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

Great info here no doubt.
#1 scent.. Keep yourself and clothes clean. Own enough camo that you can have clean available every hunt. Along with that I like a natural cover (for your area) for my rubber boots. I smash crab apples and coat the tops and bottoms of my boots. Natural and works great.
#2 Wind. Gotta play it every time the best you can.
#3 Slow.. Take your time getting to your stand and leaving it. Makes less noise and you dont work up a sweat. What's the hurry? Just leave a little earlier. Plus you can happen up on a buck. It's came together twice for me like that, and multiple times without getting a shot. Hunt your way in and out.
#4 Stand or blind placement.. Critical. You can really increase your odds by giving alot of thought to this. My favorite is pinch points and funnels. If a buck comes thru your area you don't want him skirting you out of range. With my set ups, if a buck comes into my area and continues thru he will pass with in shooting range. That's my goal with every stand, blind placement.
#5 Being ready for the shot.. It happens in a second. Your looking one way, look back and there he is. The heart starts pounding. He's not going to catch me sitting. I'm a stander. Not knocking anyone that sits cause tons do it and take great bucks. I just prefer to be on my feet.
One other thing is when that big bastard is on his feet during daylight. That's the time. Hunt all you can cautiously. The window for your best opportunity is short. His world is 24 hrs. When your sleeping he's still tending her. Once he has serviced the does he's gone till late season. (a whole other subject)

 

Be willing to travel to where the bucks live and play.

The big 8 I killed this year, it was over a mile walk in for me to slip in-front of that deer on his way back to bed as I killed him on a feeding pattern, not a rutting buck. I've got some decent sized property, and, in previous years, I wasn't pushing deep enough in when I needed too. Hunting on the fringes is a good early season tactic, but, if that's not working out, you gotta be willing to push the envelope.

Oh, and, wear scent blocker !

 

No one on here is saying there is one formula that will work everywhere, I think we all agree on that. We are sharing what works for us in our own neck of the woods or for some of us that hunt all over....in different regions across N.A. The purpose is to look for any, if there is any common ground and or a tidbit of info that may help us out in our own hunting. Why don't you share with us what has worked for you in NJ, maybe we can learn something from you or pick up on something that has worked that we may implement into our hunting. I too hunt heavily pressured whitetails here in my home state. Its been my experience that the more pressured deer you hunt the less tolerant they are of any red flags regarding their 5 senses and negative stimuli.

I do agree, you have to hunt where big bucks live, PERIOD.. but many hunt where a big buck lives and never get it down either. Why doesn't everyone that hunts where big bucks live have consistent success?

 

agree'd if the property size and cover is available...any pressured herd of deer will seek out and find hideouts to feel comfortable in. Most hunters will not work hard enough to go that extra mile into these areas. They are simply too far from the truck.. Hunting the big woods and vast expanse of mountains and timber that I get to.. out west always offers a quiet place to hunt if your willing to hoof it in and out.. good point DT ...it wont pertain to all but for those of us that have access to large tracts of land.. it definitely has merit!

 

Depending on what your definition of "Big Bucks" is, as it is all relative to your area and your perception of what a big buck is, I present the following:
1. You have to know the deer travel patterns (especially the does, as when the rut approaches, where the does go, so goes the bucks);
2. Access to adequate cover and concealment within range of the the travel routes;
3. Access to different hunting spots to cover the different winds that prevail in your area;
4. Patience and persistence without over hunting an area; and
5. Luck. There are many factors that you have no control over that could change the travel routes and patterns of deer in your area (i.e. coyotes moving into the area, new neighbors with priorities other than your own, trespassers, poachers, etc).