Pattering A Mature Buck
10-07-2008, 10:34 PM
#15
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: PA
Posts: 9,085
RE: Pattering A Mature Buck
Germ, as you know, i thought i had a chance at a biggun unpressured...but was slightly surprised when another hunter walked under my stand this evening...and then he tells me of him and his buddy hunting there atleast once before....
cant account for stuff like that...period. with climbing stands being so popular, and small woodlots being common, its VERY hard to tell who is hunting where and when...they can enter anywhere and still be hunting the same deer your hunting....
bow hunting is also gaining huge popularity around my area...gas prices went up so spotting isnt as popular, but now they are just baiting and putting cameras in every woodlot all summer long....these guys have the hunting screwed before it starts going in and checking cameras and bringing bait...these woodlots are just too small to be sloppy going in sweating and stinking the place up in the summer to drag in bait and check the cameras, moving cameras, hanging stands, moving stands etc etc....(atleast most of mine are small...and many guys doing the same thing...)
guy tonite had cologn on i could smell STRONG 15ft away talking to him....
cant account for things like that...mature bucks arent mature coz they are dumb...we know that.
just gotta hunt smarter than the average hunters...alot of it comes back to learning the other hunters as much as your learning the deer....find the best looking places with the most sign and absolutely avoid them like the plauge is always my rule of thumb lol...fields, areas easy to get to and close to the road etc all get scratched off the list...nice open hard woods too....i gotta take these steps to see DEER...let alone mature bucks lol.....
guys that have never hunted states like this just cant understand what its like to have somewhere around 1 million hunters in a state...not complaining...just stating its different...ive never hunted anywhere else, but i know its different just by reading posts on here...even our REAL private land is different from the land i currently hunt....i know that from talking to buddies and stuff...
cant account for stuff like that...period. with climbing stands being so popular, and small woodlots being common, its VERY hard to tell who is hunting where and when...they can enter anywhere and still be hunting the same deer your hunting....
bow hunting is also gaining huge popularity around my area...gas prices went up so spotting isnt as popular, but now they are just baiting and putting cameras in every woodlot all summer long....these guys have the hunting screwed before it starts going in and checking cameras and bringing bait...these woodlots are just too small to be sloppy going in sweating and stinking the place up in the summer to drag in bait and check the cameras, moving cameras, hanging stands, moving stands etc etc....(atleast most of mine are small...and many guys doing the same thing...)
guy tonite had cologn on i could smell STRONG 15ft away talking to him....
cant account for things like that...mature bucks arent mature coz they are dumb...we know that.
just gotta hunt smarter than the average hunters...alot of it comes back to learning the other hunters as much as your learning the deer....find the best looking places with the most sign and absolutely avoid them like the plauge is always my rule of thumb lol...fields, areas easy to get to and close to the road etc all get scratched off the list...nice open hard woods too....i gotta take these steps to see DEER...let alone mature bucks lol.....
guys that have never hunted states like this just cant understand what its like to have somewhere around 1 million hunters in a state...not complaining...just stating its different...ive never hunted anywhere else, but i know its different just by reading posts on here...even our REAL private land is different from the land i currently hunt....i know that from talking to buddies and stuff...
10-07-2008, 10:53 PM
#16
Typical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Georgia
Posts: 770
RE: Pattering A Mature Buck
i hunt private land but i never try to pattern one particular deer, i just work on the standard that big bucks think about three things-food, sleep, and sex 
so i find a bedding area,andplant food plots which have the added benefit of drawing in lots of does. then i play the waiting game. usually every year i see a couple shooter bucks, i just don't always get a decent shot.
so i find a bedding area,andplant food plots which have the added benefit of drawing in lots of does. then i play the waiting game. usually every year i see a couple shooter bucks, i just don't always get a decent shot.
10-08-2008, 12:00 AM
#17
Super Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Southeast Central Illinois USA
Posts: 6,969
RE: Pattering A Mature Buck
Patterning a mature buck is easier without other hunters around, thats for sure. For example I have a much harder time today than in the past, mainly because I have hunted basically the same areas for many seasons but I now share those general areas with other hunters, whereas in the past I mainly had those areas to myself.
10-08-2008, 08:06 AM
#18
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Phoenixville, PA USA
Posts: 5,541
RE: Pattering A Mature Buck
Yes, mature bucks can be patterned in highly pressured areas. I get it done every year until Sept. 15th. LOL
I hear what Duke and Cougar and some others are saying, but I feel there is a big difference between hunting pressure, and people pressure. A lot of the areas I hunt are frequented by motorcycle riders, joggers, dog walkers, horseback riders, mountain bikers, and hunters. I see how the deer react to the people pressure and that is they are attentive to it, avoid the people, but then go about their business. They react much differently to hunting pressure. People pressure will alter the deers' movement in the woods, hunting pressure puts them on lock down.
I've seen it every year over the last 8 years since I moved back up here. There is a difference. That doesn't mean those bucks can't be hunted, but I have found a tried and true method yet.
I hear what Duke and Cougar and some others are saying, but I feel there is a big difference between hunting pressure, and people pressure. A lot of the areas I hunt are frequented by motorcycle riders, joggers, dog walkers, horseback riders, mountain bikers, and hunters. I see how the deer react to the people pressure and that is they are attentive to it, avoid the people, but then go about their business. They react much differently to hunting pressure. People pressure will alter the deers' movement in the woods, hunting pressure puts them on lock down.
I've seen it every year over the last 8 years since I moved back up here. There is a difference. That doesn't mean those bucks can't be hunted, but I have found a tried and true method yet.
10-08-2008, 08:38 AM
#19
Fork Horn
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location:
Posts: 145
RE: Pattering A Mature Buck
ORIGINAL: rgargasz
I feel that you can pattern a buck in the summer months and early season, but when the velvet comes off and the bachelor groups break up there is no telling where that buck might claim his territory. I agree with NY/AL in saying that hunting funnels in your particular woods is going to give you the best bet at seeing your buck along with many other deer. I have shot a few deer that dont neccessarily have a pattern, but i saw him go out of the woods at night, and moved my stand to ambush him coming in at daybreak. Each deer is different in behaviors but in the big picture all deer are the same when it comes to habbit and instinct....cover, food/water,cover
I feel that you can pattern a buck in the summer months and early season, but when the velvet comes off and the bachelor groups break up there is no telling where that buck might claim his territory. I agree with NY/AL in saying that hunting funnels in your particular woods is going to give you the best bet at seeing your buck along with many other deer. I have shot a few deer that dont neccessarily have a pattern, but i saw him go out of the woods at night, and moved my stand to ambush him coming in at daybreak. Each deer is different in behaviors but in the big picture all deer are the same when it comes to habbit and instinct....cover, food/water,cover
cosign this. Once a buck gets the breeding impulse your better off hunting funnels between bedding areas and catch him checking does. If you find the buck sign early in the season I think thats your best bet on taking him on his summer pattern. After that I'd hunt where the does are.
