Which data sets have helped you be a better hunter? Is there anything that you've patterned that has given a eureka moment? Those questions are for you or LBL or anybody else who wouldn't mind sharing something like that. Interesting topic!
Much of the most important analyses came from a combination of observation data and the ability to link that into Geographic Information System (GIS) data (I have a background in GIS development due to my time at the Census Bureau). The first important analysis involved looking at where older bucks were being seen by hunters compared to the layout of thick cover habitat on the property. At the time I ran the analysis, I found that 80% of bucks 2 1/2 years old were seen from stands within 100 yards of thick cover (close to or actually within visual range of the cover habitat). I also found
100% of 3 1/2+ year-old bucks were seen from stands within 100 yards of thick cover. Lesson learned: set stands within visual range of thick cover.
A second, and far more complicated analysis, looked at habitat diversity. I was able to develop a program that divided the property into a 10-yard by 10-yard grid, and then assign a "habitat diversity score" to each grid. The program did this by drawing a 100-yard radius circle from the center of each grid and counting the number of different habitat types that fell within that circle. The program then assigned that diversity number to that grid-square. I then analyzed all of our observation data "spatially." In essence, because our observation data is linked to the GIS through each stands Lat-Long position, I could produce a "topo map" of deer observation rates. I could then cross-correlate the two data sets, run a statistical analysis for all of the grid-squares using habitat diversity as it relates to deer observation rates. What I found was there is a near linear relationship between habitat diversity for a given location and deer sighting rates for that location. Lesson learned: stands that overlook the most habitat types produce the highest deer sightings (with the exception of big, homogenous oak flats in a good acorn year, which can be great).
Of all the data analyses I've run, the one that has improved our success rate on older bucks -
especially mature bucks - the most has been our analysis of the cumulative effects of past hunting pressure. We had noted that we often find a new stand site that is red hot the first year, and still pretty good the second year. But by the third year sightings declined significantly, and by the fourth year the stand was dead. We realized we were burning out those stands, but we were also running out of ideas on where to put stands (we hunt exclusively from ladder stands pre-positioned before the season opens). To find stands for hunting hunter-wary bucks, I now run an spatial analysis each year that uses the past three years of hunting pressure. This spatial analysis creates a "topo map" of our hunting pressure, and what we look for are holes in our hunting pressure - areas of the property that are not being hunted (for whatever reason). Once these holes are located, we place a stand somewhere in that hole, using terrain and habitat as a guide. One thing we
don't focus on is buck sign. Quite often these areas have gone unhunted because there is a lack of buck sign in the area. But this one technique - identifying holes in our past hunting pressure, and forcing ourselves to at least give those areas a try - has revolutionized our success on mature bucks. The
VAST majority of the mature bucks we kill come from one of these "hunting pressure hole" stands, despite the fact these locations often contain no buck sign at all. Lesson learned: Identify where you
haven't been hunting, and hunt there! Mature bucks are highly sensitive to hunting pressure and will shift their movement patterns towards the areas where they encounter the least human intrusion. And mature bucks don't make sign equally everywhere they go. Their travel routes from Point A to Point B may display little sign.
The following important info didn't come from all the observation data I collect, but from a long-term research project I've mentioned many times here, and that is the decade-long Rub Density and Distribution Study I conducted. In that study, post-season, we would run random transits all over the property, and then walk those transits counting/marking all of the rubs we found along the transit lines. The transits were divided up by what type of terrain they were running across. In addition, we measured the distance from each rub to any nearby habitat edge. We could then look at the rub densities per acre for each of the different terrain types we have on the property as well as measure the effect habitat edges have on rub densities. Although everyone who hunts ridge-and-hollow terrain understands bucks like to walk ridge-lines, and often make rubs along those ridge-lines, I found that secondary points that drop down off those ridge-lines have even higher rub densities. And by "secondary points," I'm using the term like bass fisherman do: not the ending point of a long ridge, but a small point that drops perpendicularly off the side of a main ridge. I also found that habitat edges that run down secondary point or along ridge-lines increase the rub densities in those locations
five-fold. Lessons learned: 1) Although saddles in ridge-lines are great hunting locations, where a secondary point drops away from a ridge-line is often better. 2) When designing habitat changes for a property, purposefully create habitat edges that run down secondary points and along ridge-lines. These will become highly predictable buck travel routes.
I haven't done that much reading in years. MAN....y'all never cease to amaze me on the amount of knowledge you have acquired. I appreciate you taking the time to share it. I currently manage 10's and 10's of acres 
so it'll be a little easier for me to keep track of my stats. To be quite honest, I'm hunting meat, not trophies. If I see a legal deer (2 1/2+)....his/her days are probably numbered. It's goin in the freezer.
