Some Big Whities For Ya...

[Ourea]

The final afternoon had two different bucks coming in about an hour apart....a small deuce and the tall four again.
Obviously they were given passes.
As the last vestiges of light faded the season was coming to a close.
It looked like that my year of effort on closing on a big WT was not going to pay off.
A failure!???
ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!

As I closed the window in my stand I sat by the heater and took ten or fifteen minutes to reflect on "my year of the WT" before packing up and heading back to the truck..

......all the trips up the hill, endless scouting and setting cams.
Evaluating the intel.
Culling spots and investing more resources in others.
Reflecting on the times shared in the blinds with great friends.
The evening "debriefings and cocktails" were always a highlight.
Seeing the excitement and passion in Clayton and sharing in this experience was pretty special to me.
The time in the garage tending to his deer will always stand out.
He was one thrilled young man with his buck.
To me that made my season.



I so enjoyed my time with my CO buddy in the field.
Although we couldn't close for him we had such a good time.
So many great experiences with some awesome people.

Can't wait to do it again next year.

[Ourea]

What am I thinking!!!!
There is part two to the season.
This chess match is far from over.....




When I left the blind last night I replen'd the cam.
I wanted to try "something" out first hand for myself.
I stuck a Montana decoy in front of the camera and set it to video mode.
I always wanted to get my own footage of how bucks react to them when first introduced.
I will pull the card tomorrow and see how things went down.
Most curious to see footage.







So, the thoughts of big bulls and giant mule deer will just have to wait for a little while longer.

On that note......
Here is a pic taken through the spotter by Elk-aholic when we were packed in for MD several weeks ago.
Pretty decent looking buck. He certainly got Elk-aholic's attention at first blush.
"Possible shooter" was the initial reaction.
Imagine our chagrin when this buck turned out do be a re-donk-u-lous two point.
For those that want to know what an "honest" 30+" mule deer looks like, this is one.




In the mean time there is plenty of whitetail hunting to be done!!!

[pescado]

Good read, thanks. Good luck with the bow.

[snareman1234]

The final afternoon had two different bucks coming in about an hour apart....a small deuce and the tall four again.
Obviously they were given passes.
As the last vestiges of light faded the season was coming to a close.
It looked like that my year of effort on closing on a big WT was not going to pay off.
A failure!???
ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!

As I closed the window in my stand I sat by the heater and took ten or fifteen minutes to reflect on "my year of the WT" before packing up and heading back to the truck..

......all the trips up the hill, endless scouting and setting cams.
Evaluating the intel.
Culling spots and investing more resources in others.
Reflecting on the times shared in the blinds with great friends.
The evening "debriefings and cocktails" were always a highlight.
Seeing the excitement and passion in Clayton and sharing in this experience was pretty special to me.
The time in the garage tending to his deer will always stand out.
He was one thrilled young man with his buck.
To me that made my season.



I so enjoyed my time with my CO buddy in the field.
Although we couldn't close for him we had such a good time.
So many great experiences with some awesome people.

Can't wait to do it again next year.

No doubt, your journey for monster WT is far from over. The success of your endeavours cannot be measured in heads, as you are searching for the "one" and that requires forgoing opportunities at "heart attack" bucks (pardon the cliche'd term, but I mean REAL heart attack bucks). I really enjoyed my time in "WT camp" with you and the experience will not be soon forgotten. Thanks for opening my eyes up to the potential for WT bucks right in our backyard, and highlighting that WE as hunters are the limiting factor in WT success, not the WT. The bucks are there and they are plentiful, and in addition, there are some HOGS. Cheers, C.

[kennyj]

Very interesting thread. Thanks for taking the time to share your adventures. Being stuck on the sidelines this season I sure appreciate threads like this one.
kenny

[Sitkaspruce]

Thanks for bringing us along on your trips. I soaked up the info you have passed out and will try apply it for the next time I chase WT's.

I too tried the a deer attractant that was on sale, some Blue Code stuff, buck scrape soil and doe-in-heat soil, placed it in the ground in front of the camera and watched, not one buck or doer even sniffed it, although it was quickly covered in snow. Just like fishing and hunting gear, 90% of the stuff is designed to catch or attract one thing.....and it is not the prey.

Thanks again

Cheers

SS

[Ourea]

It has been interesting following your evolution as a WT hunter. Just a bit of a change from the 90's.


Something to consider.

Has the number of pics of "target" deer dropped over time? The old guys show up once or twice and that's it....
While a lot of human activity in one place will not cause a "smart" buck to vacate the area, they sure will stop using that specific "danger zone".

These bucks will also learn to recognize signs of your (and others using the same blind) arrival and routine.
Do you use the same vehicle, park in the same place, walk into the blind from the same direction?
Basically, Are you becoming known and predictable?
It wouldn't surprise me if the "target" bucks are onto your game plan.

Now that you have conditioned the deer to the sounds of your arrival and where you will be, maybe it's time to find a new way to enter the area and set up where they don't expect you. Another technique, Have someone occupy the blind and someone else set up very discretely (ass in the grass) on an adjacent travel route.

Walking Buffalo, all valid points.
If you picked up all the details previously mentioned of where we are hunting the suggestions you called out simply don't apply.
We are set up beside high traffic areas that see endless recreationalist affecting these whitetail.

Example.....
When I sat last night this is what these whitetail were exposed to.....
2:30 pm a couple trucks were heard.
They pulled into the makeshift field target range that is aprox 600-700 meters from my stand.
200 + rounds were fired over an hr period of time.

At three o'clock a woodcutter fired up a chainsaw and was cutting until 3:45 within 500 yards.

This is in addition to the quad and vehicle traffic that is considerable and daily.
There is always something going on and affecting these deer's habits and movement.
Could I hunt another area where these interferences would not be a factor?
An area where the deer would be more predictable and easier to kill as a result?
Absolutely.

I have elected not to as I want to kill a Boone whitey in a high traffic area to prove a point and share with others in the process and experience.
I strongly feel that whitetail opportunities in BC are endless and right under our noses if we, as hunters, just adapt to meet the challenge.

This is not text book whitetail hunting.

Again, valid insight on your behalf but not very applicable in this scenario.

[aggiehunter]

.358 next time your having a rum and coke with Ourea tell him turn his high beams down on those deer pics...

[358mag]

.358 next time your having a rum and coke with Ourea tell him turn his high beams down on those deer pics...

Sorry Aggie we were Deer Hunting, Rum + Coke are for saved for another type of ungulate .

[Ourea]

We ground it out to the bitter end. I never did find a real "true" trophy whitetail although the 5x5 with the one weak G4 was a decent buck along with a few others in the 155" - 160" class.
It was encouraging to have found numerous 2-4 year old deer that could be very special if given a few more years to reach their potential.
The young buck with the drop tine and several stickers really has got my interest as I love "junk" over clean.
Hopefully Coach and I continue to learn and through aggressive effort we will get better at figuring out the local WT puzzle for big bucks.

Few observations.....

- there are far more quality WT bucks living under our noses than we could have ever imagined. Some cam locations yielded up to 8-10 different bucks frequenting one area.

- WT are easily moved by snow. It is wise not to spend a lot of effort at higher elevations because things can change over night. I personally feel the mid level elevations put you in a better "odds" scenario. It doesnt make sense to me to focus on areas where the deer inventory could decrease but rather key in on areas where the inventory only stands to increase with the onslaught of winter snow.

- it can never be "too thick"

- big WT bucks are proving to be far more interesting and challenging than we first thought.

- they are deserving of far more respect as a trophy animal in BC. With that I hope BC hunters start to focus more on this species and the excellent hunting opprtunity they afford.

Here's just a few more critters. We have a pretty good record of the deer inventory so we will be very curious to see who's around next season and how much they will have changed.

Young buck with good width for a WT.
He might be something special with time.
Only got a couple pics of him.




This guy was a "one and done". Never saw him again.



A couple dinky do's



Thought this was pretty cool.
While walking out from replen'ing a station I noticed that a puddy cat had walked over my tracks.




When I reviewed the card this good looking cat was on it.




Hopefully this thread has helped spur more interest in pursuing WT and cast them, as a huntable resource, in a more positive and favorable light .