Is this buck gone for good?

[Ski]

I try to place my cams (especially the non-cell ones) really close to a "beaten" path, whereas I can check them coming or going while primarily coming thru for other reasons.

To minimize the potential "spooking" of deer, another issue is the TIMING of just when you check a cam. For me, one of the best times is early afternoon (like 1pm), as this is a time when there is typically decent air flow (to help scatter & dissipate your human scent), and your sounds will typically be most muffled by other routine sounds (including the wind itself).

I do exactly the same both in how I hang cams and how I check them. I believe it makes a big difference. Deer understand common areas and seem much more dismissive of human activity, especially when it happens during human hours, if that makes any sense. My cams catch all critters including predators as much as they do deer, and the deer don't seem nervous. But when I'm honing in on a buck and hang cams on all his trails looking in at his bedroom, he gets noticeably alarmed.