Bedded buck pics

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Zap
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Bedded buck pics

Unread postby Zap » Mon Apr 05, 2010 2:27 pm

These were posted on another forum.
I PMed the OP for permission to copy them, and asked about the cam and procedure he used.

His reply:
Marty that particular cam is just a Moultrie D-40, You can get them on sale at bass pro shop for $69.99, I have 3 of them as well as others.
I only check my cams every 4-6 weeks and only at night 9:00PM-12:00 AM, the reason for this is first the bucks shouldnt be there at that time and 2nd hopefully any scent I leave will be gone by the time they return. I also take the same scent precautions that I do when hunting. Jeff


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Re: Bedded buck pics

Unread postby PredatorTC » Tue Apr 06, 2010 12:46 am

He has pictures of it three months in a row! :shock:

So did he know he was putting the camera over a nighttime bed? Or did he say if he had daytime pics there? I wonder if the deer tolerated that flash all night or eventually got up and walked away. Is he gonna hunt it there?
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Re: Bedded buck pics

Unread postby Zap » Tue Apr 06, 2010 1:48 am

I dont know all the details, just thought some folks would enjoy the pics and the timefram the were taken in.

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Re: Bedded buck pics

Unread postby PredatorTC » Tue Apr 06, 2010 2:45 am

alright COOL!! 8-) Thanks for sharing
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Re: Bedded buck pics

Unread postby Pike » Tue Apr 06, 2010 3:15 am

PredatorTC wrote:He has pictures of it three months in a row! :shock:

So did he know he was putting the camera over a nighttime bed? Or did he say if he had daytime pics there? I wonder if the deer tolerated that flash all night or eventually got up and walked away. Is he gonna hunt it there?

Thanks for inviting me to the site Zap!
Predator, I located this buck while shed hunting last Feb., I followed his rubs to his bedding area and found one of his sheds laying in the spot were he is bedding and found the other a short distance away. I returned in the spring and placed a camera there to confirm that was his bedding area.
He usually bedded in the area after 5:00 AM but once in awhile he would show up around 2:30 AM. Yes I got tons of daylight pics aswell. Pike
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Re: Bedded buck pics

Unread postby Pike » Tue Apr 06, 2010 3:19 am

Hereare some more pics, the date is wrong on a couple of them because ants infested the cam and ruined my LCD display.Pike
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Re: Bedded buck pics

Unread postby Slider1005 » Tue Apr 06, 2010 5:08 am

So pike did you end up getting that deer? Also I know marty stated you put the camera out at night, and tried not to leave much scent behind, but I would think that would be risky invading his bed and putting a camera in there. I would think the flash would spook him.
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Re: Bedded buck pics

Unread postby dan » Tue Apr 06, 2010 9:51 am

Awesome pic's Pike! Welcome to the BEAST. Wouldn't mind using them pic's in one of my educational DVD's. PM me if your interested.
I would think that would be risky invading his bed and putting a camera in there. I would think the flash would spook him.

Every buck is different... Some will tolerate a lot. But I to am surprised at how many pic's Pike got. I personally don't believe you can completely cover your human scent.
So did he know he was putting the camera over a nighttime bed?
Looks to me like those are arrival times to a day bed. Some of you probably remember me talking about how hard it is to hunt mature bucks in the AM because bucks are already bedded before daylight on most days.
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Re: Bedded buck pics

Unread postby Pike » Tue Apr 06, 2010 10:58 am

Dan thanks for the welcome but I have to disagree with you, I have been using cams for years and I very rarely see any adverse affects from using or checking them.
Since I only get to hunt OH. 10-12 days a year I use alot of cams and have one at every stand location and prospective stand location. Its the only way I can locate mature bucks ( other than my off season scouting and shed hunting) since I live over 5 hours away. If I felt the cams or checking them every 4-6 weeks and at night during the off season and only when I happen to be hunting that particular area during the season I wouldnt do it.
As for the the buck not being spooked by the cam, if you look at the first pic Zap posted of the buck feeding right towards the cam, it was stamped at 6:34 AM. If you look at the pics you will see a pic with the same date but over an hour prior. I got hundreds of pics of this buck bedding, the flash didnt bother him one bit or any other deer. Pike
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Re: Bedded buck pics

Unread postby Pike » Tue Apr 06, 2010 11:02 am

Slider1005 wrote:So pike did you end up getting that deer? Also I know marty stated you put the camera out at night, and tried not to leave much scent behind, but I would think that would be risky invading his bed and putting a camera in there. I would think the flash would spook him.

No unfortunately I didnt!! But read the following posts I made on another site to see what happened.
The first is a post I made prior to bow season and the 2nd is from after the season when someone asked wwhatr happened to Kicker Buck.
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I only have one goal for the 2009 season and his pics are below. I discovered this buck while shed hunting last winter in OH. when I started to come across his huge rubs, I imediately changed gears and started scouting this buck to try to learn every thing I could about him and ended up finding both of his sheds in the process.
This past April I placed a camera, a mineral site and a stand in the area's I found each of his sheds and started getting picks of him at both sets in June and continued to do so the entire summer.
I knew if he didnt change his patterns I would have a pretty good chance at this buck come bow season, and I was pretty sure I knew exactly were he is bedding, well I just checked my cams and it turned out that he is bedding right in front of one of my cams. Pike
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Well we met on Nov. 19th at 3:50 PM. The story ended the same way it started on Feb 15th as I was shed hunting along a saddle on the side of steep hardwood ridge and I started finding these huge rubs, the rubs started to go down the steep hill which led to a deep ditch It was the perfect natural funnel but no tree's, I stopped shed hunting and started scouting, from the ditch I could see a large tree with three trunks about 80 yards up the other hill side, on the other side of the ditch was an old over grown pasture with very few tree's to put a stand, just sapllngs and multa flora rose. I then came across both of his sheds in close prox. to the 3 trunk tree, During turkey season I went to hang a stand in that tree but I didnt notice how crooked each of the trunks grew out, they grew out as much as they did up and my climbing sticks bent in a U because of the angle. I spent all summer trying to fiqure out how to hunt this deer (the steep hard wood ridge was too steep and the pasture was too steep for a ground blind) So 2 weeks prior to the season I settled on a tree on the far side of the pasture where it met another hardwoods but I knew as I was hanging the stand that I was just sitting in the bleachers watching the game from this spot because the farther away from the ditch I got the lower my chances of seeing this deer got. As the fall went by and the trailcam pics of him added up I finally decided on Nov 5th. that I was going to get a stand in that crooked tree or die trying,
I found my tree steps (which I hate using) and ordered longer cables for my stand, the trunk on the straightest trunk went almost straight back so even with the longer cables the front of the patform and seat angled up in the air,
and the platform also leaned to left at an angle. But It was the perfect tree right with in bow range of 5 huge rubs that were also rubbed last year, there was also a huge scrape 20 yards to my left.
I headed back to OH. on Nov. 16th, and the very next morning in pouring down rain I had a huge 150 inch 10pt pass 50 yards behind me in a hurray with his nose to the ground, I then had a doe pass 30 yards to my left and kept looking back, 10 minutes later a 140 inch 8-pt passed broadside at 40 yards, didnt see much on the 18th or the morning of the 19th, my plan was to move another stand in the afternoon for gun season (when I headed home It was my last day to bow hunt and wouldnt be back until gun season) and head home. But some thing told me that tonight was the night even though it was very warm and humid (t shirt weather) My buddy told me to hunt the crooked tree one more time and we would move the stand in the dark and then drive the 5 hours home.
So I headed out to the crooked tree, I got up in my stand quietly but sweating like a pig, the wind was perfect, blowing from the ditch right towards my stand, I just knew tonight was the night!! So after a couple hours and seeing nothing, I started thinking maybe my phsyic feeling was wrong It was just to darn warm. Then all the sudden I heard a deer walking in the leaves from very far a way, it was traveling on the saddle to my left, I knew before I even seen him that it was kicker buck, and then when I saw him at 150 yards his kicker on his left side his kicker stood out like a sore thumb, he was heading towards the trail that headed down the hill and towards ditch just as I had done back in Feb., He hit the trail and turned left towards the ditch when he disapeared into the ditch my heart sank because he didnt come out the other side (he must have stopped to take a long drink) then all the sudden he appeard 80 yards below me and heading right for me with the perfect wind in my face!! He then started feeding, but still slowly moving closer, he would turn and feed 5 yards to the left and then 10 yards to the right this went on for 30 minutes or so,
My heart was pounding and I was shaking (I usually never get buck fever until after I release an arrow) I kept saying Jeff take a deep breath dont look at the horns, pick a spot like you have done so many times before,
he finally got with in 33 yards and he turned broad side, I decided to turn my body slighty to stay square with him, But when I did one of my ratchet straps that attached my stand to the severly crooked tree sqeaked just a little bit, but enough to make him walk with a strut 50 yards directly away from me ( as I watched in terror and heart broken as months of planning and day dreams walked away) and then settled down and started feeding, his tail started wagging and I knew he wasnt on edge any longer, First I looked at the rattling horns and said, No and grabbed my grunt tube, I mad one soft grunt while he was facing away from me and his head down feeding, He looked right up at me, blew twice and bounded off!!
When I knew he was gone, I looked at my watch and it said 3:50 Pm. I climbed out of my stand, and walked in the opposite direction to the road, and back to the house, threw my stuff in the truck and I honestly dont remember any part of the 5 hour drive home.

After a week of being heart broken, I started telling myself, No problem!!
I could have killed him 100 times over with my ML. and got my 2nd wind.
On the first day of gun season I went in to the crooked tree early for the after noon hunt, I didnt even hunt in the morning and fixed the sqeak and settled in at 4:00pm I hear a shot, very far away but I knew it was one of our guys, I also got a very sick feeling that even though we have many many buck that kicker buck was dead, Then a few minutes later I hear a deer walking on the saddle, (maybe my sick feeling was wrong ) But then I saw what he was ( 130 inch 8-pt)he hit the trail and crossed the ditch just like kicker buck and fed for 30 minutes before deciding to bed down.
At dark I raced back to the house, It turned out to be my buddy Chuck that was hunting in an area that kicker was never seen or got a pic of.
But he a huge buck, looked to be a 10-pt , he said it wasnt kicker but with the sick feeling still in my stomach I knew it was kicker, (which Chuck would have been one of the few people I would have been happy for)
We waited until the next morning and looked all day and every where but we couldnt find the buck. I started to think to myself this my worst night mare!! but then started thinking about the odds of it being kicker, and started feeling better. I didnt see another shooter the rest of gun season and headed home. Then I got a call from Chuck a week after gun season, He didnt want to mention it to me but he asked when was the last trailcam pic. of Kicker? And I said the night before gun season, Why? He said that he just checked our cams and I for the first time since June, we didnt have any pics of him, My heart sank again And I havent got a pic of him since and I didnt find his sheds. I did come across a huge skeletan in the general area that Chuck hit the buck while shed hunting, and my heart sank and I said to myself there he is, as I slowly walked up to him, I was very relieved to see that it was just a huge doe!! But with that said, I doubt come next june that I will once again have kicker visit my cams again.
Pike
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Re: Bedded buck pics

Unread postby dan » Tue Apr 06, 2010 12:40 pm

Pike,
My thought is not that your camera spooks deer... Its your scent that I believe spooks them. I will occasionally put cameras in areas where I want to know who is there too. But I only do it during rains, or from an area I am fairly certain the deer won't go.
I have seen plenty of bucks hang around and pose for the camera. I have seen many more spook. There seems to also be a huge difference between the reaction of hard hunted public mature bucks, and that of managed private bucks...
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Re: Bedded buck pics

Unread postby Pike » Tue Apr 06, 2010 1:03 pm

Dan Like I said I have to disagree, I have been using cams since the first one hit the market that was made by Game Tracker over 15 years ago. And you wont find any harder hunted public land bucks than here in PA. were I grew up hunting. (and still do) We have more bowhunters than most states have hunters of any species of game or weapon. The thing you have to understand is that a mature buck will not bed in the same bedding area each and every day, (especially big woods like were I hunt in OH.) So If you check your cams once every 4-6 weeks during the night ( I do it between 9:00-11:00 PM.)
your chances of bumping a mature buck is slim even by the scent you leave behind. I do take all the scent precautions possible and like I said, If I thought doing it hurt my chances I wouldnt do it.
Look at this way, if not for my trailcam pics I would have tried to hunt this buck in the morning, which would have spooked him into the next county. Pike
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Re: Bedded buck pics

Unread postby DEERSLAYER » Tue Apr 06, 2010 2:15 pm

Welcome to the forum Pike!! I'm not sure it would have worked for you in the situation you explained, but you may want to check into something like this.

http://www.innovativetreestands.com/leveler.html
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Re: Bedded buck pics

Unread postby Pike » Tue Apr 06, 2010 2:20 pm

DEERSLAYER wrote:Welcome to the forum Pike!! I'm not sure it would have worked for you in the situation you explained, but you may want to check into something like this.

http://www.innovativetreestands.com/leveler.html

Deerslayer that is exactly what I need for that tree!!!
That is exactly how my crooked tree looks like. Thanks Pike
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Re: Bedded buck pics

Unread postby PredatorTC » Wed Apr 07, 2010 2:10 am

dan wrote:Looks to me like those are arrival times to a day bed. Some of you probably remember me talking about how hard it is to hunt mature bucks in the AM because bucks are already bedded before daylight on most days.


I agree with you on this for the most part. I personaly see a lot more action in the morning. But, i know Andre prefers his morning hunts over night time hunts. Have you ever asked him why, that is. Because if they are all bedded before light like you say, it does not make any sense


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