Brock, we hunted a deer like that for a couple years that was as reclusive if not more than this sucker! We believed he didn't even rub his antlers much as he prolly had no ambitions on fighting others anyway! No one caught him on camera and he was only spotted a couple times by a hunter that I know of back then. Ron and another local each found one side of his sheds that one year and nobody has heard anything of him since and that was like 7-8 years ago!
This buck you're hunting is pretty much acting the same way IMO. His survival must take priority over everything else! it would be awesome if you found his favorite bedding spot! I'd be curious as to what it offered him and why he preferred it. Good luck with him!!!
I got him on a camera I set up on a hunch, again. I haven't had a pic of him for two months! But in hindsight, it isn't hard to see why. Deer in AG areas move a lot. They are migratory to an extent. Their immediate habitat changes, they move. Their food sources change overnight, safe bedding areas...all this stuff changes for them. I suppose it happens everywhere. I put a little thought into it and figured he moved over to the south end of the farm. Incidentally, this is the side of the farm that receives the heaviest hunting pressure. Knowing that, I figured he has a spot that you just can't get into without him knowing it. I don't know exactly where that spot is, but I do have a very, very strong suspicion. The ridge this pic was taken on ends with a highwall at the creek (no way to access it without him knowing). The entire ridge is covered with briers, stickers, pokers, grabbers, .... all a bunch of crap that rips clothing and skin. A sneaky entrance is virtually impossible from the north too! The ridge is probably 300-400 yds long, at least the part that is impossible to get into. It slopes down slightly on the south end before ending abruptly at the high wall. Currently, I'm guessing he is spending his time in that mess, likely on that south facing slope. I plan to put some thought into the matter, we are short on time! Hopefully, the snow we have coming in tonight will yield some clues. I plan to take advantage of that. I wanted to crawl around back there when they first disappeared from the north but I didn't feel like I could because there were too many people hunting around this hill. I didn't want to bump him off and into some lucky dude perched on a log. The biggest hurdle so far setting up on this guy has been that I'm not just setting up a stand for me, I'm setting up for Mason AND me. I can't just crawl up in the fork of a tree 20 feet up and slide a little hang on in, and hiding a ladder and hang-on set up is no easy task! If I feel certain he is staying on that gawd-awful ridge a lot, I'll figure out a set up, sadly it isn't going to be an easy in, easy out deal. We are going to have to work to get in there, and of course the ravines on either side of this ridge are steep!
BTW, we saw NOTHING tonight. Strange, really, as I have been seeing deer every night for the last 5 sits or so and haven't been caught yet, that I know of. Perfect weather, thought we'd see a bunch, but nada.
i do know the last two weeks of August and the first two weeks of September he was as predictable as any deer ive ever seen. He bedded in the same tiny drainage every day almost. My best hope is that he will pop out early tonight. If he is using the thick hillside i figure he is, going in after him is going to take some thought.
