Target bucks really are my only focus, I'll shoot does at the end of the season for meat but my buck tags only go on a deer I've been tracking or attempting to track. Do I have just one per season? Sometimes but I prefer to have at least 2, some years I have 1, some 2, and exceptional years 3 on tabs but anything over 2 is extremely rare. If I have none, I scout and find one and then get permission to hunt him. I haven't ever just sat back and said well nothing is on the land I have now, I guess I won't hunt. I will find new land and scout until I find a deer to hunt, and I have had exceptional land have zero shooters for extended time periods.
Most of the bucks I target I've watched and passed up over the years, most of the ones I hope make it do not but sometimes I get lucky and a high end young deer hits maturity. But the big key for me is I've been gathering data on them in that time period which has lead to most of my success. The buck I killed this year mirrored what he did last year but just moved his core area slightly, but his move was actually better for me because it placed him more on my hunting land. I knew I had to kill him before the rut went full bore because he was a rut range shifter. I think alot like Ski and if I know he's there, I go after him. I won't hunt him wrong but I will hunt him even on days that most people think are a low chance of success. The main thing I need to know on most of these deer is how they use the land; if I have a good idea on that, and I have a good idea on where he is bedding that deer is as good as dead. That information alone will tell me where I can and can't sit based upon wind directions. This is the main reason I only saddle hunt now or hunt from the ground because I have to be extremely mobile to set up on the different winds and in many instances I'm only 50-100 yards away with opposing wind directions, but in a lot of cases I'm only 20 yards or less. It is the game of inches that I love.
Most of my target bucks are identified after hunting season for the next year assuming they don't die in that time period between the season. I'm basically stockpiling target bucks for each piece of property I hunt. Some of these deer I keep tabs on for years before they become a target others may get on my radar the year before they become a target and rarely they may shift their range to a property I have access to but the later is very rare because older deer typically don't just up and leave an area for a new one in my observations. I've only had one instance where this took place and I believe that buck had been shot by another hunter.
I enjoy hunting this way but it's not for everyone, and it's not even feasible for some. It takes a ton of time, and resources. I think as my kids grow older and start more activities my method of tracking certain deer for years on end will slow down. But trail cameras have been a huge game changer and are a massive tool for me. I remember when I used to do this all through summer scouting when the bucks are in velvet and coming out in the open.
. Had him at 20 yards late last year & couldn't shoot...
