I have gotten a very nice buck on my trail cam not more than 5 yards away from my stand but he appears around 4:00am. Anyone have any tips or hints on how I might get to see him during the day?
You might want to find out where he goes after 4:00AM. If he is showing there consistently at that time, then you need to look at the lay of the land and find where his bedding an feeding areas may be.
Remember...he is somewhere during the day....you just need to work that out. Put in some leg work..that's why it's called hunting, my friend 8^).
Be in that stand as soon as the first doe in your area comes in heat, he wont be far behind. :thumbsup:
Just hunt at night...
J/K.. DONT TAKE THAT ADVICE!!!!
What George said
do you have another trailcam? if not try turning it to see where he goes. Then move the T.C. down a few yards and make sure he is walking that way. Find a spot on the trail he is walking and then look for a good tree that is about 30+ yards away from it. Sit in tree that will give you some light to see where he goes and then look for your stand site.
As the pressure get's worse there's only 2 ways.Wait for the rut and hope.Or if to know where he's bedding.Wait for the right wind and stand site on an exscape route.And have someone make a little push.Exspecially later season where his food scources help to narrow his bedding area down.
I'd hunt the preseason hard a call and hope he's in on the breeding and then hope when the rut start's there's enough doe's to keep him home.Then hope some more.
Hunt different deer and hope he come's along.
Gene Wensel once said that the most important factor (among many) was time spent in the woods. Hunt as much as you can where you think this guy is. Don't skip mid day. The other really good way is during the rut, which has already been stated. Find where the does are, the bucks will do the rest. After the rut it all about eating....so find the food sources. The does will be there when the bucks are in rut and the bucks will be there eating there fill after the rut.
Wallhangers are often nocturnal & breed at night just as well. They seldom slip but it happens. Stay in your stand all day. Seen too many at midday to be a coincidence. Very cold weather change & possibly rut will move them when & where you least expect.
One thing I've found about trail cams is that you might capture a picture of a good deer ONCE even with the camera there for weeks. That is hardly a movement trend nor does it make figuring out where he is during shooting hours much easier. Not being a smart a**, but I've just NEVER been able to get pics of the same deer on the same trail day afte day after day. At least not in the type of habitat I hunt.
Back to your question, the answer may be FORCED MOVEMENT. In other words, a deer push of some sort. Obviously these can be overdone and blow deer right out of the country, but when done carefully and occasionally, these can be very good ways to get the big boys to move. Just figuring out where they'll move is the difficult part. But I've noticed that when I bump deer walking out of the woods that they'll often do the same thing, run the same general way, etc. Then if I have someone else replicate that movement (with me getting to the escape area first), you can have some exciting action and often see deer that you don't see normally. Might be worth a try. We've got a property where the deer often use an escape that is almost circular and when done right, I've had some very close calls with some really nice bucks. I just do most of my hunting by myself so don't the opportunity to try it as much as I'd like.
Just like most of us, he'll fall into LUST and get stupid. You got to do your homework and be ready to see him at his dummest moment!!!!!
try this as my husband says to do make a fake scrape by your deer stand and put some tarsal gland lure in it and pee in it every time you walk into your deer stand. keep human scent down as much as possible. walk the same path into you stand every time don't spread your sent around looking for where he is during the day. He will look for the other buck (YOU) and lower his gaurd protecting his terf.
Be patient, in a few weeks he will make a mistake. A few years back I was getting a long brow nine point everywhere I set the camera. I had pics of him from late july all the way up to the day before I killed him. He messed up on November 9th like most do. That was the only daylight or picture sighting of him since july. Be patient and persistent he will mess up! Good Luck!
set a bear trap :knothead: J/K no easy legal way
Pretty soon, we'll be switching from daylight savings time to standard time. Deer have a hard time adjusting for that.
Find out where his "deer hole" is and catch him coming out of it. All deer come out of deer holes in the ground don't they?
Night vision!!!!!!
Bryce, (wary buck) said exactly what I was going to say. On top of waiting for the rut, or forced movement, don't mess around hunting the stand when conditions are not perfect. Try to hunt him when he can quarter into the wind without smelling you. He may be nocturnal now, but when the rut comes he will move during daylight. If you are hunting river bottom type stuff, or small woodlots, small pushes can be very productive. Just do not overdo it.
I fully agree with jonsimonau! Hunt it only when the conditions are right and when the big boys are on their feet (i.e. pre-rut and cold high pressure days). Also, not many people would think to hunt a buck by having the wind blowing from you towards him, yet slightly quartered so he can't smell ya. It's a tricky game and you can get busted with the slightest shift in wind.
Beat him to the area! You may have to sit in your stand in the dark for a few hours, but if you beat him in before he beds, it's a matter of time before he has to get up for a snack or he gets up to look for doe.
Which brings me to another point, find out where the doe bed. I've noticed big boys travel alone and will bust through doe bedding spots during the chase phase.
Lastly, is this photo in an open field or in the thickets? If in an open field, then you've caught him feeding and it's not as good of a chance catching him in the daylight. If it's in the thickets, then treat it like a delicate egg shell when your in there and it's a matter of time before he makes a mistake.
if you have the time,hunt him from 10 am till 2/3 pm,around a water source if possible.he probably has a picture of you hunting him early in the morning,so he's laying low until you leave then most likely at midday he moves around a little when there is less hunter pressure,he might be bedding at his food source during the day also.good luck,robert :thumbsup: :campfire: :archer: :coffee:
It may be too late to do it this year but that ol' boy has a "go to" day bed that he uses. It will be incredibly hidden and "safe" and probably in an unexpected and weird place. You need to be on it when he returns in the AM. My guess is its in an area that he feels safe enough in that he will approach the last 100 yards in the daylight. It won't be near where other deer bed.
Finding a bed like that usually is best done in the late summer when you can mask your behavior as the usual farmer/human thrashing around. Then if you bump him off the bed he won't abandon it. Bump him during the season or when you are sneaking and he will not be coming back to it again.
I will also add that you have one chance at this. Its not a 2,3 or 5 times then you get him kind of thing. Its usually a one time set-up because he won't tolerate odor or activity near his bed.
During the rut he WILL come back a little late, just like we did in college.
You can also still hunt him while he is in his bed but that will be very difficult though its possible. Its hard because he will probably be awake a lot of the time and looking/listening.
Joshua