I've been wondering this awhile now. Tactics seems to be the new word for the month, so we will use it for this discussion. I am totally in the dark about how people hunt bucks outside of the rut effectively. I know how to pattern them when season opens here, and where to hunt as they travel during the rut...But what about in between? I see guys mention to know particular deer, or know what a buck is doing. But HOW? If you don't utilize a lot of trail cams to establish patterns, how does one go about knowing where a PARTICULAR buck feeds, beds, and travels in between? Do you bump him by accident and the light bulb goes off? Do you hunt observation stands until you spot one then formulate a plan to move in? Or do you simply hunt based off an educated guess of where such a buck WOULD be if he were there in the first place? So those of you who hunt mature bucks outside of the rut, fill me in here. I am curious how you go about learning a certain buck to the point of knowing his every move/killing him. I have a "hunch" what the case is most of the time, but I'll wait to read some responses. So is all this tactical jargon nothing more than educated guesses based off of maps, prior years knowledge, or previous sightings? or is it really what a buck is doing NOW, and if so how do you come across such information? I'm hitting the time of year where I get to be somewhat clueless about the caliber animal I am looking for, so help fill me in on how to go about it.
First.. you'd have to give us all your definition of how you hunt the rut effectively. Then.. tell us about when you do this rut hunting.. as in dates. The biggest problem I see from one hunter to the next is lost in translation.. so for this discussion you'll have to elaborate your definitions of these two. Everything I do personally is based of common sense.. experience.. and deduction. But thats only because I don't have a season to get it done on a buck.. usually just a short period of time.. sometimes less than 24 hours. If I had greater amounts of land.. I'd approach the scenario with more of a scalpel.. less of a knife. I basically understand the behavior of a buck (to the degree I need to).. and what they should want to do today if they are present in the area. I will then set tight to him.. or if the wind will not allow.. some point within the line he'll take to said destination. When I say line.. I mean the intended path the buck will want to take based on the time of year.. for he always has a purpose.. ALWAYS. Along this route their will be many things to consider.. terrain being number one (its all about odds). Then look to signposts... the clues he will leave behind.. as in rubs or scrapes. And one can never leave out the importance of preferred food sources on the route to a destination... whether that be the signposts.. the destination food source.. or the does themselves. But all based on time of year.. broken down into 8-15 days increments by myself. Bottom Line.. bucks will not move far from bedding to destinations in daylight.. not until the breeding season.. so getting in close is an understatement. Getting in close undetected is the difference. Of course.. then you have to take into account the property you are on.. and what it means to the buck and again.. his line. What the property means to a buck may not even allow you access to him until certain times of the season.. and you must consider this as well. It may not even allow you access to dominates at all.. at least not in an everyday capacity. And you must consider this VERY important rule of thumb when even considering any line... SURVIVAL. In order for you to take a buck with a few years under his belt.. you must always remember that survival is his NUMBER 1 GOAL. He will want to get to destinations.. but only after survival is met. If you don't understand this.. then forget everything I've said before this point. It will make no difference. In other words.. just the basic understanding of the whitetail buck is enough to get you within range on any piece of ground. The WORST enemy of any hunter I've ever met has always been themselves... their laziness.. their ego.. lack of patience and their arrogance. This probably didn't answer anything.
I cant say I have been able to figure out one buck in paticular but I can usually put myself in the position to see horn. If I have an Idea about what foods there eating and am familiar with some of the bedding areas, Ill look for thicket's that are mingling with other types of terrain such as hardwoods that are more open. Bucks will tend to follow these edges so they can see and hide if needed. Ill look for the obvious (Rubs) that tell me there is a buck in the area,,found some today as a matter of fact. One of my best ways to scout is after the season, I love getting out there for hours on end looking for sheds and getting to know my areas. If I was seeing some Big bucks but just couldnt get on them Ill tack into account what they were doing and apply that toward the next season. I put myself on 6-7 p&y bucks last season and never got to loose an arrow. The shot just never presented itself, but I remember everything about those hunts and will apply it this season. So what im saying is, sometimes It takes the year before with learning and applying it the next season.
Read your quote closer, I said I know where to hunt during the rut. I don't have to pattern a buck during the rut as it would be futile since they are seemingly everywhere. I just hunt good travel corridors or where the does are, because that is where the bucks are during that time. And yes, opening of season the bucks are most easily "patterned" imo based on when/where they are using the ag fields. I found out which bean fields they used, which direction they entered from....got in between with the right wind and waited...worked like a charm if it wasnt for the foliage preventing a shot. Regardless of if there are better rut or early september tactics, I don't care (for this discussion). I am happy with how I hunt these time periods, I want to know what to do between them...say mid to late September through late october. Duke, My definition of rut ( I guess we can call it that) is the first two weeks of november and those last few days of october...VERY generic I know, I just view the rut as when the bucks are up on their feet dogging the does, and eventually pinning them down for however long it is. I try to, and will continue to, hunt good travel areas for does during this time. It has proven fruitful in the past in buck sightings. What are you guys looking for between when the beans brown up and the last week of October? i realize oak flats can be good food sources (if only they weren't across the fence in my case), but worthy of actually hunting OVER?
Duke, my main question for hunting this way is...how do you know he is there in the first place? How do you know exactly where to "get in close to"? How do you know where he beds, where he eats, and the line between? Is it educated guessing based off previous knowledge and whitetail know how, or is it really KNOWING this info for a buck?
I'm with ya, man... However, I don't see the rut as some "golden nugget". In fact, I dred the rut when I have a deer patterned...Once they get "love" on the brain, they are no longer on a set pattern. Now, when the rut hits, you can pick obvious ambush sites with ease. Getting the brute to show up on time, is anotehr question. Early season knowledge will aid in rut hunting, though. Early Season- I glass fields, place cameras and use previous season experience/this years crop lay-out to narrow down areas I feel that I should focus on for scouting. Once I glass a solid shooter. I bring out the force multipliers, such as trail cameras, and, other people with good binoculars . I'll use a "stair-case" method. As I gain information, I make a move, and keep repeating. Once you glass a deer in a field, find where he enters. Once you fidn where he enters, find the trails he uses to get there, and so on. You'll eventually locate various bedding areas, watering holes, in-woods food sources, and, again, so on ! Now, with this knowledge in the tool-box, the rut hits. You should have a solid idea of where the doe are bedding, and where they feed. Now, you also know where this buck is likely to come from. With this COMBINED knowledge, and knowledge of the property(funnels, pinch points, wind, topography and so on), you can formulate a plan to ambush said deer on his way to love. This is just one way I go about hunting. It's worked for me. Hunting, for me, isn't about "hope". I spend a TON of time scouting, glassing, reading, listening- everything to gain a step forward. When I hunt, I expect to see 'something'. I never go out blind. If I'm hunting an area, theres a reason for it.
"Patterned", in regards to hunting, can be an ambiguous statement. At least this is so, for me. I'm a novice whitetail hunter. My definition of patterned likely differs from those with more experience. When I'm comfortable labeling a deer as patterned, I will know the following: A vicinity in which the deer is bedding(multiple beds, too). A few likely trail said deer will use to access THREE things- water. food. girls. Naturally, I will know which water, food and women he prefers, by this time. I will know a time that he 'should' be at any of the 3 locals. Once I have that down, I can locate his staging areas, where he loiters, mid-day beds and travel routes based on wind direction(if applicable). Now, obviously- I will have hard proof of this theory. I will have glassed this deer within said food source(field) on numerous occasions(around the same time, hense- PATTERN), trail cam images of him on a trail/field entrace/crossing, etc, etc,... That, to me, is patterned. I know SOME of his pattern and I'm confident that I can se this buck when I go out. I absolutely HATE going out blind, hate it. Unless I have knowledge or information backing me, I get frustrated while trying to A, pick a spot blind, or B, hunt a spot blind. Can't do it, often.
Well.. first off.. you need to change that generic definition you call the rut. That will help your hunting immensely. A 2 week period in November is the common thinking of the breeding season.. but better versions of what is actually happen do exist.. and those definitions will give one a better understanding of how to approach that part of the breeding season.
Okay.. lets break this one down too. I hate to type.. so bare with me. Lets say you are given a 100 acre track of land.. a basic rectangular shape. On this 100 acres.. their are 4 likely bedding areas of bucks.. and on opposite sides of the fence on neighboring lands their looks to be another 4 nearby likely bedding areas. Well.. one first MUST hunt with the wind.. thus.. we've already eliminated lets say 4 of the likely bedding areas since the wind will not let us hunt them. Of the 4 we have left TODAY.. we look at nearby food sources.. and the likely travel routes the buck would take.. keeping in mind his lust for survival. And within these lines of travel we should look for likely areas of interest.. as in rubs or scrapes along that route... even a water source.. or a nearby preferred food source should be considered. A buck ALWAYS has an agenda. From then we pick the best route.. closest to one of the bedding areas.. that will give us the HIGHEST probability for not just seeing a buck.. but killing him.. NOW. Or hanging to kill.. as I deem it... all this based on the above aforementioned... and TIME of year. So simply defining the rut as a few weeks in November is very little help to any hunter... which is why I asked your definition... and I say for you to change it. For me.. on most the lands I hunt.. due to time restraints.. they are educated guesses based on my understanding of buck behavior. On lands I've hunted for 1 or more years.. they are much more detailed of course. Now.. I do have theories that also help in my own elimination of which travel route I should hunt based on ALL the above.. and the wind. But thats another discussion.. and I'm taking the wife out.
I think the rut is an interesting time to hunt simply because i ALWAYS see deer that i am not familiar with. The range increases dramatically and they start crossing territory borders. As for before that, everywhere I hunt I work at in the summer and spring. To top that off, there is a good knowledge base of consistent deer routes and habits. So by the fall I have a good idea of what the deer are doing, and where they are hanging out, who they are running around with etc. I wish i could afford trail cams, 'cause i would LOVE to see the deer that i miss because its dark outside. I have found that certain areas just hold big deer, I dunno if it is genetics or just the area itself.
Exactly what I was looking for! I realize that definition of the rut isn't the most correct, it just so happens that hunting funnels or where the does are is very productive for that entire time period. I could OBVIOUSLY get a LOT better at hunting even this time period, but it is the least of my worries for now. I do, and have seen bucks of the caliber I want during this time hunting this way. What I haven't had much luck at all with, is the time period between the beans becoming useless and when they start dogging the does. I guess I need to look at it from a more general view for the entire area and dive in from there for starters.
For me, if I want to try for an individual buck, the first thing I need is a visual. I usually start by glassing crop fields in the summer. Keep watch of the bucks until they are filled out enough antler wise that you can decide if one of them is what you're looking for. Then you try to find a feeding pattern and hope it holds long enough for you to score. This is only one method but you can see how you have to do your homework. Another way is to look for sign and backtrack the buck to his bed. Sounds real simple but can be tough. Like I said, I like a visual because I once set up on a buck based on sign alone and that turned out to be a huge bodied 8 pointer with too small of a rack for my taste.Once you find it, start crowding it in the evenings. Start cautiously though.
