jec

I have 3 stands on my place. One overlooks a grown up grape orchard, full of sumacs that the deer rub every year like clockwork. They will rub these sumac almost exactly 1 week before Oct. 1. I have a corn feeder in it and it has some persimmon in it, but its too grown up to see into the persimmon. The only thing with it is since I bought the property, I haven' t caught up with the bucks that rub until around the middle of Nov. The other stand is in a big oak(no acorns this year) but over looks a road that goes down a low draw with thickets on the sides and is a pretty good funnel and I killed a doe out of this stand 2 weeks ago. The third stand is the one that I would think would be the best, but I see less deer out of it. It is a small quarter of an acre in a low draw with thickets around the edge. I had a food plot in it 2 years ago, but didn' t have much luck in it. I' ve scattered rye grass seed and have a corn feeder. It is low and concealed from the sides and unless you know its there it is invisible. It has a road in one end and I can sneak into my stand from the side. My gut tells me this would be the best place to get a big buck, but for some reason, I never hunt it because I don' t see many deer in it. Where would you hunt. Should I stick it out in stand 3 even though I see less deer? I' ve already killed my doe and in AR. we have a 3 point rule, so I' d like to connect with a big one before gun season.

JZarr

Pre and Post rut I would sit the spot where you don' t see a lot of deer. From what you' ve said, it just has that feel like a big buck would hang out there. Just b/c you don' t see a lot of deer there, doesn' t mean that big boy isn' t hanging around. Often times they like to kind of seclude themselves away from everyone else. Are you seeing any rubs or scrapes to indicate the presence of a big boy?

During the rut, and even right now as the pre-rut is kicking in pretty good I would hunt the funnel stand. The bucks are going to be moving a lot more now, searching for hot does, rubbing, scraping, etc etc. Your best bet is to catch one on the move from his hangout to a feeding area or doe hangout.

That' s the best I can do with what you' ve said. [8D]

jec

Yeah, I have rubs between stand 1 and 2, but none around stand 3 where I would think. Its 90degrees here today, but Saturday morning it was about 43 and hunting with some friends down the road from my place, I had 2 doe run in front of me and a nice buck was running them, He came right behind me but I couldn' t get a shot, so I think the rut is about to begin.