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Passive vs aggressive hunting

I found success last year and this year in East TN by doing a passive approach during the rut. Getting in an hour before daylight, attaching my seat to climber that is already in tree, sitting 20ft or more up in tree in my climber, no calling or rattling, and waiting on a buck to push a doe past me. I feel during the rut/muzzleloader/gun season there are so many people moving around/coming in late/calling way too much or not sounding right when they do call, therefore, the best thing to do is don't move and don't make noise and they will be come by eventually. It takes patience and commitment, but I have killed 2 good East TN bucks 2 years in a row doing this. I also play the wind and thermals and try to keep my clothes and body scent free by washing clothes in scent killer detergent and using H.S. soap and shampoo.

When I was a teenager I killed a few younger bucks on public by still hunting but I believe I have better success especially during the rut, on bigger, older bucks by being passive and letting does and other people bring them to my area.
 
Passive nowadays, mostly because I am in no shape to be chasing deer like I used to in my younger days. I make the environment suitable for them to feel comfortable being there (or at least pass through), plenty of cover, some food and minerals nearby, a natural funnel helps my 7.2 acre place be productive, no mature ones to speak of, but plenty of venison. My other place, I placed my stand so I can cover the trails they use, it's new (to me) but plenty of sign they are there, and even seen a few doe and a buck there, so it should be productive as well. The great thing about this place is that it is within a stones throw of a WMA, so if I ever get bored, I can get down and get to stalking a deer. I will grunt and rattle some too, when the boredom sets in, but not on a regular basis.
 
Totally passive. I only hunt the edges of a deers territory, and do that from a distance. The last thing I can afford to do is move in aggressively and push deer to be killed by the neighbors on my farms. Doing so, I can hunt the same spots 4 or 5 times before I burn it. Worked well so far this year... ive had 5 bucks 4.5yo or older in range so far this season.

Now when I'm on a location that isn't owned by me and I won't be back to for a long while, I start the trip conservatively, then get more aggressive as the week progresses. Who cares if I burn the spot, won't be back for a year.

When it comes to rattling/ grunting... I dont view that as being aggressive hunting. Deer either respond or they don't, but I don't think either burns the spot. It's actual human intrusion that burns the spot.
 
I've done both. Personally, I have always been a wonderer and killed a lot of deer still hunting.

Hunting with kids forced me to stay put and focus on terrain features. Because of that, we have killed more bucks. But, two of those bucks were also last 15 minute of light moves to look at field edges before all the light was gone.
 
I do both most of the time.super thick stuff which mostly is all the places I hunt. I aggressively still hunt moving sometimes 30 yards and sit for 30minutes. And continue that for the day. Depending on what I'm seeing. Some days I'll sit for an hour and move. Not measuring any distances of course just a rough guess. But stand hunting I'm usually watching my scent and noise.
 

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