Spooked my target buck....Bad...Thoughts

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hoosierbowhunter90
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Spooked my target buck....Bad...Thoughts

Unread postby hoosierbowhunter90 » Tue Dec 01, 2020 2:39 am

Well i had been hunting the same buck all year long. In early season never venturing too far into his bedding area. Well last Saturday over Thanksgiving week i decided to hunt on the down wind side of his bedding, hoping he might be scent checking for some last does. Well I hunted Thursday mid day for a bit and then went out Friday for a later morning hunt. I had grunted a few times and what not and wasn't seeing anything except does, i was also hunting from the ground. i had sat for a few hours and decided, i am going to walk back to my side by side and grab my SD card reader to see if he has even been in here lately (I was convinced he wasn't here at the moment). SO i walked back to the side by side and drove it through the field and pulled up next to the field edge. Walked down this little slope and starting checking my camera. As soon as i got done, i hear a huge crash about 20 FEET away from me, directly behind my camera!!! i think WTF and hear his rack slam off the tree he was by. I hear him crashing through the thick briars and instinct kicked in and i began running up the side of the slope i was on to try and get a shot but by the time i saw him he was hauling through the neighbors hay field. I feel i made a lot of rookie mistakes. This was a small patch of woods prlly 10 acres between two cut bean fields. I couldn't believe i had stood there for 10 minutes looking at my camera for a buck i was after and he was 20 feet away from me, He was bedded in a thick briar ditch. I couldn't even see or attempt to get to his bed.......I doubt he will come back but idk. Having that happen really sucks...bad.....


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headgear
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Re: Spooked my target buck....Bad...Thoughts

Unread postby headgear » Tue Dec 01, 2020 2:55 am

He might not relocate all that far, if one thing tracking bucks has taught me is when they bust out they will sometimes just go a short distance and watch their back trail. Sometimes that distances is a couple hundred yards, sometimes a half mile or more. Of course on smaller farms this can be a problem, might as well try and stay on him, he is obviously keeping a close eye on you so take that into consideration. Seems like all the bucks I am hunting these days are watching or smelling access.
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hoosierbowhunter90
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Re: Spooked my target buck....Bad...Thoughts

Unread postby hoosierbowhunter90 » Tue Dec 01, 2020 3:01 am

headgear wrote:He might not relocate all that far, if one thing tracking bucks has taught me is when they bust out they will sometimes just go a short distance and watch their back trail. Sometimes that distances is a couple hundred yards, sometimes a half mile or more. Of course on smaller farms this can be a problem, might as well try and stay on him, he is obviously keeping a close eye on you so take that into consideration. Seems like all the bucks I am hunting these days are watching or smelling access.


yeah i have thought the same. where he was bedding was just surrounded by fields. He was running towards a logging business. and it wasnt good woods for a mile. the farm i hunt is 170 acres and he uses about 30-45 acres. I think he will come back its just too good of an area for him to give up i think.
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Re: Spooked my target buck....Bad...Thoughts

Unread postby Maverick1 » Tue Dec 01, 2020 9:28 am

What did YOU learn today? You learned the location of one of the places he beds.

What did HE learn today? Two things. First, one of the places he beds was invaded by a predator (you). Second, that place he was bedding today successfully protected him from that predator (you). :think:
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No sponsors. No camera crew. No team. Just me and my bow. And that’s the way I prefer it.
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Re: Spooked my target buck....Bad...Thoughts

Unread postby Elite » Tue Dec 01, 2020 9:52 am

Maverick1 wrote:What did YOU learn today? You learned the location of one of the places he beds.

What did HE learn today? Two things. First, one of the places he beds was invaded by a predator (you). Second, that place he was bedding today successfully protected him from that predator (you). :think:


^^^This!

I would go to a weather information site and check the wind for that particular day he was bedded there. I would also check the bed he was using (after season) to see how worn it was. This information will tell you how often the bed was used.
I would definitely remove and relocate that camera now.

Here's something you might find useful or gut wrenching. My target buck was super daylight active starting the third week of October. On October 30, either he or another buck was shot by the neighbor, and they searched hard for the deer on October 31. From that day until November 16, my target buck vanished from all cameras on about 80 acres. On November 17 at 11:30pm, I got my first pictures of him. Since then, however, I dont have any pictures of him. Was he shot? Did he completely change his pattern after human intrusion from the body search? I dont know, but I do know that he came back. It may take quite awhile for him to reappear on your cameras.
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hoosierbowhunter90
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Re: Spooked my target buck....Bad...Thoughts

Unread postby hoosierbowhunter90 » Wed Dec 02, 2020 7:35 am

Maverick1 wrote:What did YOU learn today? You learned the location of one of the places he beds.

What did HE learn today? Two things. First, one of the places he beds was invaded by a predator (you). Second, that place he was bedding today successfully protected him from that predator (you). :think:


Yeah true. Def true....
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hoosierbowhunter90
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Re: Spooked my target buck....Bad...Thoughts

Unread postby hoosierbowhunter90 » Wed Dec 02, 2020 7:40 am

Elite wrote:
Maverick1 wrote:What did YOU learn today? You learned the location of one of the places he beds.

What did HE learn today? Two things. First, one of the places he beds was invaded by a predator (you). Second, that place he was bedding today successfully protected him from that predator (you). :think:


^^^This!

I would go to a weather information site and check the wind for that particular day he was bedded there. I would also check the bed he was using (after season) to see how worn it was. This information will tell you how often the bed was used.
I would definitely remove and relocate that camera now.

Here's something you might find useful or gut wrenching. My target buck was super daylight active starting the third week of October. On October 30, either he or another buck was shot by the neighbor, and they searched hard for the deer on October 31. From that day until November 16, my target buck vanished from all cameras on about 80 acres. On November 17 at 11:30pm, I got my first pictures of him. Since then, however, I dont have any pictures of him. Was he shot? Did he completely change his pattern after human intrusion from the body search? I don't know, but I do know that he came back. It may take quite awhile for him to reappear on your cameras.


It was a wind coming out the NW. That buck loves a wind coming out the west. I would always bank on seeing him when it was a wind coming out the west earlier in the season. It also sucked becuase that wind was blowing directly into his area so i never could get close enough! Hes been using that bedding area since June or earlier. So i think he will come back...but the question is when lol and that sucks man! hopefully he shows back up! there is one point that is a positive and i did have his bed narrowed down at least one of them unfortunately i was 20 feet away at the wrong time lol


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