Do you think mature bucks avoid game cameras?

[Captain Michael Buffington]

you notice those tall trees and openness??? are those pine trees? big deer like pine trees when they are about this big
|-------------------| after that they are outa there. i agree with what offshore and the fellow that talked about the IR. i have seen several posts in forums where there are some multiple photos and it is one big buck lit up and then does and coons and such in later pictures. in general if you get one or two pictures of a big buck over a multi day period and it is at night. that camera is taking pictures 24/7 and you have one or two seconds with a big buck. what are the chances of seeing him in the daylight where that camara is? none. just about everybody i talk to that kill big deer.....it is either the rut and the deer ran in or they were hunting in a spot where a 20 yard shot is a long one.

bottom line you dont have the camera where the big ones are feeding at night. right now it is acorns x 3 or a bean field.

good luck with the swords this weekend and with your son on sunday.

basically nothing but pines on my place. It's a pine plantation...Not my son Mark, an ex's

Mike

[Catcher's Mitt]

basically nothing but pines on my place. It's a pine plantation...Not my son Mark, an ex's

Mike

well there you go.

so ....ex step son? very cool

[Captain Michael Buffington]

Mike,
We have learned a few things over the years that really help us out. If you dont mind the pun you have to think outside of the "BOX" for those older big bucks. They don't get that way by mistake. All we can do on our 1000 acres is bow hunt without bait and you learn to improvise to get close. We have been on this same property for about 10years now and every year we look at the last years videos and photos and wonder why we never see some of the deer we let go again. That is the big mystery where the "H" do they go?? Do they leave the property? Do they die? Who knows but many of them we never see again.
The biggest problem is that we educate the big boys and they are fast learners.We make lots of mistakes when hunting to make them smart. We hunt stands that shouldn't be hunted because it is not the right time of year, We hunt the same stands way to often,We hunt a stands when the wind is wrong, and we do a lot of other things we shouldn't.
A few adjustments to your strategy while hunting your property will go a long way.

A few changes we made are as follows.
1. Do not hunt stands when the wind is wrong or marginal.
2. Try not to go to a stand or stand location the same way every time.
3. Be more mobile and don't use as many permanent stands.
4. Don't hunt a stand location more than one day a week.
5. Hunt trails you can get to easily in areas as thick as you can possibly stand to hunt.
6. Don't hunt right on the food source hunt between where they are bedded and where they are going.
7. Natural funnels or pinch spot in thick areas are the ticket for big buck movement.
8. Don't walk the edges of transition areas find another way to get to a stand.
9. Don't park close to where you are hunting.
10. Change things up where you hunt don't let the deer pattern you, keep them off guard.
11. Shoot more does and fewer bucks. They don't get bigger if you don't let them walk. This will pay off in a few years.
12. Certain stand locations are better certain times of the year make sure you hunt them when they are at there best.

Anyway the above are just a few things we have changed in the way we hunt our property........Mark

Thats pretty much what I do. That 11 I crawled up on and missed at 20 yardsin a thunderstorm and killed the day after christmas off a food plot 200 yards from where I missed him. He walked to the edge of the plot and stared at the box stand for 5 minutes before he commited to the plot. I hunt my climber exclusively. I have ladder stands but they are for slipping around or guest. I'm just befuddled about these cameras. Thankyou all for your insight!

Mike

[Dave Sikorski]

Big bucks are going to live in a pretty small area until your pre rut kicks in. That's when you'll have some sort of chance to see the bigguns in the cam.

Until then, expect them to be ghosts, that's how they got that big.

-D

[dckhd247]

This deer has come to a line of digs that I have a camera set on 3 times in the past week or so... Theres also atleast 6 other bucks who have come also...

These pics were RIGHT at legal shooting time... He better be careful in the next few days showing his face around that time...

[Bking]

words of wisdom from someone who walks the walk, and sticks the big bucks consistantly, THANKS Mark.

Agreed ! Offshore get's it done ! Good Luck Buff!

[Wasabi]

I have pics of 15 or so 1 and 2 years olds but thats it and I just wondered what you all think?

Mike

No, I don't think that big bucks avoid cameras. I've heard all kinds of mystic properties assigned to big bucks but when you get down to it:

I think that most people are looking for something that isn't there. Kroll used to say that a boone & crocket buck was a "one in a million". I'd say that they don't even exist where most people are hoping to see them.

It doesn't matter how hard you hunt if they aren't there. Nowadays it costs money to hunt where there are big bucks and most (a lot) of people don't want to "pay to play".

Once in every blue moon a person will get a monster buck. When aged, most of these bucks aren't any older than most of their peers. They are simply gifted. If they had grown beyond three or four years, no telling how big they would have gotten.

[Catcher's Mitt]

No, I don't think that big bucks avoid cameras. I've heard all kinds of mystic properties assigned to big bucks but when you get down to it:

I think that most people are looking for something that isn't there. Kroll used to say that a boone & crocket buck was a "one in a million". I'd say that they don't even exist where most people are hoping to see them.

It doesn't matter how hard you hunt if they aren't there. Nowadays it costs money to hunt where there are big bucks and most (a lot) of people don't want to "pay to play".

Once in every blue moon a person will get a monster buck. When aged, most of these bucks aren't any older than most of their peers. They are simply gifted. If they had grown beyond three or four years, no telling how big they would have gotten.

Mark and wasabi both have a lot of wisdom in their posts. but the rut is like hunting mid season doves or ducks. they can show up any second. it has been a long time since i have hunted where i killed the deer in my new avaitar. but there were big ones there. how far are you from the mississippi river?