big buck tactics
08-14-2007, 01:06 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 23
big buck tactics
well on my 80 acre property and surrounding land there is a few nice bucks...the main one i am after this year is a nice 10 pointer who must be about 4 or 5 years old...hesbeen around for a awhile now...he is manily a nocturnal buck like the rest of the big bucks around here...how would you guys say i go after him...where should i look for him...what can i do to make him get up and start movin around during the day? i want to try and find his location and set up close to where he hang out during the day? and hopefully get him in bow range this season...
how do you guys try to get those nocturnal bucks?
how do you guys try to get those nocturnal bucks?
08-14-2007, 01:12 PM
#2
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Darien, IL
Posts: 6,744
RE: big buck tactics
#1 you ain't gonna get him to get up and start moving during the day. He is smart enough to know that days are dangerous - that is how he got old and big. He ain't no dummy.
I recommend you figure out where he beds, sneek in best you can. He is most likely only active in and out of the bedding area very early in the day or very late. You have to watch the wind! If it ain't right you either have to have a backup plan or just simply don't hunt that day. If you want HIM you will have to be willing tomake some sacrifices like that.
If he feels you are pressuring him or he gets suspicious - he'll be moving on.
Good luck.
I recommend you figure out where he beds, sneek in best you can. He is most likely only active in and out of the bedding area very early in the day or very late. You have to watch the wind! If it ain't right you either have to have a backup plan or just simply don't hunt that day. If you want HIM you will have to be willing tomake some sacrifices like that.
If he feels you are pressuring him or he gets suspicious - he'll be moving on.
Good luck.
08-14-2007, 02:05 PM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Posts: 1,184
RE: big buck tactics
If baiting is legal then I would suggest that you do that now. Moultrie has feeders for $20 that the deer bump to get corn. This way it keeps rodents and other species from eating through all your corn. Leave the buck alone for at least a month and let him become comfortable with the feeder before hunting him.
I would then place a stand on the trail that leads to the corn. Don't directly hunt over the corn. Also, try and stay as scent free as possible. Don't go in there with the idea that you are going to throw up a stand and kill him in a few seconds, deer aren't dumb.
I would then place a stand on the trail that leads to the corn. Don't directly hunt over the corn. Also, try and stay as scent free as possible. Don't go in there with the idea that you are going to throw up a stand and kill him in a few seconds, deer aren't dumb.
08-14-2007, 02:37 PM
#5
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 23
RE: big buck tactics
yes ive been hunting that property for yeaRS NOW ITS JUST THAT BUCK IS NEVER OUT SDURING THE DAY...baiting is illegal in my state of new york so i cannot use bait to try and get him to come throughi have an idea awhere i think he hangs out...well where most of the buck activity is with the most scrapes and rubs...im hoping to really pinpoint where he hangs out all day this year and try to get him in within bow range...thats plenty of other deer around just this year im really setting my sites on him...i have one of his sheds that he dropped last winter crossing my yard during the night...hopefully i can really find out where hes been hangin out thios year and maybe get him in close...ive seen him from a distance but never close
08-14-2007, 03:33 PM
#6
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Oklahoma City, OK
Posts: 1,184
RE: big buck tactics
ORIGINAL: foxracerx74
yes ive been hunting that property for yeaRS NOW ITS JUST THAT BUCK IS NEVER OUT SDURING THE DAY...baiting is illegal in my state of new york so i cannot use bait to try and get him to come throughi have an idea awhere i think he hangs out...well where most of the buck activity is with the most scrapes and rubs...im hoping to really pinpoint where he hangs out all day this year and try to get him in within bow range...thats plenty of other deer around just this year im really setting my sites on him...i have one of his sheds that he dropped last winter crossing my yard during the night...hopefully i can really find out where hes been hangin out thios year and maybe get him in close...ive seen him from a distance but never close
yes ive been hunting that property for yeaRS NOW ITS JUST THAT BUCK IS NEVER OUT SDURING THE DAY...baiting is illegal in my state of new york so i cannot use bait to try and get him to come throughi have an idea awhere i think he hangs out...well where most of the buck activity is with the most scrapes and rubs...im hoping to really pinpoint where he hangs out all day this year and try to get him in within bow range...thats plenty of other deer around just this year im really setting my sites on him...i have one of his sheds that he dropped last winter crossing my yard during the night...hopefully i can really find out where hes been hangin out thios year and maybe get him in close...ive seen him from a distance but never close
08-14-2007, 10:16 PM
#7
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: New Orleans, La. USA
Posts: 400
RE: big buck tactics
Try one of those scent drippers that tie on a overhanging branch. Make a light mock scape, maybe just kick a few leaves to the side. Put some buck interdigital scent in it. It will only drip a couple of drops each sunrise when the heat hits it. Thisshould be enough to bring curious george around for a peak and maybe a shot. If it doesn't get him you will see the other bucks coming to check out the newcomer.
Good Luck,
Eric AKA: DeerDope
By the way, use a medium pitch grunt short and quite in morning around 7:00am. Here's a Deer Sounds page to listen to a grunt.
http://www.wideworldofhunting.com/soundsofwhitetail/WhitetailDeerSounds.htm
Good Luck,
Eric AKA: DeerDope
By the way, use a medium pitch grunt short and quite in morning around 7:00am. Here's a Deer Sounds page to listen to a grunt.
http://www.wideworldofhunting.com/soundsofwhitetail/WhitetailDeerSounds.htm
08-16-2007, 06:02 AM
#8
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 3,406
RE: big buck tactics
I don't hunt him like I do other deer, especially younger bucks and does.
Treat him like he's a different animal because he is, that's why he avoided hunters for so long.
He's a big old buck andthat old expression is so true:" He didn't get that big by being stupid". He has learned how to avoid hunters, by knowing where hunters like to go. He doesn't only move at night, rather he's held up in areas that he has learned hunters will not visit. When he puts himself in "Safe Mode", he will locate places in his area where he has NEVER seen a hunter. If the situation changes and he discovers hunters are getting close, he will go to a number of other places that he has learned hunters have never been. Where's his favorite place...My experience tell me deep in the thickest, nasties, wettest, darkest swamp - or - bedding 2/3 on the side of a ridge, with a southern exposure, where he can see and smell danger. This is one of his favorite places. He will stay there most of the day.
He will pattern a hunter for fun. He knows from which direction you came, when you came and when you leave. He will smell you hours after you have left the woods, especially when hunters leave their scent behind by not wearing gloves when touching trees, branches etc. His sense of smell is legendary. It's his number one defense mechanism. You can never fool his nose if he smells you.
When he feels pressure or a direct threat, he knows when to stay put, when to slowly move out and when to crash away. He would much rather have you continue on by. Some younger deer, less "learned" may immediately run leaving them exposed to the sound of gunfire.
There's nothing mystical about these creature. Of course they get shot. Whether a hunter was just lucky that day, whether he was snifffing a hot doe that put himself in Harm's Way, whether he was hunted hard by a crafty, old vereran deer hunter, he does get shot. I'm just saying if I hunt him the way I hunt smaller, younger bucks with less "experience", I would be hard pressed to ever see him except during the rut.
Treat him like he's a different animal because he is, that's why he avoided hunters for so long.
He's a big old buck andthat old expression is so true:" He didn't get that big by being stupid". He has learned how to avoid hunters, by knowing where hunters like to go. He doesn't only move at night, rather he's held up in areas that he has learned hunters will not visit. When he puts himself in "Safe Mode", he will locate places in his area where he has NEVER seen a hunter. If the situation changes and he discovers hunters are getting close, he will go to a number of other places that he has learned hunters have never been. Where's his favorite place...My experience tell me deep in the thickest, nasties, wettest, darkest swamp - or - bedding 2/3 on the side of a ridge, with a southern exposure, where he can see and smell danger. This is one of his favorite places. He will stay there most of the day.
He will pattern a hunter for fun. He knows from which direction you came, when you came and when you leave. He will smell you hours after you have left the woods, especially when hunters leave their scent behind by not wearing gloves when touching trees, branches etc. His sense of smell is legendary. It's his number one defense mechanism. You can never fool his nose if he smells you.
When he feels pressure or a direct threat, he knows when to stay put, when to slowly move out and when to crash away. He would much rather have you continue on by. Some younger deer, less "learned" may immediately run leaving them exposed to the sound of gunfire.
There's nothing mystical about these creature. Of course they get shot. Whether a hunter was just lucky that day, whether he was snifffing a hot doe that put himself in Harm's Way, whether he was hunted hard by a crafty, old vereran deer hunter, he does get shot. I'm just saying if I hunt him the way I hunt smaller, younger bucks with less "experience", I would be hard pressed to ever see him except during the rut.