Do you target bucks specifically the whole season, or do you just hunt them during the rut? Personally if I have a buck tag, I'm setting up with the intention of shooting a buck that sit. I can usually fill my doe tags after I kill a buck or just by hunting and taking a doe when it's not gonna spoil my hunt for a buck. I know there's been some talk of not hunting bucks or the places they hang out until the time is right. My thinking is. If you know where he is get him early before he realizes he is being hunted. If you avoid his area what's to say he doesn't walk by another spot you've been hunting and smell you. Or he walks in front of your neighbor and you will never see him alive again. I hunt bucks every day of the season and have killed them from opening day until January 2nd, alomost the last day. It's not like they aren't out there the whole season.
I always hunt for bucks, but sometimes i hunt stands that i know will produce only does, especially early season.
Bucks, or MATURE bucks. For the majority of my hunting career I hunted bucks from the start of the season & I was rather proficient at it. But for me to even attempt to target a mature bucks more than once or twice with a good weather setup is pretty much pointless IMO. Most years I am not even sure if a mature buck is using the property I hunt at that time of year.
I admit.. I specifically target bucks. However.. I can't hunt them everyday as I believe that would be counter-productive. Never made any sense to me to go in early if all its gonna do is screw me later. I'm a very aggresive hunter.. but I like to think I know when to hold them. I firmly believe in right time.. right buck.. sometimes I just gotta wait. When I'm not hunting bucks in a specific location.. I'm a dabbler in the science of tactic.. I often swing to a location I care less about and try things.. different (usually crap) ideas just to see reactions.. which are usually bleak... but I have fun with it.
What I'm doing is determined on each and every hunt, like Duke if I know there's a spot that I can screw up... why go in? When this situation arises, I'll usually mix it up and hunt an area that I haven't been (that won't conflict with "the right spot"). Exploratory hunts rarely produce for me, but I have had some early season that helped come rut time. I generally don't "set up" to kill a doe, but there is one particular spot that there is a 99% chance that you'll see bucks and does at the same place regardless of what time of year it is. It's one of the most simplistic hunts there is, but there is no way to set up differently for bucks vs. does and no need. When I do set up to kill a doe, it's generally late season in a spot that's almost a no-brainer.
I dont even consider hunting a doe, I spend my entire season hunting for a particular buck or two or three, depending on how many I have found through scouting and inturn am interested in. Big bucks here seldomly and I mean rarely live or move around near any doe familys. Thats just how they become when they get old in the mountains I hunt them in. I never hunt for "bucks" except during the rut when I switch over to doe family group hangouts and travel routes. This time frame only lasts about two weeks of my 4 month season. So about 3.5 months out of the season I am hunting for a particular buck. The last 10 bucks that I have killed I have known them all and have at least 7 of their sheds or multiple sheds and number 8 possibly his shed. Its really a one on one game out here in the big woods, I dont chose it the mountains and vast country dictates it if you want to hunt and kill big bucks outside of the rut. I have killed my top 5 biggest/oldest bucks outside of the rut as well. When you single out a big buck and target him it becomes a chess match in this big country because his moves will be much more random than in ag country where sturcture and feed dictates movement, here forest land and mass vegetation for miles allows bucks to move randomly through their comfort zones. This is why I have to to get to know a buck his tendancies and preferences usually before I kill him. The hardest time to hunt a particular buck is during the rut, because doe family groups are spread out and deer densities are low. This all probably sounds foreign to most unless they bowhunt big woods deer.
I am hunting doe the first part of the season, due to over population as a good stewart I try and do my part. IMO more does one takes out before the rut, the better the rut.
Jeff where you hunt is a big deal, being where Troy hunts it's gun season also during the rut. Take a season like Iowa or Ohio where the gun season is after the rut, your odds go way up. I like the pre rut myself and have had my most success during these times. Times when he may be out looking at night but returning to his bed. Pressure is huge deal, you are hunting pressure deer and so am I. Pressure on mature bucks makes them extremely hard to kill in early season. To me the "where" part of hunting changes my tatics a lot. Meaning I would not hunt does in Iowa in the early season, I would wait until after the rut was over. The number of mature bucks you have makes a differnenc also, there are so many varibles in the "where" for me. I understand your points about hunting "A" buck.
My first two weeks im targeting Does for the most. I do still see bucks during these time but they are usually Dinks anyway. I have learned that some of my Buck spots are better left alone until around Halloween into November.
this year, I'm targeting what ever comes out in front of me... but in previous seasons with the gun I was targeting bucks...
I had an ideal area pegged on the east coast of NC, opening day 04, 05 took 8pointers - 2nd day of the season 06 took 9 pointer- 07 lost that land and did not take a buck that year They had a lot of AG crops on the east coast that I had a perfect access point into the backside of the property -all of the above mentioned deer were taken in the afternoon from the same tree actually - so I guess my answer is I am searching for another perfect area - but will not pass on does waiting for bucks in early season - until I find a similar spot But it can be done as two of the bucks were 2.5 and one was 3.5 -
I hunt for bucks all year long but I am less aggressive during the early season. Areas where I may be able to set up close to where a buck is traveling are usually impossible for me to get out undetected. I kind of hunt the outer fringes of their core area to give myself some chance at getting a shot but also having a good way out. I have had some decent success in the early season as two out of my top three bucks were taken the first week of Oct.
I'm trying new spots this year to target bucks only, but knowing the history of the land like I do, and the booming doe population, I have no pre-conceived notions that I will ONLY see bucks from these spots. My intention all season is to take a buck. I can honestly say I don't go out with the sole intention of shooting a doe unless I already have my buck tag filled.
If I'm targeting a particular buck I'll hunt him when I believe I have a chance to take him. It could be a one day hunt or It could be a week long hunt. This Is all going by sign of coarse. When buck sign Isn't present which has been the case allot the last 5 to 10 years It's sometimes a crab shoot with me. Kind of an Instinct thing, sometimes your right and sometimes your not.
Even though I say I target bucks or does for a particular hunt, it is more meant that I stay out of the better spots and try to kill does in spots that are less likely to impact the area. I still don't understand or observe this "jr high separation" that seems to be rather prevalent. When I hunted "deer"(which usually leaned more towards bucks), I saw DEER. I didn't go "here" because the does were "here", & I didn't go "there" because the bucks were over "there".
Pretty much anywhere I've hunted I see both bucks and does. Maybe not the same day but both use the area. Some days I may see more bucks some days more does. I haven't found any buck specific or doe specific areas either. But I do have areas that I expect to encounter bucks more often.