Its nice to know how bigthey are that way you can set your standards for what to pass up and what to shoot. In my opinion, EVERY hunting area has at least one MONSTER. I truly believe that. You cant prove it right, your cant prove it wrong.

i agree, i love seeing deer from my trail cams. i feel like i can also make up for lost time in the woodsbecause i am at work

Nice post.... I've thought this exact same thing to myself. I would have to say that I've passed on some really good deer because ofone I saw on a game cam yet never got to see while deer hunting. I've since learned to enjoy the pics, but not to set my hunting expectations around them.

Kel

It does matter to me knowing what kind of deer are out there. It lets me set some standards for myself as to what is a reasonable chance, and what is just wishful thinking. I mightor might nothunt a specific deer, but usually it lets me look some of the residents over so that I can make better decisions in the field. What I mean by that is, by checking them out on trailcams, I can get a better look at them so I know if they are mature or not, whether they are deer that might appear smaller/larger than what they appear in the field at dusk, etc.

An example, last year before I dropped my oldest son off at his stand, I described the bucks I had pictures of from that area, and some I had seen there. Whena buck showed up, from my descriptions he knewquickly thatit was the one he wanted, and dropped it. He called me on the radio to tell me he shot one, saying it was the nine-pointer with the broken tine I had told him about.

So, opinions may vary, but thats my outlook.

To tell you the truth, I have no idea what deer are in the area I hunt. Except for the sheds I find in the spring or the few I get on the trail cams in the summer. I hunt an area that's over 150 sq miles and its impossible to know exactly what bucks are there. Though I do know that there are quite a few that meet my 140" minimum, but not exactly what they are.

My standards stay the same all season, no matter what I'm seeing.

I know in general what size of bucks are in the area I hunt. Those are the ones that I am hunting.When the middle of Oct. rolls around an the cold front start blowing in Iknow that I stand a chance at a buck that might have been3 or 4 miles away because they are on the move.I know of about 3 I saw last year that were in 140 to 150 range. The beauty is that you never know what is going to come by you.

We like knowing since we target older bucks ( 4.5and older). Things change so much in the fall herewith the deer getting pushed around ( waterfoul hunters ), changing to differentfood sources and terrain changes due to farming... a buck will hang in a certain area but the area can consist of several miles with all the pressures.

Without knowing what specific bucks are out there... it would be hard to set standards and stick to them through the whole hunting season. It gets flustrating to say the least with all the pressure that keeps changinghow/when the deer use an area. Knowing exactly what buck hauntsan area... keeps us focussed onour goals.

If it was a matter ofchoosing to shoot 3.5 years oldand under, I wouldn't spend any time scouting other then driving around the area once in a great while. Generally 3.5 year oldsand younger are easy to find as they tend to be more visible even during hunting season. Plus there are a lot more of them then mature bucks. A mature buckis a wholeother ball game. Youscout them to get an advantage... you will need every advantage you can get.

Tim

One other thing... Harvest ( job )kills my hunting time most years. When I get a day off, I wanta good game plan to make the most ofhuntingwith " multiple areas " to choose from. Serious scouting before hand is a must just in that respect for me. Then canI pick an area according to the wind depending on how I thinkcertain bucks are using it in terms of pressure, food sources and time of year.

While there is nothing wrong with going into a spot blind and hoping, it's not my cup of tea. Much rather going in knowing what's there and then hoping my scouting pays off!!

Tim

Ialways start having doubts on the sizes of bucks in my area before the season starts. But then i either see a monster or i get a trail camera picture. I now know that there is at least a 150' buck living in my hunting grounds every year.....if not more.

Exactly...