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Subtle ways we defeat our chances at mature bucks

@fulldraw said:
By not hunting. I'm a firm believer that the more you're in a tree the higher your odds are. Too many guys decide not to hunt because certain conditions aren't right. We never know truly where the buck will come from.
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Kinda like only hunting when so and so app says you should.
Some big bucks have been killed in pretty rotten conditions.
 
deerhunter10 said:
It's already been said but mine are entrence and exits we have added a lot of screens to help with those.

Wind/thermals imo the most important hard to kill mature deer almost impossible to kill them downwind unless you're lucky.

Hunting when it's right not when you just want to. Putting in the right time is more important then just putting in time.

All of those have been said.

One that hasn't is preparation. It's has started already for next fall. Time now pays off in the fall. Lack of preparation cost hunters.

Also being in a routine. Not changing with the deer. Farms change subtlety every year. Like going to that spot because it's been good for years and being hard headed and not changing with the deer.
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That last part is a good one. Amazing how things change from year to year.
 
My biggest three in order of importance are boundaries, self doubt, and giving the buck too much credit.

For the first, bucks get old and big because they spend their daylight lives where hunters aren't. Getting a thousand pics of a buck at 2am is useless as tits on a board hog. You can't kill him so don't waste time trying. You have to find a buck that is active on a property you can hunt during daylight hours regularly enough to give reasonable hope. The more you have located the better your odds of getting one.

Once you have one located and can hunt him, then don't pussyfoot around out of caution. Go in and get him. Do your homework and trust it. If you sit a couple times and don't see him don't give up. If you bump him don't give up.

Last but not least understood he's old, slow, arthritic stiff, stubborn, set in his ways, and likely suffering some degree of hearing and/or vision loss. He does not have super powers or mensa intellect. Literally the hardest part about killing him is figuring out where he spends his daylight hours and having access to hunt it.
 
Ski said:
Maybe it's time to move your cameras. Also a dozen on 500 acres, depending on the layout, isn't seeing very much. I run a dozen cams on 100 acres and can't cover it all.
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I do move em and the 8 non cell cams, its impossible to get every bucks picture. I sat in a wheat plot on evening with 16 different deer and never got a pic of any of them with three different cameras( 2 brownings and a stealthcam) on that plot. They are just another tool not a guarantee
 
You boys have really put together an incredible list of things to pay attention to when pursuing mature bucks! I have found myself on the losing end of the game with almost everything that has been mentioned at some point or another over the past 20 years of hunting. I think one of my biggest mistakes like mentioned above is overthinking what a buck is thinking… I have thought in the past that these big bucks are almost magical in their thinking. Time and experience has taught me that's not the case. Yes it's true that mature bucks behave very differently than does or younger bucks but they have no ability to reason in their thought processes. They are simply instinctive creatures that behave based on the biological needs of their bodies. As I become more seasoned at hunting these awesome animals I am trying to uncomplicated my approach towards them. My motto now when hunting a buck is KISS
KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID! I cannot stress this enough. Bucks need 4 things only and every step they take throughout their lives is dictated by them. I find them to be in this order of importance to a buck.
1. Cover (he has to stay alive to see tomorrow)
2. Food (deer have rumens that have to process food a few times a day)
3. Water (he needs it every few days at minimum and often they can get by with water from the food they eat for a day or two)
4. Sex (he cannot help but try to pass on his genes)
When I go to a property to hunt a buck I try my best to assess what the least available resource of the 4 above he has access to, depending on time of the year, and make my approach from that angle…
 
Ski said:
My biggest three in order of importance are boundaries, self doubt, and giving the buck too much credit.

For the first, bucks get old and big because they spend their daylight lives where hunters aren't. Getting a thousand pics of a buck at 2am is useless as tits on a board hog. You can't kill him so don't waste time trying. You have to find a buck that is active on a property you can hunt during daylight hours regularly enough to give reasonable hope. The more you have located the better your odds of getting one.

Once you have one located and can hunt him, then don't pussyfoot around out of caution. Go in and get him. Do your homework and trust it. If you sit a couple times and don't see him don't give up. If you bump him don't give up.

Last but not least understood he's old, slow, arthritic stiff, stubborn, set in his ways, and likely suffering some degree of hearing and/or vision loss. He does not have super powers or mensa intellect. Literally the hardest part about killing him is figuring out where he spends his daylight hours and having access to hunt it.
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Very very wise words and I'm guilty of all three.
 

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