x2, when I'm not hunting gregariously. Moreover, I still feel I'm having the time of my life during every hunt. I do not have the liberty to hunt within close proximity of whitetail. Thus, I can neither watch nor pattern them on a regular basis-I'm pretty much a weekend observer during my travels. I admitt, I have never had the pleasure to target a single deer-I'm ok with that. I am perfectly happy selectively hunting good representations of the species. I'm not sure what I could do to be more efficient other than pay better attention to the details before me. It really is a game of logistics...connect the dots and go home happy.
Would you need to move AND hunt with a ML, rifle, and or compound? OR are you saying you could do 2 or 3 where you are?
I dont think I could have been more dialed in the right areas than I was this year at one of my hunting areas. As for my home area I was pretty good and quite honestly let others in my family kill two of the best bucks I have a long history with. They got to do it with rifles, while I hunted a true monster with my bow that I never did run down. I have a couple plans in mind for locating him this summer. I do believe I am onto his core area. Its a portion of the property that I really never hunted much. Imagine that! No bow buck for me last season was just fine, I passed up bucks most would never pass up. But I am ok with it because I generally see about 1/2 of my bucks in this particular area make it every year. Not a bad ratio of 3.5s.. making it to 4.5 I have a few stand that I need to tweak just a little. A couple I want to put even higher due to the terrain thermals, a couple I need to move less than 50 yards based on what I witnessed for travel this season. A couple I am going to relocate into even better securitiy cover. I have but 2 stand out of over 15 now that are on clearcut edges.. I am living in the thick stuff now adays and seeing a lot more deer. My bro and bro and law come up for 1 week ..over the rut and each kill their biggest bucks ever from my set ups. IF I wanted to just kill big bucks, I would pull out the rifle and hunt all season, but I dont. with 2 tags I will shoot a good buck with my rifle just to put some meat in the freezer and not waste a 300.00 tag but that extra tag gets used on a doe now or buck I am targeting. No youngsters ever again. My boys will both be whitetail deer hunting soon, Jess starts this fall. I am going to save all the young bucks for my boys and they can pick and chose what they want to shoot for a buck as they evolve. I will continue to stay very aggressive in hunting the security cover of mature bucks as long as I can formulate and execute a solid enterance exit plan. I hunt the fringes of bedding cover in the early season and late.. to and from feed. I hunt doe bedding and cover during the rut. My scrapes are getting worked very well from June till Dec. I was amazed at how much activity I had at my mock scrapes in Dec.. when the second rut came in.. They were diggin in 12 inches of snow on some days..Those bucks had died down here for about 2 weeks then fired right back up in mid Dec. I did a ton of backtracking big buck tracks during my Dec 2nd -9th off time before the late archery opened back up. I found out a ton about a couple big bucks, exactly where they bedded here and there.. what scrapes they were hammering etc.. all great info I can use next season and where I can put trail cams and mock scrapes near theirs or overmarking theirs.
In what way Scott (does it not relate)? I addressed the game...the efficiency and specified the deer I was after. If you don't like the answer......I'm sorry.
It isn't that I disliked your answer. I just did not or still do not understand how the answer relates. Moving is part of your whitetail game?
No. I said if I wanted to kill bigger deer more consistently, the best odds would be at moving. Wouldn't you say the best way for you to catch more 8#+ bass consistently.....would be moving to somewhere like FL? Good thread. Let's not get side-tracked.
I think he's referring to "your" game as the one each of us are currently playing. (Me=Central PA, Buckeye=Ohio, GMMAT=NC) How could you improve your efficiency on your current hunting grounds?
True, and I'm assuming that you (GM) are only stating you would be more efficient at killing the same age class/quality of buck by using them. You couldn't pick up a ML or rifle and kill better deer because they aren't there, right?
Whatever, Scott. You didn't say "bowhunting only". And, if you're here to decry a compound isn't a bow.......who am I to argue?
You are correct, I did not say bowhunting only. It was a mistake on my part to assume we would talk about archery gear on bowhunting.com. Listing #3 was also a mistake of mine. I should have only said #2.
Well....you were 1 for 3 (giving you the benefit of the doubt on a technicality). So, It wasn't a total wash. But, you could have just let my 1st reply stand on its' own and not muddied your own thread up.
I did not see any thing in this thread get "muddied". I simply stated that your reply did not address the original question.
I can't really improve on my game...I don't really know how to put this, I'm kind of a big deal....People know me.... lol I aim to try and repeat last years efficiency more often, forget this hunting for months nonsense....I wanna strive for first 3 hours hunting for the year = P&Y Buck. Nothing less will be tolerated. To get there, I am trying to be much less invasive....I am running trail cams selectively, and I am also implementing 2 acres of food plots to hold deer past when the neighbors cut the sweet corn. Oh yeah, AND I leased the place...cause throwing money at something ALWAYS solves the problem. :-/ If I was going to try and derail the thread, I'd say I'd hire an outfitter, claim my weapon is harder than others, or I'd move to Ohio.....but I won't go down that road.
Finding land with more suitable needs of a buck (4 yr old or greater). As in.. woods where said buck feels comfortable traveling and bedding in daylight hours. This would improve my own efficiency. Greatly. It's really not hard to get in my vehicle and drive distance to seek this. I've been doing it for years and will continue in 2011 with the same. Or you could just complain about it.. over and over again.
I hear ya, Mike. The hunting community has an exhorbitant share of complainers and ninnies. Agree 100%.
To be more efficient hunting my target I need to spend more time hunting where my target is known to grow and live. It is hard to kill a 200" buck where only a handfull have ever been taken.
