I chose other. Entrance and exit into stand are most important. None of those other tactics mentioned mean anything unless you get this right in my opinion.
Sometimes I think we're just more lucky than anything... But secluded food plots I'll have to give a lot of credit to (as long as entrance and exit are perfect).
For me, the most successful way to hunt bucks is to hunt when the bucks are up and moving during daylight. In my area, that is pre-rut and the early part of the rut. Bucks are cruising from doe bedding areas, so the easiest way to kill a buck is catch him in the funnels between those areas. 3 of my last 4 bucks have been taken this way, all of them were taken between November 11th and November 15th.
High fences!!! Lol but seriously for me, it's patterning an early September buck. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Not quite hunting bedding areas, but more so hunting with bedding areas in mind. I don't actually get in the bedding areas, but hunt around them. For deer in general, it would be funnels.
Rut funnels. Once we finally learned how to look for neck downs and travel routes, especially during the rut, that's when we've keyed in the most on the better bucks we've killed.
Food plots is what I said. Early September the bucks are in bachelor groups and easy to pattern there movements into the plots. Come pre rut and rut the does all come to feed and then the bucks come. Late season they are trying to replenish lost nutrients and get food when it's scarce in the woods. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Other - I just need to put myself in a place where I can see them , then I let my calling do the rest .
Other - I generally will sit on heavily used trails during the rut, and just be there all day for the right moment.
I mostly have success with rut funnels but a good path there using heavy that connects a food source to there bedding area is where i like to set up.
I agree with all the scouting and entry/exit methods to help put you in the right place, but as far as actually "killing" mature bucks with a bow I think a lot of guys rush their learning curve. What I mean is that after they shoot maybe two or three deer its game on for a mature buck but there lies the problem. To get good at killing mature bucks, you must first be good at killing deer. Does, go to an area that has a high doe population and shoot your bow. Practice getting good at making it happen under pressure and at weird angles and in places you might not be ready for. In my experience, mature bucks can sometimes make it really easy for you to take them with a bow, but far more often than not, they are just plain tricky to get an arrow in. If you are good at killing deer, you are that much closer to being good at shooting mature bucks. I am in no way talking about killing just for practice or harvesting more than one needs, but don't be afraid to let some arrows fly and practice the ritual of the kill before holding out for a mature buck because it's a whole other ball game. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
My favorite spot to hunt is a combination of a lot of these. It's a transition line, feeding area, rut funnel and not far from their bedding area. The main thing I've found with my honey hole spot is to make sure I'm in my stand 30 minute before sun-up, if not I'm sure to push deer out of the area and instead of seeing 15 deer I'll be lucky to see anything. It's also a good spot to sit for afternoon hunts as well, the action normally dies off after 10 AM and then picks back up at around 3 PM until sun-down.
Lol glad I didn't take the preseason smack talk bet with oly and ferg against you! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I'm fairly new but, my wife and I have had a lot of success in our four years managing the farm with a 140", 145", 155", and 158" harvested. Ranging in dates from November 1, 6, 7, and 19th. We spend a lot of hours running 8 coverts 365 days a year, and shed hunting in late winter to try and figure out what routes these bucks are using and why. Where we have our most success is in funnels that lead from known doe bedding, to food sources during November when those bucks are cruising and looking for does. We don't hunt the food plots often until the conditions are perfect (pre-rut/early rut). This is how my wife killed her 140" this year. My three bucks have all come from pinch points where fingers of timber shoot off from the creek bottom where does travel to and from bed. We are in the stand 45-60 minutes before legal light, and we only hunt stands when the wind is in our favor from the closest bedding to the expected travel route. We're hunting 4.5 year olds and older and pass a lot of young deer to kill the larger ones. It doesn't work every time, but when it all comes together on that perfect hunt there's no better feeling in the world!
