Following Leads

[backstraps]

Never had it happen with a really big deer. One year a guy was running his mouth about a buck he said was two feet wide. He told several people the area he saw it in and word happened to get back to me. I looked at a map, figured where he should be, went in and shot him on the first sit. Turns out he was 22 1/4 inside. Not quite two feet

Heck Yeah!!! Wrong hunter caught wind

[bigbuckhunter88]

I have. My advice is to always follow up and if you can get permission then go for it. If its public then also go for it. I caught rumors of a once in a lifetime buck that was traveling between a town junkyard and someone else's property. I got permission to hunt the abandoned railroad tracks in between. Sign didnt scream anything big but I was only in the transition area that was less than 10 acres. Hung 2 cams and this was the result. Hunted that deer twice and he was headed my direction when the neighboring hunter arrowed him on the morning of my brothers wedding. I was almost late and it was for nothing because he was already dead. Officially scored 234.
I've heard multiple other rumors of "giants" or "biggest buck I've ever seen" but none have quite turned out to be like this one.

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[littlebuckhunter]

Ehhhh I wouldn’t be that guy personally. Go find your own buck to hunt. No need to slide your way into whatever deer those guys found.

[bigbuckhunter88]

Id like to clarify. I took the OPs post as neither of the guys hunting in the blind were hunting the deer and someone else was. I wouldn't get permission on the same private as the other hunter and would scout the public and try to find an unpressured area.
In my instance the rumors came from the junkyard owners security trail cam and 2 people almost hitting him with their car on the road. I didnt know anyone actively hunting the area other than someone a mile away.
I wouldn't knowingly intrude on another hunter but also wouldn't just discount it because I didn't find the deer myself.

[TN Whitetail Freak]

Id like to clarify. I took the OPs post as neither of the guys hunting in the blind were hunting the deer and someone else was. I wouldn't get permission on the same private as the other hunter and would scout the public and try to find an unpressured area.
In my instance the rumors came from the junkyard owners security trail cam and 2 people almost hitting him with their car on the road. I didnt know anyone actively hunting the area other than someone a mile away.
I wouldn't knowingly intrude on another hunter but also wouldn't just discount it because I didn't find the deer myself.

Neither hunted it and from my perspective it was like over hearing cafe talk. Technically I still have to find the deer among 1000 acres which will take some legwork

[Drenalin]

Both my bucks this year, I learned about by word of mouth from folks who had seen them, but weren't hunters themselves. If I hear of a good buck, best believe I'm going to hunt it - or at least check things out - if I can legally access the area. The trouble I've run into is I hear about nice bucks every now and then that turn out to be basket racked toddlers. I'd start by looking over the maps and aerials, make some guesses, and get on the property to start scouting it. Hunt the best stuff you can find and try not to put too much pressure on it.

Your situation doesn't sound any different to me than following up a lead from a mailman, paper boy, farmer, or whoever else these rumors start with. Go find that buck and kill him. What part of TN did you say you were in?

[mspaci]

If its an area I like to hunt shame on them for the tip, although Im not moving into some ones spot if they are hunting a buck I leave them alone. Nice to know there is a big one in the area. But Im not going out of my way to get in a guys way like to different public I heard about. Mike

[szwampdonkey]

I have. My advice is to always follow up and if you can get permission then go for it. If its public then also go for it. I caught rumors of a once in a lifetime buck that was traveling between a town junkyard and someone else's property. I got permission to hunt the abandoned railroad tracks in between. Sign didnt scream anything big but I was only in the transition area that was less than 10 acres. Hung 2 cams and this was the result. Hunted that deer twice and he was headed my direction when the neighboring hunter arrowed him on the morning of my brothers wedding. I was almost late and it was for nothing because he was already dead. Officially scored 234.
I've heard multiple other rumors of "giants" or "biggest buck I've ever seen" but none have quite turned out to be like this one.
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Man, that one was a good one!

[austin1990]

Back 2 years ago I sold some old stands I didnt use and one of the guys that bought one from me hunts the same wma, so we got to bsing and he told me about a giant he had seen down there with a unique antler characteristic and couldn't close the deal on. I just kind of blew it off because a giant to most people aren't anything special. This summer I branched out and scouted some new areas in this wma and found some good deer, worthy of hunting. Ended up talking to a guy one day this past summer and he described the same deer to me, he had seen it as well, so then I decided there was something to this deer and scouted a little more. Never seen much and was on good deer so I didnt think much about it again. In first part of November walking in one morning from a different parking lot just over 1.5 mile from where I talked to that guy in the summer another guy started telling me about the same deer. He hunted it hard last year in the area we were, but he couldn't seal the deal. He went on telling me how he hasn't seen it or any sign of it in there this year, so he had assumed it was dead, but he like the others said it was a giant and was going to hunt the spot anyways. Fast forward to first week of December I was pulling cameras and I got the infamous buck on camera! And frequently in daylight on a very remote camera, another mile from where that guy was. Now he could of went downhill some, he's a good deer probably upper 140s. It's cool that I did end up finding the deer that so many had seen and hunted, without ever exclusively looking for it and if I werent on a better deer i would have dedicated time towards him.

[Hatchetman]

If I remember this correctly,...
Didn't Miles Keller kill the state record 8 ptr from intel he got from a gas station visit?

I think the story went something like this...
Miles was bowhunting late season somewhere up in Douglas Co. Wi.
He wasn't having much luck and like a day or two before Christmas was going to call it quits and head back home. He was at a convenience/ gas station and overheard one guy telling another guy how he almost hit a really huge buck on the edge of town the night before with his car. Miles went to the area after the two left and found the tracks of the deer. Don't remember if it was public ,or private & gained permission, but he got in there and scouted the area finding the bucks bed along with big sign.He killed him a few days later. Something like a 180 ish 8 ptr.
I think I'm pretty close with my recollection?

I do remember Miles calling his wife after he scouted the buck out and said ,...
"Honey, I won't be making it home for Christmas..."
Gotta love the dedication!!

[PK_]

Loose lips sink ships.

Open ears kill deers.

[Cvanheel]

[quote="218er"]It really depends what’s typical for your area. I have 130-140’s on cameras in northern mn that people refer to as giants, nice bucks no doubt. Around the metro or in se mn a buck has to be 160-170 to get peoples attention.[

The area of northern Minnesota that I hunt a 130-140 is a huge deer lol. There just isn't enough good things up there for them to eat. Its to bad to because I tend to think they have some awesome genetics up that way. That being said I spend two weeks every year up there rut hunting, And its my favorite hunt of the year.

[Rich M]

Do what makes you happy. Chatterbox said X area, not which tree to hunt. He'll be steamy if you go in and shoot the deer but hey, what are friends for?

[Cutter]

I'm reading this as more of a confessional. I'll refer you to the book of BBSK 13:2 which reads "Thou shalt not kill thy neighbors buck" God forgives you.

[Dewey]

I have no desire to kill a buck off somebody else’s hearsay. If it’s a buck I have history with or even got a trail cam pic it’s game on otherwise I wouldn’t feel right about it. I agree most guys add probably 30” to a “big” buck they see. Truth is most have no idea how to field score on the hoof and highly exaggerate. Whenever I hear rumors of a big buck I wanna see pics. Pretty funny what some guys call a 150” buck these days. I see them in the paper all the time and can easily see they obviously barely make P&Y minimum.