I read something to the extent that 2/3rds of the mature bucks harvested by hunters, they had no idea of its existince prior to harvesting it. Is this true in your case too or did you know about the buck before taking him? Thanks.

Let me answer my experiences in this way, because I have not always harvested mature bucks that I knew were there. Most of the mature bucks that I have harvested, missed or saw were bucks that I knew were there and had been sighted by me on occasion during the hunting season.

I will admit that my largest, well I didn' t know that particular buck was there, or at least I never sighted him before.

Almost all my bucks where seen for the first time when I arrowed them.

Only once have I taken a mature buck that I had
seen before...all others were nice suprises.

We' ve been taking pictures with our Camtrakkers
for several years now, with quite a few pics of
mature bucks. Rarely do we ever see these deer
while on stand, though, we do see other mature
bucks.

I have yet to arrow a mature buck but have saw a few while on stand. I had never before saw any of them while glassing the fields. Any one else have any experience on this?

In the areas that I hunt, there' s no option of glassing from a high vantage point so that method is out the window for me. In my experience with mature whitetail bucks, even if you don' t see them, you should know that there' s one in the area. You can definitely tell if a buck is mature or not by the sign he leaves (Size of rubs, tracks, droppings, etc.) I believe that if you' re doing your scouting correctly, you should know that there' s a good buck in the area, even if you haven' t seen it. I also realize that sometimes there are exceptions to this. Good luck on harvesting your mature buck.

The biggest buck I ever killed no one knew was there, I have taken a few others over the years, but some of them I knew about by sign, not seeing them. I never have used a game cam to where I can visually verify there is a bruiser there, it has always been scouting. I have seen a monsterous 6 point 2 times in the past 2 seasons and have only had one shot at him the whole time and flat missed due to clipping 2 sapling I couldn' t see in front of him, I will be going try for him again this year, I know where he beds, but I don' t have permission to hunt there, so all I can do is hope I catch him out and about during legal shooting hours. I would rather stick him with my bow than take him with gun, but what ever season it is that I get the chance again is when I will hopefully take him.

My best buck to date although not I wouldn' t consider it mature...it was 2.5 to 3.5 yrs old and I did see this buck prior to harvesting him. In fact, I saw him on two occassions our last week of archery, during the rut here in PA. I arrowed him the 3rd time I saw him but I had not seen him prior to that week but I usually reserve that stand to the last week...

Last year, prior to the season, we saw 13 different bucks. Out of all the bucks that were shot in the area, not one was one of the 13 that we saw before. We know all the hunters that hunt about 2800 acres of private land so we know who has taken what buck. The best part is, every year there are big bucks that survive the hunting season. There must be tons of old bucks around our camp but we rarely see one. Some day....

Scott Meier
White Oak Lodge

The 2 mature bucks that I have killed, no one had ever seen that we know of. I would guess what you read is correct. Every year they make it past hunting season, they get a little wiser it seems....and many go nocturnal after a few years.