Help with 12

[beachpeaz]

I have been hunting a 150" + 12 point for 3 years now.  Unfortunately, I have been too busy the last 3 seasons to hunt with my muzzleloader tag.

 

I have hunted this deer both Bow and "Regular" season, again, for this is the 3rd year in a row.

 

I cleared my schedule this year to hunt the week of Muzzleloader in hopes that his patterns change enough that I get a glimpse of him.

 

For the past 3 seasons, I have not seen him once while hunting.  Of all the trail camera pics I have of him from the past 3 seasons, I have a whopping 3 in daylight hours.  This deer is very nocturnal and seems to crawl into some deep dark hole on my hunting property as soon as hunting kicks in.  I have a GENERAL idea of where he beds and where he eats, but based on the cameras I have set up, his range is HUGE (camera's are 1.2 miles apart at the far ends and he is on both of them).

 

I know once the rut is over and the season winds on, the deer only have 3 main concerns, Food, Rest & Safety and they can become even more nocturnal.

 

For those of you who have been very successful hunting this late season hunt, what have you seen and done?  And tips and / or suggestions?

 

would you be more inclined to hunt the food source or the bedding area or somewhere in between (again, keep in mind the large area we are talking).

 

this deer is keeping me up at night now.  I don't ever post things like this on here, but I am getting desperate for any new insight that I may be overlooking.

 

Thanks for any replies!

Edited November 26, 2013 by beachpeaz

[beachpeaz]

 

FYI, so you can appreciate my sleepless nights.

[beachpeaz]

 

2012 Picture

[phade]

I take it your daylight photos of him are late season in MZ?

 

How do you know he's there in MZ?

 

The large buck we were chasing covered more than 2 miles based on game cam pics taken of him in rut. Typically late season may see a shift in locale based on the the food/safety aspect. Does your ground offer the food or the bedding with food just nearby?

[beachpeaz]

I take it your daylight photos of him are late season in MZ?

 

How do you know he's there in MZ?

 

The large buck we were chasing covered more than 2 miles based on game cam pics taken of him in rut. Typically late season may see a shift in locale based on the the food/safety aspect. Does your ground offer the food or the bedding with food just nearby?

 

Good questions.

 

No, my picturs are all from September - November.  Since I haven't hunted late season the past couple years, my cameras came down the end of November.

 

This year, my cameras are still up.  I am going to check them next week.  For all I know he got shot opening day.

 

However, going on history of this deer, NOBODY sees him the past 3 seasons, I am going to assume nobody shot him this year.  The property we hunt is 500 acres and has little to no pressure (it is all private and well posted).  His main bedding area is towards the middel of the property.  It would be really hard for a neighboring farm to wonder that far in and shoot him (thus why he is 6.5 years old or better).

 

So, to answer your question, his food source is mostly on my property.  There is a back field that is on the neighbors property that he uses part of the time, but not as often as mine.  His bedding area is pretty much always my property.  And, of all the 1,000's of acres taht surround my property, my property has such little hunting pressure it is almost a sanctuary for the deer.

 

Hope that makes sense.

 

[phade]

I'd be moving the cams to a circular or rectangular pattern based on buck trails you know surrounding that "bedding area" however big it is and hope he takes them, with an outward path in the p.m. and an inward route in the a.m.

 

I think by doing that now, you'll leave yourself enough time to gather any patterns that may develop from a bed to food/food to bed attitude.

 

You already know he's not on your property all the time based on the neighbor's field. While I believe mature bucks core ranges shrink as they age in general, I have started to realize that certain situations (rut, limited food, and even some summer crop rotations) impact that to a degree more than we want to believe. 500 acres is huge, but let's be real here, that doesn't mean he's spending the majority of time on it, especially if you only have a handful of daylight photos. You appear to be a skilled enough hunter to be able to have identified him more often than that if he were on it more often.

 

I think if he is bedding on your ground on certain occasions, why and when becomes the issue. Look for wind and temp relations - if the wind is high, is he bedding there for warmth and wind break, and scent checking reasons? Or is he becoming a slave to his stomach because of limited food sources? Is he hitting a green field when the snow is light and he can get to the food, and abandoning it when the snow piles on for some other source?

 

Ideally, you hit a homerun on picking him up on the cams just outside that suspected bedding area to give you more info.

[beachpeaz]

I'd be moving the cams to a circular or rectangular pattern based on buck trails you know surrounding that "bedding area" however big it is and hope he takes them, with an outward path in the p.m. and an inward route in the a.m.

 

I think by doing that now, you'll leave yourself enough time to gather any patterns that may develop from a bed to food/food to bed attitude.

 

You already know he's not on your property all the time based on the neighbor's field. While I believe mature bucks core ranges shrink as they age in general, I have started to realize that certain situations (rut, limited food, and even some summer crop rotations) impact that to a degree more than we want to believe. 500 acres is huge, but let's be real here, that doesn't mean he's spending the majority of time on it, especially if you only have a handful of daylight photos. You appear to be a skilled enough hunter to be able to have identified him more often than that if he were on it more often.

 

I think if he is bedding on your ground on certain occasions, why and when becomes the issue. Look for wind and temp relations - if the wind is high, is he bedding there for warmth and wind break, and scent checking reasons? Or is he becoming a slave to his stomach because of limited food sources? Is he hitting a green field when the snow is light and he can get to the food, and abandoning it when the snow piles on for some other source?

 

Ideally, you hit a homerun on picking him up on the cams just outside that suspected bedding area to give you more info.

 

That is exactly what I have done.  I left one camera on the front of the property where there are a lot of apples and I see him early season (and where I bow hunt), but have moved my other 5 cameras back into his core area.  Most importantly to just get a single picture and confirm he is alive (you can't hunt a dead deer, lol).  Secondly to pick up any new patterns that might exist.

 

My hopes are to set up new tree stands for that season based on the pictures I pull next week.  I have 4 that I am going to put up in basciallly a square around the bedding area that I know of (and hoping to confirm with pictures) and then hunt them based on wind, etc.

 

With a 1 square mile area to hunt, and only 2 of us (myself and my brother-in-law) it makes it VERY difficult. 

 

That is why I am appreciative of the insight you have posted in your experiences.  I am always a student and looking for ANY advantage I may have overlooked.

 

Thanks for the posts!  If you think of anything else, don't be bashful.

 

[phade]

Sounds crazy, but in the late MZ, I prefer not to hunt the first 4-5 days of the season after the close of regular. I actually like that Thursday or Friday to be the first day I hunt MZ.

 

I find that the few days of little to no pressure makes a world of difference for that first MZ hunt. The past few years I have taken the Friday afternoon off work and been able to plug a deer or two as I see movement earlier in daylight. You get the jump on weekend hunters, too.

 

It may be different in a 500 acre/2 hunter scenario, but I wouldn't make the move until I am sure I have the info. That time of year lends itself really to one, maybe two sits before your "shot" is spent.

[beachpeaz]

Yeah, I never really thought about that for MZ, but have indeed done that on bow season. 

 

Good thought.  I will be real curious what those pictures hold.  Is he alive?  Is he moving during daylight?  Is he in the same core area?  etc.  I think this will make a big difference in my approach. 

[phade]

If you have nothing to go on and can get out the final two weekends of gun season - I'd target doe areas where you've seen doe fawns. Chances are one or two will come into estrous in the "second rut" and could pull him out of cover.

[JALA RUT]

Great Buck...Good Luck with him come late Muzzle Season!  Looking forward to seeing a pic of you and him together!

[beachpeaz]

Great Buck...Good Luck with him come late Muzzle Season!  Looking forward to seeing a pic of you and him together!

 

Yeah, no kidding!  3 years this buck has eluded me.  I am hoping that the switch to hunt him late season will pay off.  Given he is 6.5 years old now, I don't want him around much longer.

[bubba]

I find after the rut, I hunt the food areas.  The bucks want to replenish all they lost running their butts off literally.  Now they need to replenish for winter.  However that being said, They seem to do so after dark and really hole up during the day.  I place cams on the feeding areas now and see what is happening.