Will mature buck cross public road on a farm in daylight?

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comeback_kid
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Will mature buck cross public road on a farm in daylight?

Unread postby comeback_kid » Wed Jun 28, 2017 2:07 am

This farm area that I hunt has a road kind of cutting it in half with woodlots on either side of the road after ag fields. There are deer on both sides as I have observed them around sunset coming out of the woods to feed on the fields.

How much a mature buck is going to avoid crossing that road during any kind of daylight? It's not a highway or anything, but does have some light traffic throughout the day. Obviously, the rut is a different ballgame and there is doe bedding on both sides so I would say he would cross during the rut to scent check doe bedding. However, I am trying to pattern this herd in general and specifically figure out what a mature buck is likely to do in early season.

In terms of cover, depending on where he comes out he would either cross open field hit the road, then more open field before he got to the woods again. OR he could cross where the woods go right up to the road and then continue on the other side in a small wooded fencerow with some cover. Thus never being completely in the open, though this fencerow does go behind some buildings and houses etc.


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Re: Will mature buck cross public road on a farm in daylight?

Unread postby tgreeno » Wed Jun 28, 2017 2:31 am

I would guess unless he's pressured, he's not going to cross that road during daylight. Or chasing during rut.

To me it seem like a great opportunity to observe and glass that road, to see if he crosses. Back-off enough as to not be noticed, and glass from the side of that road for the last 45 minutes of daylight for a bunch of evenings.
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Re: Will mature buck cross public road on a farm in daylight?

Unread postby Ghost Hunter » Wed Jun 28, 2017 2:35 am

If he does, will instinctively cross at a place with least visibility. Unless he is pushed then he might resist an go down side of road. Or cross in a hurry.
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Re: Will mature buck cross public road on a farm in daylight?

Unread postby dan » Wed Jun 28, 2017 4:11 am

When I hunt bucks outside of rut I have taken notice that mature bucks generally stage before an opening, or obstacle. Its like there willing to move in daylight in the area they feel they could see / hear to... As soon as you hit a transition they hesitate. Like a road, river, opening, etc.

Where I hunt them close to roads where they bed in the thick public and feed on the private farm side, even though they are bedded 60 yards from the road they rarely make it across in daylight, I have to get between them and the road to kill em.
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Re: Will mature buck cross public road on a farm in daylight?

Unread postby oldrank » Wed Jun 28, 2017 4:52 am

In 42 years of life, I do not recall ever seeing a mature buck cross the road in front of me in day light outside of the rut. During the rut its only happened a handful of times.
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Re: Will mature buck cross public road on a farm in daylight?

Unread postby Stanley » Wed Jun 28, 2017 4:54 am

A agree with Dan. The buck I killed in 2015 was crossing a road to get to a good food source. That said I set up on him long before he would have reached the road. This was just a few days before the rut kicked in.
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Re: Will mature buck cross public road on a farm in daylight?

Unread postby csoult » Wed Jun 28, 2017 5:09 am

I watched a big buck chase a couple of does across a road in daylight during the rut last year. To go along with what Stan and Dan said, Last year right after dark I watched a buck cross a dirt road. I know where his bed was and I can make a pretty good assumption that he was staged up waiting for it to get dark before he crossed that road.
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Re: Will mature buck cross public road on a farm in daylight?

Unread postby comeback_kid » Wed Jun 28, 2017 5:19 am

csoult wrote:I watched a big buck chase a couple of does across a road in daylight during the rut last year. To go along with what Stan and Dan said, Last year right after dark I watched a buck cross a dirt road. I know where his bed was and I can make a pretty good assumption that he was staged up waiting for it to get dark before he crossed that road.


was the first road a paved road or dirt? In my case it's a paved road, but for sure this thread is helping me narrow down where his core daytime area is, now that I know he will "likely" not be crossing that road.
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Re: Will mature buck cross public road on a farm in daylight?

Unread postby csoult » Wed Jun 28, 2017 7:21 am

comeback_kid wrote:was the first road a paved road or dirt? In my case it's a paved road, but for sure this thread is helping me narrow down where his core daytime area is, now that I know he will "likely" not be crossing that road.

First was a paved and fairly busy road, that was during the rut though.
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Re: Will mature buck cross public road on a farm in daylight?

Unread postby Bigb » Wed Jun 28, 2017 1:50 pm

I've seen them cross but its a road that has thick woods on both sides. I have a stand that is about 50 yards from a gravel road and during the rut, they cross it all the time. It is semi thick woods though. In the rut, anything goes. I love seeing a big, mature buck with a doe pinned down in the middle of an ag field midday. If the USPS or Fedex person is going by when I'm getting ready to walk in, I always ask them what they are seeing. They are some of the best people to ask about the progress of the rut, as well as police.


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