Or have someone else watch that west end. And signal you when to move. While he's on the west side of the field. If your waiting on the tree line to the south. Then move into position behind that east tree line. To where he hits it coming back from the west. And starts heading back north. Course you may need more intel of exactly where he's coming from to the south.

Otherwise if you can hunt more of the surrounding area. Bust him out of that bed so he beds elsewhere on that wind . In a place you can hunt him easier.

Sorry it got so long. And that it makes sense.

[trob_205]

Kind of limited on points of access. I believe it’s primary early season bedding. Most of his pictures on those cams are with easterly winds as I think those winds force him by the cameras to scent check his spots. East wind is ideal for best access for me, it’s definitely not a rare wind around here right now but the closer we get to November the less chances we get at a constant easterly wind. I also refuse to use cams on this farm outside of the normal human activity areas (tried it one year and turned the farm into a ghost town, it’s Michigan and these deer just know what’s right and not normal from a young age). I’ve thought about a cell camera for situations just like this but personally (and not to open a can of worms) I feel it’s too much of an advantage for me in the right situation.

The hardest thing for me is the southern part of the farm is incredible when the rut comes and I understand bedding situation of does and bucks very well. I just can’t guarantee he’ll be one of them that holes up in those spots, and I can ruin it if I apply too much pressure too early. We’ll see what the cameras shows next time I pull the cards. If he’s still prominent I might throw an evening sit at him early.

[greenhorndave]

Good luck on him. That kind of puzzle had to be appealing to try and solve.

He's definitely a slammer. I don't care about the rack inches... He's a tank.

[trob_205]

Good luck on him. That kind of puzzle had to be appealing to try and solve.

He's definitely a slammer. I don't care about the rack inches... He's a tank.

When I first was scrolling through the different cards I just assumed it was by one and then by another and it wasn’t until a couple days later I noticed the times were flip flopped from what I originally assumed. I did stare at a map for a bit going WTF is going on, but ultimately I remembered that there was plenty of pictures of him on the southern camera heading north and never stepped in front of the camera to the north.

He outsmarted me and my camera placement abilities in 2017 and 2018 with one picture each year with him entering the frame, starring at the camera, and going right back in the direction he came from. So he’s been tipped off and I’ve never had a real shot until now. We’ll see how it all plays out and the next puzzle piece will come on the last card pull before season.

[Mathews94]

Good luck on him. That kind of puzzle had to be appealing to try and solve.

He's definitely a slammer. I don't care about the rack inches... He's a tank.

When I first was scrolling through the different cards I just assumed it was by one and then by another and it wasn’t until a couple days later I noticed the times were flip flopped from what I originally assumed. I did stare at a map for a bit going WTF is going on, but ultimately I remembered that there was plenty of pictures of him on the southern camera heading north and never stepped in front of the camera to the north.

He outsmarted me and my camera placement abilities in 2017 and 2018 with one picture each year with him entering the frame, starring at the camera, and going right back in the direction he came from. So he’s been tipped off and I’ve never had a real shot until now. We’ll see how it all plays out and the next puzzle piece will come on the last card pull before season.

This very same situation I am currently dealing with. I had a whopper come in, look directly at said camera and turned around only to go back where he came from ....
What did you when this happened to you?

[trob_205]

Good luck on him. That kind of puzzle had to be appealing to try and solve.

He's definitely a slammer. I don't care about the rack inches... He's a tank.

When I first was scrolling through the different cards I just assumed it was by one and then by another and it wasn’t until a couple days later I noticed the times were flip flopped from what I originally assumed. I did stare at a map for a bit going WTF is going on, but ultimately I remembered that there was plenty of pictures of him on the southern camera heading north and never stepped in front of the camera to the north.

He outsmarted me and my camera placement abilities in 2017 and 2018 with one picture each year with him entering the frame, starring at the camera, and going right back in the direction he came from. So he’s been tipped off and I’ve never had a real shot until now. We’ll see how it all plays out and the next puzzle piece will come on the last card pull before season.

This very same situation I am currently dealing with. I had a whopper come in, look directly at said camera and turned around only to go back where he came from ....
What did you when this happened to you?

It’s not ideal and probably not what you want to hear but I just simply stopped putting my cameras where it would bother me if that happened. My cameras now monitor irrigation lanes in standing corn that I can access off a path that the farmers and land owners use with vehicles and by foot. The one I still dont walk in front of and change cards from behind the fence/gate because the farmer and owner don’t walk on that side of the fence line. I fully believe the deer still know those cameras are their, but they’re not associating them with someone hunting them in those particular spots. Like Dan talks about a lot when trail cameras get discussed I just want to know what bucks are using the area. I’ll let my prior experiences, encounters, and scouting dictate which bedding/staging areas are best and just keep the cameras clear of spots like that.