#1791683 - 02/15/10 10:02 PM
Mature buck hunters
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W.Seay
12 Point
Registered: 01/17/06
Posts: 7144
Loc: Collierville,TN.
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To you guys Who hunt exclusively for mature bucks 4 1/2 or older, how were your sightings this season compared to the last 3 seasons? What county or counties were you hunting and what specific dates/weeks did you see the most activity from the mature bucks?thanks
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To one with faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.
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#1791769 - 02/15/10 11:03 PM
Re: Mature buck hunters
[Re: W.Seay]
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jh
4 Point
Registered: 11/29/06
Posts: 201
Loc: bon-air mountain
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11 different 4 1/2 or older in 06-07
7 in 07-08
10 in 08-09
17 in 09-10
all in white county
2nd week of ML seen 11 different mature bucks this year.
all of this is on a average of almost 4 hours a day hunting.
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#1791816 - 02/16/10 12:09 AM
Re: Mature buck hunters
[Re: jh]
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megalomaniac
10 Point
Registered: 10/28/05
Posts: 4887
Loc: Mississippi
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We only had 2 mature (4.5 yr olds) bucks on my farms this year by trail cameras...
Both were seen for the first time the second week of ML, one killed by my friend, the other I elected to pass on a 150 yard shot with ML. Never saw that buck again.
I was hoping a few others not captured on trail camera might transition onto the properties, but if they did, I never saw them.
jh, you must have an incredible age structure and total buck population where you hunt!
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#1791826 - 02/16/10 01:18 AM
Re: Mature buck hunters
[Re: megalomaniac]
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jh
4 Point
Registered: 11/29/06
Posts: 201
Loc: bon-air mountain
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i also have alot of time to hunt ;).. plus having access to over 5,000 acres of private land doesnt hurt... all of these arent 'treestand' time... but all were seen while hunting, 3 of the ones this year might have been only 3 1/2... i dont own trail cams so there may be more than that. the buck/doe ratio isnt very good from what i can tell... 1:7 for me.age structure is good, clear cuts far as i can see, they get to grow old... i think the most important thing is bein able to hunt everyday that i want. gotta be there to see em.
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Go Big or stay home.....
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#1791827 - 02/16/10 01:30 AM
Re: Mature buck hunters
[Re: jh]
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jh
4 Point
Registered: 11/29/06
Posts: 201
Loc: bon-air mountain
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it all figures up to one mature buck sighting for every 22 hours on stand... almost 400 hours total hunting time. and 22 other bucks that werent mature. 11 1/2 olds 7 2 1/2 olds and 4 3 1/2 olds..... 39 different bucks for 400 hours total hunting time. oddball year for me.didnt kill but one.
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Go Big or stay home.....
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#1791854 - 02/16/10 05:26 AM
Re: Mature buck hunters
[Re: jh]
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Setterman
8 Point
Registered: 12/31/09
Posts: 1783
Loc: Knoxville, TN
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My sightings were way up this year, I did not go but one time when I didn't see what I would consider a mature buck. I even saw multiple mature bucks several times as well. My best weeks were Nov 10- Nov 28th. Before that, and after that it was a little bit spotty, but I also wasn't hunting here much during that time.
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#1791894 - 02/16/10 06:37 AM
Re: Mature buck hunters
[Re: jh]
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whistlinwingman
8 Point
Registered: 07/11/05
Posts: 1824
Loc: Morristown
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11 different 4 1/2 or older in 06-07
7 in 07-08
10 in 08-09
17 in 09-10
all in white county
2nd week of ML seen 11 different mature bucks this year.
all of this is on a average of almost 4 hours a day hunting.
I'm doing something wrong. Those are fantastic numbers. Are you(all)managing these properties yourself. It's obvious you are letting the young ones go, but what else are you doing to get or keep these #'s?
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"I'm a great believer in luck, I find the harder I work the more I have it" -Thomas Jefferson
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#1791920 - 02/16/10 07:05 AM
Re: Mature buck hunters
[Re: whistlinwingman]
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Setterman
8 Point
Registered: 12/31/09
Posts: 1783
Loc: Knoxville, TN
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I only saw one mature buck on my property this year. It had a rough go last year, and will take a few years to bounce back. I saw 2 in one morning in Roane Cty, killing one of those, that property was not managed at all.
All of my other mature bucks seen in TN were on public land. It was literally infested with them. Killing them was a different story all together, especially since I was determined to do so with a bow. After killing 3 mature bucks over the course of the season, I made that decision, and stuck with it. Came close but never dropped one, it happens.
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#1791929 - 02/16/10 07:13 AM
Re: Mature buck hunters
[Re: Setterman]
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BSK
Jerkasourous of the non-typical kind
Non-Typical
Registered: 03/11/99
Posts: 59548
Loc: Nashville, TN
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Total buck population has been down in my area over the last 3 years, but buck age structure (percent in each age-class) hasn't changed much (consistantly have around 8-10% mature bucks). I personally have had sucky success seeing any of those mature bucks the last two years, with a grand total of zero sightings.
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"Know where you stand, and stand there" --Jesuit Father Daniel Berrigan
"There is no reasoning someone out of a position he has not reasoned himself into." --Clive James
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#1792029 - 02/16/10 08:42 AM
Re: Mature buck hunters
[Re: BSK]
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Andy S.
TnDeer Old Timer
12 Point
Registered: 07/26/99
Posts: 7182
Loc: Atoka, TN
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I only captured 3-4 on camera and only saw 1 out of stand. I ran 5 cameras all fall and I logged 225 hours on stand hunting this fall. Compared to the last few seasons, my mature buck sightings on camera and while hunting were down. I hunt Fayette and Hardeman counties.
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Andy S.
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