PEAX Equipment

Public land nemesis

antlerradar said:
That is a fantastic buck. Good luck. It is extremely exciting if you get to put a tag on a buck you have a history with like this buck, but also bittersweet.
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Yea...if it ever happens it will be. The deer is really a part of my life. I may have spent more time with him last year than I did my wife. And by time I mean me sitting in the woods and him avoiding me. 😋🤣
 
Hilljackoutlaw said:
The deer is really a part of my life. I may have spent more time with him last year than I did my wife.
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I know that feeling, when I finally killed my obsession my wife was over the moon thrilled, and obviously so was I, but then for a long time after it was a weird surreal feeling going in the woods. I actually missed knowing he was not out there somewhere and the realization that I may never get to pursue a deer of that caliber again left me with a sort of empty feeling. Definitely bittersweet. I am definitely starting to watch this thread, best of luck to you! Chief is truly a deer of a lifetime, I think you named him well.
 
elkrchr said:
How did your efforts go to hunt Chief the first week of archery season?
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Slow it was in the 90s all week only saw a couple small bucks and a few doe. Didnt hit it real hard. Being so hot the bugs were out of control still.
 
RockinU said:
Killin me Smalls...
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Killing myself...lol want to see better pics of him. I been to busy in the elk woods tho. But that season is over tomorrow so I'll shift to whitetail mode. The bucks should be moving back into the area about now from wherever they go to in the summer so I should have good pics.
 
Went back to hunting for the buck today now that elk is over and my extra doe tag is filled. Totally spaced that today was opening day for waterfowl so it was not a fruitful sit. Heard I would guess 300 shots. Deer are used to it but I bet it still messes with them opening day. Cameras were all still a bunch of doe pics. But we had 3 good frosts and the habitat is changing finally and the bucks should start moving back in. Hopefully will have a non velvet pic to share soon. Better yet hopefully a shot of him harvested. Not holding my breath tho. He is ghostly.
 
Hilljackoutlaw said:
Went back to hunting for the buck today now that elk is over and my extra doe tag is filled. Totally spaced that today was opening day for waterfowl so it was not a fruitful sit. Heard I would guess 300 shots. Deer are used to it but I bet it still messes with them opening day. Cameras were all still a bunch of doe pics. But we had 3 good frosts and the habitat is changing finally and the bucks should start moving back in. Hopefully will have a non velvet pic to share soon. Better yet hopefully a shot of him harvested. Not holding my breath tho. He is ghostly.
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You wouldn’t value him as much were he not...
 
The hunting has been painfully slow. I'm not sure where al km the bucks are but I'm not seeing them in their usual haunts. It's still early yet but getting a little worried. Only one of the old bucks has shown his face so far since the velvet shed. He is not a high scorer but a mature buck. He has been about that same size the last 3 seasons. Huge body deer to. Resized_IMG_0004_38742792389986.jpeg

Also is this a baby owl that about took my head off tonight or some small owl I've never seen or heard of before? 20191023_185700.jpg
 
Well bucks are showing up at a super slow pace. 2 days ago a decent 11 point from last year finally appeared. But still no sign of the big guy. Not sure where he is hiding. I scouted another area in his core territory that I rarely venture to yesterday. I never go there cause I never see deer there. While there tho I found a great scrape line and after the 7th scrape on the same general trail i decided to find a tree to make a setup. I'll be hitting that spot up tomorrow morning. (Wind allowing). I also put a camera up over there to see what's making all this sign. With any luck its chief. That part of the island is just littered with deer sign also and the other side is almost void of deer sign it's all opposite of the last 5 years. Not sure why this is? Food? Spooked? Just dont know.
 
The morning sit on the scrape line produced lots of waterfowl hunters. Normally I wouldnt pay much attention or worry about them, but this spot is a fairly narrow corridor between river and stream about 120 yards wide.
Before the first waterfowler came by me I did have a buck about 60 yards off I never got a good look at him and he snuck away when the first bird hunter came by.
I went back for afternoon sit and had a decent buck come by checking scrapes. He had a busted off main beam right after his G3 or he would of been your typical 10 point.
 
Been holding off on the negativity, but still no sign of the big buck since August 17th at 7:14am. On that day he was with a large 8 point and neither buck has been seen since. In those 3 pics of him he is panting like a dog and you can see his body and nostrils flexing in and out as you scroll thru the 3 pictures. These 2 deer were spooked really badly that day and I'm not sure what had them so spooked. A farmer or a fisherman doesnt scare a deer to the point of panting like a dog especially when they are used to seeing them in that spot. I have multiple theories from domestic dogs possibly chasing them, but no dogs were on camera there, possibly poached that day, or he could of been harvested but I find that hard to believe i wouldnt of heard about it considering he is the state archery record by probably 30 inches and he is the overall state record by probably 10 inches. He could of crossed to the indian reservation and got harvested to and I might not of heard about it. Or spooked completely into the next county by whatever had them panting. But I also struggle to believe that a 6.5 to 7 5 year old deer that I have pics of for 4 years in the same exact core area would completely abandon said core area over being spooked especially when he deals with waterfowl hunters and fisherman constantly. I have watched this deer sneak almost crawling past warerfowlers at 50 yards. He knows how to get around in his surroundings undetected. Anybody with any similar situations out there with some guidance or thoughts?

Anyways I still have hope he shows up somewhere but it's really strange to have not seen him since August. If he truly is gone it will bother me until the day I pass away not knowing what happened to him.
 
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