ORIGINAL: Antler Eater

Truth be told I have not read these books. What I am about to say are just mythoughts and observations that I have made over the years, far be it from me to argue with the experts who make a living hunting ungulates.

Perhaps they touch on this somewhere else in the books but the odds of killing a P&Y buck during the rut aren't all that good either. Certainly as has been stated, chances of successfully arrowing a mature buck for obvious reasons during the rutare more likely than at any other time of the season.

From the excerpt givenI am not sure if they are making the case for not hunting until the three phases of the rut arrive or if they are making an arguement for not hunting the mornings outside of this period (the rut). What do they say about hunting evenings during the weeks prior to the rut? Because I have not read either of their works I won't speculate on their opinions.

So, that leaves the discussion of hunting morning or evenings prior to the time when the rut comes into play. Is one more effective than the other? Are we wasting our time and further hurting our chances of taking a mature bucklater in the season by educating deer in our hunting area?

My feeling is that each area issomewhat of an entity unto itself. In other words not all parts of the country are the same in terms of deer behavior and terrain. As Shed33 has pointed out, "flatlanders" don't deal with thermals the same way a person living in the mountains do. But that is a discussion for another day.

If one makes the arguement that mature bucks are already in their beds by the time legal light arrives,wouldn't you also then using the same logic,say that they won't leave their bed until after legal light has left? If one believes they are educating deer by going to stand in the dark on a morning hunt, using the same logic, would not one be educating deer exiting the stand under the cover of darkness in the evening?

Are we ruining our chances of connecting by hunting in the early season and thereby "educating" the deer? I think werun the risk of educating deer every time we enter their domain. Certainly the only way to know for sure is to ask a mature buck, but unfortunatley they are not talking.

Over the years the records I have kept show a slight edge to morning hunts. Not altogether scientific, but there is not a small amount of data to look through.

Personally I won't quit hunting mornings in the early season. Has it hurt me in the past? If it has, I am not smart enough to know it. I feel one of the better chances a guy has to connect on a mature buck is the first week of the season when they have not seen real hunting pressure (Rememberthe Mike Rex buck out of Ohio in 2005?A morning hunt by the way.) and are still somewhat patternable.

The bottom line for me is this. Mature bucks arenot easy to come by period! First of all their numbers are limited. Even in "Trophy Country" they are not hiding behind every tree. By nature they are morereclusive, thus harder to hunt. Unless they are farmed (I use theterm loosely) they got to be mature by being smart enough to survive. Without a doubt the best chance to nail one is during the rut. But to stophunting in the early season because the odds are against meis not an option. Ienjoy it to much.