ORIGINAL: rybohunter

While I am still newer to the game than most here, and certainly not an expert by any means, the biggest jump in my mature buck sightings occurred as a result of a combination of things. And looking back on them, they are all rather basic, and things most would laugh at for not doing in the first place, but at the time I was killing deer & having fun so I didn’t think anything of it.

All these factors I feel contributed to me even being able to catch a glimpse of a mature buck from stand, let alone get a shot at him

1. Don’t over hunt my hunting spot.
2. Don’t push the issue in a bad wind
3. Actually be in the woods during the pre-rut/rut (which more importantly translates into don’t shoot a small buck early in the season)
4. Don’t skip the details on scent control
5. Don’t shoot small/immature bucks(yea I listed this one twice because it was my toughest to overcome)

I kind of made all these changes in a short period of time, so things clicked in a hurry for me. That said, even if you follow all the “rules” and put the time in the stand, it is far from a guarantee of getting a shot at a mature buck.