I recall you shooting a buck you aged at 3.5 last year... I also recall pics of at least 2 bucks you aged at 3.5+ this summer via cam pics..... How are they not there? For the acreage you have to hunt that is a good pouplation of mature animals.... Multiply it out and figure out how many mature bucks you would have per square mile
Sure they're there, Scott! "There" is relative in my woods, though. I hunt a man-made break line....and the photos I have are of these bucks frequenting a mineral lick. They're off the minerals, now.....so where are they? I suppose they'r eon their normal feeding pattern....which just so happens doesn't coincide with property I'm able to hunt. I have NO ACCESS to their feeding ground, YET. When they get on the acorns....."MY" thought is....they'll deplete the available acorns they have in their sanctuary.....THEN they'll move progresively outwards. At this point....they'll HAVE to utilize the funnels I hunt to get to these area (and I have some GREAT oak flats and ridges
). Right now....they're going East and south of me to eat. I CAN NOT hunt them on this pattern. I'm seeing fringe deer that are coming to drink and browse (Although they have a water source in their sanctuary, too).
My thought process is......if I hunt the does.....they will EVENTUALLY (the ones we're talking about....AND some travelers) be on the does.
We're talking like I have a choice.