Should I hunt tonight?

T-Max

Well-Known Member
I posted a picture of a big double beamed buck in the trail camera section earlier this year. I was sporadically getting pictures of him, but it is clear that he does not call our place home.. Anyhow, I saw him this morning on the way to work in a green soybean field. There is a cold front moving through today and I had planned on hunting him. My only concern is that he was almost exactly 1.5 miles (as a crow flies, I measured on out digital imagery at work...) from where I have been getting him on camera. That seems like quite the distance for this time of year. Given the openness of the terrain in the farm fields where he was, the distance seems even urther. I am trying to decide if I should still sit my stand tonight that is near my camera? Or stay out since he was so far from the area this morning? Thoughts? I heard the best chance you have of killing a deer from any particular stand is the first time you hunt out of it. I will post a map of the general area so you can see what I am dealing with.
 
I hope that picture works. Apparently you have to pay to post full sized images now. The purple flag is where I have had him on camera. The pink flag is where he was this morning. I was totally not expecting him to be out in those wide open fields. Seeing a mature buck out there is usually a rut occurrence. I should rephrase my question as well. It’s not whether I should hunt tonight, but rather should I hunt this spot (near the purple flag).
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Many times they say the way to kill a big buck is on a feeding pattern in the early season. If you have reason enough to think you have a chance to get a shot at him tonight....then go. Don't force it.....last thing you want to do is take some stupid risk and bugger him out of there. But if the wind and access and the like are in your favor....go. Lots of big bucks fall in the early season. You wait too long....he may end up in someone else's truck or laying in a ditch!

Your area looks similar to mine with lots of open ag fields and limited timber cover. I think deer tend to move more in these areas because the food is everywhere, but the cover they seek is not. I see what looks like a winding creek that I bet he uses. He may be out just checking on things and a cold front can certainly get them up and moving some. I know in my area bucks moving miles isn't unheard of.
 
The access is pretty bulletproof. And of course, I am sure there is a buck around that I have not seen yet. Who knows what could happen. You are correct that there is a big creek winding North to South. That is where the big ag fields are. We are on a small spring fed feeder creek that juts off to the West. I was kind of hoping that he was sticking to a smaller core area that was closer to our place. I'm leaning toward going as this is the first real cold front of the year. But I also have never hunted a buck this big and don't want to screw it up. :)
 
I look at it this way....you can screw it up by doing something or by doing nothing. He could easily end up hit by a car or shot by another hunter. This cold front could be the trigger you need. How many cold fronts you gonna get while he is still on a feeding pattern and not out chasing does???
 
I look at it this way....you can screw it up by doing something or by doing nothing. He could easily end up hit by a car or shot by another hunter. This cold front could be the trigger you need. How many cold fronts you gonna get while he is still on a feeding pattern and not out chasing does???
Agree with J-Bird. and this is gonna be a dandy of a cold front. I'd say he's on his feet for that reason. If your feeling nervous about bumping him I'd hunt the stand where you say the access is bulletproof provided the wind is right.
 
I would amend that saying to “EACH time you can get into that stand and not alert deer”. If you can do that, each time you hunt is the first time. I don’t believe deer are magically aware of our presence, we just do stuff that we shouldn’t and get busted.

Besides that, “they said” and “I heard” are the two biggest liars ever !:D
 
It went well. Saw several deer and none of them had a clue I was there. I am definitely not acclimated yet. I got plenty chilly during my sit. I never saw him though. Then on my drive in to work this morning, I saw another buck in a totally different area that I have also had on a camera that is 2 miles from where I saw him this morning. These last two days are really making me rethink how big a buck's range this early in the year...
 
It went well. Saw several deer and none of them had a clue I was there. I am definitely not acclimated yet. I got plenty chilly during my sit. I never saw him though. Then on my drive in to work this morning, I saw another buck in a totally different area that I have also had on a camera that is 2 miles from where I saw him this morning. These last two days are really making me rethink how big a buck's range this early in the year...
Glad to hear you went. You can't shoot him from the couch. I don't think 2 or 3 miles for a buck to travel is out of the norm....especially in areas with limited deer habitat. If a deer needs a square mile of deer habitat (640 acres) how far can a deer travel in areas of limited cover to get that 640 acres? In my area (where deer habitat is roughly 20 to 30% of the land cover type)....that is a couple square miles. So depending on how the cover is connected and the like....to have a deer 2 or 3 miles from where I see him isn't surprising.
 
I was wondering how it went.. got chilly quick yesterday. I bet he was cruising somewhere.
 
I was wondering how it went.. got chilly quick yesterday. I bet he was cruising somewhere.
It was pretty miserable actually... Haha! It drizzled on me the whole walk in (set a nice damp base under my outerlayer). NW winds from 15-20 and the temp dropped significantly throughout the day. Like J-Bird said, still better than being on the couch.
 
Yesterday evening was a complete rainout for me even though temps were dropping. This morning I have a Drs appointment so even though the rain stopped overnight and it was in the 30’s and deer were really moving per my view from the kitchen window I was unable to go. I hope they hurry up with me today because I have a date with a tree stand this evening...
 
Yesterday evening was a complete rainout for me even though temps were dropping. This morning I have a Drs appointment so even though the rain stopped overnight and it was in the 30’s and deer were really moving per my view from the kitchen window I was unable to go. I hope they hurry up with me today because I have a date with a tree stand this evening...

Good luck !
 
Got no bad news at the docs and I made it home in time to go out this evening. Deer are moving like crazy here today. I have seen deer everywhere I have been...
 
It was pretty miserable actually... Haha! It drizzled on me the whole walk in (set a nice damp base under my outerlayer). NW winds from 15-20 and the temp dropped significantly throughout the day. Like J-Bird said, still better than being on the couch.
It can take 3-4 full days of sitting during the rut to see a particular local target buck. I think a lot of hunters underestimate the average amount of hunting time to shoot a trophy. Dedication to long sits is key to future trips to the taxidermist. You hear a lot of stories about the lucky guy that got a B&C buck in the first half hour, but the quiet type of guy that gets a nice buck every year isn't saying anything. I like to talk to those type of guys, they have good advice and tell the best stories once you get them started.
 
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