Good luck. I think mudder is right

An 8 yard shot sounds exhilarating! Great woodsmanship!

Just be very cautious. Eventually he will come close enough for a shot. Just don't blow it before then lol. Hope you get him and we'd love to see pictures

I would try calling him in and setting up a mock scrape very effective! Also rattling use to work very well for me back in the n.e.hope you get a Crack at him !

Rattling might work out for you. Calling in a mature Buck can be real iffy, they tend to circle around and come in down wind.

Rattling and they may be in a mood and come charging in, they may come in more careful.

What you don't want to do this early IMO is to drive him away from his bedding area. The only real anchor you have.

In a month or so he is likely out there going on his Doe roundup. But if you don't blow his bedding area you have a chance he will be back after the rut to recuperate.

They usually/often visit their rub line morning and evening, IMO evening might be a better bet, they sometimes get antsy and bust out of cover early. Sometimes they come back from feeding late (shooting light) and rub.

He mentioned he saw him in daylight in the open, sounds like he is feeling his hormones some.