big bucks? fields, thicketts, edges?

[eshoremd]

just wondering what your guys experiences are as to were the best place to kill a big buck is. never killed a big one so i dont know. i would think thicketts except for the rut. then i guess it could be anywhere.

[hatracked]

Thickets is where I hunt. But apparently according to the accepted scoring organizations I dont know squat about big bucks cause I havent killed one either. Better ask one of these fellas around here with a PY or BC badge on their chest.

[Buckfever]

95% of the bucks that I have had in bow range in the last 5 years, I believe I would have never even seen if I wasn't in the thick stuff. They do not like exposing themselves.

[Buckfever]

Here's a summary of my current approach, an approach that I shamelessly stole and compiled from hunters much better than myself, many of whom are found here on this site.

"Lot of changes to my hunting this year. Probably the biggest one which sort of encapsulates the whole deal to a degree, is that I've made a shift from my previous thinking, of figuring out how the buck is running through. Now I ask: "Where can I kill him?" And I don't stop the process until I get to the point where I'm saying: "I can kill him here." Every spot where I've had opportunities at quality bucks this year, and there've been a lot of them, was an "I can kill him here stand". It's not just figuring out how he's running through, but figuring out where he's running through where he can be killed during daylight hours. Where he can be killed so that you can get there without detection. What stand setup will provide adequate cover so that you won't get picked off. And that means that substantial shooting lanes will often have to be cut because you'll find yourself in cover so thick where the lanes need to be created. I have become extremely aggressive in terms of putting myself where I need to be. And that this hunting is occuring on public land doesn't matter much. Even though these are highly pressured parks, the areas that I'm hunting have one consistent characteristic. They are so thick they recieve no pressure. The only principle difference on public land is that the setup must have adequate cover because these deer are extremely educated and here too I've become extremely assertive in picking the stand setup from the point of view of the animal, from the various ways that he might come in. For instance on one setup the tree had minimal cover, but the travel corridor of the bucks was so thick that my treestand was not visible on any of the three trails that come through until the deer was in the shooting lanes.

I mean it seems elaborate, but it's not. It's becoming very simple and methodical, but requiring discipline and precision. Assess the terrain features using aerial photos as the starting point. Get on the gorund and locate the staging areas and the breeding scrape area. Ascertain the buck bedding areas. Anticipate the travel corridors based on the terrain features. Answer the question, where can I kill him? Figure out how to get in undetected. If necessary cut your way in. Select the stand setup based on the vantage of the deer to provide adequate cover. Setup stand and trim only as necessary for shooting. Get on the ground and clear adequate shooting lanes. Get the hell out and stay out till the wind is right."

[freedomrules3]

i hate when someone answers the question so well you cant add nothing . George hit it pretty darn good.
to kill a good buck in the field this time of year , well call it a small miracle lol. the edges can work but you will find the buck will most likely be moving and not stopping. you better be on him and quick because he wont give you much leeway to shoot no matter what weapon. in the thicker stuff is where he will be lingering as he moves through, maybe lol. it takes a bit of footwork and figuring, dont jump on the first spot and clear out lanes. these bucks know everything about their living room. i also think in a thicket situation you may only have 1 or 2 chances at getting him. after all if someone was in your house while you were at work, you would soon figure it all out .

[Twanger]

My experience (limited) is that most consistently the big bucks have been traveling corridors between bedding areas, or bedding and food where they are difficult to see. This usually means wooded areas with hill/gully topography and sometimes (not always) thick brush that hides them from casual eyes, particularly from the road. There's usually a trail where they can walk unencumbered through the thick brush... big antlers get caught on things! Usually a shot in locations where big bucks travel during daylight hours is limited to bow range.

There are exceptions to this, but that's what they are - low percentage events.

Big bucks pick their bedding areas for favorable wind (scent) and visibility while still having shelter from the elements and an iron-clad escape route. For example I'm on a nice 8-point buck right now that has a bedding area in a pine thicket (good cover from the elements) that is on a steep river bank (he's protected from approach from the North) and predominant winds from the west (hunter access is from the west). His escape route is to the east where he has excellent visibility down into a hill-side out of visibility from the access path, so he can't be ambushed easily if driven. I've seen him use it, but only caught a fleeting glimpse of him. His strategy and sign was clear though. It would be almost impossible to approach his bed without him busting you.

I have not bow hunted his bed directly because I believe it would be futile. I hunt a trail to/from his bed when the wind is favorable to me and not to him (i.e. from the south or east). I've seen him twice from a tree stand, and once he only had two more steps to make before getting an arrow. He didn't make those two steps.

[hatracked]

George,
that was an excellent reply.

Walt, I got alot better at finding bucks travel routes when I really swallowed the fact that most of the time bucks use cover to move. They dont like being seen and your exactly right catching them out in the open is a low percentage event. They dont even really use the same trails the rest of the deer use during daylight around here.

I think thats one reason map scouting can be so effective for whitetails. Bucks are going to follow contour and inside vegetaion edges more often than not. With some practice backed up with ground scouting finding these areas that are high percentage becomes alot easier.

[Twanger]

Hat - I should say that the rut does change these rules somewhat. Not a lot, but a little.
Both Bowman and Rick saw big bucks in fields in Ohio during daylight hours, particularly Bowman. This was during the rut. I saw none, but didn't spend much time looking fields over on that trip. I spent most of my time in the woods.

[hatracked]

I prefer to get to the downwind side of a bedding thicket during the rut myself. I have seen my best action over and over hunting the downwind side of a doe bedding thicket concentrating on crosswind buck trails.

Myself strutN Rut and SCtrkyhntr watched a monster 8 in maryland this year run does all around the edge of a field. I hunted that buck for two days and saw him once in the woods with me. The field was private and off the wma so I couldnt close the gap . That buck had holed up in a 1 acre thicket on the edge of that field and wouldnt leave it. Broad daylight he would stand out in that field knowing good and dang well no one could get to him. Just inside the wma boundy in the open hardwoods, I sat back and watched hoping he would cut the corner betwen his field and another field and get in bowrange. Closest he ever got was 85 yards. That deer however showed no real fear of being in the open fields he simply stayed away from where the pressure was coming from.

If I go back and hunt there next year I will be there at 4 am everymorning drinking coffee in the truck. Other hunters moved in on me and pushed the deer out into another section of the private land surrounding the wma. It was a real let down the last morning I hunted that contour as I watched the bucks simply use the next contour out to get to the fields. Mike and Sctrkyhntr hunted way back and had consistant action on every hunt in the thickets. I think they passed up 20-30 bucks if not more. All the open woods hunters we were meeting roadside were coming out with doe sightings and not many of them at that.

Most any day i'll take a thicket choked creekbottom or sloping thicket covered hillside over open woods, but sometimes you just got to get as close as you can and hope for a wild run to come by you. Didnt happen for me this year land boundies kept me from being able to get in the killing spot I really needed to be in. I could have taken a decent 8 but thats almost impossible to do when your looking at two nicer tens that are lingering around 65 yards out .if I could have moved 125 yards my whole maryland story would have been different this season. It was a killer hunt though and super sweet since my boy was in in the tree next to me jaw dropping looking at big big racks like he had never seen. he says dad" that ws a big , big racked deer ". After he had seen those two tens and that big old 8 he was hooked and couldnt wait to get home and set up his new bow. next year Ill film he can shoot.Hopefully I'll get a wild run that takes those bucks into the wma long enough to get my son a shot .

[Twanger]

Hat - That would be great if you could video your son's hunt. What a memory that would be to capture! I've gotten more interested in videoing lately myself.

[campkingmd]

Hunt where ever Hatracked, doesn't , or get at leaest 125 yards from him.

Sorry hatracked, couldn't resist. LOL
all in fun

[hatracked]

You would have been golden this year 125 yards from me for certain! Take your pick of PY there were three around for two days.