Just couldn't get close...
 

Last year I hunted a fair sized eight point and never got a good shot. Everyday for over a week i hunted this wide eight point, he would come back to the same spot but using different trail i just never got a shot i was happy with. In your experience will this guy use the same trails again this year?? There is signs in the area, but i have yet to get a trailcam in there. I have seen bucks in the same spot for a few years in a row.....but this dude is bound to be a real monster this year and i just dont want to make a big mistake by hunting in the wrong spot. Have you guys ever hunted the same buck for more than one season at the exact same stand??

RE: Your Opinion.....
 

Did you fling an arrow at him or spook him in any way? If not, absolutely go ahead and hunt the same spot. I have a stand in the same tree every year and see bucks there all the time. I missed a monster there last year and lucky for me he didn't spook, just looked around and then walked away. I'll be back in the same tree this year, because I know it is a good intersection and travel route and if he's still around there is a good chance he will come by at some point. hopefully I will be there when that happens.
Also, if the bucks didn't detect you, sounds like the wind is good where you are. Maybe just trim a few conservative shooting lanes and mark your yardage somehow. (I sometimes will tie a little sliver of yellow ribbon on a sapling in a couple of directions at 20 and 30 yards around my stand, just to remind me of range) and settle in for some fun.

RE: Your Opinion.....
 

I did miss this buck from the ground at about 45 yards but I had'nt made it to my stand yet. I jumped him on the way in and he gave me a shot. Since I thought it may be my last chance I took it and blew it. However i know for a fact that he wasnt spooked because after I gathered myself together and picked up what was left of my confidence, I made my way on to the stand, and after 45 min or so he came in on a striaght beeline toward my stand. He got about 50 yards out and caught wind of a hot doe that was right above him. Needless to say, he was outa there in a big way.

The only thing I plan on doing different this year is moving closer to the action. The stand I hung last year was outside a thickett where this guy and a few others were running. I didnt stumble onto this spot untill a little later in the season and I didnt want to move in there and run them out. This year I plan on getting in the thicket along a "bed to feed" trail which is where the most hot sign was last year.

RE: Your Opinion.....
 

Here is a picture of the buck. My good buddy Hankfan caught him on one of his trail cams recently!!!! I was rather excited to see this guy still in the general area.

RE: Your Opinion.....
 

The same thing happened to me last season "a shot that I couldn't take "
I'm sure he's still around and he was a 11 point last season ,so I'm jhoping to get him in the book's this season I won't hutnt him out of the same stand but I won't be far away from last season's stand. I have a cam in the area this season but haven't got the film yet to get it developed . Good luck with getting him this season .

nubo