Had you seen him before??

[Woody Williams]

Every now and then you hear or read about a deer hunter that had been hunting the same buck for ___years (fill in the blank) before finally getting him.

I've killed some bucks that I had seen before and knew they were there AND I've also killed some bucks that I thought "WHOA! Where in the world did he come from"? Pleasant surprise to say the least.

So the poll question for today is...

What percentage of the bucks you've shot, were shot the first time you ever saw them?

[mbogo]

100% for me since I've only shot one buck. I've been hunting one buck for the past 3 years and have seen it 5 times but have not sealed the deal yet. I do quite a bit of spot lighting during the summer and I recognize some of the bucks later in hunting season. However, none of the ones I recognize have been mature enough for me to shoot.

[varmint101]

I've killed 10 deer and 5 of those were bucks. I hadn't seen any of them prior to placing the fatal sqeeze on them.

Matthew.

[spc]

I personally have seen several of the bucks I killed numerous times before killing them, on camera and on stand.

[John]

I hunt in heavily hunted ares ( high pressure) and even if you see a nice buck, odd's are when season starts 6 other hunters have their eyes on the same one. But somehow different Bucks show up at the stand areas, no idea where they came from. They taste the same as the ones I've seen before the hunt though, I'm sure, so I'm happy with any Buck of mature size, anything from 4 point up.

John

[steiny]

With only a couple exceptions, most of the really nice bucks I have killed, were killed the first time I laid eyes on them.

I do have a big boy, I've been chasing for three years now that I'd love to get a whack at. At this point, his odds of dying of old age, look pretty good.

[greg]

Since I got back into using trail cameras more intensely, I pretty much get a look at all the bucks in my hunting areas. This lets me know which bucks survived the hunting seasons from year-to-year. I do a lot of evening glassing also, but the trail cameras give me those "up close and personal" shots that I can study at my leisure. The 24-hour operation of the trail camera also enables me to see a few deer that ALMOST NEVER show themselves in the daytime. There truly are some bucks that are almost "un-huntable" due to their nocturnal nature.

[cday]

I had to rate that low. I only hunt in Indiana one week out of year. So none of those big bucks I had seen before taking them. Here in Arkansas down at the ditch both of the nice ones I have taken I had seen before. Most of the yearling bucks I have not seen before, as well as the ones taken on public land down here.

[DEERTRACKS]

25% Bow
75% Gun

deertracks