When did you kill your 3 biggest bucks?

Unread postby **Divergent** » Mon Jun 18, 2018 5:21 pm

I’ve found that I rarely, if ever, see mature bucks in the evening after the leaves drop. I hunt big woods with no ag. I could break this down into several more categories, but I’d like to see a very basic poll first. By biggest...most mature or largest racked buck

Unread postby **Dewey** » Mon Jun 18, 2018 5:51 pm

Rut PM by a long shot for total buck kills. Just counting my top three the second largest buck was a morning rut kill but my first and third biggest were evening kills even though I mostly do all day hunts during that time. My sightings are higher in mornings but for whatever reason the kills all happen in the PM.

My three largest bucks were killed Nov 1,2,3 which coincidentally are my three best days every single season.

Unread postby **Wannabelikedan** » Mon Jun 18, 2018 6:33 pm

Mornings during the rut have produced 2 of my 3 biggest. I put down my largest ever the last 30 minutes of light last year Nov 3. I also probably hunted more evenings last year than ever using bed hunting tactics. Saw 3-4 times more big mature bucks than ever last year as well. Had better “luck” during the mornings in my pre-beast years if you would have asked me then.

Unread postby **MikePerry** » Mon Jun 18, 2018 8:16 pm

Are we talking bow or just biggest? Oldest or just by score? My two biggest scoring ( 181 & 162 ) were killed in their bed with a inline muzzleloader mid morning and the next was a 150’s bowkill in the evening during the rut. My oldest buck a 8 1/2 year old bow kill was mid day rut

Unread postby **Divergent** » Mon Jun 18, 2018 8:52 pm

Dewey wrote:Rut PM by a long shot for total buck kills. Just counting my top three the second largest buck was a morning rut kill but my first and third biggest were evening kills even though I mostly do all day hunts during that time. My sightings are higher in mornings but for whatever reason the kills all happen in the PM.

I think I remember you hunting a lot of marshes or cattails. Were all three in that type of cover?

Unread postby **Divergent** » Mon Jun 18, 2018 8:54 pm

Wannabelikedan wrote:Mornings during the rut have produced 2 of my 3 biggest. I put down my largest ever the last 30 minutes of light last year Nov 3. I also probably hunted more evenings last year than ever using bed hunting tactics. Saw 3-4 times more big mature bucks than ever last year as well. Had better “luck” during the mornings in my pre-beast years if you would have asked me then.

Were type of cover or terrain were you hunting in those situations?

Unread postby **Divergent** » Mon Jun 18, 2018 8:58 pm

MikePerry wrote:Are we talking bow or just biggest? Oldest or just by score? My two biggest scoring ( 181 & 162 ) were killed in their bed with a inline muzzleloader mid morning and the next was a 150’s bowkill in the evening during the rut. My oldest buck a 8 1/2 year old bow kill was mid day rut

I should’ve mentioned it in the poll too, but biggest as being either maturity or score...whichever you choose. However you killed your top three.

Unread postby **brancher147** » Mon Jun 18, 2018 10:48 pm

Mid October stalking/still hunting at noon in his bed.

Rut evening stand hunting last light

Late rut noon tracking in the snow

All big woods. All public. All gun kills

Unread postby **JoeRE** » Mon Jun 18, 2018 11:40 pm

One on October 2nd in the evening during a small early season cold front, one on Dec 25th Christmas Day mid day when it was 60 degrees out and one on Jan 7th in the evening 3rd to last day of the season and it was -6F not accounting for the windchill.

So one early season and two late season (muzzleloader kills). The christmas day buck was killed by my brother bumping him to me but the other two were pure bed to food natural movement.

Its worth mentioning that these three biggest bucks were I think 3, 4, and 7+ years old. So biggest antlers doesn't mean oldest by any means.

If I looked at oldest (say all that I thought were 5+ years old) only one out of a dozen or so was in November and that was late Nov - the 22nd I believe.

Unread postby **Lockdown** » Mon Jun 18, 2018 11:54 pm

Mostly evening. And all but one buck has been during rut. It’s a tough go around here with all the crops. Standing corn provides a lot of bedding. Once the crops come out rut kicks in. It’s when the woods come alive around here. Shooter sightings go up ten fold.

Unread postby **WV Bowhunter** » Tue Jun 19, 2018 12:11 am

My two biggest bow kills were oct 7th in pm, and November 14th at 10:55 am. My biggest buck was killed with a muzzleloader early a.m. going back to his bed.

Unread postby **thwack16** » Tue Jun 19, 2018 12:32 am

I voted Rut pm, Late season AM, Late season PM. My four best would've come in those time frames with my next several best coming Rut AM.

I've shot at just one big buck early season PM and didn't execute that shot. Never at one early season AM.

Unread postby **Bowfisher** » Tue Jun 19, 2018 1:04 am

My biggest and third biggest were both killed Novemebrr 19th, exactly one year apart, from the same tree. One was evening and one was morning. My second biggest was killed November 4th in the evening.
Going down the line some more.. 4th was morning. 5th was morning. 6th and 7th evening, 8th morning... so I’m pretty evenly split. All bowkills during rut except one gun kill.

Unread postby **Boogieman1** » Tue Jun 19, 2018 1:32 am

For me 2 of the 3 were rut late morning. Those hours between 10-1 pm have always been magical for me inbetween the right doe bedding. The other was killed in the evening opening day tucked into a inside corner of a secluded alfalpha field.

Unread postby **muddy** » Tue Jun 19, 2018 1:56 am

Biggest was on a nudge drive so didn't count that. After that the biggest/most mature were all natural movement. Rut AM x1 and Rut PM x2.