Choosing where to hunt

[mheichelbech]

Curious as to what you guys would do, everything else being equal (same pressure, low, both good wind), and you had 2 different spots at different locations to hunt, one spot you know has a buck in the 180s or better or the other spot has multiple nice bucks, in the 140-150 range so you have a higher chance at a decent buck but not the monster you really want....would you hunt the spot with the 1 buck of your dreams or the other spot that has a better chance at getting something even if not the lifetime buck?

[HoosierG5]

I cant ever see myself passing a 140, but thats just me. If you had a good idea of where the 180s core is Id try it. You dont get those often...but personally, I can whack 140-150s all day and be elated. Ive seen 1 dink 8 in13 IN sits this year so a 140 would look awfully nice about now!

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[JakeJD]

I take the better odds of 140-150.

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[seazofcheeze]

Wherever trail cameras are showing daylight movement.

[ Post made via Android ]

[mheichelbech]

That's the gist of it....high odds, high payoff, better odds but lower payoff.

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[dan]

Most of the time I would go for what I really want... which is the big buck you mentioned. When things get frustrating, or you need a change up, hunt the other spot too... I hop around a lot, but tend to concentrate where the biggest bucks are, not the most.

[BassBoysLLP]

I'd pick the 180 spot. I like having a chance for a giant.

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[Dewey]

I'd pick the 180 spot. I like having a chance for a giant.

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X2

Nothing jumps the excitement factor more than knowing a big one is in the area.

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[FRH]

How often are you going to get the chance at a 180" deer? If i had one in my area i would be hunting it no matter how many 150" are around. There will be more next year imo so why not go after the buck of a lifetime.

[mheichelbech]

Most of the time I would go for what I really want... which is the big buck you mentioned. When things get frustrating, or you need a change up, hunt the other spot too... I hop around a lot, but tend to concentrate where the biggest bucks are, not the most.

This is exactly what I did yesterday. I hunted the morning where he is at...it is currently all the tougher because of standing corn...saw no chasing and actually not a lot of sign except for an area of corn that had his tracks and possibly his bedding.

Yesterday evening I hunted the other spot and was covered with deer almost from the time I got my stand up. In fact, had one blowing at me from the bottoms as I was hanging it. I had 5 all around me until dark and actually blowed out 2 that bedded about 30 yards from me at dark. It helped to get the confidence up to know I'm not wearing special deer repellant when I go in the woods. Saw 9 altogether.

As a side lesson, it was interesting, before finding this site, I would have hunted the bottoms where all the sign is. All these deer hung around a point at the transition between the ridge and bottoms until right at dark. You couldn't see much sign there on the point as it is a browsing area for them but they staged right there for at least an hour, browsing and feeding prior to moving to the bottoms...it was interesting to observe their wariness with moving on down until it got dark. Not much pressure in this area either. It's a great spot, it is actually what I'd call a double transition...about 25 yards from really thick saplings, bushes, etc, growing down the point where they bed, into a bit more open area for about 40-50 yards with oaks and hickories, then drops off into the bottoms.