I pretty much agree with the article on mature bucks outside the rut. Big difference between mature buck encounters and young deer, also rut movement vs movement outside of rut. My guess is most of the posts about sighting after multiple days in stand are rut sightings or deer 3-1/2 and younger.
Hunting mature whitetails is a whole other ball of wax, I remember seeing a show a few years back. the guys were hunting in I believe Kansas anyways he had a huge buck come across a field into a woodlot during the rut. The guy missed the deer with his bow at like 25yds. shot right over his back. 6 weeks later he retured for the gun season the buck was spotted once again crossing the field coming into the woodlot. Same exact situation as before he ran 500 yds across a open field to get to this woodlot, before entering he paused and looked straight up intot he tree where the hunter had previously missed the deer from. Almost as if he knew and remembered the previous encounter he had there. Unfortunately for the buck this time he wasnt so lucky the slug flew true and dropped him in his tracks. The moral of this hunt is I truly believe these big midwest giants dont forget encounters with hunters in the woods. Wind, entry and exit routes, all of that stuff plays a huge factor in slipping in undetected on a mature whitetail.
I agree to an extent but if I understood right the hunter was in the tree again...could have picked up movement, motion, small noise or depending on wind caught wind of him.....too many variables to know if he in fact remember 1 time when 1 event happened. I tend to think if deer were that smart than they'd be 100% nocturnal.
Yes I believe you are correct. I think sometimes entry, exit and pressure are more important than the wind.
I really don't agree with this article as a whole, everyone who has hunted for any length of time knows undoubtly that if you hunt the same stand, same times, everyday for any period of time that the deer will sense the pressure and thus resulting in no deer coming around..you have to change your pattern as well, different stand location, different entries and exits etc.... Ive had Deer bust me, only to come back to the very spot they did a few hours later on some occasions minutes later.
I agree with the premise of the article. my experience has also shown that in many ways less is more when it comes to killing mature bucks. I prefer to limit my hunting in my best stands/area to prime times or situations that have the most upside. This has forced me to have more sets in other areas so I can get hunts in when I am resting a good spot. Its has been surprising to note that some of these" marginal stand sites have paid off big also....its should have been clear but it took me awhile to figure I was creating the same low pressure situation that makes for a higher percentage of success per sits. There are situations that i deviate from this model however. I do most of my deer hunting out of state the last 5 years and because of the distance and compressing my hunts in to shorts peroids of time 5-10 days mostly. I am forced to be a bit more aggressive me with stand selection, or rather i should say the frequency that hunt a stand....all do to the lack of time to wait out for ideal conditions. If i am short on time and the conditions are right in these situation I will about live in a hot stand until it cools off.
