BIG BUCK KILLERS, what are your top 5 contributing factors to your success?

this would be a great topic to tackle.

 

PRESSURE, hvy vs lack there of or somewhere in the middle, imo is the greatest contributing factor to the majority of all big buck hunters success. Period. And pressure is often tightly woven into location. There are the odd few bowhunters that do defy the odds, these are the guys that I really hope chime in. Guys that are getting it done on say 1 buck in a area versus having 10 of them in their hunting area. Case in point, when I was in Iowa last time, I saw 2 bucks on the hoof over 190. I've never witnessed that in Idaho after 30 years of hunting. Pressure or lack there of, good buck "farming" and great feed, security cover and genetics all played a roll. Did I enjoy it there, ABSOLUTELY, do I realize its a much different scenario than what I normally hunting, no doubt. I often ask the question "are most big time successful whitetail bow hunters these days just better deer farmers or hunters? Or both?

On the other hand I've always felt, if I can find one good buck, one mature one that I have access that's all the motivation I need. The test is hunting him without him ever knowing, extremely difficult. I want to get into that later, singling out a buck and hunting him down, for me several times its been a multiple year endeavor.

 

Thanks Greg for getting back to me on this. My 5 look a lot like yours in many ways, #3 of your list has always been one for me that I feel like I aggressively attack through all phases of the season. I like to know enough about a buck that I can hunt him in Sept and Oct on his feed, Late Oct and early Nov on his scrape tending forays, and then finally in Nov on the doe family groups I believe he will be servicing based on scouting/observations and finally back on his security cover and late season food sources. For me it usually means over a pretty big area. Day time bedding areas for big mature bucks through out these transitions change vastly but he normally still has a core safety area he will retreat to with pressure.

 

Bedding areas, I believe most guys are talking about outside of the rut. Doe family group bedding areas during the rutting phases of seeking, chasing and tending are money. I agree about hunting that structure you speak of versus sign during these phases. I am scrape hunting believer tho when the "time" is right. As far as all day hunts I agree 100% during these three rut phases as well.

Pressure is the one factor that can and will override a big mature bucks willingness to breed and chase does. I have witnessed it too many times, especially on trail camera. They will hole up during the day and do all their girl chasing and breeding at night when they sense all the pressure is void. There comes a point in a lot of big mature bucks lives where they chose survival over breeding during the daylight hours when the hunting pressure is great. Especially as they age and the testosterone levels taper off.

 

On the contrary Ryan, I believe the 3.5 year olds that you kill are as educated as most 4 and 5 year olds in most areas. I really like your # 4.. I believe if you have the HOT sign or get a daylight visual of a mature buck, especially in pressured woods, a guy needs to hunt that deer right now right there if at all possible.

 

NY I am too very aggressive if I have the "RIGHT CONDITIONS" without them I will not even consider it. I think that comes with years of experience and learning from mistakes.. I like you talk about in your #5 ...will really push the envelope if I have the conditions I need to do so. True be, I rarely get perfect conditions for it, so I probably get to push the envelope 3-5 times a season is all. I WONT do it tho without everything in my favor, I hate educating a deer I am after.

 

I am with you on this Tynimiller. no reason to be ashamed bud! I swear a little voice that isn't mine has directed me so many times in the right direction, I always listen to it and when I haven't it has cost me! Thanks for sharing..good stuff in the rest of your post I just wanted to bring this up because its a huge part of my hunting too!

 

I see this and witness this yearly Cole, based on last years hunting pressure, the summer pressure, the food sources, different doe family groups establishing core areas, new bucks moving up in the social status ...so many variables can change from season to season.

I purposely make myself scout areas I have left alone for a year or two ...within ...my favorite areas because I have learned that the deer will almost always have me patterned somewhat no matter how good I think i am.. and I will almost always find deer using different options for bedding, feeding and travel because of it.. I hunt where deer are NOT forced through csmall wood cover or funnels.. So I have to stay on top of what adjustments they have made to avoid me and all the other hunters. Knowing where your deer are right now not last week, not next week is key! No doubt.

 

amen brother

 

Ive posted my five, but im reading all these post and it just reassures me of why hunting whitetails is so great. It amazes me how different whitetails can be from different parts of the country, heck how different they can be from a half mile away. Ive hunted the same 2 square mile area my whole hunting career. Just moving to a new spot a half mile away, can give you so much more opportunity. Some areas a 125inch deer is a monster and some people pass on 150 inch in another area. I hope I have another 30years of bowhunting ahead of me so I can soak it all up.

 

Yes Mike great stuff and echoing among many of the big buck killers.. I really agree that your #1 needs to be up there as # 1 or #2 for most of us, especially if we are onto maybe 1 or 2 good bucks period. One screw up on a smart one, and your chance of seeing him is minimal. I like your hang to kill so much, I've always said dont pick a pretty tree to hunt from, pick the right tree to kill from!

 

I play the game a little different than most of the hunters I know.

I make the deer come to me. Food plots, mock scrapes, water sources. Get the girls there the boys will follow.

I don't hunt the woods until October 20 and I don't hunt mornings until October 20. I have found I can not get to my stands without bumping deer in the mornings so it is best to stay out until prerut gets going and they don't care as much.

The first 2 weeks of the season I hunt the edges and my food plots and mock scrapes. Yes mature bucks will hit mock scrapes in late September.

October 5-19 I don't hunt at all or very little if a wicked front is blowing in I will go out.


Once October 20 hits all bets are off. I hunt hard every chance I get. I still hunt mostly my plots and areas does frequent. But I have a couple stands that get hot in the woods at this time.

I shot my bow buck on Nov 4 last year after seeing deer bedded in one of my plots when I walked out the morning of Nov 2. I took note and hunted that plot the next morning (Nov 3) and could have tagged out on a nice 8-point had he not broke both his G3's clean off. Sat the same plot again the next morning (Nov 4) and got my buck at 945 AM. He came in checking scrapes and cruising for does after checking cameras there were 3 other stands I could have killed him from that morning. Glad he finally found me.

Both the properties I hunt are about 100 acres. One I have hunted since 2005 the other since 1987. Knowing the deer (where they are and when) is about as good as it gets. Seems the same stands produce year after year. Knowing those spots and being there at the right time is priceless.

Trail cameras also play a huge role in my hunting also.

 

No messing around with this list, straight forward to the point, I like how you added in "noise" for entry and exit, just having the wind for entry exit IS NOT enough .. How many guys ruin their spot upon exit because they make noise and deer are in close proximity, especially on evening hunts! I know I used to do it, I wont hunt an evening spot any more unless I know I can get out undetected, especially if I know a big buck is in the near area. I like to be well off the feed, in the staging area or travel corridor near his bed, but depending on the time of the season..dictates how close...and I never leave until well after he's passed or deer pass or it's pitch dark and with a cow elk call for noise distraction if need be ..the wind, dark of night and cover noise has saved my butt many times and allowed me to hunt specific bucks over and over without blowing them out of the area.

 

In life some kids have to grow up real fast, while others get handed a silver spoon their whole life, as is with whitetail bucks imo.. Some come from the school of hard knocks while others are much less educated i.e pressured.. I think anyone that hunts pressured whitetails knows that a 3.5 year old is as savvy as others that have some age on them and most likely larger racks. I don't think we should ever measure a big buck only by his antler score.. To me a big buck is a mature deer based on his ability to survive and avoid predators...along with body development and yes he will generally carry good head gear for his area because hes older. But there is no doubt that a lot of old bucks score way less than 140 but they are flat out survivors... Top end bucks from area to area will vary greatly.

 

thanks for sharing Pat, all good stuff but I did narrow some of this down to comment on. I agree, I take the same approach in some cases. I like to condition deer, all deer to hunt me too. Water, Feed, and Mock Scrapes are big part of my inventory and tracking/conditioning of deer here in the mountains. I dont have food plots and baiting is illegal so scrapes for me have worked very well. Mature bucks will hit my mock scrape licking branches not only in sept, but in August, July and even in June.. I have thousands of trail cam pics of daylight visits by all deer through the summer months. Do you ever run cameras on your mocks in the summers .. They wont have anything to do with the scrape itself ...here anyway but they hammer the licking branches in the summers... When and where i get to hunt ag land.. crops.. depending on the time of the year I hunt where I can can catch an old buck coming back to bed and or catch him heading to feed usually near his bed. During the rutting phases, its all about the doe family feeding, travel and bedding and how the big boys keep tabs and service the does.

 

Very good points, I hunt all over N.A. for whitetails, and there is no doubt the different regions, habitat and pressures, game laws etc.. impact the way the whitetails adapt and survive. They are an amazing survival machines. They make the most out of the hands they are dealt in order to stay alive. Yet biologically they still are whitetails and they behave accordingly. What intrigues me the most is how every whitetail, I am around has a distinct individual demeanor.

 

Chris, AE and OPEL ... hope you guys chime in. If you happen to be out there lurking..

 

I've spent many a day hunting with you, your attention to the wind is always detailed ...entry and exit is so crucial to your deer in that open country, they can see us coming a mile away, literally. I've never seen deer run so far if they "see" u.

 

1. What other hunters are doing around me on the adjacent private properties.
2. Entering and exiting said properties.
3.What hunters I share with (Family) are doing on properties I hunt. This was a big one with the buck I got this year.
4. Wind and thermals especially in the bluff country I hunted a lot this season.
5. Food!

Side note: I don't qualify as a big buck killer just sharing my thoughts as a deer hunter.
#3 example

Red is the property line
Blue is the area my family had been hunting with the exception of me.
Brown is where the deer are coming from in the AM. In the evening they most came from the B areas near my stand.
Yellow line is my way to the stand and that Yellow box sits right on top of a plateau. I climb right up the side of the hill and climb into my stand on the edge.
That little brown line was where my buck came around that small beddying patch scent checking before I shot him.

 

That is what I love the most about whitetails, their individual demeanor. One thing you do to attract one buck, will scare the hell out of another buck. You almost have to have a game plan for each individual buck, and that is why it is so challenging and addicting to me.