Finding Where Mature Deer Are

Discuss deer hunting tactics, Deer behavior. Post your Hunting Stories, Pictures, and Questions/Answers.
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PK_
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Re: Finding Where Mature Deer Are

Unread postby PK_ » Fri May 22, 2020 5:25 am

comeback_kid wrote:
PK_ wrote:So, there is somewhat of a blueprint or some principles that guys follow to find and pick apart new areas cyber scouting. But there are a matrix of factors that go into it.

This is pretty much how I have done the majority of my hunting over the last decade or more. Lots and lots of cyber scouting and hunting new areas. It is the most fun to me.

With few exceptions, you have to do it a lot to get good at it.

The biggest tip I can give you if you are trying to find mature bucks purely cyber scouting is to look at areas with terrain that you understand already and makes sense to you.

If you are staring at a map wondering where a big buck would be living, you either don’t understand how bucks use that terrainor the terrain is not conducive to cyber scouting. It is really that simple.


In your experience what types of terrain are not conducive to cyber scouting?


Blended edges, rolling hills, monoculture, checkerboard ag/woods. Giant areas of planted pines or crp that lack wet edges, low spots, ridges, fingers, points or openings that can be seen by aerial/topo. Flooded timber swamps, expansive palmetto flats etc...

those kinds of areas in my experience require lots of boot time, you almost have to grid search that stuff for buck sign and find where they live, and it is not as consistent usually. They will move with food sources or water levels. They will pick up and move if you put any pressure on them because their core area is not always tied directly to a dominant feature. You really have to put in a lot of time observing as well as some of the best bedding areas I have found in terrain like that has no sign to speak of in or around it. It was found by literally watching bucks go in and out of it over the years and jumping them up occasionally while walking by...


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Twenty Up
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Re: Finding Where Mature Deer Are

Unread postby Twenty Up » Fri May 22, 2020 12:34 pm

I personally enjoy locating mature bucks as much as I do actually hunting them. I have friends that also relate to this, and many others with varying degrees of caring.

I say this because many deer hunters prefer shooting before hunting, if you catch my jive. This doesn’t make one hunter better or worse than another, but it’s definitely a crucial aspect when approaching this style of hunting. It can very easily deter or leave a poor experience on someone who thinks they can locate a mature Buck bed on their first scouting trip, or kill a mature buck in one sit. It happens, sometimes.

Think of deer as bass or any other fish, they’ll school up in certain locations during certain times of the year. Different baits work better or worse at different times, temperatures etc...

So when I’m scouting new ground, my winds in my face and I’m trying to jump deer. Hunting, scouting doesn’t matter, I’m trying to locate a pattern for that specific terrain at that specific time frame. Note this information, pay attention to trails, tracks, topography, hunting pressure, browse, scrapes.. absorb it all and attempt to interpret that information as best you can. Track your walks and remember what the area looked like from the ground, then compare the aerial view. This will help you better interpret aerial maps for future aerial scouting.

It’s hard to give generalized answers without knowing crucial specific details. My best advice is to be persistent, be positive, have fun and attempt to interpret & predict deer sign. Eventually you’ll know when to stop and hang a stand or when to keep walking. ;)
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1STRANGEWILDERNESS
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Re: Finding Where Mature Deer Are

Unread postby 1STRANGEWILDERNESS » Fri May 22, 2020 2:30 pm

You already got a ton of good tips and support here. Since you’re talking lower MI I can’t help but chime in. I grew up down there. Honestly a lot of guys on here are way over my head on such detailed knowledge. I’m working on that stuff and think it’s absolutely awesome. When I was down there I kept it simple. I looked for big bucks sightings, rubs, tracks, rumors. Then in my head food source was pretty easy always some ag or oaks and my buddy and I would just rack our brains on where everyone else hunted. That was our number one thing to figure out. Then what areas were left.. We ended up generally on some tree line out in the fragmites or cattails or crossing some river in a canoe, occasionally it was right by the main road or a parking lot in hardwoods. Both of us had one spot that we maybe didn’t know that well inside and out but almost every fall wed connect and go through so much to mask where we shot the deer. People would be trying to find out and they wouldn’t be shy about moving in on you. We were in climbers and most everyone else were in 12 ft high fixed stands :lol: It was funny then nobody thought you could be hunting an area w out a permanent stand. We had lists of locations available to hunt based off wind direction. Check the wind then scan the options. Driving an hr or more is common because local public often may not hold mature bucks so you go find something that “might” be worth tour time. Before the list was built up we hunted blind all the dang time. Took our climbers and hoofed it in. Many Many failures but we found some great spots over a few seasons. Of course when you’re skipping college and hitting the woods everyday you eventually run into a big buck.
Looking back I probably should’ve focused on school and made it through... :doh:

Most the large tracts we hit around mid mi were tough but always had a few good bucks. Not that We could figure them all out. The smaller tracts were not all junk but A lot of them we skimmed and passed on. I’d say it was about an 8 yr run and between the two of us we probably connected on nearly 16 bucks 110”-130”.

We sure weren’t experts.. And I’m still not even close. I moved to bigwoods and was humbled beyond belief. Take away marsh, oaks and ag turns out idk squat about deer.. took me a Few yrs just to start having encounters with food bucks up here.. back in that 04-12’ run I would say this Is what worked.. 1 is anything big around or likely around just based off rumors Personal sightings or rubs? 2 Where’s everyone else hunting? 3 scout and hang and hunt Instantly on the remaining area based off hunting near where you think the deer is bedding. If you’re scouting be ready to hunt. There’s several big chunks of public where it’s common knowledge that nice bucks come out of there.
I’d start there. Sorry for the long overly detailed post.. get carried away talking about those days of my life. Much fun.
Good luck out there. Don’t hesitate to hit the same spots the duck hunters are hammering.
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Re: Finding Where Mature Deer Are

Unread postby Camoface13 » Sat May 23, 2020 4:18 am

Appreciate all the insight guys. I fully understand boots on the ground and dedicated hard work can’t be taught. I unfortunately have no other hunting buddies who take it as serious as I do or want to keep learning so it makes it difficult to strategize or learn from each other
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Re: Finding Where Mature Deer Are

Unread postby Ghost Hunter » Sat May 23, 2020 4:33 am

Camoface13 wrote:Appreciate all the insight guys. I fully understand boots on the ground and dedicated hard work can’t be taught. I unfortunately have no other hunting buddies who take it as serious as I do or want to keep learning so it makes it difficult to strategize or learn from each other



You are only repeating what has been said and recognized countless times before. You are holding conversations with a large group of hunters that wish to go extra distance to learn what it takes right here on this forum.
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Re: Finding Where Mature Deer Are

Unread postby 1STRANGEWILDERNESS » Sat May 23, 2020 6:41 am

Camoface13 wrote:Appreciate all the insight guys. I fully understand boots on the ground and dedicated hard work can’t be taught. I unfortunately have no other hunting buddies who take it as serious as I do or want to keep learning so it makes it difficult to strategize or learn from each other


I understand that completely. I don’t really have any hunting partners let alone friends up here lol. I go hard but when I get one of my old buddies to come up then I’ll really Really go hard. It’s like we kind of feed off each other Or maybe it’s a macho man syndrome I don’t know haha .. it’s real nice knowing you have backup if you kill miles back in the swamp. You sure do learn pieces of property better with a few guys.. two heads better than one although some nights we still sit and argue about the hows and why’s of certain areas :lol:
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Re: Finding Where Mature Deer Are

Unread postby Coalcracker » Sat May 23, 2020 1:57 pm

Camoface13 wrote:In southern Michigan we have a mix of AG, swamps and hardwoods with some tiny spots of hills.. my question is how do you consistent guys finding mature deer EVERY year and always going into the season with a game plan on a target deer, how are you finding new spots?

I’ve been targeting cyber scouting that is near big wet areas or places people can’t hunt. But just generally searching for a new property to hunt public or door knock is still difficult. Any suggestions?


Maybe we are alike, maybe not but I'll try to help. I just started seriously hunting for older bucks in 2012. Yea, eight years ago sounds like a long time but it really isn't. I was always good at finding spots to see and kill deer but my chances at mature bucks were fleeting at best. So, in 2012 I chose to change the way I did things. I look for vast public ground. That's pretty much it as a prerequisite. I know those big areas have mature bucks somewhere and less competition. I floundered early trying to put things together in such large areas but one thing I did do was mentioned here, a lot of boot leather. Initially, I looked for buck sign, bigger buck sign, trails as it related to terrain, bedding, all I could and tried to figure out how deer used the area. This was great, taught me a lot but it was in general.

As years passed, this didn't work out much better than my previous approaches. Saw the same kind of deer and no consistent opportunity at mature bucks. So, I started focusing on beds, all beds and then single, large, secluded beds. With this information, I started focusing on how the beds related to the area, terrain, food sources etc. and I hunted closer to them. All the while I was reading and watching all kinds of mature buck hunting material. Consuming, educating. Part of that process was looking over deer studies being conducted by Penn State in which they radio collared wild, free ranging public land bucks and does. I learned a lot from it but nothing is absolute to where I hunt or where you hunt. I looked only for similarities in what I read or watched and applied it to my specific set of circumstances. Every property is a little different. My sightings of mature bucks improved and became more consistent.

I finally killed my first mature Pa buck in 2017. Thirty-six years of hunting to kill a mature buck in my home state? It took me all of 3 days to do the same in Virginia on vast National Forest Land!! Luck does have a say but don't count on it!

Anyway, to finish this up, I continue looking for new approaches to better my chances. I'm currently looking for funnels, hard funnels and thinking about how all the sign relates to a mature bucks nose. How does a mature buck stay safe in heavily hunted areas? With his nose. How does he traverse a given area with minimal effort and maximum effect? How can he safely check his travel route, doe bedding, his own bedding? Where do they prefer to bed and travel? And, where is that hard funnel that forces his movement and opens the door for me to kill them? My experience is limited next to nothing with this approach just don't tell my confidence. The point is, I continue looking for new and better ways, in the end I'm trying to be a more diverse hunter.
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Re: Finding Where Mature Deer Are

Unread postby TN Whitetail Freak » Mon May 25, 2020 3:09 am

There is no substitute for windshield time and boot leather. Sure you can throw up random trailcams and hope the area has an acceptable deer. One thing i feel is grossly underrated is a big track. Every hunter knows a big track for his area when he sees it. Then you can hang a cam or glass the area you found tracks in. Just Tuesday I went into an area I had no experience with. As i was making my way back to a little bump in the bottom land to scout, i cut a giant track left within last 2 or 3 days due to the rain. I abandoned my initial plan and followed the tracks. It led down to a diversity intersect and at the intersect of habitat transitions and slough drainage there was a scrape with a half inch branch snapped in half. 3 yds from the scrape i found a 70" 6 pt shed antler. Not sure if the antler belonged to the track but i have a strong feeling it does. So my next move is to get eyes and cam in the area every evening after work until I see him from afar. Ill keep yall updated. So 2 or 3 days after a rain, go walking roads and field edges. Find that above average track in the moist dirt. You will know when you cut a big bucks track.
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Re: Finding Where Mature Deer Are

Unread postby Bowhunter4life » Tue May 26, 2020 2:36 am

I think that the most common answer you will get from those who find success every year in harvesting mature animals the DIY style is work and experience! There is no doubt plenty of great information out there now but you have to find what it is your good at. We are all different and 20 different successful guys may have 20 different ways of getting it done. Keep at it and be very observant as to what it is your seeing out there. When you find success, try to build upon that by truly breaking down what happened. Even look back on past hunts they could have even been lucky kills. Break it down and what really happened and why you were successful. Those are the things that start to open your eyes. Personal experiences are much more powerful to you than reading about others successful stories and why they were successful.
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Re: Finding Where Mature Deer Are

Unread postby mheichelbech » Wed May 27, 2020 7:27 am

Coalcracker wrote:
Camoface13 wrote:In southern Michigan we have a mix of AG, swamps and hardwoods with some tiny spots of hills.. my question is how do you consistent guys finding mature deer EVERY year and always going into the season with a game plan on a target deer, how are you finding new spots?

I’ve been targeting cyber scouting that is near big wet areas or places people can’t hunt. But just generally searching for a new property to hunt public or door knock is still difficult. Any suggestions?


Maybe we are alike, maybe not but I'll try to help. I just started seriously hunting for older bucks in 2012. Yea, eight years ago sounds like a long time but it really isn't. I was always good at finding spots to see and kill deer but my chances at mature bucks were fleeting at best. So, in 2012 I chose to change the way I did things. I look for vast public ground. That's pretty much it as a prerequisite. I know those big areas have mature bucks somewhere and less competition. I floundered early trying to put things together in such large areas but one thing I did do was mentioned here, a lot of boot leather. Initially, I looked for buck sign, bigger buck sign, trails as it related to terrain, bedding, all I could and tried to figure out how deer used the area. This was great, taught me a lot but it was in general.

As years passed, this didn't work out much better than my previous approaches. Saw the same kind of deer and no consistent opportunity at mature bucks. So, I started focusing on beds, all beds and then single, large, secluded beds. With this information, I started focusing on how the beds related to the area, terrain, food sources etc. and I hunted closer to them. All the while I was reading and watching all kinds of mature buck hunting material. Consuming, educating. Part of that process was looking over deer studies being conducted by Penn State in which they radio collared wild, free ranging public land bucks and does. I learned a lot from it but nothing is absolute to where I hunt or where you hunt. I looked only for similarities in what I read or watched and applied it to my specific set of circumstances. Every property is a little different. My sightings of mature bucks improved and became more consistent.

I finally killed my first mature Pa buck in 2017. Thirty-six years of hunting to kill a mature buck in my home state? It took me all of 3 days to do the same in Virginia on vast National Forest Land!! Luck does have a say but don't count on it!

Anyway, to finish this up, I continue looking for new approaches to better my chances. I'm currently looking for funnels, hard funnels and thinking about how all the sign relates to a mature bucks nose. How does a mature buck stay safe in heavily hunted areas? With his nose. How does he traverse a given area with minimal effort and maximum effect? How can he safely check his travel route, doe bedding, his own bedding? Where do they prefer to bed and travel? And, where is that hard funnel that forces his movement and opens the door for me to kill them? My experience is limited next to nothing with this approach just don't tell my confidence. The point is, I continue looking for new and better ways, in the end I'm trying to be a more diverse hunter.

Great answer!
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Re: Finding Where Mature Deer Are

Unread postby backstraps » Thu May 28, 2020 4:03 am

Bowhunter4life wrote:I think that the most common answer you will get from those who find success every year in harvesting mature animals the DIY style is work and experience! There is no doubt plenty of great information out there now but you have to find what it is your good at. We are all different and 20 different successful guys may have 20 different ways of getting it done. Keep at it and be very observant as to what it is your seeing out there. When you find success, try to build upon that by truly breaking down what happened. Even look back on past hunts they could have even been lucky kills. Break it down and what really happened and why you were successful. Those are the things that start to open your eyes. Personal experiences are much more powerful to you than reading about others successful stories and why they were successful.



Very good response!!
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Re: Finding Where Mature Deer Are

Unread postby naternate » Fri May 29, 2020 2:13 pm

I am definitely not a big buck killer on the level that many others on this site are but I can give you my perspective from 8 years of hunting exclusively highly pressured public in SW MI. Last year was my first year of hunting exclusively “Beast Style”. My style of hunting has always been hunting habitat transitions, points, swamps, cover but I had never keyed in on finding and hunting bedding

The first thing is to put into perspective for yourself, just exactly what your goal is. For me, consistently killing a 5 1/2 y/o buck on the ground I hunt is probably not realistic. They are there, and I have taken one, but to do it every year seems a loooong shot. Don’t lose sight of what is realistic for your area.

My motto has been, “if my boots aren’t muddy, I am in the wrong spot.” Now I do hunt other areas but my bread and butter always remains the swamp. I think swamps are the easiest to locate on a map for a starting point for scouting. They also keep a lot of hunters out just because they are more difficult physically to hunt and scout. Nasty areas in general are going to have a higher probability for a mature buck so I key on them for public.

I can echo what others have said about time on the ground and knowing the areas you hunt intimately. The first 5 years living here, I post/preseason scouted like a madman and hunted almost 5-6 days a week because I could. I had the time and life allowed it. Walking miles and miles paid off even if lots of the miles were not spent efficiently scouting areas based on bedding. The next 3 years life changed and my scouting dropped off dramatically and so did success. Last year (Beast tactics exclusively) was my worst. Not because the tactics don’t work but because it was new and I also was going in with the least amount of scouting I had ever done. I threw random hunts all over the place. I hunted spots that the timing was all wrong. I blew out bucks from bedding. I came to the realization during the season just how ill prepared I was and basically changed to in season scouting mode. I scouted more after morning hunts than I probably did the rest of the year prior.

This year I am going to focus on 2 large swamps that I scouted extensively and have found big buck sign and beds. My goal is to hunt them down in a systematic manner to learn how bucks use these areas and hopefully get an opportunity. Maybe you feel like “where do I start?”, but you have to start somewhere. Break the ice and keep on rolling! Make mistakes and learn....the mistakes of a horrible season are what motivated me to prioritize scouting. I may not put a mature deer on the ground this coming year but I know in the end I will have knowledge of these areas to build on and experience to branch out.
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Re: Finding Where Mature Deer Are

Unread postby matt1336 » Fri May 29, 2020 3:50 pm

Holy man....this is too much to read. Lol. Yeah time, effort and talent are all needed to get it done. I only possess one of those qualities/attributes. It generally takes me a couple seasons to really feel like I know a place even then I’m always learning. Big bucks aren’t easy don’t expect much right away. Also don be afraid to shoot something smaller one of your first years on a property. There’s a lot to learn from killing. We will keep it a secret if you shoot something less that p&y, don’t worry....we actually don’t care. Good luck.
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Re: Finding Where Mature Deer Are

Unread postby Hawthorne » Sat May 30, 2020 2:26 am

It’s similar to shopping for real estate. Trump said Location, location, location. Then it’s habitat, habitat, habitat
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Re: Finding Where Mature Deer Are

Unread postby Cottonmouthcity » Sun May 31, 2020 4:37 am

Hope I am not speaking out of turn here being new to the forum but in NC one thing that has helped me is waiting for a hard rain and then the morning after going and walking all the edges looking for large tracks. Once I find one I back track it to where it came into the field at. I just did 5 different fields this morning. Thats something I can do all season and it has helped me alot. One reason this works for me in season is the majority of my spots have large swamps where the deer bed and I do not see alot of the farm style bedding( if i see it is usually a big one).

I also look for out of the ways spots that no one would want to go to, found one this morning I am super excited about.
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