He’s been hanging around!

[Wazntme]

i have seen this black tail in my yard a few times and got a pic of him the other night. I live in Arlington on a couple acres and have access to 300 acres across the street from me and I need to know the best way to keep him around without spending a fortune on feed or apples or tying him to a tree!! I usually go east every season but the way it’s been going the last couple years I might be better off sitting on my porch opening morning...any recommendations?

[greenhead_killer]

Stud bt. Kill that thing!

[Wazntme]

That’s the plan! He has a brother that is a little smaller too!

[fishnfur]

  Every deer is an individual so you never know what one might do at any given time, but  as a guess, I don't think he's going to go far.    He may be off chasing the girls a mile away later in the season but for the time being, your home seems to intersect with his. Whether or not you'll see him may depend on the local doe herd and how easy you can find them as the rut approaches.  Alternatively, knowing the locations of high production apple trees in your vicinity could be the focus of a lot of deer traffic, and the key to catching up to him (as the does come and go after fruit).

Good luck.  He's a shooter for sure.

[Wazntme]

He’s a big bodied deer also, one of those kind that looks like he’s flexing all the time! God I hope he sticks around! I’ve got a couple cameras up in the forest across the street and I will need to try to keep all the does interested in staying in there...

[pianoman9701]

Here's to hoping you connect with that stud! 

[elkfins]

You can go buy a crate of lower grade apples from some growers over on the east side for a reasonable price.  throw a gallon or so out every day in the same spot and he'll find them.  If the apples are put out consistently, he'll make your property part of his pattern.

[Wazntme]

I will be feeding 25 does also too keep him around, that’s the problem.

[fishnfur]

You don't need to fill them up with food, just keep 'em coming in.  15 - 20 apples a day max (ten might be plenty), first thing in the morning may train them that the early bird gets the worm and keep them coming in just at daylight.  You can cut them in half and scatter them around a bit so that more animals get a chance at them.  Your buck may not have any of that dangerous activity once he's hard horned, but he might follow in a doe once she comes into season.  The bucks down here might make a midnight showing around my suburban apple trees for a day or two in mid-October as the first few does go into early estrus.  Following that, typically they are not caught on cam again until around the 8th of November (or later), and then just for a few days, and almost never in broad daylight.  Sometimes they are a no-show for the entire month of October.  They don't seem to come in to eat the apples, but apparently just to scent check the area around the trees for signs of a hot doe.  I imagine that scenario occurs to some extent throughout the range of BTs.

Craigslist may be a good source for free apples in your area.  I believe there is a "good to eat" section where people often post free or low priced fruits from their back yards or orchards in order to reduce waste and tons of rotting fruit laying around.  It's worth a look anyways.  Neighbors with trees are a great source as well.

If you can't make that work, you're likely stuck trying to find that buck's territory in the woods across the street and going after him in the traditional (and probably more satisfying) fashion.  If others have access to hunt there, he'll probably stay right there but be almost entirely nocturnal through most of the season.  It should keep you entertained if you decide not to head east.

Edit: BTW, I have apples all over the ground right now and the deer hardly touch them.  They are rotting in the sun.  Once good food starts getting hard to come by in October, the suburban deer start concentrating more on apples.  An occasional few apples now might be enough to get them checking for fruit later in the season.  On the other hand, I was up in Mason last weekend and dumped a bag of apples right next to the road on the edge of the woods across from my cabin.  A nice thick forkie showed up that afternoon and hung around the rest of the evening.  I stood within 20 yards of him at last light and he bedded on the neighbor's lawn and just sat there and looked at me.  That's the first buck I've ever seen there. Ya just never know what might happen.

[Wazntme]

Thanks for the pointers guys! I believe my place is the neighborhood safe haven because everyone else around me has large dogs and all I have is chickens. I leave for work at 9pm and I’ll shine my spotlight under that apple tree that buck is standing under and there will be 15-20 doe laying around and not even get up when I open my slider, so I think they will hang around. As far as shooting that deer I believe he deserves to be hunted so I think I will build a nice blind across the street (only I have access) to make it fair, I don’t want a gimme, I want it to be hard and if I don’t get a shot then I will wait his return hopefully next year and he will be even better!

[fishnfur]

Nice! 
Good luck!