Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

Do you guys go out hunting every time with the intent and focus on killing a buck?
I ask, because I don't. Unless I have a good feel for one travelling in the early part of the season, I am doe hunting. I'm not venturing too far into core areas, and hunting spots where I really don't expect to se a big buck moving thru. Yea I'll see a few young bucks in the process, but generally I don't expect to see a mature buck until it gets closer to the chase phase, Then my focus shifts from the does to setting up on a buck.
Am I off? Does anyone else hunt this way?

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

Since i only get a 1 general whitetail tag a year for a good 3/4 of the year i will hunt for a Buck because im not worried about the meat situation because between me and 4 others we split all meat evenly and we have on average 17 tags for elk, moose, and mulie does or bucks altogether and we tend to fill most of them and then we also have our whitetail tags and we always see does which my other buds tend to shot cause they've shot whitetail bucks but i havent so i hold as long as i can for that buck untill its the final week then i will shoot a doe if i see one.

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

no your not off, I only hunt bucks post and pre rut, other wiseI hunt does. I dont use any tactics during the rut for personal oppinions. unless you have a large amount of land to hunt, its hard to target bucks all season........so no you do what i assume the rest of us do.

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

not one bit, when I go out hunting and see a deer I see two tasty backstraps, juicy tender inside loins, and mmm chops, and what should I putin my jerky mix. But I am not going to saywhen in field I don't pay attention to buck sign and I wouldn't pass a buck up but I don't concentrate/focus on horns. Me and my recurve and homemade quiver and arrowsare in the field for the passion and for the meat not horns.

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

I shoot 1 doe in early season archery. Then I'm buck hunting. When I say early season, I mean first week. After that I'm after a buck. I won't kill another doe till second week of shotgun. If I haven't killed a buck then I'm not too worried, because by that point, where I hunt, there's already too much pressure and it's extremely difficult to catch a mature boy working my area during daylight. So as soon as second week of shotgun roles around it's doe killing time. I generally take 4-5 doe a year.

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

I am always hunting for a buck but I usually have 3 tags for myself so I will take any large doe that happens to come into bow range.

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

Inormally try to get a doe the first week of bow season then i am buck hunting from there out.

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

Yes..... A big buck. I have observation stands and look for bucks coming out to feed in the summer. So for opening, I hunt a food source in the evening. After a week or two, I take it easy and get things done around the house and make spot checks for a couple of weeks. If my scouting reveals a big bucks bedding area, I start crowding it around Oct. 17th or so. If not, I wait until the 20-25th of Oct. and start hunting funnels between doe bedding areas.

From what I've found, it seems that the 3 1/2s start getting restless before dark and start prowling. This is a good time to set up close to his bed in the evening. Then, around halloween they start bumping does pretty good. From then until Nov. 7th or so,The 3 1/2s and some 4 1/2s are really moving. From Nov. 8th through Dec 10, the biggest ones move a bit. At this time you'll see some of the more spirited 3 1/2s with broken racks. Who did that? It is always possible to see a giant at any time, but I see, on average, the biggest bucks later in the season. I've got my theories on that also.

So, I hunt bucks until I get one then its doe season. If I don't get a buck then I shoot does during gun season or after Dec. 15th.

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

I go out hoping to make a kill. A buck, a doe, or even a hog.

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

For first tag I look at meat after that 3 more tags one I will consentrated on a rack.

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

no you are not off i hunt just the same way as you

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

well i do not. If i can shot a doe and need the meat then i will shot a doe. But if we have the meat then i wait until i see a buck. But it depends,during gun if it is getting late in season then i will shot anything,but if it is late in bow i will shot anything. If i do not have meat and it is the middle of season then i take what i can get.

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

I did this past year. Never fired a shot with my bow. Oh well better luck next time right?

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

I am hunting for a big buck whenever I am in the woods. WhenI see groups of does go by my stand I won't shoot them as I want them comfortable and at ease for the breeding season.This year I took a big lone doe on oct 17th for some meat in the freezer. She was all by herself and I could see 75 yds behind her that nothing was following or traveling with her.My next ventures in my stands on following daysI passed on groups of does and small bucks until I took my buck on Oct 27th. The night I shot my buck I used a can and a buckgrunt just trying to agitate a mature buck; it worked. He came in like he was on a string.

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

I take what I can get in this early stage of my hunting career.

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

I am always after a buck. If i am not waiting him out i am scouting around or scheming a plan. We have tons of does around that do not get pressured at all so that tag is always there after the bucks are down. Not everyone has this luxery though.

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

It depends upon what I think the area holds where i am hunting.I miss a good amount of the best part of the archery season at home because I am out of state rifle hunting.SO I am more apt to be focused on an opportunity on a buck when archery hunting at home.I don't always draw a management tag in the area's that I archery hunt either so I am not going to use my archery tag on a doe early in the season.
If I have a management permit and I have an opportunity to take a doe in an area that I don't believe will mess up my buck hunting efforts I will.
Not everyone has 8 gazillion doe tags like yourself Ryan.:D

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

I'm hoping for a buck but mostly I'm deer hunting!

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

Unless my buck tag is filled, I always hunt for bucks. the does will always be around if I want to shoot one.

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

I'm hunting for enjoyment and am happy with any wildlife spotting. I will shoot a doe any day. My only set limits are thatI won't shoot fawns or button bucks. Every day in the woods is enjoyable in some way or another.

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

next year ill be hunting more towards your way. this year i was buck hunting. i even came to half draw on a cow of a doe..less then 15yds away broadside feeding calmly with a grown yearling. this was my first year and i didnt know any better than not to hunt GOOD areas till the rut ect...i just knew in another couple weeks shed be "Bait" sure enough i think it was the next weekend i got my shot at a buck after her and the fawn came though. not sure he was following or chasing..it was early yet..but he came out after they came through..

ill be a new hunter next year. i want to find a few areas with alot of deer to take a doe or 2 from to get the first bowkill out of the way...just need to break the ice and ill take the meat for sure! this year i didnt expect to get to hunt as much as i did..but wanted the big bucks in the areas i was hunting..

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

Well.....I've got a game plan for '07......and it's HIGHLY centered on me connecting with a certain buck, early. I'm targeting 3 different KNOWN bucks.......and any straggler in the area I haven't seen, yet. I had a shot at THE buck (the one I'm targeting for '07) on the fourth day of the '06 season.....so I know I have a real short window to take one of these guys.

IF I do......I'll absolutely become a doe killing machine. If I get that buck early.....I'll try to fill every remaining tag I have on does.....and buy more. If I shoot a buck early.....I could conceivably take 8 deer with my bow. If I don't.....it might more mirror this past year.

I could go into the season with the mentality to take every available doe (without a fawn.....my rule) and hope that a good buck shows.....but I'm not ready to roll the dice like that. I'd HATE to have every animal in the woods scared by mid-season by shooting everything that walked.

I need to take does, though........and we need to thin a small herd of them. I'd love for my son and I to take 10 does out of the herd. OK...Rob/PA gets a couple. We'll take 8.

That's how I'm approaching it as of right now. We'll see after the first 10 days of the season........

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

I rarely see does without fawns.

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

No, first two weeks are for Doe's and If one walks by that is a shooter then so be it.

late season is doe only also(as long as I have my buck!!)

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

I kow, Greg....I know. I see a LOT of does and fawns, though.....and I won't shoot if there's 2 fawns and 3 does....because I can't figure out which youngin is with which slickhead.

When they get nearly as big as mama, though......I'm gonna bust either mama's or THEM, this year. I've simply got too many does running around.....and they're good eatin. I'm also a bit greedy....and I'm ALWAYS thinking there's a buck behind every doe I see. So....I typically pass even on some lone does.....hoping for a trailer. If I get my buck early, though.......I'm on a mission.

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

I target mature Bucks, Ones that I think will gross 130 or more (I wish more), Since moveing back to northern Michigan. I have taken 3 in 10 seasons in that class, on public hunting land, the other 7 seasons I ate tags in this state!! I'm in it for the Hunt, and not so much the Kill. I Drew back on 7 small Bucks this season and never released an Arrow, and I am happy with that (would have been happier if I got the 10pt I was Hunting) I have no worry of Deer meat, My Wife scores deer differnt than I do (scores them by ham size) and She keeps the freezer Full.

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

I always set my stands w/ the intention of shooting a buck foremost,but I'll set at least one stand for does only. A place like a doe only travel route. This way, the stands I set for bucks won't be compromised by shooting a doe there.

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

doe meat is much better then bucks. i go for what ever i see. but it has to be within a certain size. and no hunting for just antlers!!

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

I usually have twice as many doe tags as I do buck tags, 2 doe and 1 buck, so I plan on shooting either two doe or a doe and a nice buck if given the chance!

RE: Do you target bucks every time afield?
 

Yes, if I haven't gotten one yet, but if a doe gives me a slam-dunk I'll take it.If it's the rut though, I will shoot a buck ONLY!;)