We had been seeing this rather nice looking 8 point on camera from July through last week. We had seen it a time or two in the preserve but never seemed to be able to find it when a hunter wanted it. Last week I put out 6 digital cameras next to the feeders in the preserve. From last week through Christmas, the buck was showing up at a feeder at 1:30 in the afternoon and then around midnight. I assumed the buck was a native deer born and raised in the preserve.
After calling a few die-hard hunters, I finally got one to come try to get him. We made a plan. We would sleep in (you got to love that!) eat breakfast at 8:00 am and then go to the stands the rest of the day.
On the second day (yesterday) he showed up at 1:15. That was the end of him. He ended up having a tear in his ear from a tag from long ago so I'm not sure where he came from. He scored 158!