Successful Patterns

[Mario]

There is probably a post on this already so I apologize if there is. But how about we start a list of successful patterns beast members have experienced that have put them on big bucks. I recently was chatting with a co-worker who is a becoming a rut hunt convert to an early season hunter over beans due to the patterns he has experienced over the last few years on his property. He said he would rather take the first 5 days of the season off this year because he is noticing mature bachelor groups consistently showing up in his bean fields. The farmer he works with has beans planted this season so he is excited.


Patterns:

1. Bachelor group Bucks to beans in early season
2. Bucks to Oak Islands in early season

Are there other patterns you rely on?

[Mibowfreak]

I don't have any good experiences with this. But I can imagine if you have a secluded water source, that could be a key early season pattering tactic?

[kurt]

Apples,alfalfa fresh cut, foodplots, water, Acorns, and soybeans.

A buck doesn'the have to show up during day light just close. But the pattern helps you determine which bed and which direction he will leave

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[Stanley]

Bucks to staging areas. To me this is a killer set up.

[BassBoysLLP]

I agree. WI early opener offers a unique opportunity to take advantage of this early season movement. Love those bed to food hunts with bucks sparring.

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[BassBoysLLP]

I agree. WI early opener offers a unique opportunity to take advantage of this early season movement. Love those bed to food hunts with bucks sparring.

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[DaveT1963]

My most successful patterns.... but I don't rule anything out I adapt to what the buck in after is doing.

Early season =approach and exit to beds, isolated food sources in cover, water holes in cover

Pre rut = morning buck bedding approach, funnels between doe bedding, travel corridors in cover

Rut = doe bedding, funnels between doe bedding

Post rut/late season = evening bed to food

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[mainebowhunter]

For me its going to be whatever food source that is closest to a known bedding area. Big surprise here...apples. And next would be acorns. Really it comes down to whatever you have the least of becomes the focus. Anything that is going to pinpoint a buck to be in a certain location at a certain time. Some places its water or some places its security cover.

We talked in another thread about repeatable daylight patterns. BUT I also use evening/dark patterns to help narrow down what a buck is doing. If he is showing up at 9pm everynight or 5 nights a week, he has a pattern...just not a killable one. But it puts me on the search to try and find him. I think its why I inseason scout so much. Because many times, stuff happens, bucks show up that I had no idea about. It get really aggressive trying to find them.

Big bucks showing up on apples at 9pm at night trips up a lot of Maine boys thinking they are in the chips. They just don't magically change unless there is some sort of a major front coming in. Some bucks bed within 75yds of the apples ...some bed 1000yds from the apples.

[JoeRE]

Bed to food has been discussed pretty well so far...my favorite patterns in bluff country here are pre-rut related in the last half of October. Bucks are still eating of course but they are also starting to exhibit seeking behavior, keeping an eye on local doe groups. They may start to frequent bedding a little closer to doe groups, still secure but easy to keep an eye on the nearby does, not 1/2 mile away all by their lonesome anymore. There may be a scrape in their staging area near their bedding that can be hunted. Otherwise their travel routes into and out of their bedding are just toward those doe groups and major food sources. The preferred food at the moment may be acorns, fresh cut corn or beans, alfalfa new seeding, even maple leaves for a short time. Its important to stay on top of what's hot as it changes rapidly, part of the reason many folks struggle mid-October.All that makes a difference on where the does will be, and what direction the buck is going to be leaving his bedding or coming back to bed.

Late pre-rut, around Halloween, I see some primary scrapes in thermal hub locations (down low) get hit by big bucks as they scent check the surrounding ridges for early does in estrus. Another late pre-rut pattern is the early hot doe, if I find one I will be set up probably on that doe bedding area next year hoping she is still around....all that are mostly the patterns I look for.

[IkemanTx]

Pre-rut
I focus on small out of the way food sources, bedding, and water, water, water. It isn't uncommon to hit low 90's at least once in archery season (average highs in the low 80's), so water in cover can be GOLD.
Rut
Travel corridors, pinch points between doe bedding, funnels... Not very beast like during rut.
Post rut
I rarely get to hunt post rut due to work, but when I do, I look for edges as far away from hunter traffic as possible

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Bucky]

I took off first week too.... beans, alfalfa, clover. Watch from a distance and pray weather stays consistent or an early season cold front. I have had mature buck shots last 3yrs in Sept... all heading to food/water

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[IkemanTx]

Pre-rut
I focus on small out of the way food sources, bedding, and water, water, water. It isn't uncommon to hit low 90's at least once in archery season (average highs in the low 80's), so water in cover can be GOLD.
Rut
Travel corridors, pinch points between doe bedding, funnels... Not very beast like during rut.
Post rut
I rarely get to hunt post rut due to work, but when I do, I look for edges as far away from hunter traffic as possible

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Stanley]

This is an interesting topic.

[whitetailassasin]

I took off first week too.... beans, alfalfa, clover. Watch from a distance and pray weather stays consistent or an early season cold front. I have had mature buck shots last 3yrs in Sept... all heading to food/water

[ Post made via Android ]

Most places I hunt have an abundance of water, so deer don't have to go far and many times only 20-30 yards from bedding to get to it. Remote oaks, dogwood, certain native grasses, clover tops, and fruits will draw deer but the time frame is so quick you really have to hit it right, which makes it tough to pattern. October 1st is our opener and I see around 2-3rd week in September bucks start to break away from summer feed patterns and head to fall ranges. I'm still trying to nail down some pattern that I can count on during this time. Pressure really puts deer on high alert and I swear on my life, last year I sat a buck bed opening evening, and literally the last 20-25 minutes watched the buck rise and walk by me. That was opening day!! And in this area if you where sitting a food source of any kind you would have never even saw this buck. He literally made it less than 80 yards before it was too dark to shoot, and I was way back in. And I saw another shooter that evening just 5-10 minutes before that come from another bedding area I was also monitoring. I personally can't establish a pattern as some are suggesting, for me it's wind, and security in order to be in the game even early season.

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[mainebowhunter]

I took off first week too.... beans, alfalfa, clover. Watch from a distance and pray weather stays consistent or an early season cold front. [glow=red]I have had mature buck shots last 3yrs in Sept... all heading to food/water[/glow]

[ Post made via Android ]

Most places I hunt have an abundance of water, so deer don't have to go far and many times only 20-30 yards from bedding to get to it. Remote oaks, dogwood, certain native grasses, clover tops, and fruits will draw deer but the time frame is so quick you really have to hit it right, which makes it tough to pattern. October 1st is our opener and I [glow=red]see around 2-3rd week in September bucks start to break away from summer feed patterns and head to fall ranges[/glow]. I'm still trying to nail down some pattern that I can count on during this time. Pressure really puts deer on high alert and I swear on my life, last year I sat a buck bed opening evening, and literally the last 20-25 minutes watched the buck rise and walk by me. That was opening day!! And in this area if you where sitting a food source of any kind you would have never even saw this buck. He literally made it less than 80 yards before it was too dark to shoot, and I was way back in. And I saw another shooter that evening just 5-10 minutes before that come from another bedding area I was also monitoring. I personally can't establish a pattern as some are suggesting, for me it's wind, and security in order to be in the game even early season.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

September can be dyanmite. Its why I have been busting hump so hard in urban zone trying to nail something down. All of my best stuff is outside where hunting opens on Oct 1st. This September is really looking very promising. Figured out a lot of stuff this past winter.

I have watched 4-5yr old bucks on their feet broad daylight during September .....multiple days in a row. Very patternable...but not huntable.