Bucks Core Area

[Slim]

I made one of the worst decisions last night I have made hunting. I had a 150+ 10 pointer under me last night that looked like he was straight out of Saskachawan. I bet he weighed 250 + I took a quartering away shot hit a limb and grazed his back. At this point I could have jumped out of my tree and puked! He went out about 35 yds and gave me one last shot and of course I led just a little to far. I cut his front left shoulder. I found blood but nothing to suggest he was hit fatally and he left without any sign of being hurt. Now for my question, The buck never smelled me and I don't think he saw me. This stand is right on the fringe of his core area. He made a scrape and rubbed a tree before he came in and there are big rubs and scrapes all over in this timber. Will a buck this age and what I educated him on ,missing him move to a diffrent core area or stay put?Do you guys think these deer remember these run ins they have. Im sorry for the long post but I am just sick screwing up this once in a lifetime chance at a magnificent buck.

 

[Spike]

Slim, like the commercial says;" been there done that''. Thats the intrigue of bowhunting, if it were easy anybody could do it. As far as your big boy is concerned, my experience says youv'e educated him no matter how non -chalant he acted. If he's in that core area still, he won't be out till after dark. Good Luck

 

[raven]

Hello,

No, this big buck will not change his core area! At least, that is my opinion.

Having said that, though, I must ask: are you sure that you are hunting the core area of this buck? I mean, bucks are traveling big time right now, and this could be a transient buck from afar. A here today, gone tommorow buck. There may well be another big buck -- or two -- in the area that you have not yet seen.

If this IS the big buck of the area, though, no, he will not shift location. If bucks shifted core areas every time they got bumped, scraped or frightened they would be nomads consantly looking for a new home. This would put them in even more danger because they would never be able to familiarize themselves with the landscape to evade danger.

Deer can't reason. This buck probably thinks he got "stung" by some sort of monster mosquito or something, if he really didn't see, hear or smell you, and if the hit was only superficial, then I'd expect him to resume normal behavior patterns, including daytime movement during the rut. I don't think, this will turn him into a "nocturnal ghost" of sorts.(I'm assuming, here that you've recovered your arrows, looked for blood trails and determined that you really didn't catch him with a broadhead more than you thought ).

I do believe, however, that you aren't very likely to shoot him from that stand/blind location again this year! (Unless a doe-in-heat walks by, which changes everything, because a big buck would follow a ready doe right into an oncoming train or off a cliff, in my opinion). I think this monster buck will resume his normal travels BUT will learn to skirt wide of your stand location. I would put up a stand at least 100 yards away and keep on a huntin'!

Hope you get another crack at the brute!

Good Hunting...Raven

 

[Slim]

Thanks for the advice raven. I was planning on moving a stand to the east of this location over his escape route we will see what happens!!!

Slim