Ok, here is the situation:

Tuesday morning I went to public land for my first time and basically expected to see nothing. Turns out that at 7:15 a shooter buck walked out about 100 yards away. He basically crossed the road directly and made no move towards me. However, about 5 minutes later, he winded me and was 40 yards away in some thick brush. he took off.

I talked to the management at the land and they are planning to mow the old logging road the buck crossed. The weather is still somewhat warm here but i feel that i might miss my opportunity if i do not go ASAP while he is still on a pattern. My rationale for risking this attempt is that even if i do spook the buck, he would have been off of this pattern by the end of next week. So...do I:

1. Wait till cooler temps after the whole area has been mowed?

2. Hunt it hard until I am sure that the buck has changed his patterns?

Any suggestions will be gladly accepted. Thanks

How often do they mow it? I wouldn' t worry so much about that...if it keeps warm it may even allow some nice tender green stuff to pop-up giving the deer a treat...putting you in the cat-bird (depending upon mast conditions in your area).

I would be very cautious of pressuring the buck any more than necessary. You mentioned public land...is it like a WMA that gets hammered by hunters? Or some company land that gets little use?

If the pressure is high (by other hunters) and you feel the buck has changed his patterns or " flew the coop" ...set-up wherever you can find the thickest, gnarliest, ugliest patch of the thick brush you mentioned. Maybe try to slip in before light and catch him coming back to bed down at first light.

Once he starts getting fired-up looking for love....find the does on the property and hope the buck doesn' t wander by someone else' s stand!

Good luck...look forward to seeing the pics!

Thanks for the reply. The area is actually a WMA, but it somehow doesnt seem to be hit too hard at all. The road hasnt been mowed in two years...apparently the place isnt mowed unless they just feel the need to do it.

another of my worries is that once this road is mowed, other hunters will be more likely to make the walk down the road. as far as i can tell, no one else has put out the effort to walk the 3/4-1 miles from the parking area to this area. thanks again for your help

Sounds like you already spooked him - so his pattern may already change

I agree with gobbler - I would not worry about the mowing, the fact that he winded you is more of a concern.

I would give him another try now - but not from the same tree - and not from the same exact area.

Like Rack said you should move your stand, you know basically where he crosses, what you need to do is make sure you are downwind from him. You did this Tuesday so unless he has been spooked in the same area again he will probably go back to his old pattern.

I would go after him now, before someone else gets him and before he changes his routine. I hunt a wma and they alternate where they mow, so every three years or so the deers routines change according to the new food sources. I had deer comming to my stand like clock work for 2 years then they mowed a field 200 yds NE. of me and all of a sudden no deer. Their browse was gone. I' m hopping they' ll be back this year.