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