how often do you bag a mature buck?

[wmihunter]

i think my disconnect is that I am mostly a rut hunter. i have very little public land within an 45 min of me. I have litte time so I scout in winter and during season with approx 20-40 hours early season hunting/scouting and approx 100-150 hours during the november rut

[Autumn Ninja]

Autumn Ninja:

There usually 4 1/2+ But I have killed a couple real nice 3 1/2

I find this response particularily interesting.... How do you know? How are you certain that you don't shoot a nice 3-1/2 every year and you have shot the occasional 2-1/2 with a nice rack? How old do you think the buck you got this year was and why? Please don't think I'm attacking you because that isn't the case, just curious because I want to know more...

Your right, I don't know for certain...I've hunted the same deer in the same area all my life. I've studied these deer, 1000's of them dead and alive...they are very consistent. I go by body/head shape + body weight + tooth wear + mass, pedestal + skull + hoof size = age

Am I right, who knows...I feel certain I'm as close as you can get with out raising the deer in a pin. My oldest buck was 8 1/2. I sent the teeth off and had them cross cut...I couldn't age him, big feet, heavy mass that dropped off quick, teeth warn flat with a couple missing, dressed 154lbs.

I think this years buck was 4 1/2 but I'm not certin...I did pass him 2 years ago as a 120 class 10...He could have been a yearling at the time....But he would be as rare (here) as a 200" typical if he was. But I guess he could have been, I'm not certain.

[wmihunter]

here is my situation...I live in w central Mi and have shot 2-3 nice 2 year old deer 100-120" (one in kansas). I have decent public land about 2 hours away. I can scout it this winter over a weekend or two and locate some big beds, travel routes etc. Is it feasable to hunt these spot in early season. or should I located funnels/doe areas and just hunt it during the rut? or both? I can't shine this area at night as I am 2 hrs away. what would you do?

what do you more experienced hunters recommend

[dan]

Early season is great for hunting buck beds... Some of my biggest bucks have come from the 1st two weeks of the season, however, I have an advantage in that Wisconsins bow season opens in Midseptember rather than Oct. 1st.

[wmihunter]

dan, is it ok or recommended to hunt there beds based on the previous winter sign without being to spot chk to see if they are still there or is there amore productive way....

[dan]

dan, is it ok or recommended to hunt there beds based on the previous winter sign without being to spot chk to see if they are still there or is there amore productive way....

Not sure I understand the question, but I will take a stab at it anyway... When the snow melts and before green up in your area the sign you see will be from the previous fall prior to snow fall and will look fresh enough to read easily...
Buck bedding areas are not generally picked randomly. They don't just wander around and flop down where ever when they get tired.
They pick precise locations based on several factors such as wind direction, thermals, vision, noise that would have tro be made to access bed, etc...
Because beds are not chosen randomly, there are only so many spots in a given area that a buck will bed on a regular basis.
A buck might have say 30 spots he beds. But 5 or 6 of these spot are used way more than the rest, that number will go down as the buck gets older, its higher with young bucks.
Once bedding locations are known, predictions can be made on where he is bedding any given day by looking at the advantages of each bed, such as some beds only being used on a certain wind direction. Also if you can determine food sources he is feeding at based on tracks, sightings, or trail cams, you can narrow down the possibilitys also.
Finding beds now can help too... But snow beds might only be used at this time of the year, maybe, maybe not. So its wise to also look after snow melt. But knowing where they bed in winter has its advatages also...
Keep detailed notes.

[Bucky]

wmihunter

Like Dan mentioned towards the bottom of his previous post... bedding spots during winter are not always the same as during the fall. Especially if there is any significant amount of snow in your area. Deer will relocate much closer to a hot food source to try and conserve energy. The best time for you to go and check for sign is March/April after snow melt. Travel routes, buck rubs, and bedding areas will be evident + the ground will look much like it will the following fall for stand placement/trimming shooting lanes. Do you hunt hilly ground or is it relatively flat?

[Autumn Ninja]

They pick precise locations based on several factors such as wind direction, thermals, vision, noise that would have tro be made to access bed, etc...

And to add another factor...a bed with access is a good indicator of an older buck. A bed in a central, key location to a lot of ground. This is actually how I find most of my mature buck beds...becouse the deer density is so low. If you just walked all the upper half of the hills, you could walk all year and never find one, LOL!!

[Fuzzy]

Hi everyone, I have been following the site since is was started but this is my first post. I have Dan's videos, watched them a number of times but I feel like I'm still missing something when it comes to scouting. I have read on this post how some of you know the buck you kill so well that you even know what trail he will be walking on. My question is this. Once you have located a buck bed that you feel is the "one" how do finish the plan. Specifically what type of scouting and when do you do it to get to that point. i.e trial cams, spotting scopes, or go as far as summer sits in the area to get a view of the buck. If you could all give detailed steps that you take when zeroing in on a buck that would be great. Thanks everyone you have taught me more in one year than years of failure could ever teach.

[dan]

Welcome to the site Fuzzy...
I noticed in your post you mentioned about finding the "one" bed...
I locate dozens every year and know of hundreds in use.... Knowing how they get in and out of each bed is figured out when your at the bed itself in the spring looking from his point of view, looking at the trails coming and going, etc. In some terrains its easier than others. It helps to know where they are going when they leave there beds, be it a certain food source or to water. Locating those feeding places can be done with trail cams, spot lights, or simply by tracks. If that gets a little intimidating, just concentrate on hunting the most likely exit of each bed till you succeed. Knowing what buck is feeding where, and bedding where gets a little tough and can be confusing. Its really an advanced approach to hunting the staging areas. If your new to the concept I would 1st start by finding the beds, all the buck beds, in your area and making a game plan to hunt them each once every month or two depending on how many you have. The rest will come as you perfect your scouting and hunting with these methods. Sometimes its easy for me to forget all the years it took me to hone these concepts when giving advice.

[adrenalin]

Welcome to the site Fuzzy...
I noticed in your post you mentioned about finding the "one" bed...
I locate dozens every year and know of hundreds in use.... Knowing how they get in and out of each bed is figured out when your at the bed itself in the spring looking from his point of view, looking at the trails coming and going, etc. In some terrains its easier than others. It helps to know where they are going when they leave there beds, be it a certain food source or to water. Locating those feeding places can be done with trail cams, spot lights, or simply by tracks. If that gets a little intimidating, just concentrate on hunting the most likely exit of each bed till you succeed. Knowing what buck is feeding where, and bedding where gets a little tough and can be confusing. Its really an advanced approach to hunting the staging areas. If your new to the concept I would 1st start by finding the beds, all the buck beds, in your area and making a game plan to hunt them each once every month or two depending on how many you have. The rest will come as you perfect your scouting and hunting with these methods. Sometimes its easy for me to forget all the years it took me to hone these concepts when giving advice.

This is some of the best advice yet. Starting out trying to do all the trail cams, shining, glassing, spot checking,and whatever else for a single bed or buck can drive a guy nuts if he doesn't see the buck when he hunts the spot. If you did all that you would "expect" to for sure see that deer or think you had it all wrong. The #1 hardest part is finding the beds you feel confindent that are being used enough to hunt. After all you are only expecting to see one deer and if he isn't in that bed when you hunt it your chance of killing a buck on that sit is about 0.

[Fuzzy]

Thanks for the reply Dan. I guess was trying to learn if there was something I could do to lock down what a buck is doing on a daily basis without getting to close to him and busting him out of the area. I have a buck I have had encounters with and know where he beds but he has to this point left me scratching my head. He beds on a ridge with almost no way to get within a 150 yards of him. This spot he is in has held a number good bucks over the years and when you stand in the bed it is obvious why. What I am really looking to do is to find where this buck is going from day to day. But outside of his bedding area I never see him. Not even on cameras located near likely food sources. If I could learn this bucks habits better without spooking him I feel I could then make a high percentage play on him. Any ideas? Thanks.

[dan]

My suggestion would be to scout him very well this spring... Look from his bed at everything he can see, think about what he can smell, what winds he would bed there on, and then really look close at his sign going in and out of his bed, trails, tracks, rubs etc... My set up spots would be as close to his bed as possible just out of sight, sound & smell...
In a wooded situation sound can be one of the biggest factors in the dry leaves. Sometimes waiting for a day the leaves are wet can be an advantage.
If sight is an advantage along with sound a windy day might be the ticket. But to much wind can make them nervous and sit tight.
I would be careful not to over hunt him and be picky about the days you do.

[dan]

Another thing I did not mention is that a morning hunt might be the ticket. Waiting for the right moon phase, weather condition, or pre rut to slip up there on a well thought out travel rought and sit over his bed till he gets back... Just remember that most of the time mature bucks are bedded before daylight in the morning so it takes certain factors to make it the right morning to hunt him.

[Fuzzy]

Thanks Dan, I really appreciate the advice and your willingness to help out. You are difinitely not norm when it comes to helping others be successful. I am looking forward to the next video. I also want to thank everyone else on this site for their insight too. You have really opened my way of thinking when it comes to figuring these animals out.