Question for guys who consistently kill bucks.....
06-03-2008 | 04:18 PM
#61
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 4,487
Likes: 0
From: St. Louis, MO
RE: Question for guys who consistently kill bucks.....
1. Do you see does in the places you've killed your bucks? Yes, I see all types of deer in the places I hunt.
2. Are you trying to AVOID seeing does.....opting, instead, for more buck-friendly areas? Not trying to avoid them, just trying to avoid being detected by them.
3. How do you determine said areas (if No. 2's answer is "yes")?
4. How do you determine #3 if you're not hunting "sign"?
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? One particular bedding swamp I only hunt during the seeking/chasing phase of the rut. I know does bed there and the bucks come looking. Other than that I see bucks all year long, because I usually hunt back in the woods where bucks tend to be on their feet during daylight. I rarely hunt field edges. I have killed a good buck from opening day all the way up to Jan. 2nd.
6. How would you describe the area you're seeing the bucks? (i.e. trail/destination food source/funnel/bedding areas/etc...) Mostly trails, funnels and near bedding areas.
2. Are you trying to AVOID seeing does.....opting, instead, for more buck-friendly areas? Not trying to avoid them, just trying to avoid being detected by them.
3. How do you determine said areas (if No. 2's answer is "yes")?
4. How do you determine #3 if you're not hunting "sign"?
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? One particular bedding swamp I only hunt during the seeking/chasing phase of the rut. I know does bed there and the bucks come looking. Other than that I see bucks all year long, because I usually hunt back in the woods where bucks tend to be on their feet during daylight. I rarely hunt field edges. I have killed a good buck from opening day all the way up to Jan. 2nd.
6. How would you describe the area you're seeing the bucks? (i.e. trail/destination food source/funnel/bedding areas/etc...) Mostly trails, funnels and near bedding areas.
06-03-2008 | 04:25 PM
#62
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 4,487
Likes: 0
From: St. Louis, MO
RE: Question for guys who consistently kill bucks.....
ORIGINAL: mobow
Well I don't kill bucks every year, hell, my first was this past season. But what I can tell you is that I've changed where I hunt, completely. I pay very little attention to sign anymore, and hunt funnels and travel corridors almost exclusively. I may not know exactly where they are bedded, and I may not know exactly where they are eating. But I DO know the terrain structure they will utilize to get where ever it is they are going. Since employing that tactic, my doe sightings, AND my buck sightings, have increased dramatically.
Until last year, I wouldn't see my first buck until the first part of November, the seek/chase phase of the rut. Last year, after learning about funnels and travel corridors, I started seeing bucks in mid october. I saw more bucks, and deer in general, last year than any other.
Well I don't kill bucks every year, hell, my first was this past season. But what I can tell you is that I've changed where I hunt, completely. I pay very little attention to sign anymore, and hunt funnels and travel corridors almost exclusively. I may not know exactly where they are bedded, and I may not know exactly where they are eating. But I DO know the terrain structure they will utilize to get where ever it is they are going. Since employing that tactic, my doe sightings, AND my buck sightings, have increased dramatically.
Until last year, I wouldn't see my first buck until the first part of November, the seek/chase phase of the rut. Last year, after learning about funnels and travel corridors, I started seeing bucks in mid october. I saw more bucks, and deer in general, last year than any other.
I just hunt the sign when it is in the right places.
06-03-2008 | 05:24 PM
#63
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 13,082
Likes: 0
From:
RE: Question for guys who consistently kill bucks.....
ORIGINAL: jmbuckhunter
While I agree with your tactics Don, the funnels are also where I find most of my sign. Because the bucks know it will be seen by most of thedoes and other bucks there. So I guess I am still hunting sign but also hunting funnels and pinch points.I just hunt the sign when it is in the right places.
ORIGINAL: mobow
Well I don't kill bucks every year, hell, my first was this past season. But what I can tell you is that I've changed where I hunt, completely. I pay very little attention to sign anymore, and hunt funnels and travel corridors almost exclusively. I may not know exactly where they are bedded, and I may not know exactly where they are eating. But I DO know the terrain structure they will utilize to get where ever it is they are going. Since employing that tactic, my doe sightings, AND my buck sightings, have increased dramatically.
Until last year, I wouldn't see my first buck until the first part of November, the seek/chase phase of the rut. Last year, after learning about funnels and travel corridors, I started seeing bucks in mid october. I saw more bucks, and deer in general, last year than any other.
Well I don't kill bucks every year, hell, my first was this past season. But what I can tell you is that I've changed where I hunt, completely. I pay very little attention to sign anymore, and hunt funnels and travel corridors almost exclusively. I may not know exactly where they are bedded, and I may not know exactly where they are eating. But I DO know the terrain structure they will utilize to get where ever it is they are going. Since employing that tactic, my doe sightings, AND my buck sightings, have increased dramatically.
Until last year, I wouldn't see my first buck until the first part of November, the seek/chase phase of the rut. Last year, after learning about funnels and travel corridors, I started seeing bucks in mid october. I saw more bucks, and deer in general, last year than any other.
I just hunt the sign when it is in the right places.
Or, maybe it's just that I'm CLOSE but not quite where I need to be yet.....as far as stand position.....Maybe I'm on the right track, but I'm just around the other bend...I dunno, I really don't. It's exciting, for me anyway, that I'm at least beginning to do SOME things right........I've told Scott this before, and I'll say it here.....I just really think there's a piece of the puzzle I'm still missing, which is why it makes no sense to me. Or maybe it's just that deer are so completely random and we make them "smarter" than what they are......I hope nobody takes any of this in an arrogant fashion, or that I'm "defending my position" or trying to prove a point or whatever......I'm seriously just talking it out trying to make sense of it, because a lot of the things I see just don't match up with what I should apparently BE seeing......
Maybe, as Scott mentioned earlier, that the missing part of the puzzle for me is bedding areas. Hunting near bedding areas makes PERFECT sense to me, but I couldn't identify one if I were standing on it. So, I just don't pay any attention to them. As I said in my first post, I may not know exactly where they bed, and I may not know exactly where they are feeding, but I DO know they are gonna come through this corner to get there (or whatever the funnel I'm hunting is)......Sometimes I think I overthink it, and just confuse myself even more.....LOL.....if that's even possible...
I hope you and I get to hunt some more together this fall, because I would love to tap into your brain some more and try to figure this all out.
06-04-2008 | 03:23 PM
#64
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,436
Likes: 0
From: Northern Idaho's Panhandle
RE: Question for guys who consistently kill bucks.....
I wanted to ask the guys who kill bucks year in and year out.....
1. Do you see does in the places you've killed your bucks? Not many, rarely any if I am hunting a particular buck outside of Nov.
2. Are you trying to AVOID seeing does.....opting, instead, for more buck-friendly areas? No the mature bucks, this big country, androom toseek out secluded "hideouts"takes care of that for me. Only during the last two weeks of November do I transition to the doe family group core areas, I move in on them when the big bucks move in and make camp on them.
3. How do you determine said areas (if No. 2's answer is "yes")?
4. How do you determine #3 if you're not hunting "sign"?
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? The doe families andyoung bucksI see almost always live and move around during the daylight significantly lower in elevation (mountainous country)than the old bucks do. On a rare occasion I will see a doeor young buckcome by a stand that I have set up on a particular buck.
I see a lot of deer from my stands with binoculars if I am hunting the edge of a high mountain clearcutbut near my stands like those,I see very little deer due to the fact that I am pretty much hunting for one or two bucks that live in that immediate area.
When I transition to doe unit areas during the last week of November into the first week of December, I see the vast majority of the truely big mature bucks movingduring daylight hours. Every year thesame scenario pretty much plays out here in the mountains.
1. Do you see does in the places you've killed your bucks? Not many, rarely any if I am hunting a particular buck outside of Nov.
2. Are you trying to AVOID seeing does.....opting, instead, for more buck-friendly areas? No the mature bucks, this big country, androom toseek out secluded "hideouts"takes care of that for me. Only during the last two weeks of November do I transition to the doe family group core areas, I move in on them when the big bucks move in and make camp on them.
3. How do you determine said areas (if No. 2's answer is "yes")?
4. How do you determine #3 if you're not hunting "sign"?
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? The doe families andyoung bucksI see almost always live and move around during the daylight significantly lower in elevation (mountainous country)than the old bucks do. On a rare occasion I will see a doeor young buckcome by a stand that I have set up on a particular buck.
I see a lot of deer from my stands with binoculars if I am hunting the edge of a high mountain clearcutbut near my stands like those,I see very little deer due to the fact that I am pretty much hunting for one or two bucks that live in that immediate area.
When I transition to doe unit areas during the last week of November into the first week of December, I see the vast majority of the truely big mature bucks movingduring daylight hours. Every year thesame scenario pretty much plays out here in the mountains.
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