Hunting, patterning and killing your #1 buck.

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Re: Hunting, patterning and killing your #1 buck.

Unread postby jpsmith270 » Wed Dec 20, 2017 2:03 pm

Very good topic for discussion. One thing another Beast has taught me is annual patterns. If I haven't heard him say 100 times I have heard him say it once. Annual patterns.....annual patterns.....annual patterns.

Great post and great information.


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Re: Hunting, patterning and killing your #1 buck.

Unread postby jman22 » Thu Dec 21, 2017 12:36 am

oldrank wrote:
jman22 wrote:
Good post. Had you hunted the swamp you killed him out of in previous years? It sounds like getting a predictable time line down was key for you. I think this is where cams can play a huge roll. I really need to master the cam game. I think it would take me years of visual sightings to equal what I could learn off of cams in a season. I'm just so afraid of getting them stolen... But they are not doing me any good in the basement. I find if I am uncomfortable doing something the only way to get comfortable is by doing it more.

Good post thanks for sharing.


I have hunted that swamp in previous years, but I wasn't hunting right! I was mostly hunting the field edges that led into the swamp. Although I was seeing lots of deer, I wasn't seeing THE deer I was after (and the deer that I knew were in there!). I might have seen a big buck or two during the rut, but I wasn't getting close enough. I started putting some stands on interior transitions and although I wasn't seeing nearly as many deer, I was seeing more mature deer. Also, I have some great access (small creeks) to get to these stands which really helps.

A somewhat predictable timeline is definitely what has helped me in the past. It at least puts me in the game. And yes, cameras are a huge part of my scouting and info log. I don't have to deal with as much theft as you guys that strictly hunt public do, but I definitely think its worth the risk!
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Re: Hunting, patterning and killing your #1 buck.

Unread postby Lockdown » Thu Dec 21, 2017 12:48 am

jman22 wrote:I have been fortunate enough to kill a few bucks that I considered "target bucks" and I have had many great encounters with other target bucks, even though I didn't end up putting a tag on them.

The majority of my hunting occurs in private farm country. My biggest key to success is past knowledge. Trail cameras and sightings while in the stand are what I rely heavily on. I keep good notes regarding pics/sightings and use that info to try and keep a step ahead of the deer. I have hunted these farms for years so I also pay attention to where the deer bed and how crop rotation affects the bedding. For instance I have a very small pond/swale area that has super bedding. It's right near the road and very unassuming. For whatever reason I have found that in years where the surrounding fields are in soy beans, a nice buck or two will bed in this area through the pre-rut. When the surrounding fields are corn, it just doesn't seem hold a big buck. If I had to guess, I'd say the visibility is better from the deers point of view when the fields are in beans as compared to corn.

The buck I killed this year, I had pics of as a 2 and 3 yo. He was all over my cameras from June till late sept/1st week of Oct. Then he disappeared until the very end of Oct and would show up more regularly through the end of the season. I saw him a few times from the stand in 2015 and also once in 2016. I was after a larger buck in a different area during 2016 so I wasn't hunting the piece he was on that year and was relying on trail camera pics. After finding the beast I did a little more scouting then I usually do and found some beds and moved some stands around that would put me closer to bedding and along interior transitions. In 2017 the buck seemed to be on the same pattern, so I threw a few field edge sits at him early in the season to try and spot him. I only checked my cameras that were minimally intrusive and was only checking them every 3 weeks or so. After not seeing any sign of the buck, I just waited. I got a great wind during the last week of Oct for a new stand I had set up that was on a swamp transition. I had hunted the stand twice in early season and noticed little sign and saw no deer. First thing I noticed when I got to my stand on Oct 27th was multiple rubs and scrapes. I just had that feeling the buck was back in there. Lucky enough for me my "target buck" showed up and I was able to get my hands on him that night. My takeaway with that deer, was using past knowledge to put myself in the best position to see that buck. I didn't waste time hunting and laying scent down when the buck has not historically been there and I wasn't checking cams very often (again, laying down more scent). Of course I also depend heavily on luck!

I'll say that with farm country, you don't always have long window to kill a buck you're after unless you are hunting a very large farm with big acreage. I'm in a heavily pressured area (especially during gun) and many of the bucks I have been after are killed by neighbors during gun season. It seems if I want to get a glance or shot at a buck I'm after I have to get the job done during bow season. I just really try to use that past knowledge to try and put the pieces together. If conditions are right and I'm not spooking deer and still seeing the buck I'm after, I throw multiple sits out of the same stands bc I know if I wait too long that buck could easily change his pattern and be off the farm I'm hunting. This is especially true once the rut really gets kicking and those mature bucks are moving a bit more.


I find this very interesting and would have expected the exact opposite. I have a few bedding areas that need standing corn in order for them to be used :think:
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Re: Hunting, patterning and killing your #1 buck.

Unread postby jman22 » Thu Dec 21, 2017 1:23 am

Lockdown wrote:
jman22 wrote:I have been fortunate enough to kill a few bucks that I considered "target bucks" and I have had many great encounters with other target bucks, even though I didn't end up putting a tag on them.

The majority of my hunting occurs in private farm country. My biggest key to success is past knowledge. Trail cameras and sightings while in the stand are what I rely heavily on. I keep good notes regarding pics/sightings and use that info to try and keep a step ahead of the deer. I have hunted these farms for years so I also pay attention to where the deer bed and how crop rotation affects the bedding. For instance I have a very small pond/swale area that has super bedding. It's right near the road and very unassuming. For whatever reason I have found that in years where the surrounding fields are in soy beans, a nice buck or two will bed in this area through the pre-rut. When the surrounding fields are corn, it just doesn't seem hold a big buck. If I had to guess, I'd say the visibility is better from the deers point of view when the fields are in beans as compared to corn.

The buck I killed this year, I had pics of as a 2 and 3 yo. He was all over my cameras from June till late sept/1st week of Oct. Then he disappeared until the very end of Oct and would show up more regularly through the end of the season. I saw him a few times from the stand in 2015 and also once in 2016. I was after a larger buck in a different area during 2016 so I wasn't hunting the piece he was on that year and was relying on trail camera pics. After finding the beast I did a little more scouting then I usually do and found some beds and moved some stands around that would put me closer to bedding and along interior transitions. In 2017 the buck seemed to be on the same pattern, so I threw a few field edge sits at him early in the season to try and spot him. I only checked my cameras that were minimally intrusive and was only checking them every 3 weeks or so. After not seeing any sign of the buck, I just waited. I got a great wind during the last week of Oct for a new stand I had set up that was on a swamp transition. I had hunted the stand twice in early season and noticed little sign and saw no deer. First thing I noticed when I got to my stand on Oct 27th was multiple rubs and scrapes. I just had that feeling the buck was back in there. Lucky enough for me my "target buck" showed up and I was able to get my hands on him that night. My takeaway with that deer, was using past knowledge to put myself in the best position to see that buck. I didn't waste time hunting and laying scent down when the buck has not historically been there and I wasn't checking cams very often (again, laying down more scent). Of course I also depend heavily on luck!

I'll say that with farm country, you don't always have long window to kill a buck you're after unless you are hunting a very large farm with big acreage. I'm in a heavily pressured area (especially during gun) and many of the bucks I have been after are killed by neighbors during gun season. It seems if I want to get a glance or shot at a buck I'm after I have to get the job done during bow season. I just really try to use that past knowledge to try and put the pieces together. If conditions are right and I'm not spooking deer and still seeing the buck I'm after, I throw multiple sits out of the same stands bc I know if I wait too long that buck could easily change his pattern and be off the farm I'm hunting. This is especially true once the rut really gets kicking and those mature bucks are moving a bit more.


I find this very interesting and would have expected the exact opposite. I have a few bedding areas that need standing corn in order for them to be used :think:


I would have thought the same thing lockdown. This farm is on a no-till corn and bean rotation and this pattern has held true. I can't come up with a great reason, but I can only figure the mature bucks feel more secure being able to visually see so much from the bedding with beans surrounding them? Then again you'd think the corn would give them security and food as well. Maybe with it being such a small bedding area, when it is surround by corn, the noise from all the blowing stalks can get them on edge as well? Just speculation on my part.
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Re: Hunting, patterning and killing your #1 buck.

Unread postby hunter10 » Fri Sep 06, 2019 7:14 am

jman22 wrote:I have been fortunate enough to kill a few bucks that I considered "target bucks" and I have had many great encounters with other target bucks, even though I didn't end up putting a tag on them.

The majority of my hunting occurs in private farm country. My biggest key to success is past knowledge. Trail cameras and sightings while in the stand are what I rely heavily on. I keep good notes regarding pics/sightings and use that info to try and keep a step ahead of the deer. I have hunted these farms for years so I also pay attention to where the deer bed and how crop rotation affects the bedding. For instance I have a very small pond/swale area that has super bedding. It's right near the road and very unassuming. For whatever reason I have found that in years where the surrounding fields are in soy beans, a nice buck or two will bed in this area through the pre-rut. When the surrounding fields are corn, it just doesn't seem hold a big buck. If I had to guess, I'd say the visibility is better from the deers point of view when the fields are in beans as compared to corn.

The buck I killed this year, I had pics of as a 2 and 3 yo. He was all over my cameras from June till late sept/1st week of Oct. Then he disappeared until the very end of Oct and would show up more regularly through the end of the season. I saw him a few times from the stand in 2015 and also once in 2016. I was after a larger buck in a different area during 2016 so I wasn't hunting the piece he was on that year and was relying on trail camera pics. After finding the beast I did a little more scouting then I usually do and found some beds and moved some stands around that would put me closer to bedding and along interior transitions. In 2017 the buck seemed to be on the same pattern, so I threw a few field edge sits at him early in the season to try and spot him. I only checked my cameras that were minimally intrusive and was only checking them every 3 weeks or so. After not seeing any sign of the buck, I just waited. I got a great wind during the last week of Oct for a new stand I had set up that was on a swamp transition. I had hunted the stand twice in early season and noticed little sign and saw no deer. First thing I noticed when I got to my stand on Oct 27th was multiple rubs and scrapes. I just had that feeling the buck was back in there. Lucky enough for me my "target buck" showed up and I was able to get my hands on him that night. My takeaway with that deer, was using past knowledge to put myself in the best position to see that buck. I didn't waste time hunting and laying scent down when the buck has not historically been there and I wasn't checking cams very often (again, laying down more scent). Of course I also depend heavily on luck!

I'll say that with farm country, you don't always have long window to kill a buck you're after unless you are hunting a very large farm with big acreage. I'm in a heavily pressured area (especially during gun) and many of the bucks I have been after are killed by neighbors during gun season. It seems if I want to get a glance or shot at a buck I'm after I have to get the job done during bow season. I just really try to use that past knowledge to try and put the pieces together. If conditions are right and I'm not spooking deer and still seeing the buck I'm after, I throw multiple sits out of the same stands bc I know if I wait too long that buck could easily change his pattern and be off the farm I'm hunting. This is especially true once the rut really gets kicking and those mature bucks are moving a bit more.

Your post describes a lot of the dirt I hunt and is making me realize like others have stated that maybe spreading yourself too thin sometimes puts you out of the game. I can remember many times hunting a farm and going somewhere else and then somewhere else again only to return around the rut or after scouting to see all the rut sign left behind when I was in a tree down the road while the buck was using the woodlot I was in a month before... these are all usually 100 acre farms or less with only 60-80 usually being continued bush
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Re: Hunting, patterning and killing your #1 buck.

Unread postby oldrank » Fri Sep 06, 2019 9:53 am

Interesting bump of an old thread of mine. Last year I spent the better part of my season chasing a particular buck. I also had a back up buck. I never could catch up to buck #1. He was in an area I had never hunted so the land was all new to me. I killed buck number 2. I shoulder shot him in October but knew he was still alive n kicking and caught back up with him in December after gun pressure dropped. Killed him with my .50 Cal.

Buck number one is still alive. I actually just got home from scouting his perimeter area to see if he was rubbing.....bingo fresh 5 foot tall rubs with blood on em. I put alot of scouting time in on this piece and feel pretty good about this year. I'm going to focus mainly on him again. Hopefully I can contain my itchy trigger finger.

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Re: Hunting, patterning and killing your #1 buck.

Unread postby Jackson Marsh » Fri Sep 06, 2019 10:29 am

8-)

Very nice find oldrank :dance:
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Re: Hunting, patterning and killing your #1 buck.

Unread postby backstraps » Fri Sep 06, 2019 12:14 pm

Good job oldrank :clap: ole buck number one may have his days numbered this year
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Re: Hunting, patterning and killing your #1 buck.

Unread postby Hawthorne » Fri Sep 06, 2019 12:18 pm

Good find old rank!
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Re: Hunting, patterning and killing your #1 buck.

Unread postby oldrank » Fri Sep 06, 2019 1:22 pm

backstraps wrote:Good job oldrank :clap: ole buck number one may have his days numbered this year


I'm hoping so. I will give it my all. He schooled me last year, but I learned alot.

Just reread the entire thread. Great advice and stories.
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Re: Hunting, patterning and killing your #1 buck.

Unread postby justdirtyfun » Fri Sep 06, 2019 1:47 pm

Very timely bump. Great reminder of how being in the game doesn't have to be bouncing everywhere. I have a target and need some fresh Intel like that fresh rub pic. Almost go time!
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Re: Hunting, patterning and killing your #1 buck.

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Fri Sep 06, 2019 2:27 pm

Fun to find pieces to the puzzle like that!

Man it all starts again special zone on Saturday. Worked my tail off this year. Been out glassing observing every evening since June 1. August is such a fun month. Seen some slammers. Bucks I know about. Few I have sheds from. Watching from the fringes...

It is interesting because I am still chasing 2 bucks I knew about in 2017. 1 in particular. Just landed a piece of ground that's only 5 acres but it could be just the access I need. So many pics of him. 2 sheds. Wrong nights on wrong stands. 100s hours scouting. Followed his tracks in the snow.

Saturday it all starts again...
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Re: Hunting, patterning and killing your #1 buck.

Unread postby oldrank » Fri Sep 06, 2019 9:49 pm

mainebowhunter wrote:Fun to find pieces to the puzzle like that!

Man it all starts again special zone on Saturday. Worked my tail off this year. Been out glassing observing every evening since June 1. August is such a fun month. Seen some slammers. Bucks I know about. Few I have sheds from. Watching from the fringes...

It is interesting because I am still chasing 2 bucks I knew about in 2017. 1 in particular. Just landed a piece of ground that's only 5 acres but it could be just the access I need. So many pics of him. 2 sheds. Wrong nights on wrong stands. 100s hours scouting. Followed his tracks in the snow.

Saturday it all starts again...


Kill him Maine !!
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Re: Hunting, patterning and killing your #1 buck.

Unread postby greenhorndave » Sat Sep 07, 2019 7:23 am

This was a great thread and bump. oldrank.

Gold mine.
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Re: Hunting, patterning and killing your #1 buck.

Unread postby hunter10 » Sat Sep 07, 2019 1:55 pm

I would like to know when it comes to these smaller tracts you talk about, it’s either he’s there or he’s not. How does sign tell you that when you have no sightings. Anyone who has chased white tails long enough can tell by a track that’s fresh or a rub with bark still laying on top of leaves that he’s close but how do you really walk into the woods even if fringe scouting and can say “ yep he’s in this woodlot”


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