mobow

I hunt 99% travel routes. I hardly EVER hunt destinations. I use the terrain alot, in fact, that's what determines most of my set ups. Funnels.

Now, I may find a "hot" area that is suddenly steaming w/ tons of fresh deer sign, and ok, I'll set up on that sometimes. But that's generally not the case.

I do hunt open areas, but they are generally surrounded by thick stuff.

John, I'm beginning to agree with you here. I know, w/out a doubt, the ratio is out of whack, I'm just being stubborn and refuse to believe it's THAT bad. Last year I hunted.......I dunno, 4 different properties I believe, and I could have shot does on at least 80% of those hunts. I saw 10 bucks all season, with only 1 being at leat 2 1/2. And oh, by the way.......Every single one of those were in the first 10 days of November.

Ya'll please don't take this as me whining, I'm not, honestly. I'm just trying to gather as much as I can, and evaluate what I do and how I do it to make myself better.

Rob/PA Bowyer

Bucks are in their summer pattern as far as my neck of the woods. I know you didn't have a chance to scout that area to know what the summer pattern of your bucks might have been. You picked prime stand locations but they may not be part of the pattern the bucks are taking....YET. If you are seeing does, it's only a matter of time til the bucks show as well. In the mornings, bucks will seek out doe bedding areas to look for the first receptive doe, in the evening they will wonder and seek out feeding areas because that's where the does will be. You are ahead of the game however, your does are not ready.

Matt / PA

don't forget also........a doe is a doe is a doe. Unless you have a better eye than me or most other guys I know or have deer with numbers painted on their sides or are seeing 30 does at a time you are very likely seeing many of the same deer over and over.

If you see 6 does one night, 4 the next morning, another 4 or 5 the following evening, and then a single........etc etc. Just because you have seen "30" does without a buck doesn't necessarily mean you saw 30 DIFFERENT does.

I also rarely see does with bucks this time of year. Find where those ladies are sleeping and file that away for rut time. The does will stay but the bucks WILL come.

mobow

Matt, you make an excellent point, and one that holds water to be sure. There is no doubt I see alot of the same deer.

GMMAT

Excellent point, Matt. It's NOT 30:1........VERY good point. It's probably (using your scenario)....6-7:1

I KNOW where the does are

TJF

mobo

Help us out here so we can help you.

Privateor Public land ??

Food source ??( crop or acorn )

How much land do you hunt ??( acres )

How much pressure does your hunting grounds see ??

Tell us what you look for in a spot.

A few things I notice about bucks...

They like running the low ground but it is very open here. By running low ground... they can use it to move through an area with out being seen for the most part.

Summer through September finds the bucks usuallybedding in different areas then the does/fawns but using the same feeding areas. Scouting helps if you can do it to find the buck's bedding areas.

They hang fairly tightto really tight to heavy cover until they hit the feeding areas ( ag here ). They enter feeding areas by using low ground. They tend to feed in the low ground. Again it is open here so take that into consideration.

Unlike a doe that has a tendency to wander when moving to a feeding area or back to beeding areas, bucks usuallyseem to have one thing on there mind... Gettingfrom point A to point B in the shortest but safest way usually taking advantage of low ground and heavy cover.

Button bucks, 1.5 and 2.5 half year olds have habits more like a doe. You will catch them on heavy used trails, wandering, coming out earlier to feed and going back later to bed. They are still careless.3.5 years and older finds them being muchmore cautious.Hunting them is not the same as hunting does or young bucks. You hunt closer to the bedding areas then feeding area reguardless ifAM or PM hunt. You hunt heavy cover, funnels/pinch points,corners, and points that jut out. I like my low ground also!!

If your area is pressured hard... your 1.5 and2.5year old bucks might be a head of the conditioning curve then our bucks. You may have to hunt them like the older bucks.

Tim

Rob/PA Bowyer

I know where my doe is and I'm rutting. [8D]

mobow

No, thedoe/buck ratio isn't 30:1. That's certainly true. I'm just using gereral math to come up with a median.......I hunted 4 different properties last year, and let's say, for the sake of math, I saw 150 deer all season. Were those 150 different deer? Of course not. Let's say, though, it was 40 different deer......which I believe would be quite close to accurate. Of those 150, 10 were bucks.

You know, I'm thinking about this as I'm typing, and it's just not as bad as I have it built up to be in my mind. I DO see WAY more does than bucks........BUT, given the above scenario, I have roughly a 4:1 doe/buck ratio. At least, that's what I see.......Oh, and those 10 bucks I did see last year..........Every one was a different buck. I didn't see the same buck twice last year, even the yearlings.

Hm, this is becoming quite interesting.......to me anyway.

nwochuck

I would say take out the does. Here in Lucas county Ohio they are over populated with does.

TJF

geez I am a slow typer!!! [:@] No onehad replied when I started typing and now we are on page two before I get my reply in. Never mind answering the question I had asked...I will just read what you said to Washington. LOL

Tim