so I’ve been into trying to pattern bucks these last couple years, and finding on our property anyway that they seem pretty random, some bucks definitely seem to hold or only be a in certain parts of the farm and others are everywhere. And movement changes from week to week and month to month throughout the year ( one week I’ll get hundreds of pics, then they can be gone for a week or two or month with only a couple pics, and then bam, they just start showing up a lot again). We don’t have food except for the woods browse, but we have a lot of bedding areas, we did get about a acre of fall plot in this year if it grows, so that might have some effect in the future. I’ve always heard Hunt doe bedding areas in the rut and bucks will come through, what I’m wondering is if anybody has tried to pattern a specific mature doe, and hunt her until a buck finds her? Is it the mature does that will be first in heat, that the mature bucks will try to claim first? Just seems like the does are a lot more predictable and constant on camera, although it can be hard to distinguish what doe is what. We typically harvest one shooter buck a year out of 3-4 hunters, the farm is 160 acres, bucks have been harvested all over the farm and it seems like there isn’t a bad place to hunt on it. Just seeing if bucks will be checking certain does/bedding areas first/more often.
You definitely can hunt bucks that way. I have a couple areas that I see the same does year after year. Almost like clock work they will be breed within the same 2-3 days. I got one area that I will always hunt from November 12-14. 3 years ago I had 13 bucks come by in 2 hours, just for that one doe. It takes alot of stand time to figure these things out. Cameras don't always show this. Sent from my SM-G900V using Bowhunting.com Forums mobile app
Pay attention to minute weather details like changes in barometric pressure, temperatures, moon phase, etc. Also pay close attention to what’s happening on the farm. Are crops being cut? Beginning to fruit/bloom/ripening? Is there activity on the farm that might cause the deer to move? Use all of this information and compare it to your trail cam data. As for hunting a specific doe to catch a buck attempting to breed her, I don’t know of anyone who does that. What if a younger buck breeds her before a shooter can get to her? A shooter breeds her at night, etc. There are a lot of variables that make it less than optimal. Depending on your terrain, hunt uphill from doe bedding in the morning. Bucks will take advantage of thermal drafts rising uphill in the morning and cover more ground by trying to wind doe bedding, if the can.
