so, my goal next year is to hunt bucks bigger than this years. that pretty much means 2.5yo bucks and older..

i started my scouting the second i released my arrow in october. will continue to scout all winter and spring. my deer driving is taking me to places most people never venture...let alone a bow hunter...i know most of my areas well, but post season scouting will tell the tale of whats left out there...and will revile the seasons rut activity(scrapes and rubs) and snow will tell me alot..like big tracks, trails, bedding areas, feeding areas etc....

im 90% sure i will not be around from mid may-mid august...so i got my work cut out for me...

other than scouting, i been thinking of how other guys find deer. the good ole spotlight. but, what the spotlighters cant see from the road, they dont know is there.

my thinking is to go into these hidden fields, fields blocked by trees or cornfields etc with my coonhunting miners style light on foot. keep the wind in my face, keep the deer from knowing im there, hit em with the light, see whats on their heads and dont go back till game day...this would be late august when i am back home...

you gotta hunt where the deer are...and i wanna hunt where the better bucks are...trail cameras make perfect sense....but im not buying trail cameras for the neighborhood lol...they wouldnt last long between ATV riders, "hunters" etc

anyone use the handheld light on foot idea??? i know i still have to scout and do the leg work..but it can be hard to find where the couple bigger bucks are going to be hanging out judged on scouting...seems every year they are somewhere different(i think because of the riflehunting pressure) sure...i will never see some...but i think it just might give me an edge and get me into areas that better bucks are hanging out in...

thoughts?? any of you bigger buck hunters, feel free to give me scouting tips, other ideas, anything...im like a spounge..i wanna soak up everything i can to start learning how to hunt better bucks...

If you are just happy with a 2.5 year, you can almost just go in blind and assume one is in the area. You don't really need to do anything different scouting wise than what you already do. You've got to be seeing 2 year olds around aren't you? You still are going to want to seek thick stuff, out of the way places etc. Good deer places are good deer places. I've never tried the hand held spot light, but I do use spotting as a way of seeing whats in the area. You don't even have to see the deer on the property you are actually hunting to have a chance either. Terrain and small woodlot sizes allow these deer to move around a good bit.

Now where the difference comes in is your setups. NO compromise. Bad wind...go somewhere else. NO good entrance/exit. Find another spot. Stay out until late october. That is where the difference is made.

my season was to short to tell what i would have seen in my ONE "honey hole" this year...only hunted it twice...1 1.5yo and 1 2.5yo opening morning(POSSIBLY a 1.5yo but he had decint mass and was atleast 12, maybe 14" wide and 8pts) in that area...last year the only buck i saw in there bow season was 2.5yo...and 1 i saw in rifle was an older deer..i cant age past 2.5 lol...i saw pics of it when a kid killed it in rifle..big nasty lookin rack...that area is my "honey hole" because its one of the areas that always seems to have good bucks in it...but seems to be hit or miss as to WHEN they are in it...

last year i WAY OVER hunted it and hunted it stupidly...i wont lie, that 2.5yo almost certainly came out of my buddys squirrel hunting in the area...but i was hunting stupid and too much so not seeing deer is the result..

this year i hunted smart..no more than once a week and saw bucks both times in there..who knows what i may have seen after that...buddy did kill a wierd buck out of it this rifle season..2.5 or older...real wierd rack...

but, i cant rely on that ONE spot...i know that...and with the difficulties of that spot, i need more spots just like that...spots i know hold bucks and usually hold better bucks...this year i was trying to stay out of that spot as much as possible..hunting it when the weather was right(fronts coming in or leaving, good temps, right wind) and not more than one day a week tops...my 2 buddies that bowhunt, and are also family to the guy that "helps me hunt" and they both said if i aint hunting that hill that day, that they are(some friends) i love them both, and the farmer(their uncle) but hunting often drives me nuts with them 2...i dont go into their spots, or even hint that i would...but thats how they are...their uncle(farmer friend of mine) trys to help us get on deer and tells me what he been seeing where...but lately i been noticing he keeps some secrets...he thinks of me as family..but he either keeps things hush hush or really doesnt see them...

anyyyyways, i need more spots...next year im being a different hunter...im not telling them where im hunting or when im hunting where...their guess will be as good as anyones...and ive learned to park in really wierd places to keep my areas hush hush..i could easily park within 150yds of my treestand in the honey hole...but park over a half mile away just to keep EVERYONE that may pass by guessing...the hill aint big at all...i dont want any pressure...

i guess i need to apply what i already know to NEW spots...and gain permission in new areas...a 2.5yo will make my day....but bigger/older will be awesome...save them for later in the season...burn up some other areas in the time before that...i just dont know how to spot these "buck areas" i just kinda, lucked into the honey hole...perfect spot...bedding, feeding, thick stuff, pines, a variety of oaks and sassafrass all on one tiny hill...oh, 2 saddles too!

im actually NEW to buck hunting...dad taught me alot, but really, he was happy to see deer...in rifle season if we were into deer, it was just a matter of time when a buck would come through...so im new to this bowhunting for bigger bucks thing...i just know i got alot of work to do between now and may...and want to get it done RIGHT so it pays off...yes, i know, chances are good i eat tag soup...but if i do the work and do it right, and then hunt right, chances are decint i tag my buck next season...since my standards arent REALLY high...

and your right rybo...its amazing how these bucks travel these small woodlots, go unnoticed and cover A TON of ground...funny how you hear guys sayin they seen one here...then its seen over a mile away...not during the rut...first spot has all the food and cover a deer could ask for...i really think pressure does that to them...and i think thats whats making this difficult for me...they cover more ground than im used to and the sign is WAY far apart and i cant put it together...thats why im hoping SNOW will teach me alot...