How am I gonna kill this buck?

2rocky · Dec 24, 2006

Here is the picture of the one who got away. Last day of Archery Season, the closest I got to him was 283 yards. I know these two are bedding in that dark timber full of downfall timber behind them.

how would you hunt this buck? At the time of the photo it was probably 20 minutes after daybreak, and they were headed to their beds in the thick dark stuff....

Wes · Dec 24, 2006

Simple math, 7mm mag + 283 yards = BOOM one dead deer.
Wes

bounder · Dec 24, 2006

7mm mag,300wsm,but I'm not arguing,either one will stop the old ticker. But really nice find,good looking buck.

Slide · Dec 24, 2006

Tree Stand?

bounder · Dec 24, 2006

oh come on,treestand? I thought the farther away the better.lol

Trophymossback · Dec 24, 2006

I think I would carefully pick my spot and get into position in the dark. If you moves through the same area each morning, you will get this guy!

TM

old_man_of_the_hills · Dec 24, 2006

Wait until their antlers harden and the bucks start to spar a little. Then creep into the supposed bedding area and use a grunt call and a doe bleat. Even though the rut is a long time off, the bucks still get curious and want to see who is in their territory.

canhunter · Dec 24, 2006

Watch for a few days, time and pattern, then set up and wait until they come by. Obviously everything has to be right all the time or not worth going in. I would not screw it up with stink and too much activity.

bsneekee · Dec 25, 2006

Lets see of course if you have the time you could pattern the dude, which would probably greatly increase your odds. However, if there was one more day and you wanted to do everything right here is what I would do. Set up right where you saw him in the dark. Completely control all scent by using scent blockers scent free shampoo, scentless deodorant etc etc. Then if the buck is a no show in the morning I'd carefully still hunt through that nasty crap that it appeared he bedded in. Meticulously pick your way through. Carry a grunt call. Maybe even put some doe urine on yourself. Gotta make that guy think that there is no danger coming to get him cause your gonna make noise. Also a guy i know says that bumping deer with a partner is a great way to kill big muleys that are in a place where you can't get close enough for a shot. You position where you think the deer will move and then your buddy shows himself to the deer making them nervous and hopefully they will walk right to where your hiding. For more on this technique check out the latest edition of bow and arrow magazine, his article is in there.

2rocky · Dec 26, 2006

LAST EDITED ON Dec-26-06 AT 12:58PM (MST)[p]>Watch for a few days, time
>and pattern, then set up
>and wait until they come
>by. Obviously everything has
>to be right all the
>time or not worth going
>in. I would not
>screw it up with stink
>and too much activity.

OK now here is the aerial of the ridge.Remember I'm hunting Archery....

(Sorry guys, no GPS coordinates!)

How would you approach this in the dark for a place to set up? Wind is from the west by southwest.

elkantlers · Dec 26, 2006

I would say a chute plane.

old_man_of_the_hills · Dec 27, 2006

What state?

Muleyslyr · Dec 27, 2006

Gotta agree with bsneekee. He makes some good suggestions.

My question is where/how'd you get that arial photo? Google I see that, but what did you Google?

2rocky · Dec 27, 2006

GOOGLE EARTH is the aerial photo site.

http://earth.google.com/

The tree cover is all mostly Douglas Fir. I'm just looking for still hunting pointers in a bunch of deadfalls. I find myself watching my step and getting spotted before I spot the bucks bedded.

I have considered coming up to the saddle to the east of the bucks the evening before and bivouacking and getting to where I can see the Opening at first light. Maybe from that position I can See where they Bed.

I'm betting it isn't much more than 100-200 yards inside the tree line.

When I tried to still hunt through the trees I was too far up the hill in the trees and I was past the opening before I realized it. Never jumped the bucks, but I bumped a couple does in their beds.

shedfreak91 · Dec 27, 2006

LAST EDITED ON Dec-27-06 AT 04:44PM (MST)[p]Here's what I would do, just keep an eye on him and wait for the extended archery hunt. Just stay on him and you will get a shot. That's what I did with the deer I shot. Just wait until the rut.

C:\Documents and Settings\Owner.YOUR-8CFB60BB5A\My Documents\My Pictures\austin 005.jpg

Cass · Dec 27, 2006

LAST EDITED ON Dec-27-06 AT 07:15PM (MST)[p]<img scr="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v330/Cass20/Bucklocation.jpg?t=1167272076</img>

-Cass

Cass · Dec 27, 2006

LAST EDITED ON Dec-27-06 AT 07:17PM (MST)[p]i give up on the whole posting a picture on here

shedfreak91 · Dec 28, 2006

I here you I don't know how it works!

BCBOY · Dec 28, 2006

2Rocky,
I'd stillhunt that timber if I were you. Sneak and Peek, Slow and Slower.

2rocky · Dec 29, 2006

BCBOY

I think that is what I'm gonna have to do. I reckon you have your fair share of Dead Fall Jungles up there. What is your Definition of SLOW and SLOWER. 500 yds in 20 minutes?

There is nothing more humbling than getting "high centered" on a deadfall as a buck bounces out in front of you. @#$%%#

CASS

I think your diagram makes sense. I might drop down 50-100 yards on the back side of that ridge on the way up. I might spot another buck on the way in. The photo is deceiving in the fact that it is steeper than it looks. In Fact I had a buck at 30 yds bedded under a spruce that I let walk that evening that I took the picture.

BCBOY · Dec 29, 2006

Slow and slower is dictated by how noisy the situation is. I sometimes go as slow as 3 or 4 steps and wait 4 or 5 mins, 3 or 4 steps and wait 10 mins, 10 steps and wait 15 mins. It all depends on how much I feel I'm disturbing things with the amount of crunching I'm doing. The other strategy is to not care about how much noise you make and just walk in as if you are a deer. Deer can make a tremendous amount of noise sometimes. I've found that in real noisy conditions, my stealthiness is what puts the deer on edge. If I walk like I'm just like them, they are more relaxed, even if it is snap, crackle, pop kind of conditions. In my experience, you need to have a bunch of deer in a patch of timber for that to work. If there are only 2 or 3 bucks on that mountain and you can't seem to glass up any other deer in those other openings, best bet would be the Slow and Slower method.

BCBOY · Dec 29, 2006

Another suggestion would be to hunt with some friends or family and work that patch of timber from various different angles. If one hunter spooks the buck, it may slip out the backdoor right past one of the other hunters.

prohunter · Dec 29, 2006

you can't come up from the bottom...the wind will get you. go completly around & come down from the top and try to catch them in their beds.

JimmyAZ · Dec 29, 2006

I love Google Earth! It plays a huge role in my scouting. Here are some still frames of my hunt this last year that I scouted....I really think it had a key role in helping me get the buck I did...

MichaelJ · Dec 29, 2006

I'd also look for him higher up the ridge from where you see him. Deer will often time (especially bucks) bed upwind of whereever they came in. And don't get high above him too early as the night time thermals will still be drifting downwards. I'd get about even with him and wait for him to bed, then probably go slow and slower on his trail looking downwind (uphill) and ahead...

Michael
"What I could do, I was doing, and that was simply putting my butt on the line for my country, the country that I loved, so that all the protestors and the academics and the liberal intelligentsia back home could enjoy the right to protest against people like me, the hated middleclass." --Gary R. Smith, US Special Forces