1.) luv2bowhunt - 08/14/2017

Summer bucks, not as big as some years, but good to know they're out there.

2.) Jon - 08/14/2017

Great pics Luv2, is the camera elevated in a tree for security reasons?

3.) luv2bowhunt - 08/14/2017

Yep. I've heard too many stories of guys getting their cameras stolen. I carry in 3 steps, hang them up 9-10 ft. Haven't lost one yet.

4.) Swamp Fox - 08/14/2017

Nice....What's on the stumps?

5.) luv2bowhunt - 08/14/2017

Nothing it's all natural here. Our deer eat wood...and they're thankful for it. :re:


...or perhaps somebody snuck in and put Buck Jam acorn flavor on the stumps when I wasn't looking.

6.) Swamp Fox - 08/14/2017

LOL...I figured you for a Kool-Aid-and-molasses kinda guy...Maybe Dr. Pepper...

I've had good luck with Deer Cane (Black Magic).

7.) Swamp Fox - 08/14/2017

So why do you think all these bucks are in this area in the summer, and what makes them move by the fall?

8.) luv2bowhunt - 08/14/2017

I've learned over the last 10 yrs or so that the bucks will Summer in the clearcuts. I'm guessing the food is abundant and the cover is unbeatable. The top 2 pics are on a stump on the edge of a 200 acre clearcut, nasty thick. The bottom pick is in the middle of an older clearcut, still very thick.

What makes them move by Fall? I guess when testosterone levels rise they start to irritate each other and they split up and move on. I have learned if I keep a camera in these same areas in the Fall, I'll be lucky to get more than one of these bucks on film. Usually one stays and the others are never on the camera again. Certainly there is more mast crop in areas outside of the clearcuts.

Once they split up, they are very hard to find. They've got a ton of good country to hide in. If it isn't a thick overgrown clearcut, it's a vast mountain laurel thicket or a rhododendron filled hollow.

I guess I need Mark and Terry to come show me how it's done.

9.) Swamp Fox - 08/14/2017

See, that looks like the kind of area my deer will be in all year, especially in the fall. At least as pass-through areas. Of course, I'm looking at a small photo, and I have dog hunting in some areas and heavy human pressure in others. Or light pressure. The deer are still in areas that look somewhat like that in the fall, but if more bucks were there more often I'd think I'd kill some of them once in a awhile, LOL.

I wouldn't consider that area very thick for around here, so maybe the idea is that once they decide to move out of the areas that does have left to them in the spring /summer (sub-optimal, nutritionally) they start to move into areas that offer carbs and/or boom-chacka-lacka-boom in the fall. But I think I've been there, and that is not the complete answer. It's possible that they move even thicker in the fall, for some reason, even in areas with light hunting pressure (for the East). I'm not at all sure you can't catch western whitetails doing stuff an eastern would never do without consideration to cover. It seems like it's a lot harder to catch an eastern whitetail out in the open during daylight, even when they're supposed to be motivated by carbs and sex.

If that doesn't make sesne, I'll try again...LOL

10.) billy b - 08/14/2017

Great pics. Luv2, I can't find my giant thumbs up icon so I'll use this one:tu:

11.) luv2bowhunt - 08/15/2017

[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;50833]I wouldn't consider that area very thick for around here,.......If that doesn't make sesne, I'll try again...LOL[/QUOTE]

Trust me, if I could pan the camera around you would soon realize that the area is thick. The opening in the bottom photo was created by me. The rest of the area around is thick saplings that are a bear to walk through.

I read your post 3 times, still couldn't make complete sense of it. But it is only 7:00 AM, coffee hasn't kicked in yet.

12.) Jon - 08/15/2017

You can read it 3 more and have the same result. Just sayin

13.) Swamp Fox - 08/15/2017

LOL... I wrote it in a rush and knew it wasn't my best effort...

Scratch most of what I said if that opening is man-made.

14.) Wild Bob - 08/15/2017

Good pics Luv2 ...thanks for sharing.

I agree with you; any encouragement knowing there are more out there always puts a lift in my step, especially at this time of the year.

What's that one on the top left in the bottom picture doing?? Taking a siesta? Laying down on the job? Rubbing? You didn't choot him did ya? LOL. :-)

15.) luv2bowhunt - 08/15/2017

[QUOTE=Wild Bob;50853]What's that one on the top left in the bottom picture doing?? Taking a siesta? Laying down on the job? Rubbing? You didn't choot him did ya? LOL. :-)[/QUOTE]

I zoomed in on him, he's rubbing his forehead on a thin sapling, marking 'his' territory I guess. Joke's on him though, I doubt he's in charge of this group.

16.) Swamp Fox - 08/15/2017

Dominance is just a social construct. If he identifies as being in charge, we should all say he's in charge.


:p

17.) Wild Bob - 08/15/2017

[QUOTE=Swamp Fox;50859]Dominance is just a social construct. If he identifies as being in charge, we should all say he's in charge.


:p[/QUOTE]

That sounds so...touchy feely and liberal. Just sayin. :-)

Next thing you'll be saying is that he should get a trophy just for showing up and acting like the one with the big balls. LOL.

18.) bluecat - 08/15/2017

[QUOTE=Wild Bob;50862]That sounds so...touchy feely and liberal. Just sayin. :-)

Next thing you'll be saying is that he should get a trophy just for showing up and acting like the one with the big balls. LOL.[/QUOTE]

+1

Congrats Bob, you are on the board.

19.) Wild Bob - 08/16/2017

Somebody has to give Swampy shit besides Luv2... LOL! :p