Heck ya, he's a nice one. Good luck

Boom.

Heck of a deer. Make sure your arrow is whispering back at you, "bring your knife"

damn... good luck!

The game warden actually lives about a mile down the road from my place, so I could grab him pretty quickly if needed. My early plan was to take one of the big doe that had been showing up, but now that I know there are some big boys out there I will definitely not be doing that.

I have yet to see him on camera again, but I'm sure he will come back around during the rut. I have about 8 doe and a couple of young bucks that hit my feeder each day, so that should get interesting.

Sounds like you have more deer than I do here, I haven't entertained the idea of taking a doe yet in 12 years, I have seen up to 13 at one time, but the average is 4..Figure I need all the buck bait hanging around that I can.

Well, the big guy finally showed himself again. This is only the 2nd time I've had him at my feeder. Any thoughts on if the rut will change his pattens? I need to see him in the day time.

Yep, it will change his pattern but you'll have to put the time in and sit as much as you can to be there when he does. More than likely, you'll pop him chasing a doe. It's rare to see big bucks at feeders like that during the daytime. The feeder just increases the chance to see him because it will attract the does... if you get a hot one you can be sure he will be chasing her around.

This is the problem with 6 acres. He will open up his range even more. Early season you can pattern him, but once rut hits there's no telling where he might go.

That's true, it really all depends on the does in the area. If it borders COE land though, the buck will probably live until one of those does gets hot on that 6 acres that is utilizing that feeder. Then it's just a matter of time before you'll catch him running her.

It's just one of those deals where you're going to have hunt every opportunity you get until you get lucky and catch him.

Yeah, I watch the deer come off the COE land. I guess we will see what he does during the rut. I've got tons of does coming in multiple times a day, so that should help my odds a little.

Hunker down as much as you can as he knows where your feeder is. Good luck!

What the fellas said, when he hits rut, he will become a different buck for that time, like a college frat boy with one thing on his mind, that is your advantage and achilles heal...

Rut definitely gets them moving, but that's not always a good thing. In my case it usually means a buck that hit my feeders 3 times a day all summer gets shot a mile down river following a doe like an idiot through a hay patch right in front of a rancher.