Advice to get from Average Hunter to “Bigger Buck” / Mature buck Hunter

[TreeCreep]

Recap: I missed two of my largest career bucks this season, just have to seal the deal. I also had encounters in my home state with some mature Bucks but could not get set up for a clean shot.
I changed title to “bigger bucks “ as Trophy is a loaded term and this was a helpful thread. Thank you.
here is the 2nd buck I missed in early Nov.
my friends 80 year old grandfather popped him 2nd day of rifle. ( I’m stoked for him)

I’m committed to taking a buck with a recurve for Archery next year.

 

[alpaca jeff]

Look at Dan Infants videos.

 

[Robert loper]

1st thing to know.
Mature bucks bed in specific spots to make themselves almost unapproachable.
points , bowls, corners, fingers, some kind of real thick breakup of a transition.
start focusing on those kind of terrain features and your sightings of mature bucks should rise quite a bit.
Does will bed anywhere especially along real thinck long straight transitions.
With that said the buck bedding areas need to be really thick and have a sensory advantage. Sight, wind over back (especially in drier big woods areas).
drier areas will not have defined beds so dont look for them just look for sign heading into the specific terrain feature.
check my videos out i made on you tube.

 

[kyler1945]

I hunted more this year than any in the past.

I’m a self admitted usually shoot the first legal deer I see kind of guy. I have a handful of hunting spots that I know hold big deer so I’ll be patient, and some that have antler restrictions. But usually, I’m shooting.

I passed on small deer on two hunts at a place I wouldn’t normally, and was rewarded with an opportunity at a really nice buck both times. I blew it, but I had the chance.

But I had about 5 years worth of encounters with large deer (I’m not a measurement guy, but 130+ for those who care) in a 1 month stretch. Here’s what changed.

- properties with antler restrictions
- properties in a muddy river flood plain
- hunting during the week as a function of following cold fronts.
- hunt rut or week or two leading up to it, travel to allow more rut huntjng time.
- getting to my setup 1+ hour before shooting light.
- sitting all day when I could.
- ignoring a map, and using my hunter brain to think about what deer in real life would do when all the humans are reading a map and going to the places they think deer would be.

very little of what changed for me was strategy, per se. It was basically “be in good property that holds big deer for as many hours as possible when it’s below 40* and other people aren’t hunting as much.”

i look for deer sign over buck sign. Typically, I’m chasing the rut around the country. Bucks will be near does at that time. I won’t ignore buck sign, but I only use it to confirm “this area has big bucks”. I’m placing sets based on where does will bE - and trying to get downwind of that in a funnel to intercept cruising bucks. Usually I’m just setting up in heavy deer sign though.

I usually see one, maybe two really big deer a season between all my hunts. I usually kill a racked buck or 2 each year, and a couple does. I let 11 arrows fly this season, killed my biggest bow buck, and had at least 30 racked bucks within 100 yards of me, and at least 4 of those were the legendary “matooore deers”. What changed was hunt good dirt a lot, and during the week.

 

[HuntNorthEast]

I disagree with the large land tract guys. I have found just as many mature bucks in small tracts as I have big woods. Public or private. It all depends what the woods have to offer for food, water and shelter (and doe influence during rut). Also, more often then not, the small public tracts are less pressured than the big woods and are deeply overlooked. A guy up here killed a 201" non-typical in a spot that is one of the biggest tourist locations in the southern portion of the state and said there was another one with it the same size. It's surrounded by ritzy homes that all have expensive shrubbery (feed). Not a lot of woods but all coastal vine thickets and brush for PLENTY of hiding spots. Couple that with minimal access points and dog walking trails everywhere and you would never expect big bucks to hold there but they do. SeekOne is the perfect example of these scenarios. Not going to lie I didn't think it was possible here until I saw it myself. If it has the things a mature buck needs to survive, one will be there. Don't overlook anything, investigate. Also don't overlook old river bed washouts or coastal areas where the water use to be. These areas are mineral rich and produce large racked deer. Now I am not saying all these large racked deer are mature but for the most part in my area of the country, a 3.5 year old buck typically has a decent rack (130" range) MOST of the time. Genetics are never perfect. There are odd balls. I consider a true mature (wise) buck to be the 4.5+ year old range. I have found there is a large difference in habits just from 3.5-4.5 years old. Find good ground, find mature bucks. Regardless of tract size. Just my two cents.

 

[WISCO]

Just dump a **** ton of corn on the ground. Don't worry about the fine. BE A MAN.

 

[tarafrost]

Subscribe to Jeff Sturgis' Whitetail Habitat Solutions YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm2kmwM1LIRjrnbqynMjTzQ

Best info I've found online about big bucks, with no BS.

 

[AttackMode]

I would say these 3 basic rules helped me the most.

A. Pass on smaller bucks.
B. Don't shoot does in your buck spots.
C. Hunt as much as you can during the "rut".

 

[wyearby]

Influenced by some recent threads and hoping to continually improve / checking my own advice..
There is a lot to digest on this topic. Ive got a bit lost trying to glean some new ideas to take to the woods.
Assume your talking to a open minded average hunter that wants to target more mature deer. Antlers are great but an older buck is an older , wiser? , harder to get close to survival machine.
What are the key things to focus on or change up, assuming somewhat limited time / money?

if you need a guinea pig:
For me it’s mindset and prioritization.
I sadly, am an below average hunter by antler score.
I’m 43, and assume I can’t add WAY more days ( avg 30 days with one out of state 3-6 day hunt) in the woods and lack an autistic savant level of skill .
Ultimately, I tend to fear eating my tag; influenced by misses, work or family commitments, bad weather, etc and tag out on dinkers.
I’ve seen many impressive deer come out of counties I’ve hunted in.
So adequate deer density, call it respectable hunter pressure, day deer time movement being mostly equal .
What you got ?
( I can move this to a existing thread if best)

It's all about patience, and putting the work in.

I like to get out on those dreary rainy days(covers noise moving, and washes away scent)and scout. Once you find good sign, I camera it up, put in some mock scrapes, or camera existing scrapes. Then like others have said, its the patience and disipline not to shoot whatever rolls in on your stand. I have come to enjoy the search as much as the kill.

 

[gjs4]

I am going to disagree with some on here, though I’m no expert myself.

Scout (glassing, cams, etc) out of season and find a mature deer. Get the access and go after him. You’ll learn that way.

Everything else is an attempt and you’re likely to fall short.

Too many want to know how to hunt a buck they’ll never encounter. Wasted effort. The classic books, the Infalt, Sturgis, new Gen…. Unless you hunt where they do and how they do- learn some from them, apply and try.