Silvio
Well-Known Member
Well, the season started for me in early January. The scouting continued until spring green up was in full bloom a few weeks ago. I spend a great amount of time scouting and locating every signpost rub and scape and place them on a topo map, as well as marking them Huntstand App. The key to hunting difficult bucks is the pictures you capture on camera during this time period. I typically place my cameras out in mid March as the weather is warmer and battery life can make it thru for spring. That being said, rubs especially are key to helping me figure out a bucks summer and fall range. His Fall Range is where he sets up for dominance, and is most important. He might be a mile away of several miles away thats the reality. How many times have you hunted a buck all season you observed during summer bean field sightings, but unfortunately never laid eyes on him again all during hunting season (unless he's their for a one day visit). Understanding and mapping his travel from season to season can put you in the game.
This week I was really fortunate enough to locate 3 different mature bucks on camera I want to go after this year. The pictures I capture during hunting season is only a fraction of the information I will need to really come up with a game plan, but the reality is, these post season photos puts me in the game of narrowing down his fall area. September Rubs fall into one category for me, they are summer range behavior usually boarder edge rubs. More than likely this is not where he's going to set up shop for the fall. Between September 15th and October 1st everything changes. Where you once saw him openly in that bean field is really a summer feeding habit and social structure. Food sources, like apples and acorns are also part of my mapping strategy. But sign post Rubs are the key. Sign post Rubs are usually near his bedding area, and they usually don't appear until the 3rd week of October. If a sign post rub shows up on an edge of security cover your lucky, but most of us don't want to be scouting during the hunting season for fear of disturbing your area. I get it. When your entering one of your set ups you should be scouting and paying attention for buck sign. This is why mapping them every post season gives you the information of reasonable travel routes based on terrain and especially water. Keep track of the picture dates and times and then go back and check temperatures and wind a day before and after those dates....these factors have given me the edge when otherwise I would have been guessing....yes you can get lucky every now and then but predicting what he's done in the past can give you more opportunities during the entire season.....
I'm going to be updating this Thread during the whole season...so you might want to follow this one...I will also load some photos as the season progresses...
And I'm going to let you guys name these bucks if you want to give them a name
May The Magic of The Whitetail Forever Enrich Your life
This week I was really fortunate enough to locate 3 different mature bucks on camera I want to go after this year. The pictures I capture during hunting season is only a fraction of the information I will need to really come up with a game plan, but the reality is, these post season photos puts me in the game of narrowing down his fall area. September Rubs fall into one category for me, they are summer range behavior usually boarder edge rubs. More than likely this is not where he's going to set up shop for the fall. Between September 15th and October 1st everything changes. Where you once saw him openly in that bean field is really a summer feeding habit and social structure. Food sources, like apples and acorns are also part of my mapping strategy. But sign post Rubs are the key. Sign post Rubs are usually near his bedding area, and they usually don't appear until the 3rd week of October. If a sign post rub shows up on an edge of security cover your lucky, but most of us don't want to be scouting during the hunting season for fear of disturbing your area. I get it. When your entering one of your set ups you should be scouting and paying attention for buck sign. This is why mapping them every post season gives you the information of reasonable travel routes based on terrain and especially water. Keep track of the picture dates and times and then go back and check temperatures and wind a day before and after those dates....these factors have given me the edge when otherwise I would have been guessing....yes you can get lucky every now and then but predicting what he's done in the past can give you more opportunities during the entire season.....
I'm going to be updating this Thread during the whole season...so you might want to follow this one...I will also load some photos as the season progresses...
And I'm going to let you guys name these bucks if you want to give them a name
May The Magic of The Whitetail Forever Enrich Your life
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