Finding Mature Bucks

[TN Whitetail Freak]

how do you guys go about it? when do you give up on an area as far as holding a good age structure of bucks....this spot ive been hunting has yet to show me any bucks over 1.5 years old since september of 2011...would you say that if my goal is to hunt older deer that i need to scout new places to hunt

 

[Mr.Bro]

If you were seeing older,more mature bucks before sept 2011 and now you dont.My guess is they have patterned you pretty good.
Maybe hunting it too much?
If they were there then.Then they still are.Just advoiding you.

 

[TN Whitetail Freak]

My first time hunting it was last year's bow season this is season 2 there and havent seen anything over 1.5 yet.....its about 250-300 acres

 

[ROUGH COUNTRY HUNTER]

last year just wasnt a good year to see mature deer (IMO)I didnt get them on trail cam last year,didnt have but 2 sightings although i knew they was there.i think you need to have patience and wait on them.when you got a ton of acorns,its going to be tough

 

[redblood]

breeding scrape lines

 

[8 POINTS OR BETTER]

Go north.

 

[redblood]

Go north.

that dont hurt either

 

[BSK]

when do you give up on an area as far as holding a good age structure of bucks...

For me, if two seasons of trail-camera data (cameras run all season) show no mature bucks using the property. But observations made by hunters during hunting season would mean little to me. Hunters generally see only a small percentage of the bucks that are actually out there, and what they do see is usually skewed heavily towards the youngest bucks.

 

[Relentless]

I have also been surprised this year to see how far bucks travel. We all know during the rut they'll run themselves ragged. But this year we had trail cam pics of a buck, then saw him from a stand about a mile away from the picture site; across a blacktop road I may add. It was a very easy to identify this deer because one side was a typical rack with four points...the other side forked just past his base.

That being said, if there are deer in your area, there could be a trophy show up any time.

 

[BSK]

That being said, if there are deer in your area, there could be a trophy show up any time.

To a certain extent, that is true. And the most likely times for "new" older bucks to suddenly show up on a property are exactly a month before your local peak breeding starts, about 10 days before peak breeding starts, then during the 7-10 days of peak breeding. Over a 10-year span, photo censuses of individual properties across Middle and West TN have shown these same patterns.

 

[tasaman]

Saw a map of some radio collared deer and could not belive the range of some of the bucks. Some stayed within 2 miles of home and others made a 20 mile loop two times during the breeding period. I'd say right now, hunt where the does are feeding and don't shoot does. Just wait and see what comes along. You might be very surprised.

 

[8 POINTS OR BETTER]

I've been running cameras on 1000 acres since 2005 and 1650 acres since 2008. We only have about half the mature bucks (4.5+) this year as we have had in the past years. If you count back a 5.5 year old would have been born in 2007, the year of the late freeze, a major drought that summer, and the worst EHD outbreak most had ever seen. During 2007 we had near 0% fawn survival and only about 10% to 15% fawn recruitment in 2008 in my area. All that adds up to there not being many mature bucks 4 or 5 years later.

 

[BSK]

I've been running cameras on 1000 acres since 2005 and 1650 acres since 2008. We only have about half the mature bucks (4.5+) this year as we have had in the past years. If you count back a 5.5 year old would have been born in 2007, the year of the late freeze, a major drought that summer, and the worst EHD outbreak most had ever seen. During 2007 we had near 0% fawn survival and only about 10% to 15% fawn recruitment in 2008 in my area. All that adds up to there not being many mature bucks 4 or 5 years later.

DEFINITELY seeing a decline in the number of mature bucks in my area as well.

 

[8 POINTS OR BETTER]

I've been running cameras on 1000 acres since 2005 and 1650 acres since 2008. We only have about half the mature bucks (4.5+) this year as we have had in the past years. If you count back a 5.5 year old would have been born in 2007, the year of the late freeze, a major drought that summer, and the worst EHD outbreak most had ever seen. During 2007 we had near 0% fawn survival and only about 10% to 15% fawn recruitment in 2008 in my area. All that adds up to there not being many mature bucks 4 or 5 years later.

DEFINITELY seeing a decline in the number of mature bucks in my area as well.

I don't think we have a buck that is 4.5 or 5.5. I think we have one or two 6.5 that are the result of high grading, and the rest are 3.5 or less.

 

[BSK]

I don't think we have a buck that is 4.5 or 5.5. I think we have one or two 6.5 that are the result of high grading, and the rest are 3.5 or less.

This is the craziest year I've ever seen. I'm non-plussed in explaining it. Our summer buck population was the lowest it has been in 12 years, and contained no older bucks. We have seen a big surge of new bucks as we transitioned from summer to fall patterns, but none of those new bucks are mature. In fact, just one might be 3 1/2. Unless we pick up some 3 1/2+ year-old bucks in the surge of new bucks that normally occurs just before the rut, this will definitely be the worst year we've had since the late 90s. I can't imagine going into a deer season with only one buck on my target list, and that buck is definitely nothing special.

 

[Andy S.]

.....in 2007, the year of the late freeze, a major drought that summer, and the worst EHD outbreak most had ever seen. During 2007 we had near 0% fawn survival and only about 10% to 15% fawn recruitment in 2008 in my area. All that adds up to there not being many mature bucks 4 or 5 years later.

I agree 100%. I have been saying all along that the residual effects of 2007 were really going to put a dent in available bucks 4.5+ in out years, at least for a couple of years. That time is here.

 

[BSK]

.....in 2007, the year of the late freeze, a major drought that summer, and the worst EHD outbreak most had ever seen. During 2007 we had near 0% fawn survival and only about 10% to 15% fawn recruitment in 2008 in my area. All that adds up to there not being many mature bucks 4 or 5 years later.

I agree 100%. I have been saying all along that the residual effects of 2007 were really going to put a dent in available bucks 4.5+ in out years, at least for a couple of years. That time is here.

And it's not just 2007. I observed very low fawn recruitment across my region in 2008, 2009 and 2010. We may be seeing the results of that now.

 

[Coach]

I'm not familiar with the word "recruitment" in this context...

 

[Deck78]

This is some interesting info guys. Thanks for the input. I am happy to report that at least one mature deer has moved into range for me, though to date, he is the only one.

I passed 6 times on this deer in 2010 and had a hard time aging him. I would love some opinions. His antler characteristics were awesome. They are white as snow and he is extremely wide but his tines were all pretty small. Mainframe 10. Didn't see him at all in 2011 and figured someone got him. Last week at about 5:45 pm he followed 3 does out into the grassy bowl of our ridge line where dad was turkey hunting.

He is definitely on my shooter list, see video from 2010.

https://vimeo.com/52155186

 

[Deck78]

Oh, I first encountered him the 1st of November in 2010 and this year he showed up a week and a half earlier than in 2010. Any correlation there???