I have had a certain buck show up on our property year after year! He will score around 170 and is about 6 years old this year! Every year he dissapears around the start of bow season! I have seen him once on the day before bow season when i was hunting for pigs! After that he has become nocturnal and will not come out at light! We havent seen him yet this year but it kills me inside not being able to harvest that deer! Where does he go since he dissapears?

the acorns just started dropping.......go find the oak trees!

bump cams around all over the property and see if you can pick up where he's traveling. I've hunted one that has done that since '09... pretty sure he's died of old age.

There's a reason he's that big and old...

x2

the deer have a calender out in the woods if you ever find it you be a rich man.

Duct tape a flash light on stabilizer and do some east Tx style hunting.

too much trouble since you can ride around with suppressed, subsonic shooting rifles.

Deer don't live a long life being stupid.....he's patterened you!

Change your game up, hunt where he doesn't expect you to be.

Lol i like this

It's like what was mentioned above about why they get big.
You're just going to be chasing a ghost with those game cameras.
He's still around but the only chance you will have at getting him is to be in the woods everyday during the rut.
If that isn't possible you need to be there during the rut as often as you can and sit all day when you do.
Luck has a lot to do with it also.

If you were out hunting pigs the day before deer season started, are you really surprised he went AWOL on you?
Start looking for his routes and you might be able to bushwack him, but he is better at playing hide and seek than you are.

One thing to consider is, pressure. Don't hunt when conditions aren't right. Its only human to hunt when you see a deer you like but, consider weather, wind, etc. If it is not right, don't hunt or you decrease your chances.

like stated above you have to change your game to beat his.

I would definitely consider not doing any hunting in the area in the future until the season has opened. Your hurting yourself by hog hunting the stand befofe season. Maybe find a better hog hunting location far away from the area you usually see the buck. It only takes that buck knowing your in the area a couple times before he changes his pattern to avoid it all together.

Ive said this before, and I will say it again. Hunt the full moon, hunt all day, and hunt as many days right before and right after the full moon you can. Check your wind and make sure he can't smell you before he even gets in the same zip code. Depending on where you are at, this late full moon this month might be a good starting point for major pre rut/rut activity. You may try rattling, but if he is truly dominant and you have an unbalanced buck to doe ratio, he may ignore horns all together. Why fight for girls when their are plenty to go around, especially when he is getting older?

Wait until ML season and put out a ton of feed and kill him. There are 3 prime times of the season to kill those type deer. Early archery before they get a clue, rut when they aren't thinking straight, and post rut/fat restoring/too hungry to give a crap phase.