I get him on cam from 9 pm- 4 am only…any tips of steering to legal shooting time? Maybe wait on the rut? Curious if any of the old pros in here got any tips. Appreciate it!
Target buck nocturnal only- any tips?
- Thread starter Pso94
- Start date
The rut is your best friend in this situation. I wouldn't hunt him until the rut. The more you spook him, the less likely he will remain in the area. Leave him be until his guard is down chasing tail.
Not a pro but I would probably waiting on a weather front to hunt him.
Boll Weevil
Well-Known Member
^This.
Kevin Snook
Well-Known Member
Sooner or later he will "daylight "-
I think that's the new term used now.
I think that's the new term used now.
quackaholic
Well-Known Member
Stay out of the woods until November at this point. Let everything calm down and hit it during muzzleloader hunt. He'll be moving then.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Just remember that what you see on camera is a function of where cameras are placed. We often place cameras in high traffic areas that see primarily nocturnal activity, such as food plots and scrapes. Just because a particular buck is only being photographed at night doesn't mean he isn't moving in daylight somewhere. All deer move in daylight. The question is where.
That said, I agree with other who say, "the rut is your friend." Absolutely agree with that. The highest odds of seeing a particular buck in daylight is just before and just after peak breeding.
A couple of years ago we had a particular mature buck on our property that was ONLY being photographed at night. In fact, we never got a daylight picture of him. Yet during the rut he was seen by hunters in daylight three times. He was killed the third time. Again, the rut is your friend.
That said, I agree with other who say, "the rut is your friend." Absolutely agree with that. The highest odds of seeing a particular buck in daylight is just before and just after peak breeding.
A couple of years ago we had a particular mature buck on our property that was ONLY being photographed at night. In fact, we never got a daylight picture of him. Yet during the rut he was seen by hunters in daylight three times. He was killed the third time. Again, the rut is your friend.
bloodtrailing
Well-Known Member
Cameras are a tool not the end all be all. They miss a lot and only capture a small area.
Try to figure out where he is bedding
If you think he's only nighttime then he's probably moving 10-2 in daylight.
As they get older their home range shrinks, also as they get older I believe they move shorter distance from bedding in daylight. Find his bedding area and find a good way in.
I have a 10 acre bedding area I hunt. I won't put cameras in their. When I scout it I hang a stand is between midnight and 3am. If I hunt it in there I'm in min 2hrs before daylight. There's 6 does and 3 bucks that bed there. I've been trapped in there all day before, had the does bed10 yards from me. In 3.5 years I only got to draw on my target once and dang rabbit made him jump across my lane then he laid down.
They physically can not lay down all of daylight, 1-2hrs max and he's eating, drinking, or something. I've got one that won't go more than about 100 yards from bedding all day.
Hunting this was is high risk of getting busted, but really fun and exciting.
As they get older their home range shrinks, also as they get older I believe they move shorter distance from bedding in daylight. Find his bedding area and find a good way in.
I have a 10 acre bedding area I hunt. I won't put cameras in their. When I scout it I hang a stand is between midnight and 3am. If I hunt it in there I'm in min 2hrs before daylight. There's 6 does and 3 bucks that bed there. I've been trapped in there all day before, had the does bed10 yards from me. In 3.5 years I only got to draw on my target once and dang rabbit made him jump across my lane then he laid down.
They physically can not lay down all of daylight, 1-2hrs max and he's eating, drinking, or something. I've got one that won't go more than about 100 yards from bedding all day.
Hunting this was is high risk of getting busted, but really fun and exciting.
deerhunter10
Well-Known Member
Cold front. A good one not the 10 or so degree snaps but the Sharp ones the 20 or 25 degree change. Also the rut. I love and hate the rut. Of course they move but the could be 2 miles away and you not know it. But one of those 2 things. Also with a heavy nocturnal deer. Pressure plays a key in this hunt very smart. Entry and exits. Can't kill them from the couch but you can certainly make sure you don't kill them by hunting dumb.
30-06 type of guy
Well-Known Member
BSK
Well-Known Member
GPS-collar studies prove all older bucks move in daylight every day. However, WHERE they move in daylight changes with the seasons. Pre-rut, it's going to become more and more daylight movement in the thickest cover habitat.
Mr.Bro
Well-Known Member
I'm hoping Kentuckys ML season this weekend may get some better bucks up and moving.
themanpcl
Well-Known Member
Like most have said, wait till the rut and they sometimes make mistakes. Additionally you should be able to determine by the pics and knowledge of the land, if he's coming to/from food or bedding when you're getting pics. I would put the pieces together and figure out where I need to be in a couple weeks in relation to where he's on cam and where the doe bedding is located. Pick out what enter/exit strategy for the wind I need. It's chess. You need to catch up cause he's 4 moves ahead all the time...lol Good Luck!!
Winchester
Well-Known Member
Weather front will def help push more movement to daylight hours, but hes moving somewhere NOW in daylight. The trick is figuring it out and then a way to exploit it in your favor.
MickThompson
Well-Known Member
Patience
wobblegobble
Well-Known Member
Be there when he daylights! meaning hunt everyday! That has been my key!Sooner or later he will "daylight "-
I think that's the new term used now.
Yep. Last year I hunted 8 or 9 all day sits in a row before he showed himself. Some years it's one or two days and some it's a few weeks but I usually get the one I'm after.
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
You have to move right in on his core bedding area to have a chance of killing him in daylight....
The chances of blowing him out of the county are very high with doing that. Zero room for error.
Personally, I'd wait until the prerut.
The chances of blowing him out of the county are very high with doing that. Zero room for error.
Personally, I'd wait until the prerut.
A few questions first. How often is he showing up on cam? What type of spots are you getting him on cam? Is he alone or part of a bachelor group?
The fact that he's not showing up within 2yrs of daylight suggests that he doesn't have a core anywhere near your property. He's traveling to your place from a long ways away. Just going on the very basic info you provided I would guess the most likely scenario is that he was born & raised to 1.5yrs old on or very near your place and is coming back for a mineral site his mother took him to or a food source that he's not comfortable visiting except under cover of darkness. If indeed he was born nearby then your chances of ever seeing him in daylight are near zero. He lives a mile or more away and will rut elsewhere so he's not breeding his sisters. That's why momma chased him away at 1.5yrs to go find his own home range.
There are other plausible scenarios. Perhaps he's traveling with a group & just goes where the others go. Or maybe you've only caught him once or twice as he was on a walkabout, possibly checking your place out or simply passing through. Either of those are possible but most likely scenario IMO is he's coming from afar only for food or mineral and likely won't be rutting there because it's where he was born. But it's deer. They do weird unexpected stuff so perhaps and hopefully you get a shot.
Urban_Hunter
Well-Known Member
Best to just hunt him at night
This takes some effort, multiple cameras, and entering woods multiple times - but you can backtrack him using your cameras. If you're in the woods anyway right now during bow season, it's not as intrusive since you're there anyway. He is daylighting somewhere; you just have to find it.
Exactly
My wife has said that about me many times
depends on how much land you have to hunt, but if it was me and I could hunt it I'd find the bedding area, get in there when he's already told you he isn't there and wait.
BigAl
Well-Known Member
My only advice other than what has been offered, wait on favorable conditions, either weather or rut. But don't go in there stumbling around a bunch before that or you will run the risk of pushing him or making him even more nocturnal.
