Jimmy S

If we all knew how to get a shot at him during daylight hours, we would all be the best trophy hunters around.

The standard answer is always, find the trail leading from the feeding area to bedding area. Yaddah,yaddah, yaddah....Sounds good on paper, but never as easy as it sounds, especially if you're hunting big woods with no farmland or fields.

From my own experience, there area few things I have learned about big bucks. They always bed down is areas that offer feed and security. It is usually a place where they have never had a hunter invade. If hunters come through this area, they will move to another areas that this buck has learned is safe and secure.

Where are these areas? 2/3 the way up on ridges, usually with a southern exposure. That way the buck can see, hearand smell danger from afar. Bucks love these areas and will spend most/all day here.

They will also head to the thickest, nastiest, wettest area in the woods - and this means a swamp. He knows hunters never venture into this safe haven. It offers everything he needs; feed, water, safety and protection from the elements.

I also don't believein bucks going totally nocturnal. The all must feed, drink, relieve themselves, mark his territory, etc. But this is done usually in the confines of his core areas. Why would he leave that ridge or that nasty swamp when he just knows it's safe?

I would check for his sign; tracks, droppings, rubs, scrapes, etc and of course the absolute best sign is to actually see him!!!. I would try to establish a place that I feel he uses on a regular basis. Where is he feeding, what is available for browse? Are there farmland nearby, are acorns available, are there apple trees in the area, etc, etc. I would then try to establish where he might bed during the day. If I hang a stand in a specific location, I would want to setup early. Early is not 20in before legal hunting, that buck has already been throught that area. Being there 1-2 hrs before first light and you may catch him moving through. You may only hear or see him in the shadows but you'll now have another piece of his puzzle. You know what time he comes throught and which direction he is headed.

He will almost always know you have come into his woods. He can smell your scent you left behind earlier in the day when you used your bare hands to brush away some twigs, leaves etc. If you overhunt an area and always enter and return the same way, he will bust you for fun.

There is an old saying that shooting a big, old, wise buck is very easy. Just put those crosshairs on his vitals and squeeze that trigger.

The hard part is putting yourself in that positon where you can put those crosshairs on his vitals.

Good Luck!