Ever move on from a target buck?

[VFL]

So I’ve had history with this buck last year and some pictures this year. I had a piece of this public all to myself and it was my best kept secret - always saw deer and shot a nice mature 8 there last year. In NJ, we have a few seasons for archery, so the permit season, I came across this buck. Having already shot my buck, I was going to be picky and hunted this deer smart and hard. Only hunted when the wind was right.

This year, someone discovered my honey hole and EHD has taken a toll on our herd. I haven’t seen nearly the same amount of deer, but I’ve seen some decent sign in the area. I got him on cam a few times but I haven’t had eyes on him yet. I’m afraid the other hunter isn’t playing the wind right and making this buck nocturnal. Have you guys ever “given up” on a target buck? This is the only spot I run cams but I have other public pieces in the same vicinity down pretty good.

Hang in there or on to the next one?

 

[Bigterp]

If he’s huntable hang in there it’s not even cranked up yet……

 

[Hunter260]

Deer are never nocturnal, you just gotta get closer. If someone else is hunting it’s time to get aggressive. If you’ve found a buck you want to kill on public then I think your best best is hunt him hard enough to kill him or blow him out for good.

 

[HuntNorthEast]

Find his bed, beat him to it, kill him in it. Hunt as you scout.

 

[VFL]

Deer are never nocturnal, you just gotta get closer. If someone else is hunting it’s time to get aggressive. If you’ve found a buck you want to kill on public then I think your best best is hunt him hard enough to kill him or blow him out for good.

Where he was moving in daylight in the past (without much pressure) he only moves at night now. That’s what I meant by nocturnal; either way, you’re right. Might be time to get aggressive.

 

[HuntNorthEast]

Where he was moving in daylight in the past (without much pressure) he only moves at night now. That’s what I meant by nocturnal; either way, you’re right. Might be time to get aggressive.

He’s just not leaving his area til later on, he’s still there just isn’t going far before dark. He’s moving in daylight still, maybe a 150yd circle.

 

[Jagger0502]

You have some smart guys commenting here. I would rather hunt aggressive and blow my chance than just pack it up and leave him. At least you know you tried. There is a good method to getting in close on an East wind if you have his bed targeted and scrape line. If your normal wind is a west wind in your are (or whatever the opposite wind is) he will take his normal routes on his scrape lines and usually they are set up to his advantage on the normal winds. If you get an opposite wind, get in there close and he will make a mistake and take his normal routine trail and you will be waiting for him. This works well until the rut kicks in hard and then it’s a crap shoot if he is chasing doe so get after him sooner than later.
Good luck!

 

[VFL]

He seems to be on the northern side of the property on a southern wind and the southern side on a northern wind. There are some historical and current doe bedding areas that I’m familiar with. There is a definitive scrape line and a number of rubs. I will try to provide a map with some details, if you guys wouldn’t mind giving it a look..

 

[Teddy9871]

I like bouncing around, I hunted my "target" a couple times to start the season but from bouncing around he's been moved down the list a little. I spent alot of sept-nov last year trying to get another shot at a 150 I drove myself crazy chasing for 2 years just for him to get shot a mile down the road. This year I've had 3 close opportunities on deer as big or bigger and none of them started as my "target".

 

[VFL]

He seems to be on the northern side of the property on a southern wind and the southern side on a northern wind. There are some historical and current doe bedding areas that I’m familiar with. There is a definitive scrape line and a number of rubs. I will try to provide a map with some details, if you guys wouldn’t mind giving it a look..

The blue lines is a creek.
The red circles are historical buck bedding areas.
The yellow circles are historical and current doe bedding areas.
Green line is a scrape line.
Purple dots are current and historical rubs.

I do bounce around a lot, but this piece is pretty small but I do adjust to the wind every time I go out.

I’ve hunted near both rubs based on the wind. Been thinking about getting closer to the buck bedding (red circle) on the southeastern part of that land.

 

[Jagger0502]

It’s hard to tell elevation but if you say the normal wind is a southwind my guess is he heads from the bed to the NE and walks SW on those scrapes on what looks like a ridge. That is where I would try to get close if that is a ridge. If you get a north wind get in close to that scrape line with your wind to your advantage and get him in the transition. Also speculation that I have any clue... I still have all my tags this year

 

[VFL]

It’s hard to tell elevation but if you say the normal wind is a southwind my guess is he heads from the bed to the NE and walks SW on those scrapes on what looks like a ridge. That is where I would try to get close if that is a ridge. If you get a north wind get in close to that scrape line with your wind to your advantage and get him in the transition. Also speculation that I have any clue... I still have all my tags this year

Ha - well we’re in the same boat regarding tags. What you explained on that ridge with those scrapes are spot on and it is how I killed my buck last year (on an eastern wind). He was moving from the south to the north rubbing trees and making scrapes while corralling his does.

 

[RamBam]

I did after my target buck got poached last year and I had a buck stolen off private land. Being that I work on the road my goals this year was to just have fun and hunt. Shoot some freezer fillers and let what ever happens happen. I took a buck opening morning off public land this year. I think it was one of my happiest moments and more so nostalgic to me. No scouting for weeks , no prep , no hopes. Just hang and hunt like the old timers. I still have a 6.5 yr buck on my private land I’d like to get but it’s been more fun to just go back to legitimately hunting. Big racks and lots of meat is nice but it also became super time consuming and almost frustrating. Everything can go right but still never connect. Do what you think will make you the happiest and you feel is the best value for your time.

 

[ImThere]

I would hunt him until I don’t get pictures of him anymore then you can figure he’s dead of the other hunter blew it for ya.


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[Anobody]

Almost every time I hunt

 

[bowhunthard88]

My response is: yes, I have. There are qualifications though, there was always a "legitimate" reason. Never just an "oh well, I'm out." Most of my moving on from a target buck was a case of "opportunity of quality", and ended in a successful harvest with a deer that I was happy with. Then I would target my original buck the following year, if possible. Make yourself satisfied, I hesitate to use "happy" lol.

So, my question to you is, do you want to let go of that target buck? If you're willing to let go of that specific deer, does it matter if you scare him out of the county trying to find him (you won't move him that far even if bumped usually though)? Unless you can't deal with the aggravation, make your move, before you move on.

 

[VFL]

My response is: yes, I have. There are qualifications though, there was always a "legitimate" reason. Never just an "oh well, I'm out." Most of my moving on from a target buck was a case of "opportunity of quality", and ended in a successful harvest with a deer that I was happy with. Then I would target my original buck the following year, if possible. Make yourself satisfied, I hesitate to use "happy" lol.

So, my question to you is, do you want to let go of that target buck? If you're willing to let go of that specific deer, does it matter if you scare him out of the county trying to find him (you won't move him that far even if bumped usually though)? Unless you can't deal with the aggravation, make your move, before you move on.

The issue is that if I hunt that area, which is a small parcel, he’s my target. Doesn’t mean if something comes in that gets my blood pumping, I won’t be satisfied with him. The public land I hunt are “chunks” that are here and there - a mile or two apart, separated by developments, churches, schools, private land, etc. If I were to “move on” to another parcel, chances are, I won’t see him. In the past, I’ve shot and seen some real nice deer, but there is heavy pressure and EHD took out a lot of deer. I understand that deer travel miles during the rut, but if and when he does, I’d bet that he won’t make it long.

 

[kbetts]

Do you even know he’s still there? A lot of guys hunt deer that are miles from where they think they are.

 

[VFL]

Do you even know he’s still there? A lot of guys hunt deer that are miles from where they think they are.

Not 100%, but he was there last year from Oct-Nov and he’s been popping on my cam in early-mid Oct.

 

[slonstdy]

I'm not of the mindset to give up, never, not with anything I do and I would suggest to you to not quit unless you know for sure he has left the area or is dead.
If you have better options or target deer in other locations and want to change things up great, but if not then hunt this deer down as if your life depended on it.
Change up your tactics, get more aggressive, hunt harder, do whatever it takes to be more determined to find and kill him. Don't be discouraged by another hunter in your honey hole and back out of there letting this intruder potentially have his way with your prize. It could be that this hunter just wants to take the first doe or buck he sees or hunts there a few times and decides that the place is not what he thought and never hunts it again. You wouldn't know it and you'd be letting your target buck off the hook if you gave up on this location.
Lots of unknowns can happen but like the saying goes "You've got to be in it to win it"
Stick with it and good luck!