Wednesday, November 5, 2014

The Traveler


   As many of you know there is a buck that I have been hunting for about 4 years. I have posted about him several times.  He started as a decent 8pt., then became a very big 8pt.,  then a big 11pt. , last year he was a massive 9pt., this year he is a huge and massive 8pt.   
   I thought I had this deer pretty well figured out.  I have always got his picture in the same area around a big mountain laurel thicket.  Last year I got hundreds of pics of him right through the season,  minus one week in mid November when I figured he had found a doe. This area is difficult to access and hunt,  I need an east wind to hunt the area. I was able to get relatively close to him last year but swirling winds are also a problem in this area,  and they cost me.
    This year I got his picture on cue within just a few days of setting the camera in September.  I thought I was on my way to another season with possibilities of killing this monster.  I had moved the stand slightly in the spring to hopefully help with the wind issues.  Much to my disappointment, I never got his picture again from September through mid October. There are tons of acorns this year and I assumed he had shifted his range to take advantage. 
   As late October rolled around I decided to set a camera on some big scrapes I had located post season last year while shed hunting.  I had never got pics of  this buck rutting and have never found the type of sign that you would expect to go along with a buck this size. 
   On November 1st I checked the camera and sure enough there he was opening the scrape on October 31st at 7pm (see video below).  I also had a huge bodied 5pt as well the day prior (see video below). I was excited to see him again, but would still need an east wind to hunt this spot, and this location was even further out.  
    The following morning the winds were blowing northwest. I hunted another stand quite a distance away where I had been getting numerous buck pictures, and had seen a 6pt and some does earlier in the season.  After an uneventful morning I hopped down and checked the camera overlooking a popular scrape.  Much to my suprise at 5:30am on November 2nd the big buck was at this scrape.  I couldn't believe it,  I had never seen this buck anywhere but the small area where I had got his picture for the previous 4 years.
    When I got home that evening I needed to know just how far it was.  I pulled up google maps and measured it out.  From one camera to the next in a straight line was 1.8 miles.  I didn't know what to think and still don't. Was this normal,  is this his regular rutting area or was this a brief wander.  It is not peak rut, deer really have not been cruising yet.  I guess I need to move a few more cameras into this area and see if he hangs around.  If he does it will open up some possibilities.




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