I was sitting in the tree yesterday and thought; bucks 1.5 yo/2.5yo not to careful, 3.5yo pretty careful, 4.5yo real careful and 5.5yo and up all they think about is being careful.
That sound about right?
That sound about right?
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Smarter as they age
- Thread starter Iglow
- Start date
BSK
Well-Known Member
I think there are three primary "grades" of buck wariness/behavior. The first is yearling bucks. Come the rut, they are dumb as bricks, and act like human teenage boys doing anything and everything to get laid. They throw all caution to the wind. The second group is the middle-aged bucks; those 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 years old. They are MUCH more cautious than yearling bucks but can still act stupid during the peak of the rut. Then there are the mature bucks (4 1/2+). They are a completely different animal. Truly wary and even follow different patterns than younger bucks to increase their survival chances. Mature bucks rarely make dumb mistakes, and taking any mature buck that has faced hunting pressure is a real accomplishment.
Absolutely, You wont get many chances at anything over 3.5 at the same stand, or at least not for awhile, going into new area's are always a better chance of seeing deer you might not have seen at a permanent stand site, movement and scent play a larger roll as they get older, they might move 50-100y to avoid known dangers. They adjust quicker than we do so sightings dry up. The rut can throw all that out the window but I suspect the older bucks go nocturnal around the time bow hunters take to the woods, it could also be small game folks at the same time so it can't all be layed on bow hunters.
