Post by ncboman on Aug 22, 2006 23:21:27 GMT -5
Hunting for a trophy is much different than deer hunting.
It requires a dedication to something that is likely not to happen. Know that going in and plan accordingly. For my money deer hunting doesn't get much better than mid to late October. Deer are feeding heavily and the hunting is generally great.
Trophy bucks are nearly completely nocturnal, not to avoid hunting pressure so much as it's just the way they are. These bucks don't get out of their nocturnal habits without being driven and about the only thing that drives them out of the nocturnal mode is the drive to procreate. I estimate a trophy is only vunerable for approx 3 days of an entire season, those days when procreation becomes the absolute most important thing there is.
We see it from time to time, a giant buck almost ignoring humans and any form of danger to do his thing in broad daylight. They don't appear scared or in a big rush. They have something much more important on their minds.
The trophy hunter wants to be in the woods when these giants are in that daytime mode. More often than not when we see these giants paired with a doe, it's a very mature doe, possibly the most prime and mature doe of the herd. Consider these doe come into season later than the younger girls as they have to recover from the previous years fawns and also build body weight/fat reserves in order to come into estrus. This is why I think the most mature bucks show up later. They are just responding to the timing of the most preferred female(s) estrus period.
I very seldom see these big bucks actually running but they always seem like they have an appointment someplace and are on a steady move or walk to that end. Sure a hunter can scare one of these deer into running but hunter pressure will not disuade the old boy from making his rounds during this time. The fact is, these big boys don't really care about hunting pressure. They have something more important to tend to.
The trophy hunter must try and time/guess when that trophy will present that short window of opportunity and be in the right place when it happens.
That is a bigger task than most hunters are able to master with any consistancy at all, especially on public land. Complicate the formula with all these 'other' deer running around and it's not difficult to understand why the trophy often eludes even good hunters with ease.
Going after a high scoring buck requires purpose and dedication and it also requires leaving those 'other' deer alone. A healthy amount of luck along the way doesn't hurt at all either.
That's what I think.
It requires a dedication to something that is likely not to happen. Know that going in and plan accordingly. For my money deer hunting doesn't get much better than mid to late October. Deer are feeding heavily and the hunting is generally great.
Trophy bucks are nearly completely nocturnal, not to avoid hunting pressure so much as it's just the way they are. These bucks don't get out of their nocturnal habits without being driven and about the only thing that drives them out of the nocturnal mode is the drive to procreate. I estimate a trophy is only vunerable for approx 3 days of an entire season, those days when procreation becomes the absolute most important thing there is.
We see it from time to time, a giant buck almost ignoring humans and any form of danger to do his thing in broad daylight. They don't appear scared or in a big rush. They have something much more important on their minds.
The trophy hunter wants to be in the woods when these giants are in that daytime mode. More often than not when we see these giants paired with a doe, it's a very mature doe, possibly the most prime and mature doe of the herd. Consider these doe come into season later than the younger girls as they have to recover from the previous years fawns and also build body weight/fat reserves in order to come into estrus. This is why I think the most mature bucks show up later. They are just responding to the timing of the most preferred female(s) estrus period.
I very seldom see these big bucks actually running but they always seem like they have an appointment someplace and are on a steady move or walk to that end. Sure a hunter can scare one of these deer into running but hunter pressure will not disuade the old boy from making his rounds during this time. The fact is, these big boys don't really care about hunting pressure. They have something more important to tend to.
The trophy hunter must try and time/guess when that trophy will present that short window of opportunity and be in the right place when it happens.
That is a bigger task than most hunters are able to master with any consistancy at all, especially on public land. Complicate the formula with all these 'other' deer running around and it's not difficult to understand why the trophy often eludes even good hunters with ease.
Going after a high scoring buck requires purpose and dedication and it also requires leaving those 'other' deer alone. A healthy amount of luck along the way doesn't hurt at all either.
That's what I think.