I
t was a week after the 2012 season and I was scouting for next season, looking for fresh buck sign and trying to find some promising spots to set up for next fall. In New Brunswick, there is a very short time frame between the end of whitetail season and full blown winter, which often results in making many areas completely inaccessible until the snow melts the next spring. Experience has told me that this is a very important scouting period, when big bucks are on the move trying to put weight back on after the rut, and before the depth of winter challenges their survival. I try my best to put all the extra time I have scouting for big bucks before the snow comes and covers all the evidence of the season’s rut. Having around ten trail cameras in the woods all year long, and checking them regularly in the time leading up to the whitetail season, gives me a good idea of what bucks I want to target. This year was no different. I was pleased to see that I had three good bucks that I would be more than happy to put my tag on. As the summer went on, the once predictable, easy to pattern whitetails began changing their habits dramatically. The closer it got to archery season, the fewer and fewer pictures I was getting of my target bucks! The cameras also showed me that they were beginning to travel further, covering more territory in preparation for the rut. I expected this, as it happens every year as bucks shed their velvet and the prerut gets closer in New Brunswick. Another significant factor that seems to drive the big bucks deeper into hiding is the September moose hunt and the weeks prior when the woods are full of people scouting for one of the big bulls that call the province home. With archery season starting on Oct 6 I was ready to go but the target bucks were all showing up completely randomly. They were no patterns at all, and I knew I was going to have to get lucky. However, I knew that I had a lot better chance if I was out in the field, than if I was sitting at home thinking about it! In New Brunswick, we have a three week archery season followed by a four week rifle season. Despite my best effort, the archery season flew by. In total, I had seen a couple young bucks, but it was time to put the bow away, take out the rifle, and hope the approaching rut would turn my luck around. The first three weeks of rifle season flew by, and my bad luck continued. I was committed to putting in the effort and hoped it would eventually pay off. I was encouraged by an increase in the intensity of buck movement, but the vast majority of the trail camera action was during the night. I had a whitetail hunting trip planned for late season in Saskatchewan. As a result I was going to miss the last few days of the New Brunswick season. This meant that I now only had a few days left to hunt! The pressure was mounting. I had put in the effort, and really wanted to shoot a nice buck in my home province, while also making sure I had everything packed and ready for my trip. As I hunted the last few days, I was distracted with the upcoming trip, but continued to put in the time with very little to show for my effort. My mind was racing a mile a minute, I was down to one day left to hunt and I still had to pack for my trip, goto a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon and then get out hunting for
One of Albert’s target bucks, the mature whitetail eluded him throughout the season.
the last few hours of the last day. Luckily for me, everything went well that day and I rushed home to get in the woods for the evening hunt. As I walked out the door at 3pm I knew I wouldn’t have time to get to my tree stand in time to setup without risking spooking all the deer in the area. As I was walking from my house to the woods, I quickly decided I had nothing to lose if I still hunted and very slowly crept along my ATV trail. With the rut in high gear, I hoped that a big buck, cruising for a doe, might just decide to use the trail to cover some ground as well. After walking slowly for a half hour I noticed something to my right. I froze, and waited to see what it was. Out of the thick trees, a beautiful doe trotted along the brooks edge, followed closely by her fawn. The rut was in full swing, so I knew that there could be a buck behind them. I sat and waited, not daring to move for at least ten minutes. Finally, I decided to begin slowly moving again. I quietly crept along, and after only three steps I noticed another doe, eighty yards away, slowly making her way onto my ATV trail. She was acting differently than the first doe, frolicking and jumping around. I hopefully thought to myself, “Maybe she is in heat”. She quickly jumped off the trail. Thirty seconds later, I was just about to make a step forward, when suddenly there he was, looking directly at me. I was caught in the wide open, standing as still as I could and hoping the hot doe would distract the monarch of a buck standing, staring at me. I knew immediately that he was
A trail camera picture showing the incredible body size, and mass of Albert’s buck.