How many wait for your target buck...

[R C]

To make a daylight appearance before you start hunting your setup? I hunt a small property and could see myself waiting all season without the target buck ever showing up during daylight (I know, that’s why they call it hunting). On one hand, I like to hunt and don’t want to wait all season to do it. On the other hand my goal is to kill my target buck and waiting until the buck shows that he is ready to be killed (by showing up during daylight) actually provides the best chance for doing that. How many of you use this tactic and have actually killed the buck you were after? If you have accomplished this how many acres were you hunting on? I could see this working if you were hunting several hundred or thousands of acres and could set aside an area but on a small property it would be much more difficult. I’m thinking about running two feeders this upcoming season and not hunting one of the feeders until a shooter or target buck shows up during daylight.

[drogers6771]

That was my planned tactic this year after hunting one of our properties for 2 prior seasons without success. Luckily, this season, my target buck (avatar pic) started showing up every morning the week before rifle season started and I harvested him at 8am opening day. This property is 54 acres and is the one in my write up in this section. This will be my first season to bow hunt in about 6 years, so the property has only been rifle hunted from 1 box stand. We have larger bucks that travel the property, but seldomly venture in our open hunting plot. This was the best buck that was willing to make an appearance during the off season so he was my target. Since I will be bow hunting in seasons to come I will be able to take a more tactical approach to this season, but the exact method you described above is what I was planning on this past yr....it just so happened to be right at the start of season. I only had night time pics of him for the last 2 years.

[EastTexasMan]

To make a daylight appearance before you start hunting your setup? I hunt a small property and could see myself waiting all season without the target buck ever showing up during daylight (I know, that’s why they call it hunting). On one hand, I like to hunt and don’t want to wait all season to do it. On the other hand my goal is to kill my target buck and waiting until the buck shows that he is ready to be killed (by showing up during daylight) actually provides the best chance for doing that. How many of you use this tactic and have actually killed the buck you were after? If you have accomplished this how many acres were you hunting on? I could see this working if you were hunting several hundred or thousands of acres and could set aside an area but on a small property it would be much more difficult. I’m thinking about running two feeders this upcoming season and not hunting one of the feeders until a shooter or target buck shows up during daylight.

My motto is why not be in the stand when he makes his first appearance?

I like to hunt, so I go hunt. Some people I know will hunt more once a good buck shows up on camera, but my theory is if you were already hunting then you would of killed him when he showed up. At our place, you usually get one shot. If you wait to see him appear, then you already missed your chance.

[solocam_aggie]

My motto is why not be in the stand when he makes his first appearance?

I like to hunt, so I go hunt. Some people I know will hunt more once a good buck shows up on camera, but my theory is if you were already hunting then you would of killed him when he showed up. At our place, you usually get one shot. If you wait to see him appear, then you already missed your chance.

Bingo

[breederbuck33]

If I get set on one deer then I'm toast. I will become obsessed and either eat tag soup or shoot that deer.

[doright]

Hunt when you can. I have a lot of deer that cross between my stand and the feeder and never show themselves on camera. Some bucks wont go near a feeder.

[Mr. Whiskers]

Half the time my target buck turns into one cruising through and never seen before.

[bowaddict40]

My only problem with your tactic is, he may be there more than you know. He may just not be going in front of your camera. I have seen many deer walk up to my set right out of sight from my camera and walk off. Never getting a picture of them. Deer of all ages do this. So I would go after him and try to put him down.

[Mike Fangman]

My motto is why not be in the stand when he makes his first appearance?

I like to hunt, so I go hunt. Some people I know will hunt more once a good buck shows up on camera, but my theory is if you were already hunting then you would of killed him when he showed up. At our place, you usually get one shot. If you wait to see him appear, then you already missed your chance.

Totally agree ^^

[fishinguy]

Your camera could also be missing him as well. Unless you can cover your entire area with cameras, he could be passing through at any time.

[Mexico]

Why do you think God invented spotlights? To hunt that joker at night!!

If he's in the area I'm hunting him. Hunted my last deer 15 days straight with 1 set of daylight pictures in a month. I knew he'd mess up eventually I just needed to grind it out until it happened!

[drogers6771]

Now bear in mind this was one of 4 properties that I was hunting, and a property that had historically not produced as well as the other 3

[Slick8]

My only problem with your tactic is, he may be there more than you know. He may just not be going in front of your camera. I have seen many deer walk up to my set right out of sight from my camera and walk off. Never getting a picture of them. Deer of all ages do this. So I would go after him and try to put him down.

Why do you think God invented spotlights? To hunt that joker at night!!

If he's in the area I'm hunting him. Hunted my last deer 15 days straight with 1 set of daylight pictures in a month. I knew he'd mess up eventually I just needed to grind it out until it happened!

Bingo, this is where I'm at if I'm settled on a target buck.

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[2B4Him]

First off, I'm not really a 'trophy' hunter, although I am fairly strict on my 'game management'.
When my summer pics show the most mature bruiser that frequents my setup, he is my 'target'. However, I am also after a 'cull/management' buck and a couple of doe. I also love the opportunity to shoot pigs.
So, I'd never wait until the 'target' starts showing up at a particular time. If he never shows up during my hunts, I don't shoot him. But, I don't want an empty freezer.

[drop dead fred]

I’m kind of on the fence in both spectrums. 1) my target bucks usually don’t show till late October on most places I hunt. Therefor early seeason when it’s hot i generally don’t see much that I’m after. 2) I’ve had more success staying out of the woods and keeping pressure low and my scent down until i get a target buck. 3) this is where i kind of switch though once it gets late October and cools off i will be in the stand every chance i get no matter if i have a deer I’m looking for or not. So I’m kind of both as much as i want to be in the stand I’ve learned it’s just as important about the “holding out” than “grinding” sometimes. Timing is everything and when it gets close to the right time I’ll be glued to my stand whether up to that date i have something on cam or not. My places are all around 200-300 acres, and I’ve had a pretty high success rate.