I think its time to change my mindset of whitetail hunting
- Kraftd
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Re: I think its time to change my mindset of whitetail hunti
hunter10, is this a this year issue, or a long-term thing? Just curious, keeping up with the live from the stand thread has been very interesting. Seems like everyone goes through droughts, sometimes a whole season, even guys who get it done at a high rate. Maybe just an off year?
If not, sounds like you have the right mindset, keep at it and good luck!
If not, sounds like you have the right mindset, keep at it and good luck!
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Re: I think its time to change my mindset of whitetail hunti
#1. You gotta find a area with big bucks... this was already mentioned. But, if you currently are not hunting such an area you got to throw away the private land crutch and seek out properties with BIG bucks.
#2 - If you want to kill bigger older deer you have to hunt thick cover PERIOD! The chances of shooting a BIGn in wide open woods is slim outside the rut or early season. I first find a property that holds big deer... then look for the thickest cover you can find. You don't want to dive into the middle of it but hunt the edges that allow you good access. (Don't over look grass/praire/CRP) bucks love to race does around in this type of cover during the rut... even though they are in the wide open they feel secure with the grass/cover around them.
#3. Is access and pressure... Kraft already touched on this as well... over hunting will kill even the BEST properties. Even properties that are 200-300 acres in size. Access... you want to minimize your scent foot print on the ground... that is why I love properties with creek access. I can hunt a trail on the other side of the creek or walk a creek bed leaving very little ground scent where the buck I'm trying to kill will walk (if not during daylight he will at night).
The little details make a BIG difference when you are hunting anything over 2.5yr old deer
#2 - If you want to kill bigger older deer you have to hunt thick cover PERIOD! The chances of shooting a BIGn in wide open woods is slim outside the rut or early season. I first find a property that holds big deer... then look for the thickest cover you can find. You don't want to dive into the middle of it but hunt the edges that allow you good access. (Don't over look grass/praire/CRP) bucks love to race does around in this type of cover during the rut... even though they are in the wide open they feel secure with the grass/cover around them.
#3. Is access and pressure... Kraft already touched on this as well... over hunting will kill even the BEST properties. Even properties that are 200-300 acres in size. Access... you want to minimize your scent foot print on the ground... that is why I love properties with creek access. I can hunt a trail on the other side of the creek or walk a creek bed leaving very little ground scent where the buck I'm trying to kill will walk (if not during daylight he will at night).
The little details make a BIG difference when you are hunting anything over 2.5yr old deer
"When a hunter is in a tree stand with high moral values, with the proper hunting ethics and richer for the experience, that hunter is 20 feet closer to God." Fred Bear
- headgear
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Re: I think its time to change my mindset of whitetail hunti
fishlips wrote:Not saying this is right but busting him out of his bed might give you valuable Intel you may never get. Might screw the bed up for the short term, but he or another one will go back and you'll be able to better hunt him because of the intel.
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I'd say go this route or try something different. If what you are doing isn't working mix it up. Every farm probably has a place you haven't or rarely hunted, mix it up, try different locations at different times of the year. Try some new land, maybe they are bedding just off these properties and you aren't going to get them until after the rut, mixing in some public will keep your farms fresh. Last but not least don't be afraid to fail and don't give up. Totally messing up at area but learning valuable intel for future hunts. I jumped a buck out of an early season bed this year, instead of backing out I scouted the area hard to learn exactly what was happening, the previous years sign had me fooled a bit but now I have a much better idea about what is going on. I've tried everything late season and have never seen a mature buck, this year I am going to mix it up and hunt the middle of the day, keep trying until you find something that works.
- PK_
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Re: I think its time to change my mindset of whitetail hunti
You could also walk the boundaries of you property after a fresh snow and look for big tracks that go in and do not come out.
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Rich M wrote:Typically, hunting FL has been like getting a root canal
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Re: I think its time to change my mindset of whitetail hunti
hunter10 wrote:For years ive hunted and passed up many small bucks always looking for the mature ones that leave all the heavy sign on the lands i hunt but fail to have encounters with them. I think many people experience this and although beast style works great its a fine line between burning out a spot and smoking that monster buck
Until the rut i feel most mature bucks hang tight to their core areas. I get great buck pictures every year before season starts in OCT and the sign is there each year but pictures fall short during the season even if i dont pressure the land (no hunt) what do you think the leading mistakes I and others would be making that are creating these "non encounter" seasons.
there is clearly a mistake being made if the people around me hunting the same type of land have atleast encounters with shooter bucks and i am not?
what do you think fellas?
What you are describing happens to some of us. The disappearing big buck photos seems to happen to me after about a week or two (mid to late October). Mine were night photos anyway. I get these photos on small parcels & they are like clock work.....but they don't live there. They seem to bounce from woodlot to woodlot....it's frustrating. I did have good luck 2 years ago with a mature buck. I was getting DAYTIME photos at least 2x a week & I new he was living very close. I started hunting him and 2 days later he was killed on the neighboring property....157".
I don't know if you are doing anything wrong or not, it sounds like you are doing a lot of things right. If you are only hunting 1 or 2 mature bucks that only pass through occasionally it's going to be tough! Obviously, having more big bucks to hunt would help. I would talk to the guys who are having the encounters & see if you can gather any intel.
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Re: I think its time to change my mindset of whitetail hunti
1st off, placing cameras puts pressure on deer just like hunting them... But, if you know there are big bucks on your property and your not seeing them, your not hunting in the right spots... Its that simple. Are you hunting the same spots every year? Multiple times a year?
Seeing small bucks is irrelevant, its like seeing rabbits... Rabbits are not deer, and mature bucks are nothing like small bucks, they are like two different species. Stay mobile, and keep moving locations. And, most important of all, as soon as your done hunting this year, find the bucks beds, and set up for next year.
INSANITY = Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
Seeing small bucks is irrelevant, its like seeing rabbits... Rabbits are not deer, and mature bucks are nothing like small bucks, they are like two different species. Stay mobile, and keep moving locations. And, most important of all, as soon as your done hunting this year, find the bucks beds, and set up for next year.
INSANITY = Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.
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Re: I think its time to change my mindset of whitetail hunti
hunter10 wrote: Ive thought about giving up on this deer for the season and busting into that bedding area to either kick him out and get a look, find his bed, or absence of him even bedding there.
That might be a good idea. As you mentioned, what you are doing doesn't seem to be working so you have to keep changing things to find out what will or like Dan says you are just being insane
If you don't know what is going on, the only way to improve your hunting is to improve your intel one way or another. Also you mentioned that lots of adjacent properties get pounded by hunters and you have been surprised that deer are not pushed onto your land. That is not always the case especially with mature bucks. If guys are hunting the same old spots repeatedly big bucks will just avoid those locations, it won't make them move to somewhere else. The only thing that sometimes make deer relocate is a lot of random physical disruption like ATVs, horseback riders, lots of hikers etc and even then only sometimes.
dan wrote:And, most important of all, as soon as your done hunting this year, find the bucks beds, and set up for next year.
Glad you brought that up Dan...I've been thinking about that a lot. I have done a ton of scouting, picked a few new set up locations, and put some trail cameras in spots I otherwise would not have to see what is using some tight funnels. Been curious how others approach scouting in the fall for next year.
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Re: I think its time to change my mindset of whitetail hunti
When it comes to scouting Feb-April 1st is my favorite time of year... I can walk all over and I got the woods all to myself. I think it is one of the best times to learn how deer move from point A to point B... feed to bed. Especially when you have some snow...
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Re: I think its time to change my mindset of whitetail hunti
Bucky wrote:When it comes to scouting Feb-April 1st is my favorite time of year... I can walk all over and I got the woods all to myself. I think it is one of the best times to learn how deer move from point A to point B... feed to bed. Especially when you have some snow...
Why so late? Because of the snow?
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Re: I think its time to change my mindset of whitetail hunti
Southern Man wrote:Bucky wrote:When it comes to scouting Feb-April 1st is my favorite time of year... I can walk all over and I got the woods all to myself. I think it is one of the best times to learn how deer move from point A to point B... feed to bed. Especially when you have some snow...
Why so late? Because of the snow?
Yeah - I don't like to push the deer too hard in Jan... although if the snow levels are minimal I start walking in Jan
"When a hunter is in a tree stand with high moral values, with the proper hunting ethics and richer for the experience, that hunter is 20 feet closer to God." Fred Bear
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Re: I think its time to change my mindset of whitetail hunti
great responses guys i appreciate it,
Dan: when you say "if your seeing small bucks your in the wrong area to catch the mature ones" this confuses me as many trees i have climbed have been near bedding areas, thick cover etc where big bucks would hangout. Ive watched countless time small bucks using a piece of cover that is littered with mature buck sign?
We have fresh snow and tomorrow i have the day off and will go do some serious in season scouting and will go bust that bedding area, got nothing to lose. It will be refreshing to follow tracks and see how the deer are moving.
I feel since starting to look into the beast style hunting that sometimes i need to arrive at a farm with no game plan and just use the wind and start looking for fresh sign then head up the tree
Dan: when you say "if your seeing small bucks your in the wrong area to catch the mature ones" this confuses me as many trees i have climbed have been near bedding areas, thick cover etc where big bucks would hangout. Ive watched countless time small bucks using a piece of cover that is littered with mature buck sign?
We have fresh snow and tomorrow i have the day off and will go do some serious in season scouting and will go bust that bedding area, got nothing to lose. It will be refreshing to follow tracks and see how the deer are moving.
I feel since starting to look into the beast style hunting that sometimes i need to arrive at a farm with no game plan and just use the wind and start looking for fresh sign then head up the tree
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Re: I think its time to change my mindset of whitetail hunti
Dan: when you say "if your seeing small bucks your in the wrong area to catch the mature ones" this confuses me as many trees i have climbed have been near bedding areas, thick cover etc where big bucks would hangout. Ive watched countless time small bucks using a piece of cover that is littered with mature buck sign?
Your mis-quoting me... I am saying disregard seeing small bucks, its like seeing squirrels. Your hunting big bucks, then count big buck sightings.
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Re: I think its time to change my mindset of whitetail hunti
Ive thought about giving up on this deer for the season and busting into that bedding area to either kick him out and get a look, find his bed, or absence of him even bedding there.
Andrae goes in and busts them out of there beds in season and then hunts over them... Matter of fact, I think a high percentage of his scouting is in season.
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Re: I think its time to change my mindset of whitetail hunti
hunter10 wrote:great responses guys i appreciate it,
Dan: when you say "if your seeing small bucks your in the wrong area to catch the mature ones" this confuses me as many trees i have climbed have been near bedding areas, thick cover etc where big bucks would hangout. Ive watched countless time small bucks using a piece of cover that is littered with mature buck sign?
We have fresh snow and tomorrow i have the day off and will go do some serious in season scouting and will go bust that bedding area, got nothing to lose. It will be refreshing to follow tracks and see how the deer are moving.
I feel since starting to look into the beast style hunting that sometimes i need to arrive at a farm with no game plan and just use the wind and start looking for fresh sign then head up the tree
One thing about scouting during hunting season you can push the deer off your property and on to the neighbors property to be killed by them. When you asked what you may not doing right? I never ever just scout during hunting season. I hunt during hunting season and scout during the off season. If your scouting with your binos that is one thing. If your covering small properties on foot during hunting season your success will suffer. 90 % of the hunters are not killing good bucks. There are many reasons for this. I asked what you have killed in the last 10 years for a reason. I was not being nosy or picky. A big part of the reason most guys don't kill good bucks is because they don't kill good bucks. Think about this.
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
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Re: I think its time to change my mindset of whitetail hunti
"Seeing small bucks is irrelevant, its like seeing rabbits... Rabbits are not deer, and mature bucks are nothing like small bucks, they are like two different species."
-That is the money line-
I cannot tell you how many times this year I have heard another hunter say, "I am not seeing many deer."
If you are a meat hunter, then this should be a concern. If you are mature animal hunter, who cares about the number of deer you see. My season has been awful just counting deer. But the 3 mature deer encounters I have had make this season awesome! Its all in perspective.
Keep at it!
Getting some blood on your hands is rejuvenating as well. Go shoot a doe and re-rack em!
-That is the money line-
I cannot tell you how many times this year I have heard another hunter say, "I am not seeing many deer."
If you are a meat hunter, then this should be a concern. If you are mature animal hunter, who cares about the number of deer you see. My season has been awful just counting deer. But the 3 mature deer encounters I have had make this season awesome! Its all in perspective.
Keep at it!
Getting some blood on your hands is rejuvenating as well. Go shoot a doe and re-rack em!
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