I observed this in SE Wis and Northern Ill. This was in areas with a great number of does (too many). Now, I am only hunting near Black River Falls Wis and have just recently started to hunt there. This will be my first year of late season hunting there, depending on snow depth.
Everyone has hit the nail on the head in my opinion, actually in the process of writing a new post to my blog/site on this very subject. I believe pre-rut and now into the later part of the hunting season are your best times to harvest a mature buck (rut is an obvious one, but I believe can provide a filtered view). Like stated, the mature bucks have pretty much done everything they can in their core area and now need to open up and explore their secondary areas and beyond if they hope to get any again till the following year. This can cause almost a desperate search at times. That mixed with these mature bucks moving around on ground they don't have memorized can spell SUCCESS for the strategically placed hunter who is willing to fight the cold and battle through sits in hopes to harvest a mature buck. Good luck to all who haven't tagged out...now is my 2nd favorite time to hunt if I still have a buck tag!
a family friend of the family got a buck last weekend, probably wasn't a trophy sense i didn't hear the specifics but a buck none the less. tom told my old man that there was very little fat on hi, way less fat then the doe he got late october. those mature bucks have been focusing so much on breeding that maybe they have not stocked up on food. once they settle down and take notice that winter is on a very near approach, maybe now FOOD is now as important to them as finding a hot doe was during the rut?
1 of my hunting partners inlaws shot this BEAST in Black River Falls right before gun opener (see below)....I hunted up there also, but I only saw bucks during pre-rut....my other 2 hunting partners shot a 10'ptr and a 8pt'r right before gun in BRF....i think BRF is really good for pre-rut.....but than again, i believe it's still luck most of the time...gotta catch one slippin, that's all...
I feel like the older the buck, especially after they reach that 4.5 year old age and older.. up until about 7.5 or 8.5 that they really live their lives around the "pressure" they are sensing in the woods. I have hunted vastly different habitats across N.A. and vastly different "pressured" deer. The 3.5 year olds that I hunt here in my home state exhibit less tolerance to any intrusion than say the 4.5 and 5.5 year olds I hunted in Iowa on my buddies 500 acre very low pressured farm. This being said, I still noticeably observed MUCH lower lighted travel by older bucks all over N.A. ND, Idaho, Wa, Iowa, Alberta, Montana. It was just that in the higher pressured places the youger bucks were forced to grow up fast if they wanted to stay alive. Ok, so where I am going with this theory is that .... All big mature bucks that are 'breeders' (minus some with lower testosterone ..even though they are older, they opt out of breeding) are much more careful during the rut when the pressure is on. The breeders imo from what I see/trail cam evidence...etc.. simply do most of their work under the dark of night because the "pressure" is higher and rightly so, guys our out hunting the rut. Once the pressure diminishes (later in the rut , when there are still does to be covered... the old bucks sense this and move more freely in the daytime. Often at the end of a hunting season when lots of hunters are tagged out or are simply out of vacation time or burnt out. Less human scent and intrusion equates to more movement and the older more veteran bucks have this figured out and there is still breeding that needs done. I also believe big mature bucks will try to keep does in safer places during the daytime when the pressure is on. Also, I also feel that a buck like any man, as he gets older, begins to break down, losing hearing, heck all of his senses diminish and can if you will become easier to kill when he's over the hill so to speak vesus when he was in his peak. I hunted on e buck for 4 years.. as he got real old he noticeably became comfortable with his core area, it shrunk imo and he imo was easier to kill as the year I killed him he started appearing in the daylight much more often, he was aged at 9-10 by my taxiis bio ... m2c I personally have always seen a whopper or two in Dec.. always.. Did yesterday, a buck I have not seen since this summer finally materialized at one of my stands.. 70 yards.. no shot but it was great to see him on the move.. 1:53 pm when he passed by me. The rifle season in Idaho closed yesterday.. I was bowhunting..I didnt hear a shot yesterday and from what I saw driving to and from my hunting spot, I didnt see another hunter.. Most guys are tagged out and or have quit. I expect to see a few more whoppers moving in these next two weeks.. as our rut is late too! Bow only season .. will really minimize the hunters in the woods. The big boys will be on their feet more in the daylight and covering the does that haven't been bred so its a combo of both pressure and remaing does. I am still seeing a lot resident does with their fawns, while I am seeing more loan fawns.. too meaning momma has company.
