This morning where I had seen a Hugh buck crossing thru a cedar swamp this winter while I was rabbit hunting.He will go at least 250 pounds dressed weight.

Good luck getting him killed

Thank you.It would be my 20th buck dressing 200 pounds or more.

We call 200#ers "patch" bucks. If your deer breaks 200 pounds on certified scales, the state will issue a patch to go on your hunting coat or jacket. Very few people get that patch.

I figured you for a tracker.

Have shot 18 of them big bucks tracking on snow and 1 sitting all with a rifle.Might get one now with a bow is the plan.

Fantastic. Very few people have accomplished that.

Did a bear hunt in Maine years ago.

Was talking to some guys in a bar about deer hunting and the one guy said he had killed 4 deer over 200. I assumed he was talking 200" and thought I had stumbled across the worlds best trophy buck killer ever.

He explained the weight thing is used in Maine. We get some big deer in the UP of MI too. The jumbos are basically a sub-species.

An interesting fact about PA deer. My uncle told me that back in the 1930's when they killed a big deer in PA they called it a Michigan Deer. Seems like the deer they stocked from Michigan were bigger than the native PA Deer.

The PA Game Commission began a restocking program in 1906 to accelerate the return of the whitetail. Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania, itself, supplied deer. The restocking program continued for 19 years.

BruceT,
Did you just put that stand up...like April 2024?

No worries about squirrels chewing straps? Or wasps/hornets building nests under seat? Or tree growing some over the summer & fall and putting strain on chain and/or straps?

Your climb next winter could get very interesting.

Putting up a hang-on and stick ladder set-up months early don't work for me.....incredibly unsafe....and all this isn't even considering the fact that deer movement patterns may be totally different from year to year.

Good luck though!

I'm about 75 miles north of BruceT, it is a common practice to put up stands and leave them in place for many years. The bear hunting outfits I've guided for have 100's of stands out year around.

Yes just set it up.Never had a problem with squirrels chewing on anything.Where this stand is set up is where a big buck is cutting thru a cedar swamp.Unless he dies this won't change as it's a funnel area to bedding and cutovers.I will check it periodically as well.

Why?

I get dizzy and shaky just looking at it. I can’t hunt comfortably in a tree stand. Too nervous. Me climbing up or down is a sight to behold and takes about eight minutes.
I’ll stay in a blind

Why what?

Stands like in Bruce's pic are set up and left for YEARS? I need some of those straps that last for years. Also these trees down here grow too fast to leave stands on more than a few months. Can't get the dang thing loose of ya leave it longer.

I assume the timber is managed there by you mentioning a cut-over. Logging/timber harvest will change deer movement.....dramatically.

Trees grow a lot slower up here in the north compared to the south.

Already been logged over.This area will take another 20 years to change.

I had actually pulled the stand from a different spot a few days ago that I had set up early last fall and left over the winter.

Why check on it periodically? I'd stay out and keep pressure to zero.

Couple times this year.Got it set up so I can get in there and out without crossing where the buck is going.

Swoosh pffft.

I used to intentionally try to jump a buck two days in a row. I knew for certain I had his bedding area pegged. They vacate for a few days but they come back.

Where this buck is nobody is bothering him.Im going to just let him be.

Did you set a trail cam for the buck?

Treestands just like that out here for many years (5+) and still holding. I do change straps around that time, and use the straps for holding down loads in the truck and trailer. Just to be safe.
But never had problems with squirrels or tree growth.

Not yet

Do you intentionally track in the lowlands/swamps, Bruce?

Rabbit hunting with beagles some or looking for shed antlers.When I see that bucks tracks in there I stayed out of the area.When tracking a big buck on the snow I go wherever it goes.

I didn't know if you hunted the NMWs. You can get away from the lowlands up there. Can't avoid the swamps where we're at.

Have moose hunted a lot up there and some deer hunting.

Just keeps a fella motivated knowing a big one is in the area.

Have had some up 15 years here in MD.
Usually have to.adjust straps every few years, then replace every other adjust.
Only had a few chewed over the years.

You sir are asking for a tragedy! So first time to check the straps after being out all year is to step on them ? Why ? Why not hang the stand and remove the steps until hunting season? Mine go up First week in October and down New Year’s Day if weather is good I don’t bow hunt. But 5-6 months before season comes in seems a little soon

Around here we call that trespassing lol

Jbyrd,
Looks like some of these ^^^^ ol' deer slayers should learn how to fly...or at least glide...b4 it's too late.

That's the big difference between west and east.

In the big woods, the little area I travel in 3+ million acres has no fences or trespass worries. Also, has 1000's of permanent tree stands.

Here in northern Maine there's miles and miles of unposted and timber company land that is all legal to hunt,trap,and fish without permission.The few that don't want people on their land post it.Its a whole different attitude up here.

Jbryd63 I don't want any human scent in that area at all.Those big bucks are not stupid.They are big for a reason is why I set up my stands so early when possible.

Did you carry it in or use a vehicle ? Don’t know the area but I can assure you one thing. He won’t be using / traveling the same pattern in April he will be when hunting season comes in. You might have done that for nothing. With nothing more than a set of tracks in January I wouldn’t put up a stand in April fir a hunt in October or November. But what do I know.

It's a bedding area that this buck is using to get to the surrounding areas where they selective cut leaving plenty of feed(browse) and does.This is a big woods buck and when he is in this area chasing does it will be where he will be bedded down.He might travel to different areas chasing does during rut but guaranteed he will be here.Have seen his tracks multiple times.These big bucks will hunker down in these areas where they feel safe.

It seems like there is a disconnect between the southern hunters and northeastern ones, lol. Imagine you guys would have had a heart attack if you'd seen some of the rickety wooden stands I grew up hunting in up north. And yes, metal stands usually got hung in the early summer and left there forever. Shortly before season you'd do a scouting trip to the area and replace any straps if they'd rotted with ones you brought along for the purpose. But the stand I'm using now got 8 years out of the last set of ratchet straps staying out year around.

I bet Bruce hunts wearing a non-camo wool coat, too, lol.

New England is stuck in the 1950s as far as hunting goes, and I think it's great.

May as well take the stand down now Bruce.
The Byrd has spoken.
He assured you. Lol

Safety might be different depending on point in ones life. But any hunter that has chased whitetail know a deers habits change through out the year. With that said any farm I hunted more than a couple of years you can figure out the most used pathways. Farm hunted for 20 plus years had 2 trees I killed 90% of the deer from. Stand went up there every year first week October. I just don’t think 4 months to let the odor leave is necessary.

Of course deer change habits throughout the year. But if a cagey old buck was using one travelway last December, I'd put a $20 on him using it again this December unless the terrain changes.

And no, 4 months to air out scent isn't necessary, or even 4 days, imo. But I personally despise hanging stands in the heat of September so would much rather hang them now.

Also not sure safety is an age thing as it was my 60+ year old Grandpa that put me up in most of them. Maybe he just didn't like me much? LOL

You can sit a very long time in a treestand up here waiting for a 200# buck to come along. You might stumble onto one once a year if you're lucky. Very lucky.

If you have the knack for it, tracking is the way to go. Pray for two to four inches of fresh snow and hunt for a track, not a deer.

Lol