Some very good stuff in this post, thanks for bringing this up Scott. I agree that educating the does is the last thing you want to do. In NJ in order to take a buck in the zones I hunt you have to take a doe first (or wait 3 weeks this season). So, what we've done in the past and continue to do is to try to get does on public land or land that we won't look to take good bucks on. This way, if we pressure the does it won't affect our buck hunting. The only down side is that it is much more difficult to get your doe this way, but it is a trade off.

This year in PA we have 2 weeks of does only before antlered deer can be taken in the zones I hunt. I've stayed out of my tried and true spots and used this time to do some on stand scouting in some new spots. It has been very useful and I've gotten a pretty good idea of some patterns thanks to this.

What I personally like to do when the chase phase begins is to focus on the doe feeding, bedding, and travel areas knowing the mature bucks will be cruising these areas. Other than that, your only other bet is to try to catch the big buckson a pattern which in the areas that I hunt is difficult at best due to all of the pressure.