Hookslinger wrote:MichiganMike wrote:My 2020 Michigan public land buck all complete. Can’t thank my buddy dale enough. Does amazing work ACEDCB5C-F214-4A63-9EAF-5F5C626A6393.jpegD3696C69-93EF-45CF-BCF7-C5B1E24B7C65.jpeg
Awesome buck, can't ask for anything better on MI public. I have a question that I want to ask. I know you said you found this buck and chased him all season right? You finally got him on opening day of firearm? How did you deal with all the hunting pressure that surely had to ramp up? How didn't the "orange army" push him right out of there? He's obviously survived a good handful of Michigan gun seasons to get some age on him and grow into such a great buck. What do you think was the difference that gave you the ability to seal the deal on him?
Thank you and thanks for the questions:
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I know you said you found this buck and chased him all season right? I had him on camera in Sept and hunted the area a few times during bow in Oct/early Nov to try to get eyes on him. To say I chased him all season is probably a bit of an overstatement, I hunted that area about 4-5 times so I didn't overpressure it- but I moved to different points of interest each time. Granted, It is thick river bottom with mix of marsh and saddle humps that cover over a mile.
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You finally got him on opening day of firearm? I did. I heard thrashing and chasing about a week before and moved up in the oaks 2 days before gun season. I was covering the marsh below before that. I caught him mounting the doe but was off 50 yds. Opening day I still hunted into that same area because of the high winds and he came back through.
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How did you deal with all the hunting pressure that surely had to ramp up?During bow- it wasn't really that pressured. It happens to be pretty remote with the exception of the high ground of course. During gun thats where everyone is obviously.
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How didn't the "orange army" push him right out of there? I shot him about 8:45 opening morning so it was pretty early into the game. I heard a shot about 20 minutes before that maybe a few hundred yards away. It may of been at him but not sure. During gun season- I only hunt it the first 2 days. After that I am pretty much done because your chances are pretty much over beyond that. Ill do some drives to help fill tags, but thats about it.
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What do you think was the difference that gave you the ability to seal the deal on him? I just knew he was in the area. The pressure of opening day may of worked to my advantage that morning, but I knew where he was hanging. I also knew where the does were accessing from the high ground to down below because of the intel I gained before that. But the big thing is he made mistakes. It got to rut, his testosterone amped up, he started moving and I positioned accordingly. For him to make through 4-5 seasons is a head scratcher for me too. But like Dan says- big bucks can make mistakes and they need to pay :)