Buck I'm chasing is very smart to the hunting season. Goes into complete hiding this time of year and stops showing up entirely. At least on my trail cams. The rut is going on right now at my place.

After failing to draw him out with rattling or grunting and assuming he had run off, I set a doe in estrous wick Thursday am. He visits it every night.

Between 10:32 and 3:30 am.

Good news: He's still around.

Bad news: Entirely nocturnal.

What would you do to try to irritate him into stepping out?

Keep rattling and using the doe in estrous.

Like I have read before, the rut will make a big difference.

Thinking about playing Gilbert Godfrey sketches.

Doe decoy out in the open and a lot tinks.

You have to know where he beds to be able to draw him out. Otherwise, it's pure chance.

Do you know where he is bedding?

Keep moving trail cameras until you figure out his pattern and where he is closer to daylight.

There is a large bedding area about 100 yards back in the woods. There are rubs and scrapes going back to it, so I think that's his spot. I leave it alone most of the time.

Deer decoy with buck bomb

I would not rattle till I had seen him in the distance or conditions were perfect to rattle. You can educate him to it by rattling to much in the same spot.

This vvvvvvvv would be an alternative to rattling all the time. Set it up and use a can call and grunt call at the same time. I have had some success calling in bucks with a grunt call and estrus scent when I could not get a buck to pay attention to rattling. I grunted up 8 bucks one morning. They did not charge in but snuck in till they hit the doe in heat scent. Then several would not leave the area after they had seen me and smelled me. I would use the grunt call and bring them back to me.

So, how do you deploy the Gilbert Godfrey sketches?

Consult with jshouse and do the opposite....