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?
I agree and I think those 5.5 and older are even more unpredictable than the 4.5's They just get really hard to predict in any form or fashion come hard antler time.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.
Agree completely Winchester. I always have to chuckle when I work with a club or landowner who wants to set their buck management goals at 5 1/2+. No problem implementing that and being successful at producing them. But killing them? Good luck with that.I agree and I think those 5.5 and older are even more unpredictable than the 4.5's They just get really hard to predict in any form or fashion come hard antler time.
Worked with a large club that rarely if ever killed a 5 1/2 year-old buck. But those age bucks were sure dropping like flies due to natural causes. They existed, and in fair number, but hunters rarely killed them.It's really dumbfounding how they learn so much so fast. If not for the rut and cameras some would live out their lives past 5 yo without ever being seen by anybody.
If a deer is downwind of you, I don't care what scent-reducing product you use, the deer is going to smell you. Now how they react to that is a different story, depending on many things, most notably hunting pressure.Plus imo, you can use whatever carbon suit/soap/ mechanical ozone doodad but if a deer is able to smell you, he will smell you and there is nothing you can buy to offset that, so plan for it.
Pretty well agree with your assessment. Old bucks do sometimes get too comfortable though. Perfect example was the one I killed last year https://www.tndeer.com/threads/timing.443906/.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.