Is it possible to pattern a deer? My buddy I hunt with says "NO WAY" deer are random animals that do whatever they want, whenever they want. I think that during a certain part of the year (summer to pre-rut) deer are very able to be patterned, but once the rut hits all bets are off. I believe that if you are able to pattern a buck, you will be able to hone in on their core area. Is that compeletly true??? I don't know??? What are your thoughts? Have you had any experiences that tell you otherwise?
Like you said...its very easy in late summer-pre rut to pattern a buck...on one property I hunt one of the bucks in the area only comes through once every 1.5 weeks or so give or take a day or two and weather depending...and my other spot...whenever there is a north or south wind(among other factors but i'm using wind) two bucks I was watching would come through...if it was an east or west wind forget it! Early season I had two bucks cruising together and they would come through the area within 35 minutes after sunrise heading to bed just north of my stand! Great spot to bag an early season buck!...I watched this happen as well as have photos of this happening at least 5 times this year...SO yes you can pattern bucks to a degree...it wont be 100% and like your friend said they are random animals...just like humans lol...
Someone once said the only thing you can know for certain about a buck is that nothing is certain. However, they do tend to do some of the same things when certain variables are present. For instance, deer tend to react to the introduction of unfamilar deer. They don't all react the same way and they don't all react the same way everytime however they usually do react. What aspect of that can we control? You can introduce the unfamilar deer with scents, sights and sounds that trigger their curiousity. It doesn't work everytime but it does work sometimes. They also have certain food smells they respond to like acorns, corn, peanut butter, vanilla etc... During the rut you can't necessarily entice a buck's food senses but you can entice a doe's food senses and the rutting bucks tend to follow the does during the rut. So in a sense deer do behave in ways that may be patterned as long as we understand that those patterns do change during the season.
On one of the properties I hunt,you can dang near set you watch by when the deer are gonna show up.Been that way for years and its one of my favorite spots for taking kids on their first hunt. On those still mornings with heavy frost and a calm wind and no moon,the deer ( mostly does and small bucks ) will start filtering through about 8:30am and you'll constantly be watching them until about 10.By 11,climb down and go some where else until about an hour before dark.
Yep.I always hunt all day.In the stand an hour before daylight and sit till it's to dark to see the ground. This piece of property is only about 20 acres and all the neighbors kill whatever is legal.The only good thing about it,is none of those neighbors bowhunt,so a few young bucks do actually make it. Never saw anything bigger than a 50" 6 point and never anything but does and spikes on trail cams. But I can always count on my kids killing one there.Which makes it well worth it for me.
yes and no alot of variables to that , early season to prerut id say yes you can but rut all thats out the window , late season its possible but not likely , if u hunt heavily pressured deer no chance of a pattern exept in a general direction in the morning vs. evening maybe , but over all it can be done best advise i could say is find a funnel where the deer have to come thru where they have no choice like a dip in a ridge line or where a strip of heavy cover that separates two different wood lots ect.... some place that alot of deer come thru offen i had a stand on state land where one day i saw 39 deer , not all were in bow range but at least i could see what was going on and move closer if i had to .
Patterning deer to me is more than seeing deer day to day, its knowing where they are bedding, feeding, travel routes and escape routes between the two. As long as these areas are left undisturbed the deer ive encountered stick to the sched. Like clockwork. Once a spot is busted this could change to a nocturnal only feeding area. Seen it happen to many times.Undisturbed bedding and feedin areas are gold, although ive noticed the travel routes change due to wind and pressure more than bedding and feeding. As far as the rut goes get on the does n the bucks will show.
QUOTE: if u hunt heavily pressured deer no chance of a pattern exept in a general direction in the morning vs. evening maybe I would have to dissagree with this statement. The majority of the bucks I shoot are shot on heavy pressure public land, & I am generally hunting the deer I shoot. My wisconsin bow kill this year scored 166 1/8. I had seen and hunted him the year before, and had scouted his bedding areas last winter. I monitered the area till he showed up on the same pattern as the year before and then slipped into within 75 yards of his bed and shot him when he stood up and then walked past my tree... Thats very typical for me... I also disagree with guys who say you can't pattern them during rut. Sure you can. Its less reliable than outside the rut. But it can be done. A lot of the mature bucks that make it to 5 or older don't seem to participate in the rut much at all, and they seem to stick to patterns better than the young bucks. Most people that think bucks can't be patterned are probably clueless to where they are bedding.
So I do a lot of scouting. But are there anyways to determine where these bucks are bedding. In SC I'm very lucky to see a deer at all. I scout the thickest cover and still don't really know what I'm looking for. I find tracks all the time but I'm sure they are nocturnal and I can't find much other sign. Any real specific things to look for??
Bedding areas for big bucks changes with differing terrains. In some terrains like marshs and hilly land, you can easily determine likely mature buck bedding areas with topo's and aerials. In other areas like farmland you need to wear out some boots searching. The best general advice I could give based on no idea of what type of terrain your hunting would be that most buck bedding is near a transition line, where two types of vegitation meet ( the thick side ) where an elevation drops off suddenly, especially the points ( ridges ) and islands out in swamps or marshes. One other thing worth considering is that most of the truly mature bucks that I have found seem to have found a bedding area that you would never expect... Most hunters ignor the spot cause it don't look like it would hold deer.
It depends a lot on the time of the year. Yes it is very possible, but you have the right kind of deer too. Some deer follow patterns and some don't I believe. This is why some bucks are so killable and some are a bit more challenging.
You can also make bedding areas if you have the resources to do it i just did this this year is hinge cutting trees witch is what gave me my uncle and my dad the oprotunity at one.
