rybohunter

These were alluded to in the other thread and it got me wanting some of your opinions on several questions.
We all hear tales of bucks killed or found dead that no one ever knew were there. Even on heavily monitored and regulated farms.

So how & where do these bucks come from?
Are they old crafty bucks that for some bizarre reason moved in from an area that was miles away and that’s the reason no one knew of them?
Or had they been living there all their lives and were just that secretive?
Are these ghost bucks born with a reclusive disposition and are never even seen as 1.5 and 2.5 year olds, or do they reach a certain age before going underground?
And lastly, how common do you think these critters are? One on every property? One in every county? Or are they truly a unique specimen, found only once in a rare occasion across the entire whitetail range?

GMMAT

So how & where do these bucks come from?

IF they exist on a certain property.....anyone can hazard a "guess"....but no one really KNOWS.

Are they old crafty bucks that for some bizarre reason moved in from an area that was miles away and that’s the reason no one knew of them?

See No. 1 answer

Or had they been living there all their lives and were just that secretive?

I guess this is "possible"....but again....NO ONE really "knows".

Are these ghost bucks born with a reclusive disposition and are never even seen as 1.5 and 2.5 year olds, or do they reach a certain age before going underground?

Bucks dispese and re-locate at those ages a LOT more than than older bucks do. So....it's plausible they moved in from another area as a 1.5-3.5yr old and just never leave. I could have a NICE 3.5yr old on the lands I hunt, this year....and positively agree I might never have known of his existence. How could I? He wasn't ther ein years prior.

And lastly, how common do you think these critters are?

On large parcels? Not too uncommon. I've said before....there are likely deer on the adjacent properties I hunt that grow old and die that are never seen by humans. And this is an area of about 2.28sq. mi, I'm speaking of. On the properties I hunt, though? He's a "traveler" if he exists.


One on every property?

Doubtful IMO.

One in every county?

More common than that in that broad of an area. TOO MANY stories of monsters holed-up in a small 4 acre woodlot for me to believe otherwise.

Or are they truly a unique specimen, found only once in a rare occasion across the entire whitetail range?

See above.

Just my opinion(s).

buttonbuckmaster

Ryan, a friend and myself are wondering this very question. We have access to some ground that his family just bought. Although we've never hunted it, it is on our "driveby scouting" route. Meaning that we've been glassing the area for several years since we hunt within a mile of there. My friends dad found some huge sheds there last spring, we dont' know if he was pressured into this area or just happened to get that big on a 30 acre lot. How much time does one put into hunting a deer that may have shed his antlers "just passing through?" All things we've been discussing since the sheds were found in March. Good thread Ryan.

Pops423

All very good questions but I have to believe that all areas have the potential to hold a big buck. Big bucks do not get that way by being dumb. They adapt to their surroundings. I think a lot of this goes back to the other post you are referring to and the big argument of just because they are there doesn't mean I can get to them.

I think for the most part, the older these deer get, the more they just lay low and come out after dark and feed and get back in before first light. You don't see them because they don't want you to.

Now factor into the picture the RUT and finally you have the a slight advantage. Hell, if you lived in seclusion for 10+ months a year, you'd do dumb things in your pursuit of the ladies.

I guess my short answer is, they hang out on unreachable/inaccessible lands and eventually wander out in search of necessities (food, water, ladies, etc.)

bawanajim

I think a chance encounter with humans or other predators has a lasting influence on a deers life.
A nonlethal wound, a very close encounter or just a threatened scare to a 1.5 year old buck will change this deers life style forever.And a deer that escapes one of these occurrences by maintaining their head will become old timer by never letting it happen again.[:-]

MOTOWNHONKEY

I don't know if they exsit in everyones woods but I got a glimpse of one in mine. I was hunting an easy 170 class buck one season. It was early on in the rut whenI thought it was all comming together one morning. This buck was following a doe and headed right for me. Just before I was about to draw I heard the lowest, deepest grunt I have ever heard. I slowly looked over my left shoulder to see the biggest buck I have ever seen in my life. I know he was well into the 200 inch range. 50 yards off to my left. Guys thisrack had bases on it like a Louisville slugger I kid you not. The 170 I thought was the dominant deer in my area bolted like he seen a ghost. Long story short, I never got a shot at this buck that morning. I never new he exsisted and I never saw him again. Where did he go? If someone would have shot him I'm sure I would have heard of it. I think he is still there and I also think he knew exactly where I was. Ghost bucks? Yea, there out there.

virginiashadow

I had a glimpse of a "ghost buck" on the place I hunt. I was driving home from work about midnight 4 years ago, and saw this absolute BEAST of a buck walking across the road right in front of me....he was walking from a subdivision onto the military base I hunt. I mean guys, I have never in all of my years of hunting even seen anything close to this type of buck. OLD, big bodied for my area(maybe 160-170 pounds field dressed), and I estimated on the fly 12-14 points. He is something I dream about when I enter the woods.

Germ

Ghost bucks are real IMO, and they exist in most woods around the USA Like Moto I have seen one, just a glimpse. I had already killed a nice 8 point, it was Nov 11th 2001. It was rainy, windy and sleeting all at once. I looked up to see a doe running across the field. Behind her was a whitetail buck like i have never seen. He was so big he had a gape to his trot. I never moved, I just look at the beast. No one shot that buck and I NEVER seen him or anyone it since or before.

There are two men I know of that know how to hunt these beast, and they are not talking

tsoc

Gary aluded to a question I wanted to ask.There has been a lot of conversation about top end super bucks,now ghost bucks.The bucks that are there but no one or very few have been able to consistently kill.
SO HOW DOES SOMEONE DO IT?
What do we who want to score on these bucks do to make it happen? This is a serious question,I am not being a smart a$$.
I would like some of the consistent killers of top end bucks to share their views as how a very good hunter makes the transition to killing very good bucks for their area to the top 2% to 5% of the bucks that exist in their area.

Germ

I know one trick that one guys does, I have not tried it yet. He works a scrape line with scent 365 days a year