Nocturnal Deer Question
09-29-2015, 08:07 AM
#11
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 3,359
How big of a tract of land do you have access to that each buck is on? The reason I ask is that it appears by your pics that your cams are in open/feeding areas and of course mature deer will most likely only frequent those areas after dark. But that doesn't mean they wait until dark to get up out of their beds and begin heading for the feeding areas. You've got to find their general bedding areas and most importantly, "staging/hangout areas" that are in between. Those are the likely kill spots that you'll catch such bucks in before darkfall!
Start looking downwind of the areas that you have those pics from. Think in "100yd sections"... Are there any hardwood/mast producing areas nearby that allow bucks to hang around in prior to dark? Such transition areas are PRIME areas to connect with ol mossy horns. Hardwood ridges with feeding flats that are between bedding and feeding areas are perhaps the greatest places you'll likely encounter.
Another thing I've made my 3 decade deer hunting experience hinge upon is bottle necks/pinchpoints. With todays easy access to google maps and other up to date satellite & topo maps, you can find some WONDERFUL travel corridors from the comfort of your easy chair! And unless there's some major changes like logging or clearing, those bottlenecks will last for DECADES and you'll have honey holes that you and your kids/gkids will be taking trophies from decades from now. Deer are creatures of habit and what a mature buck likes about an area today is what his grandson will like 10yrs from now!
Just get on those maps and "look back" start moving back from the feeding areas and you'll soon start to discover what youve been missing. Better yet, take a cell service/gps equipped Ipad/laptop or even your phone with you while you're in the woods looking and scouting out the lay of the land. Make notes of buck/deer sightings as well as where you see good sign. Once you plot all of that on an overhead map and then look "at the big picture" you'll be surprised how all of the sudden it'll "click" and the light will come on... "Oh yeah, THATS why they are doing this or that's why we see them here or that's why they are in this spot." Then you are on your way.
Waiting for mature deer at feeding areas during the daytime is a losing proposition in most areas except large tracts with extensive mgmt and extremely careful pressure measures taken. And then once the rut begins you must STILL resist the urge to watch the masses of slickheads and toybucks parading around out in the open. Do yourself a favor and setup 50-100yds inside the downwind areas in the thickest stuff you can find near the foodplots. You wont see as many deer but that's where the big boys will be, they live by their noses and they windcheck such areas instead of walk up to the edge and look for themselves. Ol bucks would be just as effective without their eyes as long as they have their nose and ears to tell them what they need to know!
Start looking downwind of the areas that you have those pics from. Think in "100yd sections"... Are there any hardwood/mast producing areas nearby that allow bucks to hang around in prior to dark? Such transition areas are PRIME areas to connect with ol mossy horns. Hardwood ridges with feeding flats that are between bedding and feeding areas are perhaps the greatest places you'll likely encounter.
Another thing I've made my 3 decade deer hunting experience hinge upon is bottle necks/pinchpoints. With todays easy access to google maps and other up to date satellite & topo maps, you can find some WONDERFUL travel corridors from the comfort of your easy chair! And unless there's some major changes like logging or clearing, those bottlenecks will last for DECADES and you'll have honey holes that you and your kids/gkids will be taking trophies from decades from now. Deer are creatures of habit and what a mature buck likes about an area today is what his grandson will like 10yrs from now!
Just get on those maps and "look back" start moving back from the feeding areas and you'll soon start to discover what youve been missing. Better yet, take a cell service/gps equipped Ipad/laptop or even your phone with you while you're in the woods looking and scouting out the lay of the land. Make notes of buck/deer sightings as well as where you see good sign. Once you plot all of that on an overhead map and then look "at the big picture" you'll be surprised how all of the sudden it'll "click" and the light will come on... "Oh yeah, THATS why they are doing this or that's why we see them here or that's why they are in this spot." Then you are on your way.
Waiting for mature deer at feeding areas during the daytime is a losing proposition in most areas except large tracts with extensive mgmt and extremely careful pressure measures taken. And then once the rut begins you must STILL resist the urge to watch the masses of slickheads and toybucks parading around out in the open. Do yourself a favor and setup 50-100yds inside the downwind areas in the thickest stuff you can find near the foodplots. You wont see as many deer but that's where the big boys will be, they live by their noses and they windcheck such areas instead of walk up to the edge and look for themselves. Ol bucks would be just as effective without their eyes as long as they have their nose and ears to tell them what they need to know!
