ORIGINAL: GMMAT
I've read this thread like 4 times and I still don't understand half of what I've read.
But I will greatly agree that hardwork and commitment are the 2 of the 4 main ingredients to getting it done on older whitetails.
Intelligence is the third. Location is the FIRST. Despite what many spout.
Incidentally... insecurity is a stinky cologne. I'm just sayin...
Duke...
I feel like im fairly intelligent. I'm learning the game on whitetails "OK". I've sat SIVXTY-ONE times, now....and I haven't made it happen on a buck. Could I have shot "a" buck? Sure. I've been working hard and staying committed. That leaves your number one. I'll admit something here, publicly....
There are more bucks here than I previously thought. the ratio's better than I once thought.
But I've seen four 2.5 yr olds and probably one 3.5yr old in that many sits....and I'm hunting where bucks should be (spurred by some pretty accomplished hunters
).
It could all fall into place next hunt....and I'm leaning on that every day. I had a great sit this evening. I saw 7 does and 2 small bucks. Could have just as easily been a shooter.....but they weren't. They went at it pretty robustly fora couple of young spikes, though!
Tonight I went looking for does....and I found them....AND I got what I was after......bucks trailing them. They just weren't the "right" bucks.
I go back to work Monday.....and my time will be limited, again. So be it. This year's been a HUGE success! I have learned a TON, so far. I also learned I don't ever wanna hunt this much or this hard, again. I can't handle it.
"Balance"
Ashas already been discussed geographic location is obviously a huge factor in the deer population and size of that population, but I'm curious as to where your 61 sits this season have been? Are they all from the same stand or group of stands within a single block of timber, or are you hunting many different properties? If you are leaving your mark on the same block of woods 61 times, then that would explain the lack of mature buck sightings. One of the hardest practices to follow is to not burn out a stand or group of stands too early in the season. If a big buck realizes human intrusion before he's really begun marking his territory for the year, he'll often pull up stakes and find a new ground to claim as his own. Even though matures bucks like to stay within their established boundries, being pressured by humans will override that trait more often than not.