Saw a ghost today!

[Popcorn]

Clearing and building fire breaks today in Stewart county, NRCS contract for a large clear cut tract being put into NWSG's. I have been working on this property as well as running cameras, hunting, and mapping for almost 3 years now. There are a good many overgrown clearcuts with 3 to 5 years worth of growth on them. Today I was working my way down a east facing slope and 50 yards in front of me an extremely wide, heavy and tall 10 stood and looked straight at me, I dethrottled the dozer to pick up my jaw while he looked right then left, clearly showing off then hopped away. Pretty sure I heard him laugh as he left…
Now I have a 150 + on the wall, I have helped recover a few 160's and one over 170. So I feel confident when I say I saw a 180 + inch ghost today! 3 years of pictures weeks of scouting and months of working in the vicinity of this location and never a clue, no big rubs, no pics, no hunters reports, nothing even close to this guy in any way.
I have always said there are bucks that will avoid cameras, food plots, corn piles and salt blocks. They didn't get that old and big by being careless.

 

[rem270]

Your last sentence said it all. No telling what is out there that cameras don't pick up.

 

[backyardtndeer]

That's cool. Maybe he will show up for you again.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Love seeing those monarchs

 

[Specializedjon]

That'll get the heart pumpin. Hope he sticks around and makes a mistake

 

[Rackseeker]

There isn't any telling where he came from or was headed. Maybe he will stick around long enough for you to kill him.

 

[BSK]

3 years of pictures weeks of scouting and months of working in the vicinity of this location and never a clue, no big rubs, no pics, no hunters reports, nothing even close to this guy in any way.
I have always said there are bucks that will avoid cameras, food plots, corn piles and salt blocks. They didn't get that old and big by being careless.

This is the absolute truth. Especially when it comes to corn piles and salt blocks. This is even true of cameras monitoring scrapes. I've done too many baited and unbaited censuses not to have seen this. In almost every baited census I've done, there will be a buck or two that is only captured on camera accidentally as he drifts by in the background. He didn't come to the bait. Same thing with scrapes. Some bucks don't work scrapes at all. I will get their picture moving across a food plot, or way back in the background at some other set-up, but never once at even the most heavily used traditional scrape.

I just finished a very comprehensive camera survey on a large club. They had a high density of cameras and bait sites, ran the census for almost a full month (all of August), and the census generated over 80,000 images. So many images were generated that, on average, each buck was repeat photographed 78 times. Yet members of the club have already sent me trail-camera pictures from cameras not positioned over bait of bucks that did not appear in the census.

 

[Ski]

So I feel confident when I say I saw a 180 + inch ghost today!

That would be an exceptional rarity in TN! Hopefully you get a chance at him.

 

[Ski]

I just finished a very comprehensive camera survey on a large club. They had a high density of cameras and bait sites, ran the census for almost a full month (all of August), and the census generated over 80,000 images. So many images were generated that, on average, each buck was repeat photographed 78 times. Yet members of the club have already sent me trail-camera pictures from cameras not positioned over bait of bucks that did not appear in the census.

I don't necessarily believe bucks go out of their way to avoid attractions or cameras unless they've had a bad experience with a particular spot. What I do see year round but most especially this time of year is "walk about" bucks. I suspect they're likely in transit from their summer range to fall range and my place just happens to be in between. I drive through a lot of towns and see a lot of random people on my way down to Florida but I don't stop at all the attractions & restaurants along the way or mingle with people I don't know. I imagine that's exactly what's going on when somebody sees a random buck. Somebody else sees him often on camera while he's at home because he's eating in the plots and hitting scrapes. But in transit, not a chance.

Here's one from last year. Never got but a couple pics of him as he passed through. This camera is on a knoll just below a military crest where three ridges adjoin. No scrape or attraction of any kind, just a spot in the terrain that funnels movement. I catch bucks passing through here that I never get on cam anywhere else on the property, and only get them once. Oddly I rarely catch resident deer on this cam. It's not a very active spot. I get maybe 100 pics per year but the ones of deer I get are often gems. I've seen a many dream bucks pass through and never see them again. I do everything I can to make my property the place the big bucks want to call home but I can't have them all.

 

[DeerCamp]

Your last sentence said it all. No telling what is out there that cameras don't pick up.

I've had days where I've seen 10-15 deer hunting and had zero deer pictures to know not to trust a camera.

 

[BSK]

I don't necessarily believe bucks go out of their way to avoid attractions or cameras unless they've had a bad experience with a particular spot.

I'm not saying bucks are avoiding the cameras. I'm saying there are some bucks that won't come to bait, especially corn. I did a baited census inside an 1,800 acre high-fence. The density of cameras and bait sites was considerably higher than suggested (18 cameras and bait sites on 1,800 acres). Yet the biggest buck we got on camera was a single blurry image off in the distance in the dark. That buck never visited a bait site, even though they were everywhere.

In addition, although I'm a huge proponent of censusing bucks during the season at traditional scrapes, I've seen resident bucks never visit a scrap all season. I'll get that buck repeatedly in food plots or along travel-ways, but never at a scrape. Some bucks don't make or work scrapes.

 

[TheLBLman]

Some bucks don't make or work scrapes.

I also believe there are some bucks, usually mature ones, that mainly check scrapes simply by getting a few yards downwind. Their scrape visits may seldom be caught by a cam over a scrape.

I've actually witnessed much of this during mid-day, which is a time period cams are least likely to pic up a visiting animal (due to the temperature being higher, and sometimes wind/sun causing false triggering, which in turn may have the cam in "delay-down time" when a buck scent checks from a distance.

During mid-day, when there may be several false cam triggerings due to sun/wind effect, it can be very easy to miss a buck in the background, as we tend to pay less attention to those pics thought to be from wind & sun.

 

[Ski]

I'm not saying bucks are avoiding the cameras. I'm saying there are some bucks that won't come to bait, especially corn. I did a baited census inside an 1,800 acre high-fence. The density of cameras and bait sites was considerably higher than suggested (18 cameras and bait sites on 1,800 acres). Yet the biggest buck we got on camera was a single blurry image off in the distance in the dark. That buck never visited a bait site, even though they were everywhere.

In addition, although I'm a huge proponent of censusing bucks during the season at traditional scrapes, I've seen resident bucks never visit a scrap all season. I'll get that buck repeatedly in food plots or along travel-ways, but never at a scrape. Some bucks don't make or work scrapes.

Bait and scrapes are two completely different dynamics. Baiting is legal in Ohio. It's a crutch many hunters rely on because it works well to attract a lot of deer in a short amount of time and some real big deer get taken every year over bait. However, most big bucks I see taken over an ordinary corn pile are big 3yr olds whose first bad experience at the bait will be his death. Any buck who encounters grave danger at a corn pile and survives likely will forever forward associate bait with danger. I won't allow baiting on my place. I won't even let family hunt if that's how they want to do it. Baiting is a short term boost at best, and long term damaging, especially if the property's habitat is being worked for deer. To all the old bucks it signals danger, and it won't take long for all the young ones to figure out why.

Scrapes on the other hand are baffling. Bucks seem to have their favorites. I've got scrapes in two parallel hollows on same property and while some bucks will visit both sides, some don't. One hollow leading up into the bowl has four scrapes(sometimes more) in about an 1/8mi stretch. The term people use these days is "thermal hub". It's uncanny how certain scrapes will get hit by certain bucks. All the scrapes are on the same stretch of trail, but when a particular buck walks the path he'll hit only the scrapes he likes, completely ignoring the others. And there's not much "cross pollination", meaning it's the same bucks at the same scrapes. Doesn't make any sense to me. Yet there are some scrapes any & all bucks will hit at some point or another.

 

[Ski]

I also believe there are some bucks, usually mature ones, that mainly check scrapes simply by getting a few yards downwind. Their scrape visits may seldom be caught by a cam over a scrape.

100% they do. They do it same way they'll parallel downwind of a doe trail for a stretch, or cruise downwind of common doe bedding. I catch bucks on cam every year poking into a plot to look around, never eat, then leave. I suspect it's after an almost estrus doe had been eating there at some point in the near past and her scent brought him in for a closer look to see if she was still there.

 

[fairchaser]

A bucks natural wariness and lack of curiosity is usually what allows him to grow to maturity. If he also only moves under the cover of darkness 99% of the time, he is more likely to grow to old age. If he's a loner, that's a real bonus. Combine these elements with the genetics to grow a big rack and you have the makings of a monster. Because of these traits most hunters will never see this buck because of the rarity this buck will walk the trail most hunters sit over or put a camera on.

 

[BSK]

I also believe there are some bucks, usually mature ones, that mainly check scrapes simply by getting a few yards downwind. Their scrape visits may seldom be caught by a cam over a scrape.

I've actually witnessed much of this during mid-day, which is a time period cams are least likely to pic up a visiting animal (due to the temperature being higher, and sometimes wind/sun causing false triggering, which in turn may have the cam in "delay-down time" when a buck scent checks from a distance.

During mid-day, when there may be several false cam triggerings due to sun/wind effect, it can be very easy to miss a buck in the background, as we tend to pay less attention to those pics thought to be from wind & sun.

I review every event caught on cam, even a false trigger. Plus, my delay time is only 5 seconds.

 

[BSK]

A bucks natural wariness and lack of curiosity is usually what allows him to grow to maturity. If he also only moves under the cover of darkness 99% of the time, he is more likely to grow to old age. If he's a loner, that's a real bonus. Combine these elements with the genetics to grow a big rack and you have the makings of a monster. Because of these traits most hunters will never see this buck because of the rarity this buck will walk the trail most hunters sit over or put a camera on.

We almost always have at least one buck that tops 140 using our property each year, and have a 150+ about every other year. These are mostly mature bucks. Yet how many have I killed in 30-odd years? Just a couple. And it's not that I see them and can't get a shot. I just never see them. They don't get big and old by being dumb.

 

[TheLBLman]

I review every event caught on cam, even a false trigger. Plus, my delay time is only 5 seconds.

I know you do. Many don't, in fact, many trail cam users are only viewing the pics on the cam itself (tiny viewing window) or their phones. Very easy to miss something in the background.

Also, many of what I've observed would commonly be beyond most trail cams' movement sensors to pick up that buck 30 to 50 yds downwind from a scrape. And even then, only about a 1 chance in 4 the cam would be pointed in the correct direction to do so.

As trail cam sensors improve (picking up movement at greater distances and with fewer false triggerings), I suspect more users will observe more bucks doing the distant downwind scent-checking of scrapes.