Don't forget about a little luck has never hurt.

1 Quality of bucks in area
2 Time in stand

To me it's obvious: Location. This is why you see little Johnny 12 year old shoot a 180" 12 pointer the first day he ever hunted. It's not because he played the wind or scouted diligently. It's because he was in the right place at the right time, which happened to be in big buck country. Location, it is!

Yes, but there are many hunters in Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kansas, etc who not CONSISTENTLY killing mature bucks.

Sucks to be them[&:]

I hear ya, but the question was "what is the key factor". While it is certainly not the only factor, it is far and away the key.

I'd say number 4. There are mature bucks everywhere. You just have to have access to hunting areas and then find them. Especially since you stated mature deer, not their score.

Why am I thinking that coincides with #4 also.

You also need to hit the dang things! Being a flat out good shot/archer is mighty important as well... most mature bucks I've shot/seen got that way for a reason, and that was by not always taking the well-used or expected route. They are the same bucks that leave you frozen and irked when they get a tad weary and say 'screw the trail', only to circle downwind and leave us giving them the snake-eye over our shoulder and watching them take a leak on our tow rope.

The land you hunt (location) is without a doubt the #1 factor that will determine your success.........especially over a long period of time.

Anyone can kill a mature buck on any given day in the woods..........even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in awhile..........however, if they are not around in decent numbers you will have to work extremely hard or be extremely lucky to do it CONSISTENTLY.

You can't kill what isn't there.

What do you guys consider consistently anyways? Every year? Every other?

I'm not saying you can't kill a big ol' buck in the heavily hunted battlefields of state forests...........I'm just saying that if that is your goal there are easier ways to accomplish it


Why do you think people pay thousands of dollars to hunt Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Texas etc???

Because that is where you stand a pretty good chance of seeing and taking a big buck. Sure it can be done in your home county by a couple guys a year out of hundreds...............but in Pike county someone downing a big mature buck is old hat..........happens every year to many guys.


Take an average hunter..........not Chuck Adams but not a clueless tard either. Put him in the heavily driven, over hunted, beat down public lands and he will win the lottery before taking a mature buck.

Put that same hunter on a privately owned farm that gets minimal if any hunting pressure and has abundant food sources and good deer numbers and all he has to do is not miss. He will have a wall full of nice bucks.

You can be a master at any of the other categories and still have an extreme uphill battle to consistently take mature bucks if they just aren't there..............or you can have a great location and great success with only average skills/knowledge of the other categories.


Everyone here should ask themselves what they would be willing to pay for out of all the categories listed and that will give you your answer

I doubt anyone is willing to pay very much for any of these

2. 10+ years of experience
3. Scent Control, including the wind
4. Knowledge of Hunting Area
5. Time spent scouting
6. Actual amount of time on stand


Now how many guys are willing to pay for a chance to take their skill, knowledge, experience and patience and apply them to a honey hole---dream spot where big mature whitetails are seen regularly??


1. Location, Location, Location

In a way it does - but knowledge of the woods alone is of no help IMO. I can know where every tree, trail, rub and scrape are - still doesn't mean I will set up in the right spot. The reason we as hunters want knowledge of the woods is so WE CAN SETUP in the RIGHT LOCATION....thats why Stand Location is #1 for me.

Might as well keep on going - this is JMO

Same thing with scouting - its important but...you can spend everyday scouting and still not set up correct. And again the reason we scout is so we CAN SETUP in the RIGHT LOCATION.

Scent and wind? - You could hunt and be completely scent free - and if a big buck aint comming under you - he still won't come under you - If your stand is in the wrong spot. But you can stink like a horses A[][] and still have a good chance IF your stand is in a tree that a big buck is walking under that day. Got a better than 50% chance he will be upwind of you. -

Time in the stand......If it aint in the right area you can hunt every day for 10 yrs and it wont help. Give me a handfull of days in the right spot over 100 days in the wrong spot - any day of the week.

10 yrs experience - The only use of this is if in that ten years you have LEARNED WHERE to hunt......again - stand location


To sum it up - you can do every other thing 100% correct - and if you have not stuck yourself in a tree that a mature deer is going to walk under - you will not get him.

But you CAN do everthing on that list absolutely ARSE BACKWARDS - but if a big boy is on a route to walk under you - Your odds are 100 times better than the first scenario

99% of the battle IMO is just getting to where there going

Who the hell is dumb enough to hunt the wrong area every day for 10 years!?

And I'm all for the handfull of days in the right spot but come on! Isn't all of our stands in the right spot, otherwize why would we have hung them. And 100 days in the rong spots is not batting a good average!

Looks like you finished that one off to stay intuned to your theory!

I like your idea of being in the right tree and I don't say your rong, just that not just "A" buck but many bucks walk under many trees. I'm stittin pritty on #6 cuz If your not in the tree you think is so damn good, it won't help you a bit.