ORIGINAL: shed33
If the buck you are after spends a morning chasing a doe around your stand but never stops or even slows down enough in a spot where you can shoot him, how is that a failure of yours? I would personally chalk the experience up as a success with some bad luck mixed in.
"Failure" to some degree because I have had two months prior to the rut to kill him..starting in late August....well before the rut ever kicked in or drug him away due tothe lure of a doe. The rut is my least favorite time to hunt a particular buck for obvious reasons. Now hunting deer or for mature bucks...not a specific buck..the rut is great.
I do agree that during the rut if you have a particular buck staked out so well as to know what doe group he will be tending too, (older bucks havetheir routes) you know him very well and your successful in just putting yourself in the right doe family travel areas...a guy gets about 2-4 days to kill him andbeforehe'll finish up business andmost likely be gonetargeting another doe family. Thats what I've experienced out in my neck of the woods anyway.
Touche. Great points. I can't argue with that.