Question for guys who consistently kill bucks.....
06-03-2008 | 10:21 AM
#31
Joined: Mar 2004
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RE: Question for guys who consistently kill bucks.....
ORIGINAL: buckeye
I wasn't arguing this point... It is the view I have pushed here for years 
I am only saying once you learn your propertywith the buck and does preferred areas..... You will really be at aserious PRE RUT advantage by hunting those said funnels in areas you KNOW bucks will use... Rather than hoping they will.
I'm just saying that for me, and my style, funnels and hunting the terrain are going be much more productive.
I am only saying once you learn your propertywith the buck and does preferred areas..... You will really be at aserious PRE RUT advantage by hunting those said funnels in areas you KNOW bucks will use... Rather than hoping they will.
06-03-2008 | 10:30 AM
#32
Thread Starter
Dominant Buck
Joined: Oct 2005
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RE: Question for guys who consistently kill bucks.....
I hunt such a variety of ways that it's not possible to answer your questions.
How I choose my stand sites is kind of a gut feeling. The spot just seems like a good spot. I believe my gut feeling comes from years of hunting and knowing what types of areas I have been successful in the past. I have found this to be almost impossible to teach to someone else.
Oh no, you're right. It doesn't "seem" to....It does. Which is why, as you've said in the past, that "cookie cutter" methods don't work for everybody. I was just posting in the deer movement during mid day thread that I see WAY more deer during a full moon than a new, which also goes against the grain. I honestly don't know if it's "my deer" or my style....I really don't. Maybe I'm doing it completely wrong and the wrong way works for me.....
But in recent years, I would hunt sign and trails. And I would be lying if I told you it wasn't effective......for killing does. It was, and is. But I RARELY saw any bucks at all. Which also goes against the grain...Hunt the does, and come the rut you'll find the bucks. Not me. Don't know why, but it doesn't work that way. I guess it's because I was hunting too "broad" an area.....Now that I hunt pinch points, I see more, and kill more.
I really wish I could expound more, but I really can't.....because I don't know why, I just know it works.
But in recent years, I would hunt sign and trails. And I would be lying if I told you it wasn't effective......for killing does. It was, and is. But I RARELY saw any bucks at all. Which also goes against the grain...Hunt the does, and come the rut you'll find the bucks. Not me. Don't know why, but it doesn't work that way. I guess it's because I was hunting too "broad" an area.....Now that I hunt pinch points, I see more, and kill more.
I really wish I could expound more, but I really can't.....because I don't know why, I just know it works.
My point is, just because one doesnt see a mature buck, maybe all season, doesnt mean they arent there.
06-03-2008 | 10:46 AM
#33
Giant Nontypical
Joined: Jun 2007
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RE: Question for guys who consistently kill bucks.....
I have followed my Gut instincts for several years and they rarely let me down. I get a feeling about a spot, throw up a stand, hunt it, and kill a nice Buck. It's happened enough I don't hesitate to go with the Flow. I already have a feeling about a spot out West in my Mule Deer area. I will be parked in that spot in Dec. if all goes as planned.
One thing you will find that all guys who kill Bucks on a regular basis have in common is they spend a lot of time in a treestand.
There are a lot of right places, but you have to be there at the right time
Dan
One thing you will find that all guys who kill Bucks on a regular basis have in common is they spend a lot of time in a treestand.
There are a lot of right places, but you have to be there at the right time
Dan
06-03-2008 | 10:49 AM
#34
Joined: Oct 2007
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From: Southeast, Va
RE: Question for guys who consistently kill bucks.....
I gotta go with what Dan says here. Almost every buck I killed with the bow was spur of the moment set up, gut instinct. Not a lot of scouting, just a lot of hrs in the tree. But it was not just pot luck, I have had a sixth sense about deer ever since I was 12 yrs old, I just get this feeling when I see what Im looking for.
06-03-2008 | 11:03 AM
#35
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Jul 2005
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From: Damascus MD
RE: Question for guys who consistently kill bucks.....
This will probably jinx me for the next25 years, but here ya go Jeff...
1. Do you see does in the places you've killed your bucks?
Yes sir, absolutely
2. Are you trying to AVOID seeing does.....opting, instead, for more buck-friendly areas?
Not at all, sometimes I look for Does to find bucks depending on time of year.
3. How do you determine said areas (if No. 2's answer is "yes")?
NA
4. How do you determine #3 if you're not hunting "sign"?
NA
5. If you do see does where you're killing your bucks...at what time of the year are you having your best luck seeing bucks?
Early season Ive had some of my best success targeting bucks just because Ive been scouting their summer/early season feeding patterns for a few months when they arent pressured and hopefully havent gone into the normal nocturnal ritual right around mid to end of September when they just seem to disapear on me until the rut.
And of course I have pretty good success right on the very first fringe ofthe rut I look forDoes feeding together,and hopefully giving off that first scent of the season seems to catch allot of 3.5 years olds with their guard down for a few days. After that its just hunting travel routes hoping I catch a buck that just finished with a hot Doe and searching for a new piece .... of action : )
6. How would you describe the area you're seeing the bucks? (i.e. trail/destination food source/funnel/bedding areas/etc...)
See answer #5
1. Do you see does in the places you've killed your bucks?
Yes sir, absolutely
2. Are you trying to AVOID seeing does.....opting, instead, for more buck-friendly areas?
Not at all, sometimes I look for Does to find bucks depending on time of year.
3. How do you determine said areas (if No. 2's answer is "yes")?
NA
4. How do you determine #3 if you're not hunting "sign"?
NA
5. If you do see does where you're killing your bucks...at what time of the year are you having your best luck seeing bucks?
Early season Ive had some of my best success targeting bucks just because Ive been scouting their summer/early season feeding patterns for a few months when they arent pressured and hopefully havent gone into the normal nocturnal ritual right around mid to end of September when they just seem to disapear on me until the rut.
And of course I have pretty good success right on the very first fringe ofthe rut I look forDoes feeding together,and hopefully giving off that first scent of the season seems to catch allot of 3.5 years olds with their guard down for a few days. After that its just hunting travel routes hoping I catch a buck that just finished with a hot Doe and searching for a new piece .... of action : )
6. How would you describe the area you're seeing the bucks? (i.e. trail/destination food source/funnel/bedding areas/etc...)
See answer #5
06-03-2008 | 11:21 AM
#36
Nontypical Buck
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 2,849
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From: Southwest Ohio
RE: Question for guys who consistently kill bucks.....
ORIGINAL: Vabowman
I gotta go with what Dan says here. Almost every buck I killed with the bow was spur of the moment set up, gut instinct. Not a lot of scouting, just a lot of hrs in the tree. But it was not just pot luck, I have had a sixth sense about deer ever since I was 12 yrs old, I just get this feeling when I see what Im looking for.
I gotta go with what Dan says here. Almost every buck I killed with the bow was spur of the moment set up, gut instinct. Not a lot of scouting, just a lot of hrs in the tree. But it was not just pot luck, I have had a sixth sense about deer ever since I was 12 yrs old, I just get this feeling when I see what Im looking for.
I have to plan and scout and set up on very particular areas, funnels, etc. The only thing my gut has ever gotten me is out of the treestand early the morning after a Mexican dinner.
06-03-2008 | 11:28 AM
#37
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 3,965
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From: Southeast, Va
RE: Question for guys who consistently kill bucks.....
now that's funny!!! on a serious note, I wish had more time to scout, but i hunt a lot of small blocks and/or the same farm for 20 yrs, I know it well and it never really changes that much yr to yr.
06-03-2008 | 11:33 AM
#38
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 1,462
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From: Chicago, IL
RE: Question for guys who consistently kill bucks.....
If this topic would have been, "Question for guys who consistently sit in the rain and cold, works his a$$off in heavily hunted areas and rarely see bucks" I would have had all the answers!!
06-03-2008 | 11:39 AM
#39
Typical Buck
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 657
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From: SE PA
RE: Question for guys who consistently kill bucks.....
So far I'm 5/7 with bucks in PA which is very respectable especially considering my two failed seasons actually presented more shot opportunities and learning experiences than other years. In every area I've shot a buck does normally frequent the area. 2.I do not avoid seeing does...HOWEVER,I avoid letting does see me, whether it be a higher treestand or a tree with more cover. 5.Luck in a given area depends solely on the dynamics of the herd and hunting pressure. To be successful i think you truly have to get into the mind of the mature buck that you're after. Some areas that receive heavy pressure on the surrounding properties cater to a late season hunt when the deer are congregating on my property...and are more apt to move in day light. While other areas might be a bedding clearcut used by does...such an area could produce instantly in the rut.
06-03-2008 | 11:57 AM
#40
Typical Buck
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 819
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From: Jackson,MI
RE: Question for guys who consistently kill bucks.....
Great thread.Lots of good info.I've not been consistent in a bunch of years, due to increasedhunting pressure and new farming.The farm I hunt sat idle for 30 years and was grown up.Now they've cleaned up the fields and thinned hedgerows.
1.Yes
2.Yes to some degree in the early season.I don't want to alter the doe patterns.
3.Normally down wind of doebeddingareas or trailsparalleling the trailsdoe use.They will still have some sign around them.
4.Observations made from fringe stands.Rub lines.
5.Early November and sightings pickup again about the second week of Dec.
6.In and around bedding,down wind edges of feeding and funnels.
Just remember your hunting them during daylight hours.
1.Yes
2.Yes to some degree in the early season.I don't want to alter the doe patterns.
3.Normally down wind of doebeddingareas or trailsparalleling the trailsdoe use.They will still have some sign around them.
4.Observations made from fringe stands.Rub lines.
5.Early November and sightings pickup again about the second week of Dec.
6.In and around bedding,down wind edges of feeding and funnels.
Just remember your hunting them during daylight hours.