Pretty neat article on mature bucks
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fairchaser
Well-Known Member
I thought the article was thought provoking. It basically said that mature bucks tended to use swamp areas for sanctuaries. They had small ranges but did move in daylight on a limited basis. These swamp areas tended to have less human intrusion than other areas and that's why they are preferred by bucks. The only thing needed to kill them was to find those areas and find the part they traveled in during daylight hours.
JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
Thanks for sharing.
AT Hiker
Well-Known Member
"Did it happen right at first light, 20 yards off the southeast corner of the middle CRP field on the edge of the swamp?" we prodded.
The phone went silent for a second, but you could almost hear his jaw hit the floor.
"Yes, in fact that's exactly where and when it happened… how in the world did you know that?" he responded.
Simple! For the previous three months that's the only way anybody would have been able to kill him!"
That was crazy!
The phone went silent for a second, but you could almost hear his jaw hit the floor.
"Yes, in fact that's exactly where and when it happened… how in the world did you know that?" he responded.
Simple! For the previous three months that's the only way anybody would have been able to kill him!"
That was crazy!
fairchaser
Well-Known Member
Interestingly, whenever we get new members at Ames, they have what some believe is beginners luck. In fact what happens is those new hunters find new spots no one has hunted in a while and kill the mature buck that's been using that area as his sanctuary. This should teach us to be always looking for new spots but typically we hunt the same spots over and over again. There are some honey holes but not as many as we think. Each buck has his own unique personality that takes him to his own area. If there's a honey hole it's where those doe families hang out.
catman529
Well-Known Member
Great read, I love the QDMA studies like this.
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megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Agreed, good read!
My takeaway from the article which aligns perfecrly from what ive experienced in the field....f you want to kill mature bucks, the best way is to hunt unpressured deer. To kill pressured mature bucks, hunt near the thickest and nastiest stuff on the landscape.
In TN, we kill mature bucks regularly in wide open fields in the middle of the day to the point it is almost ridiculous. Stuff you just won't ever read about in deer articles, because it isn't supposed to he true. But the key is we don't allow any hunting until the rut in Nov. We then hunt low impact areas for a week to 10 days and even if we dont kill, the deer didn't even know they were hunted. Then hunt another week 2nd rut in Dec.
In MS where there is a ton of pressure for 6 weeks prior to the rut, i have to hunt totally differently. Ive learned to avoid the obvious places like food plots, feeders, open areas, etc because all those attract the bulk of the hunting pressure and the mature bucks avoid them at all costs during daylight
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My takeaway from the article which aligns perfecrly from what ive experienced in the field....f you want to kill mature bucks, the best way is to hunt unpressured deer. To kill pressured mature bucks, hunt near the thickest and nastiest stuff on the landscape.
In TN, we kill mature bucks regularly in wide open fields in the middle of the day to the point it is almost ridiculous. Stuff you just won't ever read about in deer articles, because it isn't supposed to he true. But the key is we don't allow any hunting until the rut in Nov. We then hunt low impact areas for a week to 10 days and even if we dont kill, the deer didn't even know they were hunted. Then hunt another week 2nd rut in Dec.
In MS where there is a ton of pressure for 6 weeks prior to the rut, i have to hunt totally differently. Ive learned to avoid the obvious places like food plots, feeders, open areas, etc because all those attract the bulk of the hunting pressure and the mature bucks avoid them at all costs during daylight
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HatchieHunter
Well-Known Member
Very interesting article. Have a spot that is exactly as they describe a wetland that haven't hunted bc of the difficulty. May have to give it a try later in the year. Thanks for passing along.
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Great read. I can think of several bucks that have followed what the research suggest. I think the articles really enforces the impact that hunting pressure has on deer movement and how important it is to know what pressure you and any other hunter is putting on the deer in an area.
This is the takeaway message in a nutshell. BSK shared an article called "hunt the bright spots" back in 2006. It eluded to this exact science: the mature bucks are more often than not hanging out where the majority of hunters are not, thus this is where your odds of seeing them in daylight and killing them are the greatest. In laymen terms, they pattern us hunters waaaaaay quicker than hunters pattern them, and they tolerate very little intrusion, if any, before they turn mostly nocturnal.Grnwing":a3307je5 said:
catman529
Well-Known Member
5.5 year old bucks?hbg1":7m6uabk3 said:
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JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
Yep - even if that means hunting in the wide open hardwoods where no one else hunts because it is wide open and not much sign. This is where we often hear of beginners having some luck, because they just "don't know any better".Andy S.":38nermf7 said:
I believe BSK's biggest deer (at the time) was taken in one of those areas where he didn't expect to see much. I remember one story from him telling of the hunter being able to see the lamp on in window of the cabin where a fine buck was shot
Mike Belt
Well-Known Member
I couldn't agree more about "swamp" hunting. I haven't done much of it but have scouted in some of it. It's a lot different wearing chest waders around while scouting. Beaver runs, swamp grass head high that covered downed dead timber, and areas too deep for waders. In some of these places I saw heavy sign and trails. The going was so tough that I never hunted them because it would have been next to impossible for me to get a deer out by myself, and for that same reason, I went in a light as possible and always left my gun behind; something I regretted doing after walking up on a great, wide and heavy 10 pointer browsing around with a few does.
No swamps on the land I hunt. But as they said, there are probably places that don't get a much pressure as others.
Winchester
Well-Known Member
Good read. Ive been doing this for a long time but "common sense" keeps popping up in my mind!
