I've seen a lot of discussion over the years where many hunters will protect sanctuaries, prefer not to get too aggressive early in the season, and don't want to mess up or bump the bucks bedding on their properties early. On the same note, we have all seen many folks discuss how mature bucks start getting up during daylight and covering more ground once the seeking phase of the rut starts, and start spending time well outside their core areas looking for does. Let's just say this starts last week of October for the discussion. If the bucks are covering ground during daylight and ranging well outside their core areas once they start to seek does, why would you be concerned with staying out of those bedding areas and protecting them early? Your thoughts?
Old bucks do not tolerate much intrusion and even less so early in the season when they have full focus on staying safe. The rut lets you get by with much more, ie...rut is far more forgiving to mistakes on wind and scent. If you pollute a key area early, a mature buck is liable to move out of the area and find a new core area early on and that can't really do much to increase your odds. Especially considering most of our bucks early on are nocturnal and your chances of polluting an area vs getting lucky and catching a specific buck on his feet in daylight are like 80/20. IMO, later in the rut those odds are probably more like 50/50 which is still tough but doable.
I voted to go in "early" I think it all depends. If you can set up on the edges of the bedding area and feel you have a certain buck(s) patterned, then go for it. Worst that can happen is you bump one buck out and if you do that and get out of there, not hunting again until the pre-rut/rut, you likely still have a good chance at him/them returning. I'd go with your gut based on your own situation and learn from the outcome. Bottom line, if I think I have a good chance at one, I'm going in, even if others consider it "early."
The area I hunt is right outside the bedroom door. I don't hunt mornings anymore just afternoon and evenings. The earliest I will get in this stand is 10am. Everytime I try mornings I get busted. It is mostly a doe bedding area. Hear towards the end of the month the bucks start cruising the area. That's when I'll set there from mid-morning on. It is usually fairly busy. Also with the leaves on right now I can only see about 30yds.
Now that I feel that I have learned my lesson, I plan on hunting the outside edge of a food plot next year early season, THEN once the chasing starts i will have my key areas inside the woods to hunt hard for the bucks
It all depends my land is either a doe with fawns area or a buck bachelor spot, this year I have 5 does hanging around waiting to get bred didn't have but spotty bucks on trail cam the October lull has brought a buck on a regular basis (last 5 nights in a row) but he is only 3. So I wait to avoid pressure
I actually love hunting before the rut. Bucks are quite grounded and focused and make it hard to hunt, but they are prone to method. I noticed 3 separate bucks on a trail cam this summer visiting the same grounds at the same times in the week. Once the rut kicks in they seem to change patterns (which is good for the guy that gets limit sits). If you can catch a bacholer before the wind changes you might be able to play him at his game. When the rut kicks in...HA!!! Good luck.
I'm with you on this. If I know I can sneak in when he's not there and wait him out. I almost always hit paydirt. The only time I have struggled with this approach is when a buck has multiple bedding areas. In 2010 I hunted a buck that had four different bedding areas that I knew of and when I chanced going after him, I picked the wrong bed and had a very long boring sit in my stand. I sat there all day afraid to get down and blowing it and he busted me that night trying to get out of there. This tactic is a double edged sword but once you arrow a mature buck doing this, it gets very addictive hunting this way.
Definitely depends on the land. My ground doesn't have buck bedding. Therefore, it's all a crap shoot. I've learned that my main plot is strategically placed that SOMETIMES I get them coming in early season at this spot. However, it's the closest I can get to where I think they're bedding without crossing property lines. In this case, I will hunt conservatively during the early season. Right now I have 6 sits in total this season, and have seen 37 deer (8 bucks, one shooter) so it's paying off I suppose. However, once the rut hits, my property which is a doe haven becomes HOT. I have a significantly higher chance of encountering a more mature whitetail during late October through November than I do early season.
Unless I have a buck patterned during daylight hours, I won't push it early season. If I do decide to sit, it will be far of any suspected bedding area. I am also cognizant of wind direction, making sure that im strictly down wind. During the rut I'll sit my favorite stands consistently every weekend, even on marginal wind or weather.
I would hunt them now. It's been by experience that I see less bucks when the full blown rut is in, they are locked down alot. I watched 7 different bucks chasing does, fighting and making scrapes this Sunday, they are on the move already.
End of October is when I will start sitting all day, but until then just going out when I can in hopes of poking a doe!
I don't consider the seeking phase to be early. By the time the really mature bucks are starting to work scrapes and snoop around here during daylight, it is late October. If I hunt early at all, its on edges with easy entry and exit, or on areas where I don't have target bucks to mess up.
I don't really have a choice but to wait for the rut as I don't have any likely spots to pick off a good buck unless he's out looking for does.
We have no rut activity here in Southern Ohio yet. But we caught a good 170ish buck on the move. They say mature whitetail bucks are on their feet 18% of the day. So he must be bedding close.
I have limited time to hunt with my work schedule. If I wait for the rut I may only get to hunt 2-3 Saturdays. I would rather be in a stand hunting vs sitting home on the couch waiting for the rut. I avoid over hunting one spot but I hunt all season.
