I may get another wack at this guy..
 

For two yearsI have been looking for abuck I shot at and missed as I had my string snag my grunt tube lanyard; I was crouched on the ground in a man made ground blind at the time. My arrow went sailing through the air and the big buck dashed off. I looked for him the entire season. Nothing. Then looked for him all last season and while elk hunting accidentally stumbled across his shed antler only 200 yards from where I got the shot at him, I knew instantly who it belonged too. Still, Inever saw the big boy for certain during the season. (thought I might have jumped him once as he ran off, but couldnt be forsure)He is a hvy racked deer, as his shed and the view I had of him whilescouting him two yearsago and whilemissing him stood out.

Then recently this past month a buck that looks exactly like him .. big main framed 5x5 has been showing up on my trail camera about every 3 days at a late night water hole in which is only 100 yards from the shedfind and 300 from whereI missed him and had been patterning him 2 yearsago.. basically he has moved back deeper into the forest wherethe water hole/spring is...Right now, I have several dozen photos of himthis past monthand figured I'd better share a few. The only difference I see in his rack is a small spliter hes formed on his tall browtines.. I think he has officially earned a nickname.. "spliter" I am almost positive this is the same buck. Hvy rack, not real wide,good tine length nothing outrageous but just a very solid Idaho whitetail. If it is him, .. hes still living in the same big basin of timber backed by the big mountain I missed him on..

Here are a few recent photos, I believe he is a 150 class gross buck and thats probably all he will ever be. I think I missed him 2 year ago when he was 3.5 possibly 4.5. that would put him at 5.5 or 6.5 now..

RE: I may get another wack at this guy..
 

Nice buck, I hope you get a 2nd chance at him this fall.

I know your pain...3 yrs. ago my brother who lives in New Mexico convinced me to go Elk hunting, and on the last morning Ikept hearing cow calls, so I started cow calling, to make a long story short, what I thought were 1 or 2 cows turned out to be a train of 13 Elk, 10 cows, 2 spikes and a 6x5, he got stright from me and turned and started walking like I had a leash on him, at 40 yards he stopped and turned, I started to draw back and heard my arrow bouncing off every inch of my bow, I peered out of the corner of my eye and seen my nock still attached to my string...of course a 4 min stare down insued with me trying my best to hold my bow back at 50% draw...guess who won. I never been so upset at myself for not checking something so simple as that.

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wack away my fellow Deacon, wack away!

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Awesome buck, good luck at a second chance.

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Let the chess match begin ;)very nice troy

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very nice buck, good luck on that second shot. tip-next time, put that damn grunt call on the ground before you shoot! ;)

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It is always great to have some history with a certain buck hope you get him Troy.

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Good luck getting him this year Troy!

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Troy, best of luck to you putting your tag on that brute. Not only are you one of the nicest guys on this site, but you work harder at getting a mature buck than anyone here. No one deserves it more than you. Just make sure you take lots of pics.

Any chance you can give us some details on how/where you construct your ground blinds? It seems like it has been a very sucessful strategy for you.

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Awesome buck. Good luck.

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Looks like a good solid buck Troy! I wonder where he was hiding? Maybe he thinks by now you have forgotten about him.:D
Good to see you posting!

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Good luck buddy!

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Troy, that is a good, solid, mature Idaho buck. Like i said in the PM i think he will be right around the 150 mark gross.

Good luck with him!

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That is a pretty buck!! Good luck with him!

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You got that right Dan!! History with an animal that you've had previous encounters with makes It that much more fulfilling when you score also.

Good luck Troy, he's a nice looking buck!!

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Troy:

I'd like to hunt your way for a year or two to see if I'd like it. I know age class isn't geographical, and I hope to get to that point here, some day.

I know what it' slike to have a relationship with your quarry....and I wish you luck, this fall.

On a side note.....did you happen to catch the show (Jay Gregory's) the other night on a buck he had named "Splitter"? I could relate to all of it. If you didn't see it.....try to find it online. You'll "get it";)

Good luck, buddy.

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Great Looking Buck Troy. Looks like a good one to target this season. Isn't anything better than hunting bucks that you have a history with.

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Team "Deacons of Death" would love to see you smoke that buck this season;)

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Good luck Troy, thats a good one.

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Hope you nail him, that’s a real nice buck.

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Good Luck!! I am looking forward to hearing the story of success!!

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Scot, here in these woods and you know them like I do since you hunt out here so much.. A buck and I have had them do this to me before can really get lost in these forests during daylight hours. This buck case in point. My brother shot over him and I missed him a week later when he was, what to believe as a 3.5.. I really think those scares..especially mine which was very close in his face.. type scare from a ground blind.. may have really pushed him to be extra careful. I shot at him in the early season just at last light..

I really think if this is him that hes moved up on the mountain even higher than from where I was hunting him when he was younger, a little more naive back then..

It doesnt take much here in this country for a buck to be safe, simply move at night and move up on the mountain a bit in elevation where most wont and cant hike into without bumping them.. I have several dozen pix of this buck and its funny how he only comes to this (lower ground) water hole between 12 am and 2:30 am in all my pix.. Very careful and calculated imo. hes on about a 3 day cycle too according to my pix dates.. I have several pix of him just nosing into the picture and it gives me a very good idea of the course he is coming from... a big timbered thick wooded draw.. every pix of him indicates this.. this big draw leads up to the top a ridgeline and has an nice saddle in it and on the backside of the mountain is a nasty thick northern full of blowdowns and what not.. I MAYgo in and back track this deerif I can pick up his lone track at the water hole it should be pretty distinct in size compared to the lesser deer .. its really dusty right now on the trails and I should be able to if I take my time.. I believe hes coming a decent distance to this water since hes not showing up till after midnight.. If I can get the direction hes coming from I will be able to move well back into the woods to try to intercept him. I think the mountain top saddle that leads directly down to this water may be wereI search for evidence of him first. Its always a longshot at first in these mountains but a guy has to start somewhere, hes got my interest and between he and 4 other bucks I really like I will to put some time into him now.

oh one more thing on this edit, I am pleasantly surprised as he doesnt seemed to be bothered by this infared camera.. unlike other bucks ... I really believe with all deer, its individual as to what they will tolerate..some will, some wont..

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Jeff, I didnt catch the show, I bet Gregorys splitter was quite a bit larger than this ole mountain deer.. :DI like Jay and will have to look for it. WILD OUTDOORS? right..

Even if this buck isnt that buck I shot (even thoughI strongly feel its him) I am going to really enjoy hunting this guy. Researching himto pinpoint his movements etc is what I really love about hunting out here. I have too or would never see these guys during hunting hours.

If it is him, and I could get a shot at him, it would be a very rewarding to know he made it couple years after I messed it up. On a sidenote I know this area like the back of my hand he uses the same water hole as "stretch" did.. My buck from last year.. Hes about the same caliber of buck imo.. little better g-4s might push him up around 150 Like Mike H. said. I really dont care what he scores, just discuss it to see what others think.. I was hopeing Buckeye would chime in and tell me what he thinks..they always look bigger in the velvet but often at "night" the trail cams imo make them look smaller.. so I go back an forth on this guy.. 145 ish.. 150 ish...

stretch below for those new to here this year.. last year same area he went 144 andits a good pic of him

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Yeah....Wild Outdoors. And it was a hoss.....but I won't get into comparisons.....lol. Both great deer....but hardly the point (don't take that wrong) for me wishing you'd seen the show. It was a buck he'd been after for multiple seasons. He went through the exact emotions on camera....that I KNOW (;)) you've felt a time or two....when he had his hands on him. He was kinda saying he was a bit melancholy....which I too, totally understand.

If you get a chance to see it....do so. it was a good episode.

If you don't mind, Troy....something you said in your post intrigues me. Could you expound on the 3 day cycle? I've heard one other hunter whom I respect mention "cycle" in lieu of "pattern". I'd liketo hear more. If you'd make a thread on it.....I'd be MUCH obliged.;)

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Jeff,

I can't speak for anyone else or their ground, but here, mature bucks almost always cycle around to different areas of feed and or water. I have never had an old buck come day to day to day to the same destination.At mosta couple days in a row but then its like they will vanish for a few days. Years ago I started noticing this so I started lookingon other sides of the mountains, other wateringareas etc and started seeing a patternthe old bucks were using.Because I had summers off always I could spend countless evenings all summer long simply glassing huge country and pinpointing a bucks preferred feeding/watering area and were he liked to cycle around too.

I believe its an engrained behavior old bucks here pick up due to all the predation the face. Elk do it to. If they dont cycle they are sitting ducks. They cycle around in their feeding movements here and its usually patternable if a guy spends enough time observing. It can be difficult at times but with trail cameras now, I can really keep track without haveing to always glass them. Almost every old buck I have killed that I got to know wellbefore I killed him has done this. Its their way of avoiding predation IMO.I believe it keeps the wolves, lions, coyotes, bears etc from being able to pinpoint a bucks exact movements. He will almost always do in a core living area.. which here can be big.. 2 to 300 acres easy..

Basically heestablished comfortableoptions for feed/waterand he uses them. If one goes bad he stays away and isnt held to it.

I can almost gaurantee where this buck for example gets his water on the North side of the mountain. Only because I have dissected that entire mountain via shed hunting and have found a very secluded natural spring. Without knowing this I would have no idea where he is on his 3 day cycle to this water hole. I had 1500 pictures on my trail cam(469 were cattle) but the rest (many were multiples of one animal of course) really showed how this buck specifically was there right at every 3rd date.

My next move will be to put cameras in the saddle and where I believe he gets water on the other side of the mountain and then one on the same food source Stretched liked the most, an old clear cut. If I can get one more piece of his cycle in a big area it will really help. Hes a buck that doesnt seem to mind these cameras so I will be pretty aggressive with him. I plan on putting 2 in today after work I am out of her in 1 hour!

Funny though, I have another buck I am hunting right now that I wouldnt dare put a trail camera in on ..I believe I would run him out of the country due to his demeanor.. He dwarfs this buck by the way! :D

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You simply amaze me Troy. Every year you seam to come up with these huge whitetails. Goodluck on your quest at bagging him this year. I bet this time you will make sure that your grunt tube is out of the way.;)

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Troy:

When you are learning his "cycle"....are you actually trying to pinpoint him (to a degree)....or find the "common denominator" of his travel pattern?

If its the latter.....I see great promise in that. Would that not define a "core"?

I mean....he could use parts of many "areas" on any given "cycle".....but if there were a portion of these "areas" that overlapped.....bingo? Hang, there?

TRoy....here's a map a fellow HNI'er sent me where we were talking about this very thing. He knew the buc he was after could be in any of the outlying areas at any time....but he also knew he was using the smaller area a lot. Does my question make sense, now?

Thanks.

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How about instead of shooting him you tranq him and bring him over here for us?

Goodluck with him!

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Troy,informative as always! Something for the folks here to bear in mind is that from a relative perspective I would expect that this buck does not receive that much pressure,especially so this time of year.So this buck is being this reclusive in the late summer when he has had the longest period of true safe time from hunting pressure.To pattern and kill a buck of this nature is a significant accomplishment.

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I suspect the next pic we see of that buck will be with you sitting behind him with a big old grin on your face.

Hope round 2 goes better for you Troy!

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That makes for a great story Troy, I hope it has a very happy ending.

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Yes Jeff exactly. The thingabout a bucks movements/cycle here is that it changessignificantly in his 3rd and 4th year..but then it really gets SET.From what I see/observe anyway. Much, much less daylight movement but the bucks after 3 almost always are still there, just harder to catch during daylight. I try to pinpoint 3-4 areas he is willing to move/frequent during daylight hours AT LEAST 2-3 times a week.......then I start looking for those overlapping travel paths....which is almost always steered by STRUCTUREand yes those are places I hang stands. The higher percentage pathways he is comfortable with that the terrain steers him through. (saddles, inside edges of different tree species, glades, draws, logging skid trails, clear cut edges, etc.) Anything that moves him naturally.

I am excluding all RUT behavior in this discussion of "cycle" of I am sure you assumed this all ready.

With this buck I need to find where he's feeding now, hopefully it will be somewhere I can observe himand I have a very good idea were to start. I put in a camera yesterday up on the mountain in a distinct timbered saddle that leads down to the water hole (400 yards up from it) I went in and backtracked the biggest set of tracks I found at the water hole and they took me back to the saddle. I had a good idea of where I thought he was coming from and the tracks I found indicated that. I believe that saddle and the inside edge of a timber butted up against the clearcut may steer his travel too, so i hung a camera in there too. I only have 1 piece of this puzzle right now so I have a lot more homework to do.

Once I get a few more pieces of his patterns down then I will hang a stand, plan an enterance/exit etc. Right now I have hunch, a very good one of where hes bedding.Findinghis favorable bedding areas isextremely important too. He wont move much during daylight right now so if i catch him moving to feed or waterIts going to give his BEDDING area away.The good thing is this buck lives were "stretch" did so I really know this ground and how to use the winds/thermals to my advantage in regards to scouting him and moving into the area to seek out stand sites.

I hope this makes sense. and yes your ? and map you shared makes all the sense in the world.. As a matter of fact when I first looked at it reminds me of my "war" room. I have topos and google printouts of all my whitetail areas that I map bucks out and and have been doing so for years. With google these days it really makes it easy map them out.

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Yes Scot, this deer seems to be very calculated based on trail camera photos in conjunction with the time "Window" he is willing to come to this water. I'd bet its safe to say hes very careful about where he moves during the daylight. He will be pressured/bumped around fairly decently come this weekend, there will be archery elk hunters running these mountains. The real pressure he will recieve is during the two month long rifle season. This buck is living on 870 acres of Federal land and then coming down to this private ground that the guy who owns it lets EVERYONE hunt. This buck IMO also uses some private ground that only a few hunters can access.. I'd wouldnt be surprised if this is where he beds up once he gets pressure and yes I am one of the few that can hunt that portion..

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Good luck shed, I am sure you will get him or if no I am sure you will get one of the other bucks that has caught your attention!!