hunting/killing "unkillable" bucks

[ah110]

just read an interesting article in D&DH about bucks that seem or are virtually "unkillable". these mythical bucks truly intrigue me.

it was about the authors bucks that he deemed "unkillable" and the ones that were borderline.

has anyone chased a ghost or "unkillable" buck?? did you get a shot? if so howd you do it? was it just luck?
also has anyone killed a buck that has never showed himself to the camera during the daytime???

i remember andrea speaking about ghosts in hill country.

[BigHunt]

just read an interesting article in D&DH about bucks that seem or are virtually "unkillable". these mythical bucks truly intrigue me.

it was about the authors bucks that he deemed "unkillable" and the ones that were borderline.

has anyone chased a ghost or "unkillable" buck?? did you get a shot? if so howd you do it? was it just luck?
also has anyone killed a buck that has never showed himself to the camera during the daytime???

i remember andrea speaking about ghosts in hill country.

i think dans obbesion buck is a good add on to this thread ...he was after it all season then he finnaly got it gun hunting on thanksgiving.. he shot it right in his bed ...to find the y story just look in his blogs it called the obbseion buck

[Stanley]

Interesting.

[RaisedByWolves]

I never have chased a buck I thought was virtually unkillable...but I do know of an old one on public land which has a few beds in a relatively small area very close to the road. Never really tried to kill him there because I think he would need to be repeatedly kicked up and relocated...and I don't know where he would relocate to, yet! I have shined him a few times and as soon as he see's a spotlight he starts to run and the area is very brushy, so he's been tough to get a good look at, but a couple glimpses taught me he's BIG

[dan]

There is no such thing as an unkillable buck... Much like the totally nocturnal buck, he don't exist.
Find his beds and he is killable. I have hunted many tough bucks. They all get up and move during daylight. Some of them make difficult to approach or hunt beds but an open mind and willingness to push the envelope has resulted in success on such bucks for me... Sure, you might have low odds, but low odds is better than no odds.

I think the reason some people call such bucks unkillable is because there style of hunting actually does make them unkillable. If one was to believe what a lot of celebrity hunters tell us, we would need to sit back over food plots and in funnels never hunting any where close to the buck and where he moves in daylight.
The real key to success for me has been to make my own rules and decisions... Sure I will listen to others advice, but you should not think that there way, is the only way.

[cornfedkiller]

I know muddy killed one during last years gun season that if Im not mistaken, hadnt been seen in person for years, and hadnt had a daylight picture taken in probably that long too..

Im willing to bet that because of where dan puts his cameras, he probably doesnt get a whole lot of daytime pics of the bucks he is after...

[headgear]

I think the reason some people call such bucks unkillable is because there style of hunting actually does make them unkillable. If one was to believe what a lot of celebrity hunters tell us, we would need to sit back over food plots and in funnels never hunting any where close to the buck and where he moves in daylight.
The real key to success for me has been to make my own rules and decisions... Sure I will listen to others advice, but you should not think that there way, is the only way.

Good post Dan, you nailed it. It seems like a lot of the celebrities sit back and wait for the buck to make a mistake instead of going in after them. This is why I love your style of hunting, I am not waiting for the buck to mess up, I getting right on top of him and testing my skills/scouting against his ability to survive. Lots of fun when you do it right, still plenty fun when you do it wrong.

I have been chasing a few old ghosts up in the northern bigwoods, I just haven't found their beds yet, once I do game on. I'm about half way through scouting a 5-6 square mile area he calls home, it might take me a few more years to cover the rest of it but I am determined to find him.

[Stanley]

For most hunters big bucks are unkillable.

[dreaming bucks]

For most hunters big bucks are unkillable.

Until the rut is kicked in full speed ahead..... Seems like alot of big bucks get shot during the rut...

[Bucky]

I read the article myself as well (Deer and Deer Hunting)... the thing that struck me about the the artilce is the author had many good bucks on camera on his prorperty but they were in the middle of the night = he likely does not own the property where they are bedding so in reality that does not give him very good odds.

This is another thing I look at when hunting any property... does it contain mature buck bedding... if not I don't waste my time unless rut hunting

[Stanley]

For most hunters big bucks are unkillable.

Until the rut is kicked in full speed ahead..... Seems like alot of big bucks get shot during the rut...

The majority of hunter that can't kill big bucks, hunt the rut.

[Stanley]

I read the article myself as well (Deer and Deer Hunting)... the thing that struck me about the the artilce is the author had many good bucks on camera on his prorperty but they were in the middle of the night = he likely does not own the property where they are bedding so in reality that does not give him very good odds.

This is another thing I look at when hunting any property... does it contain mature buck bedding... if not I don't waste my time unless rut hunting

I love thick, gnarly, transition properties that are sandwiched between bedding and food sources. I have taken quite a few good bucks on properties like this, early, rut, late.

[Swampthing]

I read the article myself as well (Deer and Deer Hunting)... the thing that struck me about the the artilce is the author had many good bucks on camera on his prorperty but they were in the middle of the night = he likely does not own the property where they are bedding so in reality that does not give him very good odds.

Agreed , I have a neighbor who was chasing the same buck I was a few years back. He had the late night pics of him in a bean field. I had shined him several times leaving my woods and down a fenceline
To feed in his beans.
I never shot that buck but another neighbor did in the late season.
That guy hunted that buck many times in his bean field. He would tell me how he was nocturnal and sooner or later he would show up in daylight. Reality was he was living 3/4 mile from his woods, crazy.

[ Post made via Android ]

[headgear]

I read the article myself as well (Deer and Deer Hunting)... the thing that struck me about the the artilce is the author had many good bucks on camera on his prorperty but they were in the middle of the night = he likely does not own the property where they are bedding so in reality that does not give him very good odds.

Excelent point Bucky, they get one photo of a big buck and they know he is "around" but you might have lottery type odds of killing that deer outside the rut. Maybe even not much better odds during the rut if he is a wise old deer. I have a very big backyard buck, maybe 160's or bigger this year that I barely bother to hunt. He only shows up on my funnel of a backyard well after or before shooting light, I don't have permission to hunt any of the private land around me so why waste time hunting a deer can't get close to. I might sit one or two moon mornings just to make a small attempt to shoot this deer but honestly I think he dies of old age because he has outsmarted the local hunters for 5 years now, I don't see that changing this year.

[swamp-assassin]

the 5 square mile public swamp that i hunt has deer in there that no one has ever seen..who knows what kind of huge old bucks are living there and have been living there..when i shine the fields around the swamps, i rarely see bucks..i think they go into that swamp and never come out..it has all the food they need. two years ago a guy killed an 11 1/2 year old buck during gun season there within 300 yards of the road.