Knowing Your Deer

[Spurhunter]

The other thread got me thinking about guys getting pics of certain bucks year after year, learning all about them, naming them, etc. I have a 416 acre lease in TN. It has everything a buck could want, especially thick, thick cover. There is very minimal hunting pressure and human intrusion. We rarely have bucks hang around longer than a couple weeks. Very rarely. A buck will show up on camera, get me excited, and disappear never to be seen again. Many times a mature buck will only get caught on camera once and he's gone forever. I've always found it interesting that other folks have bucks hang around for years. Maybe the deer on my lease are traveling deer, or maybe it's a difference in farm land vs. timber land.

 

[GumbyGuy]

Food and females keep bucks around

 

[rem270]

I've been pretty lucky over the years and seen repeat deer and know which ones they are from year to year. I've also seen the same deer show up around Nov for a short time and return the next year at the same time.

Have also seen deer move in for a week or two and then never be seen again.

One thing I've never done though is name them. Must be a manbun Creedmore thing :p

 

[Spurhunter]

One thing I've never done though is name them. Must be a manbun Creedmore thing :p

Not true. Naming deer is as gay as saying hitlist or hitlister and almost as gay as shooting a .270.

 

[UCStandSitter]

Food and females keep bucks around

Works on me too

 

[Ocoee Ridge Runner]

My lease is exactly the same. The bucks show up for a few weeks and are gone the rest of the year. I've never found a shed or even jumped a buck other than those few weeks.

 

[Spurhunter]

Food and females keep bucks around

My lease is probably lacking in food. Too many pines, not enough hardwoods, not enough open spaces for plots, etc.

 

[rem270]

Not true. Naming deer is as gay as saying hitlist or hitlister and almost as gay as shooting a .270.

"I have been watching my number one hitlist buck Javier. He came out of the rut funnel into my kill plot where I made a clean harvest. Deer cast showed good movement so I decided to go."

Did I do that right? I'm not used to these new wordings

 

[redblood]

Human intrusion. Deer dont know the difference between hunting, joy riding, hiking, shed hunting. I see it alot with people who live in town and that lease becomes their or their families outside enjoyment property. Thats great, but mature deer feel it. We dont even ride side by sides on our property unless its outside deer season and 100 percent essential. No traditional cams- just cell cams so indont have to pull cards, or wifi cams that i can download pics from the road. Also dont shoot does till season is ending and i know people arent hunting tracts around me. I dont want to push a 4.5 yr old buck to his death, but killinb a few does for the freezer

 

[Spurhunter]

"I have been watching my number one hitlist buck Javier. He came out of the rut funnel into my kill plot where I made a clean harvest. Deer cast showed good movement so I decided to go."

Did I do that right? I'm not used to these new wordings

You are YouTube ready, my friend! Disclaimer: That is an assumption. I do NOT watch any deer hunting on YouTube. I just can't take the dumbassery.

 

[redblood]

I also rotate hunting properties often

 

[megalomaniac]

Could it be the individual deer's behavior???

What I mean by that is about 1/3 of bucks are homebodies and have a very tight core area. 1/3 are just crazy roamers and have a core area of 20 square miles. And about 1/3 are somewhere in between....

Is it possible your members are killing the homebodies when they are 2.5, so you don't get to follow those bucks as they age?

The roamers just randomly showing up for a day or two are the bucks that live elsewhere, you don't photograph or observe, so no way to follow those from year to year.

 

[GumbyGuy]

My lease is probably lacking in food. Too many pines, not enough hardwoods, not enough open spaces for plots,

Plant something if possible, give him some mineral blocks. With all that he still may have a wondering spirit

 

[Spurhunter]

Is it possible your members are killing the homebodies when they are 2.5, so you don't get to follow those bucks as they age?

We do accidentally kill the occasional 2.5 year old, but it's rare. The place is thick and you don't have a lot of time to study a buck. From the time you see him until he's gone you have a small amount of time to determine if he's a shooter. However, we don't take many bucks. There are only 3 guys that hunt much at all, and this year 2 of us spent most of our time hunting other places.

 

[Spurhunter]

Plant something if possible, give him some mineral blocks. With all that he still may have a wondering spirit

We do plant 4 small food plots, but only for fall/winter.

 

[OakHillHunter]

We do accidentally kill the occasional 2.5 year old, but it's rare. The place is thick and you don't have a lot of time to study a buck. From the time you see him until he's gone you have a small amount of time to determine if he's a shooter. However, we don't take many bucks. There are only 3 guys that hunt much at all, and this year 2 of us spent most of our time hunting other places.

How many doe are you taking each year?

 

[redblood]

Could it be the individual deer's behavior???

What I mean by that is about 1/3 of bucks are homebodies and have a very tight core area. 1/3 are just crazy roamers and have a core area of 20 square miles. And about 1/3 are somewhere in between....

Is it possible your members are killing the homebodies when they are 2.5, so you don't get to follow those bucks as they age?

The roamers just randomly showing up for a day or two are the bucks that live elsewhere, you don't photograph or observe, so no way to follow those from year to year.

Great point. Killing a borderline roamer is much less detrimental than killing a borderline homebody. My son killed this 4.5 yr old that was a homebody that was always around since he was 2.5. No doubt he would get him and that was fine. He was 19" wide but added very little the last 2 yrs. But he passed two better bucks that were 4.5 after that because he understood the value and reward of those bucks next season. It all starts with trigger restraint and adhering to the old principle- "when in doubt…..dont"

 

[Spurhunter]

How many doe are you taking each year?

Maybe a half dozen. Not many.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

They just simply move a lot, at least I know they do in the mountains. You can have a zero pressure property but they still might move miles away around here. Hogs may move in, bears get outta hand, food runs out, etc. The farm land situations in middle and west tn are a different animal.

 

[redblood]

We do plant 4 small food plots, but only for fall/winter.

Food plots are double edged swords, especially in a club hunting situation. They are very easy to overhunt, especially when multiple parties are hunting them

 

[Gravey]

"I have been watching my number one hitlist buck Javier. He came out of the rut funnel into my kill plot where I made a clean harvest. Deer cast showed good movement so I decided to go."

Did I do that right? I'm not used to these new wordings

You left out the set you were using.

As for seeing the same deer year after year I've never been good at saying "yeah that's the 9-pt from last year". Unless they have some marking or characteristic that makes it easy to spot I can't do it. Just because the rack looks similar doesn't necessarily mean it's the same buck. Could be from the same genes and look like the same deer but I'm not good at it.

 

[Spurhunter]

Food plots are double edged swords, especially in a club hunting situation. They are very easy to overhunt, especially when multiple parties are hunting them

I can see that, but this place gets very, very little hunting pressure. I will admit most of the pressure is concentrated in the easier to get to spots near roads.

 

[Spurhunter]

As for seeing the same deer year after year I've never been good at saying "yeah that's the 9-pt from last year". Unless they have some marking or characteristic that makes it easy to spot I can't do it. Just because the rack looks similar doesn't necessarily mean it's the same buck. Could be from the same genes and look like the same deer but I'm not good at it.

Same here.

 

[Snake]

Not true. Naming deer is as gay as saying hitlist or hitlister and almost as gay as shooting a .270.

Now wait a minute ...I name the bucks I see " that's a little buck...thats a big buck " . Littlens and bigens

 

[EastTNHunter]

That's the reason that I don't get into trail cams… well, one of a few reasons:
A) I'm cheap and don't want to buy them
B) I'm busy and don't have time to go check them (I know that cell cams are a thing, but see "A")
C) I know people who absolutely will not hunt unless they have a "target buck", and they say that trail cams have ruined them because of this. But I tell them that you just don't know what will show up on any given day, regardless of what your cam has picked up on in the past
D) I like the mystery
E) I've always liked to read sign/terrain/food and hunt "deer" rather than just bucks, and I've always felt that using trail cams to hunt were taking the technology advantage just a bit to far for my liking. I understand some people use them for monitoring year round in order to understand population density, harvest impacts, etc, but I also know people who have no clue on how to hunt without cameras. These people also have no desire to learn as long as they have that crutch.

I'm in no way looking down my nose at those who use them, so don't start trying to justify your cam usage to me. I don't care if you use them, I just won't for me

 

[Snake]

That's the reason that I don't get into trail cams… well, one of a few reasons:
A) I'm cheap and don't want to buy them
B) I'm busy and don't have time to go check them (I know that cell cams are a thing, but see "A")
C) I know people who absolutely will not hunt unless they have a "target buck", and they say that trail cams have ruined them because of this. But I tell them that you just don't know what will show up on any given day, regardless of what your cam has picked up on in the past
D) I like the mystery
E) I've always liked to read sign/terrain/food and hunt "deer" rather than just bucks, and I've always felt that using trail cams to hunt were taking the technology advantage just a bit to far for my liking. I understand some people use them for monitoring year round in order to understand population density, harvest impacts, etc, but I also know people who have no clue on how to hunt without cameras. These people also have no desire to learn as long as they have that crutch.

I'm in no way looking down my nose at those who use them, so don't start trying to justify your cam usage to me. I don't care if you use them, I just won't for me

I started using them a few years ago ...not using them for the most of my hunting career. On my little place I got to seeing a good 10 point for our area . I strictly hunted that buck turning away a couple decent bucks that year waiting on the one that never showed himself . I took the cams down and never used them again . Gave a few away .

 

[backyardtndeer]

The other thread got me thinking about guys getting pics of certain bucks year after year, learning all about them, naming them, etc. I have a 416 acre lease in TN. It has everything a buck could want, especially thick, thick cover. There is very minimal hunting pressure and human intrusion. We rarely have bucks hang around longer than a couple weeks. Very rarely. A buck will show up on camera, get me excited, and disappear never to be seen again. Many times a mature buck will only get caught on camera once and he's gone forever. I've always found it interesting that other folks have bucks hang around for years. Maybe the deer on my lease are traveling deer, or maybe it's a difference in farm land vs. timber land.

Wish we had that much to manage, we have just 55 acres, and I may overdo it with cameras, but we do get deer that sometimes hang around.

I think what helps us is the ag land around us that gets harvested right before or during season. We keep a small portion of our land in pasture and food plots specifically for the deer. Some do hang around and some don't.

 

[Omega]

I invite them to dinner, then I name them, Steak, Stew, Summer Sausage, Burger etc.

But seriously, I have yet to age or measure one, so naming them has never occurred to me.

 

[Spurhunter]

Wish we had that much to manage, we have just 55 acres, and I may overdo it with cameras, but we do get deer that sometimes hang around.

I wish this place was closer to my house so I could do more work there but it's 2 hours away. Also, it's timber company land so I'm limited on what I can do.

 

[Winchester]

Id say your problem is lack of year round food from what you described. Mature bucks dont usually up and leave a core/home area from being bumped once or twice or even more really. They do react to intrusion, but leave for good they dont in most cases. Look at recent study ( I will find the university and Biologist) and you will be surprised by results. Something like 85% of all mature bucks that were bumped from their Core area (gps collar shows where they spend 90% time) would be back within hours no matter how often they were bumped or how hard (dogs running them). Very interesting results.