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Knowing Your Deer

rem270 said:
"I have been watching my number one hitlist buck Javier. He came out of the rut funnel into my kill plot where I made a clean harvest. Deer cast showed good movement so I decided to go."

Did I do that right? I'm not used to these new wordings 😅
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You left out the set you were using. 😆

As for seeing the same deer year after year I've never been good at saying "yeah that's the 9-pt from last year". Unless they have some marking or characteristic that makes it easy to spot I can't do it. Just because the rack looks similar doesn't necessarily mean it's the same buck. Could be from the same genes and look like the same deer but I'm not good at it.
 
redblood said:
Food plots are double edged swords, especially in a club hunting situation. They are very easy to overhunt, especially when multiple parties are hunting them
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I can see that, but this place gets very, very little hunting pressure. I will admit most of the pressure is concentrated in the easier to get to spots near roads.
 
Gravey said:
As for seeing the same deer year after year I've never been good at saying "yeah that's the 9-pt from last year". Unless they have some marking or characteristic that makes it easy to spot I can't do it. Just because the rack looks similar doesn't necessarily mean it's the same buck. Could be from the same genes and look like the same deer but I'm not good at it.
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Same here.
 
That's the reason that I don't get into trail cams… well, one of a few reasons:
A) I'm cheap and don't want to buy them
B) I'm busy and don't have time to go check them (I know that cell cams are a thing, but see "A")
C) I know people who absolutely will not hunt unless they have a "target buck", and they say that trail cams have ruined them because of this. But I tell them that you just don't know what will show up on any given day, regardless of what your cam has picked up on in the past
D) I like the mystery
E) I've always liked to read sign/terrain/food and hunt "deer" rather than just bucks, and I've always felt that using trail cams to hunt were taking the technology advantage just a bit to far for my liking. I understand some people use them for monitoring year round in order to understand population density, harvest impacts, etc, but I also know people who have no clue on how to hunt without cameras. These people also have no desire to learn as long as they have that crutch.

I'm in no way looking down my nose at those who use them, so don't start trying to justify your cam usage to me. I don't care if you use them, I just won't for me
 
EastTNHunter said:
That's the reason that I don't get into trail cams… well, one of a few reasons:
A) I'm cheap and don't want to buy them
B) I'm busy and don't have time to go check them (I know that cell cams are a thing, but see "A")
C) I know people who absolutely will not hunt unless they have a "target buck", and they say that trail cams have ruined them because of this. But I tell them that you just don't know what will show up on any given day, regardless of what your cam has picked up on in the past
D) I like the mystery
E) I've always liked to read sign/terrain/food and hunt "deer" rather than just bucks, and I've always felt that using trail cams to hunt were taking the technology advantage just a bit to far for my liking. I understand some people use them for monitoring year round in order to understand population density, harvest impacts, etc, but I also know people who have no clue on how to hunt without cameras. These people also have no desire to learn as long as they have that crutch.

I'm in no way looking down my nose at those who use them, so don't start trying to justify your cam usage to me. I don't care if you use them, I just won't for me
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I started using them a few years ago ...not using them for the most of my hunting career. On my little place I got to seeing a good 10 point for our area . I strictly hunted that buck turning away a couple decent bucks that year waiting on the one that never showed himself . I took the cams down and never used them again . Gave a few away .
 
Spurhunter said:
The other thread got me thinking about guys getting pics of certain bucks year after year, learning all about them, naming them, etc. I have a 416 acre lease in TN. It has everything a buck could want, especially thick, thick cover. There is very minimal hunting pressure and human intrusion. We rarely have bucks hang around longer than a couple weeks. Very rarely. A buck will show up on camera, get me excited, and disappear never to be seen again. Many times a mature buck will only get caught on camera once and he's gone forever. I've always found it interesting that other folks have bucks hang around for years. Maybe the deer on my lease are traveling deer, or maybe it's a difference in farm land vs. timber land. 🤷‍♂️
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Wish we had that much to manage, we have just 55 acres, and I may overdo it with cameras, but we do get deer that sometimes hang around.

I think what helps us is the ag land around us that gets harvested right before or during season. We keep a small portion of our land in pasture and food plots specifically for the deer. Some do hang around and some don't.
 
I invite them to dinner, then I name them, Steak, Stew, Summer Sausage, Burger etc.

But seriously, I have yet to age or measure one, so naming them has never occurred to me.
 
Id say your problem is lack of year round food from what you described. Mature bucks dont usually up and leave a core/home area from being bumped once or twice or even more really. They do react to intrusion, but leave for good they dont in most cases. Look at recent study ( I will find the university and Biologist) and you will be surprised by results. Something like 85% of all mature bucks that were bumped from their Core area (gps collar shows where they spend 90% time) would be back within hours no matter how often they were bumped or how hard (dogs running them). Very interesting results.
 
rem270 said:
"I have been watching my number one hitlist buck Javier. He came out of the rut funnel into my kill plot where I made a clean harvest. Deer cast showed good movement so I decided to go."

Did I do that right? I'm not used to these new wordings 😅
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You did good but missed a few things...........

As the buck came into my Biologic kill plot, I was hanging in my set ready for the kill. He came in downwind but thanks to Ozonics, dead down wind, and Scent Loc, I was able to put a rage in the cage, and he didn't go 20.
 
Cover food water. Most places have decent enough cover. But do you have food year round? And water year round? Especially in this year with a bad drought. When you get those things then it's pressure and intrusion. 3 people on 400 something acres can get over hunted fast if you aren't careful. Depending on how it lays out.
 
IME 30%-50% of bucks return while the rest are transient. Maybe 10% or less return annually over their lifespan. It's about the same on all the properties i hunt regardless if ag or big woods.

I for sure name bucks. Any given season I might be monitoring a dozen or more 8pts, half dozen 10pts, etc. When I upload pics/vids to a file I assign the buck name, date, and location in the name tag. That way when I want to look at info on a specific buck all I have to do is type in his name in the search and it pulls up everything in order of timeline. I then overlay year over year to search for repeating patterns.

For instance if a buck has a jacked up rack I might name him Jack. If I search his name and see that he's been at the water hole in daylight last three years in a row on October 30th, then guess where I'm going to sit next October 30th. It's not always that precise but sometimes it is, and I've killed many really good bucks that way. Or I can search location name or date for the same type of patterning. If I didn't assign identity to the deer, locations, and dates then this type of patterning would be much harder if not impossible.

Not for everyone but I sure enjoy it and it works. Sure I can go hunt blind and shoot surprise bucks I'm unfamiliar with. And I do that on out of state and/or public land hunts. It's fun. But I also really enjoy getting to know bucks and going full serial killer on them. Can't put me into any singular box because I enjoy it all.
 
backyardtndeer said:
Wish we had that much to manage, we have just 55 acres, and I may overdo it with cameras, but we do get deer that sometimes hang around.

I think what helps us is the ag land around us that gets harvested right before or during season. We keep a small portion of our land in pasture and food plots specifically for the deer. Some do hang around and some don't.
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You have a beautiful place though brother !
 
rem270 said:
"I have been watching my number one hitlist buck Javier. He came out of the rut funnel into my kill plot where I made a clean harvest. Deer cast showed good movement so I decided to go get him with my 270."

Did I do that right? I'm not used to these new wordings 😅
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Fixed it for you.
 

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