Still no big bucks :(

Just checked my trail cams this morning I have one small buck and herds of does but there's not one decent buck to go after so far. I took vacation all next week from work to hunt the opening week of bow season here in sc I guess I'll just wait it out and hopefully one will come cruising in. I've been putting out corn and acorn rage any other attractants y'all think would help?

 

The best attractant will be the does soon enough

 

The acorns are the key right now. Bait piles will just grow, hunt the oaks.

 

Hunt the deer not the bait...trust me you will appreciate it in the end if you do

 

If you keep the does around you the bucks will follow soon. Hopefully theres one out there that just isn't showing on cams

 

Don't feel like you are the only one.

 

I'm in North Carolina and have had the same problem for 3 years now:
Year 1: saw no bucks, shot 3 does
Year 2: everyone said, "the bucks are there, keep the does there and the bucks will come" or they said, "you have too many does and the bucks just stay in the thickets and don't have to come out". Two friends and I killed 9 does last year out of the same ground blind. Just for information, there was 10 more in my food plot one week after the season ended.
Year 3 (this year): nothing but does on the camera

Guess I'm shooting does again this year, but I'd love some advice. There are two HUGE pine groves within 100 yards of my food plot. My guess is the bucks just don't have to come out. I know there are some in there, afterall, the does have fawns every year!!!

 

The does will draw the bucks if they are in estrus the bucks can't help but follow. Try a recon mission in the pines

 

Exactly what he said, just be patient

 

I rarely get pics of bucs on camera because where I am, they don't have to travel much ever and I don't want to get in too tight on them before/early season. As rut approaches they will come out. You may never see them on camera.

FYI I never get pics of bucks on fields. If I back 50 yards off a field and find nearby trails, I'll see em. I don't hunt fields, just trails in and around fields.

 

I will go for one doe on open day if i see a big one but i will wait to i see if i also get a good buck also.

 

Yea looks like I'm just going to wait it out I mean what other option do I have?! HA (rhetorical question by the way)

 

For me its ok to take one doe and wait for the right buck.

 

Just keep running your trail cams and checking them before you go out if you can to see what is showing up. I also like to hunt when a cold front is moving in. When the temp drops 10+ degrees in one day I want to be hunting that day and a day or two after that. It gets bucks and deer in general moving.

 

I believe you have to limit the herd of does for starters. This will make bucks travel to find does. You should also try a little blind rattling with some big antlers or I enjoy the knight and hails hand rattlers. You want to be really loud and see if you can bring a curious 3 or dominant 4 year old in from the pines. It may work, it may not but at least worth a shot.

 

Rattling in NC is useless, it does more harm than good. At most I'd tickle them together anything will scare the deer to death.

 

The property I hunt only holds does for the most part, until rut of course. I can only ever get does on camera, but that doesn't hurt my feelings any, because i know that the boys will come chasing soon enough. I always see bucks during rut there.