buckman4c
Spike
Great posts!! Awesome insight!
In regards to calling, I do so on a very limited basis. In my experiences, my calling has done more harm than good with mature bucks. Immature deer respond somewhat depending on what land I'm hunting. Up until last year the large majority of my hunting has been on public land in Pa. More pressure, more guys calling and these older bucks have been exposed quite often to the tactic. Not saying it won't work but this has been my experience. I actually have better luck keeping deer calm in the area with a turkey call.
Another Big Buck Down,
I couldn't have said it better!! Good post! I too go years without filling a buck tag with absolutely no regret. The fire burns.
25 contender,
Awesome! Great Bucks!! Your thought process and tactics confirm my suspicions. The buck we're chasing "disappears" but we believe he's not far away. He is most visible and vulnerable in the early bow season. We wish we had more time to hunt. That may be part of our problem. The other is refining our approach. Aggressive but controlled aggression based on conditions. One of the bedding areas we successfully hunted is the best self example. My brother in-law wanted to set up deeper. I talked him out of it based on bedding sign I found in post season scouting. During the season, we saw a handful of 3.5 year old bucks, younger bucks and doe come and go from that bedding area without being picked off. It was a large, well used bedding area I designated as a primary doe area but I believe bucks lay there too. Our target buck showed on the camera nearby but never while we hunted that stand. I think our approaches in other key areas of his core area are flawed. Need to fix that.
Someone posted about checking cameras when they hunt and not doing so. I understand what your saying but in our case, the bedding area cameras we have are actually outside the bedding area along a travel route. Our access comes by the camera. We typically hunt the location in the afternoon and pass the camera on the way in and out. We purposely set them up this way. One time in, one time out, hunt and pull card. Limits our exposure.
In regards to calling, I do so on a very limited basis. In my experiences, my calling has done more harm than good with mature bucks. Immature deer respond somewhat depending on what land I'm hunting. Up until last year the large majority of my hunting has been on public land in Pa. More pressure, more guys calling and these older bucks have been exposed quite often to the tactic. Not saying it won't work but this has been my experience. I actually have better luck keeping deer calm in the area with a turkey call.
Another Big Buck Down,
I couldn't have said it better!! Good post! I too go years without filling a buck tag with absolutely no regret. The fire burns.
25 contender,
Awesome! Great Bucks!! Your thought process and tactics confirm my suspicions. The buck we're chasing "disappears" but we believe he's not far away. He is most visible and vulnerable in the early bow season. We wish we had more time to hunt. That may be part of our problem. The other is refining our approach. Aggressive but controlled aggression based on conditions. One of the bedding areas we successfully hunted is the best self example. My brother in-law wanted to set up deeper. I talked him out of it based on bedding sign I found in post season scouting. During the season, we saw a handful of 3.5 year old bucks, younger bucks and doe come and go from that bedding area without being picked off. It was a large, well used bedding area I designated as a primary doe area but I believe bucks lay there too. Our target buck showed on the camera nearby but never while we hunted that stand. I think our approaches in other key areas of his core area are flawed. Need to fix that.
Someone posted about checking cameras when they hunt and not doing so. I understand what your saying but in our case, the bedding area cameras we have are actually outside the bedding area along a travel route. Our access comes by the camera. We typically hunt the location in the afternoon and pass the camera on the way in and out. We purposely set them up this way. One time in, one time out, hunt and pull card. Limits our exposure.