Bosephus9

Ive been hunting the same property for several years and always see some nice bucks. However, these deer are always seen during the rut and seem to be miles away in the early season.Ive hunted bedding and feeding areas and still no sign of them. Any advice on how I might improve my chances in the early season?

m.t.hands

welcome bo!!!!

well the only thing i can tell you for sure is that the bucks range will increase during the rut, early season you'll be hunting "your" resident bucks, early season can be tuff in some areas, look for boundry scrapes, old rubs, and such, look for funnels around thick stuff, bedding areas, and food sources, cover becomes a big bucks best friend when they start sensing people in the woods,after the season is over continue to scout, it will give you a better understanding of what the bucks are doing, glass fields in summer, looking for buck activity. those good deer don't get to be good deerby making stupid mistakes..

one last thing you might want to invest in a game camera, it'll let you know what lives there.....

MikeVT

Look for early rub lines that seem to pop up in the same place year after year. This will more than likely map out a mature bucks route between feeding and bedding areas. If the original maker is killed, a new tenant will probably take over the area. I killed a nice buck a few years ago over an early rub line, and took another nice one the next year opening weekend hunting over the same rub line, before any new rubs were present. Not the final word on the subject, just one place to start.

Rebel Hog

Deer don't roam like buffalo. They usally stick where
they were born and use about 1sq mile of ground.They
might travel for food and water, but will return to thier
ground. If the season has been good with rain and
vegetation, you can bet they will not travel over 1mile
sq. of thier area.