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Awesome encounter today

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Awesome encounter today

Postby wawhitey » 12 28, 2018 •  [Post 1]

So after deer season ended i put some alfalfa and a couple cameras out tohopefully get sheds from the big 6x6 i was hunting this year. Around here most mature bucks drop around christmas or earlier. So i go up today hoping to find his sheds. Pull card from camera, start looking around a bit. About 90 yards past the alfalfa pile i lean against a big pine and start looking through tcam pics on my little viewer. Well, im surprised to see he was here last night with his antlers still on. Before i even had time for it to occur to me that i should get the hell out of there, i hear a noise. Look up, yup, here he comes, 40yrds and closing, damn! So i hunker down hoping hell pass by me. He turned exactly straight toward me instead. Steps through a little bit of brush and trees and stops maybe 15 yards away, he sees me. Im thinking, damn now hes gonna bolt. Nope. He starts doing the head side to side, up and down thing, and seems more curious than alarmed. Im not moving a muscle. After a minute of this, im thinking hes gonna bolt any second. Nope! He wanted a closer look! He walked RIGHT UP to me, right in my face, im talking 4-5 yards max! Then he starts doing the head bobbing routine again. Okay, NOW hes going to bolt! Nope! Still curious what the hell i am! He walks over to the side of me to look at me from another angle, but maintaining the 4-5 yard distance. After checking me out from there for a minute he finally decides something is fishy. He kind of half ass ran off about 20 yards back the way he came and started looking at me again, still seeming very much unsure just what i was, and eventually he bounded off the way he came in from, but i really dont think he knew what i was. He just didnt seem very spooked. Hopefully ill still be able to find his sheds. Really dont feel like i blew him out of there. Pretty crazy.
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby wawhitey » 12 28, 2018 •  [Post 2]

This is him.
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby Lefty » 12 28, 2018 •  [Post 3]

I’ve had a lot of white tail does do the same thing
Always entertaining

A good shed story

My father in law to me to see a nice bull moose ona friends property

The next day heroes up on a snawmachine : while grassing for the bull moose it got up shook its had and dropped one side
The next day my FIL rode up watched the bull get outdoors bed shake its head then dropped the other side just feet from the previous day

He had a taxidermist mount them for the cabin
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 12 28, 2018 •  [Post 4]

Fricking awesome Dean!!
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby wawhitey » 12 28, 2018 •  [Post 5]

WapitiTalk1 wrote:Fricking awesome Dean!!


It was. But i cant help but be kicking myself in the butt right now. He was heading for the alfalfa when i ruined his plans. Cant help but think he may have flopped his antlers right there for me today if i hadnt been in there. He was there just a couple hours before i showed up too, as the time stamp shows.
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby wawhitey » 12 28, 2018 •  [Post 6]

More recent pics of the freeloader eating my alfalfa. He better drop his antlers right on it.
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby wawhitey » 12 28, 2018 •  [Post 7]

......
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby Swede » 12 28, 2018 •  [Post 8]

It is almost January Whitey: Where is the snow? Are you going to start your tomatoes soon?
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby wawhitey » 12 28, 2018 •  [Post 9]

Swede wrote:It is almost January Whitey: Where is the snow? Are you going to start your tomatoes soon?


Very unusual lack of snow around here this year in most areas. Been in the teens a lot, dipped down to single digits for a bit, but not much snow except in a few areas. Snowing right now, but i really hope we dont get much for at least a few more days. Would make it hard to find sheds! Not to mention a bunch of snow will push these deer down to lower elevations.
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby Lsb » 12 29, 2018 •  [Post 10]

Sounds like you're just gentleing him down to make it easier to get him next year
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby wawhitey » 12 29, 2018 •  [Post 11]

Lsb wrote:Sounds like you're just gentleing him down to make it easier to get him next year


Been doing a pretty good job of it. Thats my 5th encounter with him this year. He must think im pretty harmless by now. Maybe by next season ill just be able to hold a carrot out with my left hand, and pop him one between the eyes with a hammer in my right.
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby wawhitey » 12 30, 2018 •  [Post 12]

So i couldnt wait, figured id sneak in today, grab sd card and sneak out, see if he came back and if he dropped. I figure he has to have dropped now. Well, about 1/3 mile east of there, on other side of the creek, on my way in i decided to do a little fawn distress action. This guy popped out of a clump of trees roughly 200 yards away to look my way, then popped back in. Anyway, he didnt seem too alarmed. I sat and after about 15 minutes he came back out, just casually browsing in my direction a ways, then at maybe 100 yards he turned and headed off toward the alfalfa, on the path i was going to take. Guess i better just back out again. This is going to drive me nuts. First time ive laid eyes on this particular buck, so thats cool.
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby wawhitey » 01 01, 2019 •  [Post 13]

Hell yeah!!! These will look great mounted on the wall next to him after i kill him next season!!!!
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby Lsb » 01 01, 2019 •  [Post 14]

Score! Way to go whitey
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby Roosiebull » 01 01, 2019 •  [Post 15]

How cool is that?!!

Happy for ya man!
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby Elkonthebrain » 01 01, 2019 •  [Post 16]

That's awesome.
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby Swede » 01 01, 2019 •  [Post 17]

Definitely a beautiful set of antlers.
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby wawhitey » 01 01, 2019 •  [Post 18]

His antlers popped off at 10:42 pm on the 30th when he got in a shoving match with an 8pt. The 10pt i saw a couple days ago still had his antlers as of 3am today. This is the buck he was fighting with that made his antlers pop off.
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby wawhitey » 07 18, 2019 •  [Post 19]

His growth is looking good so far this year. He got confused and put his split brow on the other side this year. Going to get this set of antlers before they fall off of his skull.
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 07 18, 2019 •  [Post 20]

Wow, such a nice buck :o
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby Swede » 07 18, 2019 •  [Post 21]

Wow! That is a nice fat buck and not a bad set of antlers either. I know I would enjoy some backstrap slices from him, fried and placed into a sandwich. It would also do to have backstraps and a baked potato for dinner.
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby wawhitey » 11 04, 2019 •  [Post 22]

Well ill be back after this guy in less than a week. Hopefully hes just a little more cooperative this season. And hopefully hes not been eaten by a lion or a wolf while ive been in alaska. Havent been able to check on his well being since august. His g5 shrunk to almost nothing this year, but he put on a couple trash points.
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby 7mmfan » 11 04, 2019 •  [Post 23]

Good luck. I've never hunted an animal that I had history with, so I really have no bearing on your mindset. I can only imagine though that it must be on your mind alot!
I hunt therefore I am. I fish therefore I lie.
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby RAMMONT » 11 04, 2019 •  [Post 24]

There's a difference between hunting and shopping and this isn't hunting.
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby wawhitey » 11 04, 2019 •  [Post 25]

RAMMONT wrote:There's a difference between hunting and shopping and this isn't hunting.


Just because i have cameras up to get his pics? First time i saw this buck was during the rut in 2017, my first time in that area, and i didnt have a cam up within 30 miles of there. A few days later i killed a 160" buck up there, and in the process i saw several large trophy bucks. Thats what caused me to hang cameras in the area, necause i already knew several good bucks were there, because i saw them with my own two eyes, hunting there for the first time. So as soon as i hang cameras im now shopping instead of hunting? Thats interesting. I guess a lot of guys on this forum arent hunters by your definition then. I get daylight pics of this buck using various trails with no form of attractants whatsoever, i get these pics because i do a lot of on the ground scouting, and ive figured out his bedding areas, where he gets water etc, and figured out where he moves by being in the woods and puzzling it out, and having some basic understanding about whitetail habits. I spend time in the woods and find out where he comes from and where he goes. This is public land ive spent a ton of time learning via boots on ground. Hanging some cams up to get pics doesnt change the time ive put in here learning about these local deer, and the pics sure dont make it any easier to make the kill. These are still free roaming mountain bucks. I hang the cameras because i already know the bucks are there, and ive figured out things about them, the cameras just give me pics, confirm what ive already determined, and allow me to decide which buck i want to take. But deciding which one im hunting doesnt suddenly make it a slam dunk. This is no high fence private land operation, and the bucks dont follow any script i write. That being said though, think what you want. Finding, targeting, and killing one specific wild buck with a bow on public land in these mountains is no easy task regardless of how a guy goes about it. To act like its a slam dunk as easy as shopping is laughable, and just makes you come off as an arrogant fool.
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby Swede » 11 04, 2019 •  [Post 26]

Trail cameras actually add a dimension to hunting. If I want any legal animal, why bother with a camera. I can figure out where deer and elk are without a camera. If I want to be more selective the camera will help to determine where best to set a tree stand.
It used to be that hunters tied a thread across a trail at different heights to get a guestimate of animal size on what was coming around. There was no question that elk were using the trail. Rubs nearby showed there was a bull there too. We would check the mud, and water also to try and figure out when the animals were there.
I only have four cameras myself. From my cameras I learned that the percentage of branch bulls in the area I am hunting in September is small. I will go to a nearby area about 10 miles away next season as the evidence on the ground indicates more big bulls are there. I have had no cameras there to date, but will install all four there next July.
Cameras are also fun. It is a joy to see what has come around when you were back home waiting for the next season to open. I have a friend that is planning on getting a camera that will send the photos to his phone several hundred miles away. I hope to get a copy of all photos right away in my e-mail.
Elk and deer shopping? hummmmm? Maybe when someone invents a new phone camera that can paralyze the animal of my choosing, and hold it until I arrive to shoot.
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Re: Awesome encounter today

Postby Lefty » 11 05, 2019 •  [Post 27]

Swede wrote:Trail cameras actually add a dimension to hunting. ,,,,,,,,,
Cameras are also fun. It is a joy.


I have never shot a ( is k I blew a 21 yard shot of a 5x5 I had thousands of pics Over a 15 mile stretch)
A few coyotes ended up on stretchers and likely a few roosters ended in the fry pan
But camera are a totally different pass time maybe a type of hunting
But how cool was it when I helped Andrew set up a camera on a wallow
By the time we were home he had some cool pics and was able to watch live feed of elk mid day
Maybe the bull was the same on camera that we brought in

I’ve gotten some trophy pics bull elk, big bears, little bears, hounds man, cowboys with work dogs, moose antelope deer
Years back I caught my daughters and friends skipping school to get in a December ride, the local warden checking baits
( really if you’re law enforcement govworker watching this please put a camera pic of your business card)

I’ve posted about this before

an acquaintance got a pic of Santa Claus
So Santa is real

But no Bigfoot
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