Hunting A Buck

[Coach1310]

Good day all. My boys (8 & 5) and I recently got a DANDY buck on our trail cam. Our cam is out on my grandparents property which is a 40 acre parcel with say 15 acres of alfalfa in one big field between the road and the house, probably 2-3 acres of homestead, the rest wooded with a hardwood mix. No real elevation except the north side borders a lowland/wetland, grassy brushy area. It borders about 40 acres of pure marginal land which is grassy and brushy.... not really a swamp with cattails or anything, but a mess to walk through none the less. My question really lies in HOW TO HUNT ONE BUCK with such a limited amount of land. We have had the cam out there for about 3 weeks. We have 5 different bucks on camera and in my very non expert opinion, I would say 3 of the bucks are 1.5 year olds, 1 I think is 2.5 and then the big guy. We have ONE picture of the big one and multiple of the rest. Is there anything I can do to increase my odds of harvesting this ONE buck, other than being out there as much as possible along with all the other scent control, stand placement, etc. I am sure there are plenty of folks on here who have hunted for one single buck, but with such a small piece of property and basically zero history with him, I am not sure what, if anything, I can do. Any help, dialogue, etc would be great. I want nothing more than to get multiple pictures of this guy AND have my boys see him when sitting with me. That is as important as harvesting him to me anyway.

Thanks

[96trigger]

Put up stands or blinds in all corners of the field so you can sit out there no matter what the wind situation is. I am just going to assume that the does are feeding in the alfalfa field. As the rut gets more intense, I will put money on him showing up somewhere in that alfalfa field with does. You will need to be out there and playing the wind correctly when that happens. It's why you need a few different locations to hunt from. This will be more difficult but if you can figure out what trail he is using the most, you can set up an ambush for some photos or a chance to take him. In essence, be out there a lot, and don't let them know you are there, keep moving, keep them guessing.

[sticknstring]

I'm guessing the pic you have is at night? What time? That will tell you what proximity he's bedding from your property. If he's close, I'd probably get after him right away. Otherwise, I'd probably opt to wait another 5 days before hunting him. Just not a high percentage of daylight activity yet. Don't overhunt your stands. If you keep the does around, you'll have bucks around soon enough. Maybe not the one you got pictures of, but maybe one similar or even bigger. With small propertie it's tough. It takes some patience and a lot of luck. Good luck to you and your boys!

[Bear55]

other than being out there as much as possible

Even with scent control this is the last thing you want to do. The oldest and wisest of bucks will smell you have been hunting the property a lot and avoid it. Also like Stick mentioned what time was he on cam? Close to first and last light I would guess he is bedding on the marginal land you mentioned. If not he could be a long long ways away and your only chance is the rut.

My best advice, if you REALLY want this buck is to stay off your land until the rut and hope for a miracle or doe to pull him in. Otherwise keep an eye on your cams and see if he is consistently in the area, one or two pics in the middle of the night won't cut it, he needs to be living close by to get a real crack at him.

I once wasted an entire fall hunting a buck that only showed up between midnight and 4am. Had lots of pics of him but only at night, it was a hard lesson learned and now I only get excited when I know I can hunt a deer I actually have a chance to shoot.

[Wensel]

IF you are out there for the boys, take the first deer down the trial.

If my son would have been put through all my pain shooting certain deer he'd probably be at the tennis court.

My success in turning him onto hunting is way more impressive to me than all the bone on the wall.

Hope it works out for you and the boys

[Coach1310]

Thanks for the replies so far. In regard to time, the pic was at 10:05pm I think. In regard to shooting the first one down the trail for my boys sake, I hear what you are saying. I have been fortunate to take a few deer with my boys with already and we put on some miles in the fall just driving around in hopes of seeing some deer. We spent a few nights in the blind last weekend my young one was able to see one. To be honest, it isn't as much about the horns as it is accomplishing something that is really difficult. It is a managed area, so I will take the first doe that gives me a clean shot, but the young guys get a pass and my boys understand that. I almost don't want to even hunt, just put out a few more cams and hopefully get some more pics. My sons can't get to the computer fast enough when we swap the chips. The only cam we have is on the alfalfa. It is worth trying to make a mock scrape or find one in the timber in hopes of getting better/more pics???

[Cheetah]

I don't know how old your kids are or how many deer they have shot so far, but my opinion is that it is probably better to just get the kids out in the stand rather than looking at deer on the computer.

[Coach1310]

I don't know how old your kids are or how many deer they have shot so far, but my opinion is that it is probably better to just get the kids out in the stand rather than looking at deer on the computer.

Hey Cheetah. Thanks for the thought. I hear you and I agree. We get out as much as we can but with the schedules we keep if someone can run and switch the chip at lunch or my grandpa can grab it mid day and we pick it up late that night, we do that. In an average month there are probably 6 or 7 days we even have a chance to hunt and we try and take advantage of all of those. The cam is just a great way to keep them involved with it and they love it... (Dad does too!)

[sticknstring]

Quote:

The only cam we have is on the alfalfa. It is worth trying to make a mock scrape or find one in the timber in hopes of getting better/more pics???

Yes, absolutely. If there is a good trail intersection adjacent to bedding cover or at least in the timber near that alfalfa, make one and hang a camera. You'll get a fairly accurate inventory of all the bucks in the your area over the next 10 days.

[SmellEsox]

Don't overhunt your stands. Watch the wind and don't try to justify hunting if the wind "isn't quite right". Also, watch your entry and exit. You can push deer out by being careless there also.

[Scoot]

Hi Coach,

I've got an 8 and 6 year old who I take hunting a lot. I've also hunted for a single buck several different times. One of the best years of hunting I ever had was chasing a buck back home- he won the chess match in the end, but man oh man did I enjoy the game.

I have to tell you, though, I really think you are pursuing two pretty mutually exclusive goals if all you want is to have your kids see this buck. You'll be fortunate as heck to see this buck at all at any point in time-- you've only got one pic of him and it's at night. I agree with the comment above about burning the kids out chasing a very lofty goal that may be very hard to attain. I'm not trying to be negative and if you think your kids will tolerate all of the time it'll likely take and will enjoy it the whole way, I encourage you to do it! If they'll get burnt out and sick of it, like I think the vast, vast majority of kids would (mine sure would, and they're nuts about hunting), then I think subjecting them to your goal is a mistake.

Having said all that you'll probably deflate the bugger the next time you get out there! I hope you do and I applaud you for thinking of your kids with this. No matter how it works out, I hope you and your kids have a blast.

One last thing-- if you have a good camera, consider bringing it along for the kids to take pics of deer with. It's a God-send for me- my kids consider good pics of the deer as their own great hunting accomplishments and love running the camera.

Good luck!!!

[NELS-BELLS]

The advice that you have gotten so far is all good advice. Since you only have one photo of the buck and its at night, combined with the fact that you are hunting a very small area, I would say your odds of even seeing this buck during shooting light are slim. I think you need to be pro-active and try to get the deer to come to you.

I have never tried this but I have heard of and read about plenty of success stories using mock scrapes and/or drippers. Maybe someone on this forum that has tried it can chime in.

Do some research on how to correctly make one and what scents to use. Then place your trail camera at the scrape or scrapes to see if and when the buck shows up.

What do you have to lose? Even if it doesn't work, it's not going to spook him out of the area.

Nels

[archerystud]

All of the advice here is spot on. Hunt him but hunt him wisely.

I once chased a 180+ deer all bow season. I knew where he bedded and always played the wind. Finally saw him opening day of gun season. If there is one shot I could retake that is the one. I gazed him low. I tracked him a long ways and I know I didn't kill him. I never saw him or his track again. I think I just made him wiser and he died of old age.

[MattL]

There's some good advice posted above. It's going to be very tough to get a crack at him with kids along, let alone by yourself so don't get your hopes up. But it sure is rewarding when you focus on one buck and put a tag on him.

A couple things to repeat from the above posts are to stay out of his bedding area at all costs and make sure the wind is absolutely perfect.

[muskiemanAD]

Like others have said with only a 40 it can be tough hunting a specific buck especially if he is not bedding on your area and just visiting it at random night visits. We just put a mock scrape near a known buck bed. The buck that we assumed was using the bed actually check the scrape during light. We had 2 other bucks come in late night as they were just random cruisers at night. So setting up over a scrape or making a mock one near a suspected bedding area can show you if he is visiting in daylight or late night.... I posted a pic of the bucks at scrape in trail cam thread in deer hunting section. Good luck as nothing better then killing a target buck!

[96trigger]

Gentlemen, we are approaching the rut, not hunting now would be a waste. My main concern would be not spooking the does, watching the wind, and being out there as much as possible. He might not show up, but that doesn't mean another one won't, this is the season when big deer can just show up out of nowhere. You might not see the one you have on camera but that doesn't mean a different buck won't pop in to check things out. I guarantee you won't see any sitting at home hoping to not over hunt an area. When things start heating up, I will have no problem hunting the same field from different stands every night of the week. I believe that if I play my cards right and be smart about going in and coming out, I will always stand a chance at seeing a nice buck as long as I can keep the does in the field. I guess when the rut hits, I get a little more aggressive. I have read enough on here and talked to enough friends that spent a lot of time In the woods last week to know that things are really picking up, faster and earlier than I have seen in previous years.

[nonteepical]

small property, never seen him before, he's there now, hunt him now. waiting for the rut is a huge gamble, he may or may not make it back, by the sounds of it he dosen't live to close by.

let's see the pic!

[muskiemanAD]

Gentlemen, we are approaching the rut, not hunting now would be a waste. My main concern would be not spooking the does, watching the wind, and being out there as much as possible. He might not show up, but that doesn't mean another one won't, this is the season when big deer can just show up out of nowhere. You might not see the one you have on camera but that doesn't mean a different buck won't pop in to check things out. I guarantee you won't see any sitting at home hoping to not over hunt an area. When things start heating up, I will have no problem hunting the same field from different stands every night of the week. I believe that if I play my cards right and be smart about going in and coming out, I will always stand a chance at seeing a nice buck as long as I can keep the does in the field. I guess when the rut hits, I get a little more aggressive. I have read enough on here and talked to enough friends that spent a lot of time In the woods last week to know that things are really picking up, faster and earlier than I have seen in previous years.

I agree. When bucks are chasing be out there because a buck that lives 3 miles away may show up...

[Coach1310]

Thanks for all the advice so far. A couple things.... #1 I hope to get a crack at him, but it isn't just about him. If I get a good crack at a doe I will take it. I am not mixing a target buck and my kids because that's all I believe in, rather this is just the opportunity to try it after running some cams this is the first really target buck we have gotten a pic of. #2 I also just love the idea of trying to dial in on a single deer and all the extra time and details it takes.... My kids will enjoy that too as checking the cam is more fun and my Grandpa is even excited about it and he has never hunted a day in his life. I think I will try the mock scrape and see what happens. I am hoping to be out Friday afternoon in the stand and maybe Saturday too but we shall see. Keep the advice and ideas coming.

[Meat-Run]

Like nonteepical states earlier hunt him now!!! Almost all the land I hunt is smaller parcel property and soon as one doe comes in heat the bucks are gone. I say you have less then 7 days to kill him and don't take any doe because that's what's keeping him there. Now is also the time to set up right on his bedding area, yes you're pushing your luck but with small land you have to take advantage of him while he's still in the hood.

MR

[RangerJack]

Must be a really big deer if you want to see him that bad! Hope it's not my big boy! Just kidding!

[Coach1310]

For most hunters standards he really isn't that big(I have no idea what I think he would score but my father in law has a 160" on the wall and I don't think he is that big), however this is the first time I actually have proof of a buck I would shoulder mount being on land I can hunt so I am pretty excited about that. The buck has just jumpstarted the idea of doing all you can in hopes of seeing/getting a shot at one particular deer. I read stories all the time from folks who hunt a deer for a year, two, three..... I can't just think that is a neat deal and for me it is way more about the journey than putting him on the ground.

[rkhinrichs]

lets see a pic!

[Bear55]

I have also had some luck with mock scrapes, the big boys still only show up during the night but it will at least give you a chance that he shows up.

[InTheNorthwoods]

A couple things and I'll give you my thoughts:

1. Pics or it isn't true...

2. Awesome that you are taking the kids out with you. Make sure you keep it fun.

Based on the information you've provided, there is no specific information that can be gleaned to give you a leg up on this buck (other than a good spotlight - I KID!!!). A single picture at 10 p.m. means that he could have traveled a long way to get to the field and could be just passing through. With that said, I'd keep hunting, and keep running cameras, to see if you can pattern that deer. You clearly have a desirable food source and does - those two items alone are your best weapons at this time of year. I'd suggest your best chance for killing that deer is hunting as much as possible, as smart as possible, right now.

Good luck with your pursuit, but most of all, have fun.