As the rut approaches who's bucks are you actually hunting? Reason I ask Is once mid December rolled around I started picking up pics from bucks that I had on my trail cams In September. I know there patterns change up big time from earlier In the year but my woods was damn near dead this year during the rut. The last 2 weeks of December It was on fire with big tracks and mature buck sightings on my trail cams. Another week or 2 of season would of been a dream come true for me. My season was over December 31st. I really believe If I would of had another 2 weeks I would of scored being they were getting very patternable but time was kicking my ass so I had to give up so and do some doe hunting to get some meat In the freezer.
I'm still trying to figure out the bucks on my place too Steve. I had almost no buck sightings all summer on my trail cameras. Then I got a few in the middle of September. From the opener on October 1 thru the end of November I got tons of buck pictures and had many sightings of all sizes of bucks. The sightings have tapered off in the late season, but I still see a good one from time to time and lots of small bucks around still. I am hoping the lack of sightings during the summer was food related as I had no food plots or crops on my land. I will have plenty for them to eat this summer. I will be planting food plots as soon as the danger of frost is gone. Heck I may even frost seed some clover in a month or so just to get a head start.
JM.. the only food plot I ever put in was like 4 years ago. Frost seeded a little piece of dirt. I've since lost that piece of ground after that same year.. but the clover I put there.. is still coming up year after year.. thicker even since the previous year. Amazes me.
Bucks are strange creatures. This is an interesting question. Two examples, one buck that I call the G2 buck stuck around all season at the cabin land. On another piece that I hunt occasionally, they ALWAYS, and I mean always have scrap bucks early and giants late. The friend of mine that hunts in most hard was complaining about having to hunt the same 8 does all year and I told him that that hill always gets the travelers late. Sure enough, he scored a nice 125. Last year the jerk shot a 150 late in the rut.
Our little bucks hung out by us this year but we only saw 1 of our target bucks and the other two we watched about 3/4 of a mile away on the nieghbors field.. Walt
Honestly, I saw only one buck during the rut this year that I had no confirmed sightings of in the pre/early season. In mid-july, we spotted a nice wide 8 in our clover plot. It was the ONLY time he was ever seen. The bucks I saw from the start of the season on even into our late season were "local" bucks. All 1.5yr olds. Weird situation we have here. Post season scouting has shown there's very little to any buck sign on our property, and the sign that is there, is mostly on the property line fringes.
Makes sense there John! I tell ya what though, more and more people have food plots now and It's getting to the point where If you want to keep your deer around a person better put a food plot or 2 In to compete with the other land owners In the area. My bro and I plan on putting In 2 of them this spring and late summer. Previous years we've had a good number of deer In our woods but the last 3 to 4 years there's been an explosion with people putting food plots In.
Pretty familiar sounding Walt. I never saw any of the targeted bucks I was after during the rut but the same 2 big guys I had hanging around before the rut were later shot about 3/4ths of a mile away during the gun season. I talked with both of the guys who shot them, each buck was hot on a doe at the time. November 10th and November 11th were the dates that they were shot.
How much hunting pressure does your woods get from you? Your neighbors land, Is It hunted also? Trying to figure out why the property edges have some sign Is why I'm asking.
Makes you wonder if we should be scouting and shooting video of velvet bucks down the road a mile!! Walt
