For me, since my location is sub-average and I have accepted it....it is STAND TIME. There is nothing else that matters more than stand time when everything else is factored out. It is not like I have killed any mature bucks, but the ones I have seen and gotten close to were a direct result of stand time.
1. location: no deer, no trophy bucks. private vs public land a consideration also. 2. stand time: no deer walk thru your living room. 3. time of the yr: chasing, pre-rut, rut, post-rut, etc. 4. other ammenities to lure deer: food plots, standing corn, water holes, etc.
Since many of you list stand time...I want to know why? Would you take 3 days in the hotbed of an illinois lease or 4 weeks on PA game lands?
I shot a mature buck on PA State Game Lands last year.... It is not as impossible as everyone there makes it sound
Can't compare it like that.. it's unfair. It would be asked 3 days on a piece of great Illinois land or 4 weeks on a piece of great PA land. Would you take 3 days or 4 weeks to kill a deer? 4 weeks.. anywhere. 3 days in Illinois or Iowa or Montana doesn't mean anything. In fact.. hardly a hunter is out there that can do it in 3 days. I'm not arguing location.. because it is THE most important key. But lets not compare irrationally.
That analogy was terrible. Also, I didn't say I would choose PA. I would like to go to IL because it isn't a place I would get to hunt often. I can go to PA when ever and most years don't go there at all. But, 4 weeks vs 3 days I would take PA. I am not saying everyone who puts their stand time in will kill a big buck. It certainly is a good start however.
No one ever said Booner, until you. He said big buck. Big bucks have been killed in every single state in the good ole' USofA that holds a hunting season for them. So that tells me, if I am in my tree stand.... I have a chance of killing one. That is undeniable. There are no King Mackerel in Kansas unless they are shipped there for table fare.
Absolutely and absolutely not....depends where you are. In your area, yes. In my area, no. Its all relative.
Find me a state with a legal hunting season for whitetail that has not had 140" bucks taken there. BTW to save you the looking around, FL's record buck on the "books" is 201 3/8's net.
1. Scouting Time 2. Location/Tree Selection 3. Shot 4. Time....shouldn't be a very big factor in the early season when the bucks are on a feeding pattern. In theory, you should arrow him on the first day (if you've been trail-camming). However, time it jumps to #1 during the pre-rut and rut. That's when the woods are just magical and you just have to pick a lucky tree!
You don't bruise my feelings, not one bit. I know and fully understand the odds of killing a big buck is better in certain areas than others. I am just saying..... THEY ARE THERE, NO MATTER WHAT STATE YOU ARE IN. :d And, I wish everyone the best of luck in getting one
You guys simply can't hide brilliance. Successful in what way? I know plenty of people who struggle to kill a mature deer in the Midwest, while Jeff has killed several in his few years hunting in NC. Do deer recognize unmarked state lines? Would you take 4 weeks in the most over crowded sub-par chunk of public land in a mediocre area of NE IL, or 3 days of sole access on the BEST lease in the state of PA? It can go both ways. I'm fine with guys saying the Midwest has bigger racked bucks on average, its just a fact, right up until the point where they are using it as an excuse for their situation (as if they need one).....If a guy is consistently filling his tags EVERY YEAR on MATURE deer in his home state, THEN he might have room to gripe if the antlers just aren't what he wants to be seeing. But guys who kill 2.5 yo bucks every year and then compare them to 3.5+ P&Ys from IL, again....funny. I also find it EXTREMELY laughable that guys with free or public access at their home states, pay a few thousand dollars for an out of state midwest rut hunt on a prime lease in IL.....and then return home comparing things on a state by state basis. LOL, what did they expect?
All one has to do is look at the success rates for schmucks who hunt thier home land that is crappy year in and out, then take a weeks trip to an outfitter & score. Time means next to nothing. Now granted you can't kill em from the couch, BUT to say that just putting time in the woods is one of the biggest factors in killing a big buck... I just don't see it by a mile. It can help in some situations, but knowledge, scouting, desire to locate & access big bucks all rank WAY higher to me than just time.
Does that "schmuck" do the same homework as the outfitter? Again, I am not saying that IL isn't better than PA or anything. You have proven big bucks can be had in PA with work. Rybo is a stud when it comes to knocking down some good PA bucks I was assuming this critera was met when I suggested stand time. I am not suggesting walking to the first tree with a deer track or rub near it and camping out there for the season. :d
That was my point about the time. A "schmuck's" gotta do more than sit in a tree all year. Back in the day I hunted every day of the season and killed 0 big bucks. I'm hardly a stud at knocking down Pa bucks. I had to cheat this year and go over to Ohio to get it done
How many guys do you know with 2 big PA bucks on their wall? I ain't talking about 2.5's here either :d
