going after him that is.

In January, 1 weekbefore the close of the season,I saw aCabela's buckwhile on the ground. He was making his way towards a man-made structure over a drainage ditch thatconnects two large patches of woods. My bow was drawn but all I had was a straight on shot at 25yds and wasn't confident enough in myself to take that low percentage shot. He figured out what I was afterabout5seconds of standing therethen split but that's besides the point.

EDIT: long posts make people not want to read so just answerthis question please. Then if interested, more info is a few posts below.

1) when (pre, rut, post, or late season) would you go back in and why?

id hunt hard all season for him

you should have made that shot, you rarely if ever get a chance at a buck like, chances are you'll never see him again

eh i wouldnt have taken that shot, how bad would you feel if you hit, but couldnt find the buck of a lifetime. id say gun, take the shot, bow, no way.

but hoytail, i forgot to add i would gun hunt the deer also.

I need to devise a plan to be there if and when he comes back. I feel there's a decent chance that this is part of his normal travel route and that he will eventually show up again. There is food where he was headed. I also read that as a buck matures hiscore areagets smaller and smaller. This of course gives me hope that where I saw himwas part of hiscore area. Hopefully he wont move out of the area.Then considering I saw himnearly atthe end of the season, he's probably alive right now unless he met a semi or a poacher.

I'm thinking that maybe I shouldn't even step foot in those woods til late season when most all the hunting pressure is off and he feels safe enough to come out. I originally wanted to get in there pre-rut for the upcoming08 seasonbecause I was concerned about him getting torn up from fighting. I feared this mainly because I shot another mature buck out of that same area and he was a broken tined, multiple punctured, bloody mess. But,thinking about it, this big dog probably wont have too many other bucks big enough to want to contend with him. I'm guessing him at 300lbs live weight and 180".

So... what would you do, how would you do it, when would you do it? Do you think he will remember a year later where a bowhunter once sat trembling?

I would try to scout him from long range during the summer, look for a pattern, then try to shoot him on the opener of bow season.

And he'd have you patterned before you ever saw him again. I've got stands I may only hunt a couple of times in a year, and it's not because I don't want to. The very first time in any particular setup is your best chance of nailing a Big one, after that the odds start going down. The object is to Pattern a Buck or be in a place Bucks like to travel, all the while remaining undectable and unpatternable yourself.

Dan

Yeah Dan, that's what I was thinking too. In a situation like this or with any big buck, I think less is more. It's why I thought to just wait til there's one week left in the season and then get in there just as he's letting his guard down due to the lack of pressure.

I really don't think he's gonna show himself during legal hours anytime before late late lateseason. When I saw him in Jan, there was about 2min of legal hours left.

I put my main efforts in here during the 2 to 2 1/2 weeks preceding our slug season. Late season can also be good, but if a Buck doesn't let his guard down any during Rut, chances are he is not going to let it down.

Dan

Judging from my game cam picks, the late season seems to bring out the big bucks. I had hunters in the blind three times and no one even saw the big bucks (160 class) What I thought were rogue bucks turned out to be residents.Drop a mineral block in your shot lane and try rattling or calling. Whenever you decide you will get one shot most likely, then you have to start over.