GregH

I've killed 18 mature bucks in the last 19 seasons. BTW, what are your credentials?

True. My biggest buck sightings have been in early December. Mid day can be good in the early season but evenings are best in late season.

I don't hardly ever see big bucks by the side of the road or in fields while driving by during daylight hours. I think there is a vast difference in the behavior of mature bucks. They're like hunting another species.

Really!!?? November always records the most deer/car accidents of any other month. Why do you think that is?

Mature bucks have a propensity to be nocturnal more than the "other" deer. Deer that make it to 4,5 or 6 years old are not less smart. Why do you think they're still alive?

DeerandbearhoG

Thats the point, I dont claim to be an expert on big bucks Im just suggesting that maybe, just maybe, mature bucks make it to maturity cause they didnt happen to get killed as soon as another, I dont think deer are as intelligent as people think definatly not as intelligent as hogs bears or coyotes for example. I think some are just lucky. Every year some kid around here, kills a dandy on public land his 1st year out in the deer woods, now how does that happen? Simple, that deers luck had finally run out, if it was soooooo smart noctural and unkillable, it would never be so dumb to get killed by a novice, but they do all the time.

Congrats on your 18 mature bucks, congrats on living in WI, congrats on obtaining the private land you probably killed them on. congrats on reaching super buckslayer status, congrats on getting the administration to give you "guru" status, I am humbled

MichaelH

Both sides are right on this one IMO. How much of that small brain do you think it takes to do some things extremely well? How much of their brain do you think they're using for their heightened senses. Are you going to say that deer don't have an excellent sense of smell or good eye sight? Ever seen "smart" deer look up in trees? Most of the things that deer are "smart" at are expanded from their instincts and senses. I don't believe that instincts are going to tell them to stay away from roads? Maybe after thousands of years, but not right now. It doesn't take much of a brain for a deer to learn from their experiences. They're not trying to build rockets, just survive. Ever seen how "smart" squirrels can be, trying to figure out how to get to a feeder? That doesn't mean that if hunted hard, they're going nocturnal or are smarter than deer. : ) My point is that it doesn't take a "smart" animal to help avoid being killed, it just means that they're maximizing the most of their senses and instincts and add some learned behavior to the mix as well. That can certainly make for a very elusive animal!

JakeGrice

Couldn't agree anymore with what u just said

rg87

congrats GregH, 18 deer in 19 seasons is one heck of a ratio. i finally was able to take a mature buck for the first time this season and like you said its a whole different ballgame. they are survivors. they dont get that old by being dumb. as for young hunters taking monsters... you never know what caused that buck to be moving at that time. right place at the right time. something could have spooked him and he was fleeing from there when the shot was taken. there are so many variables that need to happen correctly in order to tag one. when they get out of their beds they have a 360 degree circle in which direction to head. never know exactly where that will be. scouting helps but it ultimately is up to the buck where its going to go.

crenshaw

I tend to think that people that dont like people for hunting big bucks are that way for there own reasons, and people that choose to hunt big bucks do it for there own reasons. I live in a state that everytime i bring a mature deer to the butcher people stand around and say i wish those grew on my property, needless to say they do cause i shot it down the street (same state as NATO). The more people let them grow the more they will see them. Thats a plain and simple fact. Another fact is yes typically Mature Bucks are much harder to shoot, granted you can get lucky sometimes. I enjoy the hunt but I enjoy the challenge and I especially enjoy the reward. You can disagree with me passing up countless young buck after young buck but i do it in my quest for a Mature animal. I shot a buck that was 7.5yrs old this year(according to a biolgist), and it was a chess match all the way up to the moment i let my arrow fly, and out of all my scouting and game cameras I never saw that buck until that morning, in fact no one i hunt with ever saw that buck, not even the landowner. I like the challenge and the reward. Not to say that everyone should be that way.. I just really love and appreciate the intelligence of Old Mature whitetail, i have more respect for them then most people, and I always try to educate people on their intellegence. To me shooting a big Mature whitetail is better then any trophy i ever recieved in sports in high school or college. I admire the animals so much and thats what drives my quest.

GregH

rg87, thanks for the comments and congrats on your "first". I hunted for 23 years before I got my first. It was the first year that I hunted for mature bucks because it was the first year the state gave out bonus permits. Doe for meat then hunt for horns.

There have been magazine articles written about the novice or beginners luck syndrome which I found interesting. Especially the one where the novice is told or chooses to sit by a small swale near a fence row. A place the more experienced hunters didn't want to sit. It didn't look good to them. As it turns out, the big boy thought it was perfect because nobody ever went there...... until then. Also, like you mentioned, being in the right place at the right time is another factor along with some luck.

crenshaw, I like your post and agree with all of it. Especially these points....... I too use the chess analogy, good post.

dpj1030

Any deeer you hunt on a Farm or out wherever there's tall standing corn is Called a deer ranch in my opinion. Go hunt the big woods. N tell me this.

JakeGrice

I do hunt bigwoods as well as i occasionally hunt farmland. Either way you cant compare it with hunting a ranch. Hunting a ranch is nearly not hunting at all.

Jeff Ovington

I certainly wouldn't purposely get it's attention for the simple fact that there might be a huge, huge one close by the marginal animal you just saw.If I could and (I have tried) use the marginal animal as a decoy.