Buck Question

I finally found the buck I was after. I saw him in the summer and I saw him again on Friday night. I'm guessing he is close to a 180 inch 4 x 5. When I saw him on Friday it was very late and I decided not to rush it in hopes he would be there the next day. However, I have not been able to find him for 2 days now. I believe he is right in the same area perhaps a half mile circle. What do you guys think? I have also been wondering if some bucks have some type of rotation where they follow their route and only appear in the same spot every 3 or 4 days. What do you guys think about that? I'm hunting northern Utah Archery. I don't think the Bucks move far at all but he could be on some rotation.

I do know that some bucks do move around a lot.
I've had cameras set out about 1/2 to one mile apart in a somewhat of a triangle pattern and have had the same buck on all three in the same week.

Get ready for change because it's going to happen!

Thanks, good to know

I think each buck has his own personality and they have their own travel tendencies because of that.

I've seen bucks get shot at and come back to the same spot the next afternoon.

I've also seen some get bumped and never come back.....or so it seems. I think they stay in the same general area until migration or rut.

They just hunker down and aren't as visible as much. The only way to really know is to ask them, but last I heard they aren't talking. ?

Until then I'd glass the same general area hard. Look in the shadows, glass till dark. Keep track of his "buddies" he hangs out with. Lots of times that little buck will give the bigger one up by walking by it, etc.

"That's a special feeling, Lloyd"

LAST EDITED ON Aug-27-17 AT 03:55PM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Aug-27-17 AT 03:54?PM (MST)

>I think each buck has his
>own personality and they have
>their own travel tendencies because
>of that.
>
>I've seen bucks get shot at
>and come back to the
>same spot the next afternoon.
>
>
>I've also seen some get bumped
>and never come back.....or so
>it seems.
> I think they stay
>in the same general area
>until migration or rut.
>
>They just hunker down and aren't
>as visible as much.
>The only way to really
>know is to ask them,
>but last I heard they
>aren't talking.
>?
>
>Until then I'd glass the same
>general area hard.
>Look in the shadows, glass
>till dark. Keep track
>of his "buddies" he
>hangs out with.
>Lots of times that little
>buck will give the bigger
>one up by walking by
>it, etc.
>
>"That's a special feeling, Lloyd"


I will second what he said, especially his last paragraph. I was hunting an area a couple years ago that I had been seeing a big buck in all summer and into the middle of the bowhunt. Even in the high pressure area and sometimes getting blown out of there almost on a daily basis, this buck always seemed to return within a day or two. Until he stripped his velvet and then he vanished. Fast forward to the 5th day of the muzzy hunt. I hadn't been seeing the bigger bucks I was sure in the area. I sat in an area I felt
Like this buck was in although I hadn't seen him in almost a month. About 10 am a spike got up from his bed that I had glasses earlier in the morning, and walked about 100 yards down to the edge of some pines and really thick brush. I watched this spike as he walked and saw him go over to a spot and just stand there, every now and then dropping his head below the brush line like he was trying to irritate another deer. After about 5 minutes the buck I had been searching for jumped up, ran the spike off, then walked back to his bed and laid back down, but this time he laid in a position where I could see just his butt and the tops of his antlers.


After confirming it was him I ran down the back side of the ridge, cut the distance and snuck within 150 yards of him and waited for him to stand. Nearly 3 hours later he stood up and gave me a shot. He ran about 50 yards and fell over. Without the spike giving up his location, I'd have never seen him. I was at the top of this canyon before light and has glassed it all morning. He was in his bed before it was light.


Just because you can't see them, doesn't mean they Aren't there. The more pressure they get, the smarter they become

Odds are he is still there.

Try not to permeate the area with your scent. If he knows you've been there, it might not be a problem. However, if your scent is getting freshened regularly, odds grow against you.

Judas deerkiller. Nice deer. 187"?


"That's a special feeling, Lloyd"

>
>Judas deerkiller. Nice
>deer. 187"?
>
>
>
>"That's a special feeling, Lloyd"


He greened at 185". I never scored him again since he was mounted, but in thinking his "official" score would be somewhere pretty close to 180".

Unless people have been walking through his core area, I would put money on him being still there. I've seen some bucks start stripping velvet the last week of August so it is possible that changed his pattern slightly but I think hunting pressure is more of a factor.
I was hunting an old non-typical several years ago. The second year hunting him he disappeared just before the season opened again. Instead of looking other places for him like the year before, I stuck to his core area and found him hard horned a few days after the archery season opened in Idaho. I put a stalk on him that didn't work out and blew him out of his core bedding area. A couple days later I found him again in the same area and my friend was able to put an arrow in him.
Last year in New Mexico I saw the buck below opening morning of rifle season. He was in a spot that didn't allow me a good stalk into rifle range so I didn't put a risky stalk on him that morning. Even though I knew approximately where he bedded, he didn't show himself for a shot that evening and it took me 3 hard days of looking to relocate him. He was right back in his core area and I was able to take him around 2pm when he stood up from his bed.

I believe that most big muley bucks that disappear didn't go somewhere else. I think they are still in their core area and either go nocturnal or your glassing position didn't allow you to see them that particular day. He may have moved a short distance to thicker cover and is still feeding during daylight. I doubt he moved more than a mile though. I'm guessing hunting pressure has caused him to switched to his fall time routine of becoming more nocturnal. The more time you put into finding him, the more likely he will make a mistake and you will turn him up. He is likely bedding on a north facing slope that provides more shade and favorable wind.
Good luck, hope you find him.

Thanks guys, you have all pretty much confirmed by belief that he is still right where he has always been!

Big Bucks are lazy they do not typically just wander around. With it so warm I bet he is very close to where you last saw him but just using the cover and staying in his bed until after dark.

Thanks wooldeer that is what I think. I am kind of regretting not going after him. It was just really late and I didn't know if I had time. I would have been in a hurry and didn't want to bump him. Still can't find him.