BJohnson
Well-Known Member
This story starts back in the fall of 2011. I believe it was my second season on this farm, a farm I am tremendously fortunate to hunt.
In the fall of 2011, I had two big-bodied bucks in front of cams, mainly during the pre-rut stage of mid-late Oct. Tank was a main-frame 12 pt, relatively tall but narrow but I thought he had a brute of a body, hence the name Tank.
I estimated him in the mid-40's which for a 12 pt was nothing real special but his body impressed me anyway.
Starting in July 2012, I put cameras out. On the first pull he showed up on the south end of the property.
In mid-late Oct., he showed up as big-bodied as ever. Tank checking a scrap in Oct - 2012
My first daylight images of Tank came on the same bedding flat I killed him on yesterday, basically within 35 yards of point of impact.
After season, I went out to help the landowner with a project. I almost ran over a shed from Tank headed back to the timber.
Within the next few weeks, I ran some corn piles trying to see if I could figure out if he was fully shed. Within 10 days I had the answer, getting an image of a big-bodied deer walking past the corn pile. The mutt and I immediately started trying to find the shed match. Hunter, although not worth a crap at finding sheds, did indeed find this one. He had his nose intently to the ground 50 yards away and I suspected he might have found the match.
2013 was the first year I would actually lay eyes on him. I only got one cam image of him all pre-season over a mineral rock.
I finally got my first visual of him on Thanksgiving day 2013 tending a doe, again on the flat that I had gotten the first daylight image of him in late Nov. 2012. No shot opportunity was given but it was great to finally see him from a treestand. 3-4 days later, my son and I saw him from a box blind. He was on the far S end of the farm in the field and exited into the neighbors farm. I came to the conclusion over the off-season that his core area was not the farm I was hunting but rather the property to the south. I thought my best chances were on the front end of the rut or tail end when he was stretching his range looking for the first or last does. Otherwise, I suspected him to be doe'd up most of the rut and not visible. My cam images were always mid-late Oct and my only daylight cam or visuals were late rut. That was my plan heading into 2014.
Tuesday, I sat my first morning hunt. Five different crusing bucks passed in front of me in that bedding timber with no does sighted anywhere. With the winds the same the next day (yesterday), I thought I needed to press the issue since the "seek" phase seemed to be going pretty strong. I placed a cam in front of the stand Tuesday when I left and pointed it in the direction I had seen most of the buck traffic that day since I like to monitor some of my timber stands while I am gone and swap cards upon entrance or exits of hunts at those locations. Wednesday morning consisted of a cruising 2 yr old at 7:20 and a doe/fawn about 20 minutes later. I remember saying under my breath when she came close, "alright some bait". You wouldn't believe me if I told you so the images below tell the story (note - cam times are an hour off - shot at 7:53 - 10/29/14).
One happy bowhunter
In the fall of 2011, I had two big-bodied bucks in front of cams, mainly during the pre-rut stage of mid-late Oct. Tank was a main-frame 12 pt, relatively tall but narrow but I thought he had a brute of a body, hence the name Tank.
I estimated him in the mid-40's which for a 12 pt was nothing real special but his body impressed me anyway.
Starting in July 2012, I put cameras out. On the first pull he showed up on the south end of the property.
In mid-late Oct., he showed up as big-bodied as ever. Tank checking a scrap in Oct - 2012
My first daylight images of Tank came on the same bedding flat I killed him on yesterday, basically within 35 yards of point of impact.
After season, I went out to help the landowner with a project. I almost ran over a shed from Tank headed back to the timber.
Within the next few weeks, I ran some corn piles trying to see if I could figure out if he was fully shed. Within 10 days I had the answer, getting an image of a big-bodied deer walking past the corn pile. The mutt and I immediately started trying to find the shed match. Hunter, although not worth a crap at finding sheds, did indeed find this one. He had his nose intently to the ground 50 yards away and I suspected he might have found the match.
2013 was the first year I would actually lay eyes on him. I only got one cam image of him all pre-season over a mineral rock.
I finally got my first visual of him on Thanksgiving day 2013 tending a doe, again on the flat that I had gotten the first daylight image of him in late Nov. 2012. No shot opportunity was given but it was great to finally see him from a treestand. 3-4 days later, my son and I saw him from a box blind. He was on the far S end of the farm in the field and exited into the neighbors farm. I came to the conclusion over the off-season that his core area was not the farm I was hunting but rather the property to the south. I thought my best chances were on the front end of the rut or tail end when he was stretching his range looking for the first or last does. Otherwise, I suspected him to be doe'd up most of the rut and not visible. My cam images were always mid-late Oct and my only daylight cam or visuals were late rut. That was my plan heading into 2014.
Tuesday, I sat my first morning hunt. Five different crusing bucks passed in front of me in that bedding timber with no does sighted anywhere. With the winds the same the next day (yesterday), I thought I needed to press the issue since the "seek" phase seemed to be going pretty strong. I placed a cam in front of the stand Tuesday when I left and pointed it in the direction I had seen most of the buck traffic that day since I like to monitor some of my timber stands while I am gone and swap cards upon entrance or exits of hunts at those locations. Wednesday morning consisted of a cruising 2 yr old at 7:20 and a doe/fawn about 20 minutes later. I remember saying under my breath when she came close, "alright some bait". You wouldn't believe me if I told you so the images below tell the story (note - cam times are an hour off - shot at 7:53 - 10/29/14).
One happy bowhunter
