In which type of environment do you believe you become a better big buck hunter?

Many of us like to talk about and hunt big bucks. It is just a lot of fun. In which type of environment does one learn to become a better buck hunter? Is it an environment with a lot of bucks? (experience doing something succesfully obviously breeds confidence). Or is it an environment with a smaller population of large bucks? One would be forced to really think about their set-ups and not just rely on a large population of bucks. (but one would not gain the experience necessary to understand big buck movements because of not seeing them very much, so one's confidence would suffer).

Is it a big woods environment? Is it hunting where the big bucks actually live in great numbers? If you were a young hunter looking to educate yourself on becoming a better big buck hunter, in which environment would you look to hunt?

All thoughts are welcome.

 

I would think that you can learn a fair bit out of any environment. Where I hunt there is maybe 2 or 3 big bucks, but probably 3 or 4 100+ bucks than a few spikers. There I've found that I can use any buck I see to help me get a general idea of where the bucks are moving. But if I am able to find out where the big bucks go, how they move and why they are moving there than it will help me guess a little better on a new piece of land where the big bucks could be. I find that the smaller bucks are good at giving you some practice with controlling your nerves whenever deer walk in. They also can be some good practice with calls and rattling. But I think that getting experience with drawing on big bucks, and getting the opportunity to shoot some good sized bucks would help you out a lot. But being in a area that has a bunch of big bucks could make you a "lazier" hunter as things could be a little too easy.

 

I think there's no doubt you learn more when you have to work hard for the end result. Success will come faster in the game rich environment but that doesnt necessarily mean you learned something. 2 people fishing, one at a public lake and the other in a stocked pond. They might both be catching 5 pounders but without a doubt one is a better fisherman.

 

Without a doubt less big bucks IMO.

 

I had a mentor, a old guy was bringing 150-180 class by my work every year and one day he invited me over to look at his deer heads and he had a house full of them, he took me under his wing and taught me how not to hunt as well as when to hunt and when to stay out of the woods.... it took two long years of begging to get him to show me his knowlege, but i still have to pull it all togather when it comes time to shoot my bow or gun and that may be even harder to teach.

 

And when I say big bucks, I mean for your particular area.

 

You could put any Gomer in a tree....in a target rich, big buck environment....and he'll learn all he needs to in a short time (all he needs to know to kill a big buck, THERE). ALL he needs is stand time. He doesn't have to learn how to kill them.

You could take the most prolific, big buck, whitetail hunter in the world, and he can't kill what isn't there.

In reality, you have varying degrees of "somewhere in between all that" going on, most everywhere. I don't think there's a definitive answer to this. No two situations are the same.

BTW....what's "big"? (OK...saw your last post)

I see (on average) ONE 3.5yr old buck/season. Would I learn how to kill more of them....if I saw more of them?

Make an assessment.....lol.

 

Less big bucks would be where it's at too me. It's helps you learn the ropes an you spend a lot of time with a plan that will work an just can not fail an realize well, you need to tweak that plan a little. Trial an error is a great teacher. You need enough to spell success ever once in a while.

 

I think it depends on how you look at it. If you hunt where there are "more" mature bucks, then your sightings of mature bucks will likely increase thus increasing your overall knowledge of the animal. You would be able to build off personal experience, which is, in my opinion, the best teacher.

Then again, if you are hunting where there are "less" mature bucks, then your attention to detail becomes vastly more important because it would take a near perfect game plan or setup to arrow a big buck. And in that case, your confidence to locate and harvest mature whitetails would skyrocket, because even with the odds against you, you still got it done.

But to answer the question, I've hunted my entire life where there are "less" mature bucks, in tough terrain where it's tough to pattern older deer, without a consistent food source and with tricky wind currents and thermals.

And I definitely think that has helped my understanding of deer, but I would enjoy hunting, but more so just observing and watching more mature bucks as well, to gain a complete understanding.

 

I should have used Old Greg in lieu of "Gomer".

 

That's a no-brainer for me... take guys that live in target rich environment and put them somewhere quite the contrary. Do the same for the guy that kills big bucks where few big bucks are and put him in the target rich environment...

 

I think the target rich envoronment would be the better teacher. You would have more to work with and more clues to decipher. The more examples you have to study the better you should become.

If you never see big buck sign, how are you going to learn anything from it?

Either way, it ain't easy!

 

I agree Jeff that no two environments are the same. That being said, if you were trying to become the guy that "could consistently arrow big bucks in any environment", in which type of environment would you have loved to cut your teeth hunting big bucks while growing up?

 

That was my argument for those who chose the target rich environment.

But, in playing devil's advocate, what about the hunter who is able to decipher limited buck sign and still get the job done? Is that hunter simply more skilled or has he learned to do more with less?

 

I'll put in in lamens terms.

The dude or dudette who hunts with 4 year old whitetail in greater number will gain LIGHT-YEARS quicker in "big" buck experience and know-how as compared to anyone who hunts 2 or even 3 yr old deer.

I'm sorry... but your not hitting a major league fastball when you've been practicing on slow-pitch.

You will get lucky once in a while.

Now.. before anyone gets their pants/panties in a bunch... there is just one more thing.

While that may be 50% of the equation... you can't stop some guys or girls from learning faster than others. That's the other 50%... and how you apply it. And lets face facts... some guys/gals are gonna be smarter than both you and I. It's a fact of life.

As in... some hunters we all meet have experience... learned from years of on stand time. And they can teach you a few lessons. After all... they see more mature buck than you. They undoubtably know more.

And some hunters are just much smarter than other hunters. Their intellect gives them an edge. And they can teach you a few tricks. After all... they are smarter than you.

Who you want to talk to... is a guy or gal who's got BOTH. They the ones who are "great". They have the experience AND the brains. After all... they see more mature buck than you do and kill them with their intellect... which is usually nothing more than hard work.

Once a buck reaches 4 yrs of age he is a different animal. The person who gets more chance to hunt them will learn them quicker. But that doesn't mean they're smarter or "better" than you.

You may just not be afforded (maybe not a word?) with that experience. But you may still have the brain to get it done.

What I'm getting at is.. that buck hunting for those big guys (above 4 yrs) is a very individual thing. It cannot be broken down into just experience or intelligence. Each one of us prioritizes it, thinks of it, and prepares for it differently than our neighbor. You need a happy combo of both.

Guy 1 may have all the experience in the world but lacks the intellect.. and he scores on a solid 4 yr old every 4 or 5 years because of his experience.

Guy 2 may have all the intellect in the world but lacks the experience of hunting 4 yr old bucks because of location... and he scores a 4 yr old every 4 or 5 years because of his intellect.

And it goes both ways.

Hunting mature bucks is an individual endeavor.

But rest assured a person hunting higher populations of older deer is GONNA have more older buck know-how than you.

That's just common sense.

Phew.... that was A LOT of typing.

 

I like the honesty Mike, I really do. It is kind of like a guy who fishes a private lake and catches big bass all over the lake, using a variety of different tactics. Conversely, another guy is fishing a public lake that receives average pressure. That guy may only be able to use 1-2 techniques to catch the bigger fish because everyone else is hitting the banks with crankbaits, buzz baits, and that forces him to move out deeper into the lake using large plastic worms, etc. He then starts believing that the only way to fish for bigger bass is by moving out deeper, and yet that tactic is not universal in its application.

How that relates to hunting is that the guy that hunts where a lot of older bucks roam get to see older bucks behaving in many different ways over the course of the years, which causes that hunter to just understand more about big buck behavior. He becomes familiar with the factors that cause big bucks to move in certain manners. The guy who hunts in an area with a small amount of big bucks may be forced into hunting them just one way because he may only see 1-2 of them each year, and from that limited experience he may come to realize some half-truths in regards to hunting big bucks.

I see where you are coming from Mike.

 

If you add in the caveat "In the same area you hunt", I'lll buy this.

 

I like duke's train of thought.

Take a hunter with a finite amount of time & effort that he can put in to hunting "mature bucks" I feel he is going to learn MUCH more hunting in an area where there is more big bucks because there is more to encounter & experience. A guy hunting an area with few big bucks would have to work much harder to learn the same stuff.

 

I think that is what I said. Only in the Cliff Notes version! But I totally agree.