Where are the bucks?

[MrCrappie]

I need some suggestions on how to start seeing these boys.

I hunt on my inlaws property in zone 225. It has 15 acres of grass, a 5 acre garden, and 20 acres of mostly oak and some mixed trees and tall grass. The garden has corn, beans, squash and cabbage. The garden is much closer to the bedding area than to the oaks. The property is surrounded by 20-80 acre parcels of private land. There is an 80-100 acre HSO corn field 1/4 mile down the road and across the street is an open country dairy farm. I know that several does bed in the thick stuff as they almost always come through the oaks (my stand) at dawn. I've passed up on 20 of them. There is a rub line leading from the tall grass (funnel area) through the oaks, and that's the prefered route deer take. I have never seen any deer at dusk. Last year my uncle missed a huge buck at 15 yards at last light and brother shot a 9 pointer that ran through the property after the neighbors missed him. I passed on a 4 pointer right before gun opener, but recently the garden received a visit from a buck with tracks 5 inches long. I've been out there hunting dawn and dusk at least a dozen times. Took two does this year. One had a belly full of corn and the other had soybeans. I always hear people say, "If you hunt the does, the bucks are sure to follow." Yeah right! Where are the bucks and how do I hunt them?

Red lines are the deer trails. Red cirle with X is my stand.

[fishuhalik]

I would start by not limiting yourself to dawn and dusk early in the season, during prime rut. When the rut is on I'm in my stand from dark-dark. I've never shot a big buck during the day, they've all been in the morning, but I know alot of guys that have.

Being that the rut is starting to die down, I'd start looking at cover areas right now. Granted there's still some does in heat right now but I would look to safety areas this late in the season. If the deer are pressured much, any decent buck is going to duck deep into cover, coming out only if he's looking for a doe or some food.

Also this time of year the bucks are going to be going pretty nocturnal, so evening is going to be getting better. Set up in an ambush point just outside of heavy cover, on the way to food. You don't wanna go into their bed cuz you'll spook him right out of the area if he sees or hears you.

[Bear55]

I would love to look at that photo and tell you where to setup to shoot a big buck but that is pretty much impossible. You will just have to put in your time scouting, glassing the fields, put out some trail cameras and hunt hard. It can take years to really know an area inside and out, even then you need to be in the right place at the right time and have a little luck on your side. I've hunted some of the same land all my life and I am still learning things every season. Keep a journal of all your deer sightings, sign, everything you can think of and hunt hard. That is about all I can tell you.

[sticknstring]

I'd say keep doing what you're doing in the mornings. You're seeing deer and eventually a buck will come check them out. It's just a matter of time. That corn is a major lifeline and as long as you keep hunting between the field and bedding cover, you're in good shape. Keep after it.

[bigbucks]

My first thought is you said stand site? I can't comprehend that as a singular term, certainly for opening morning of firearms season I always go to the same place, but after that weather conditions, crops, where I haven't hunted already, etc. have a lot to do with which stand I choose.

My Dad has 99 1/2 acres, no not a 100, but darn close. He has a small windbreak & a half acre of woods, about a 10 acre pasture that hasn't been grazed for about 10 years, that has some high grass & scattered trees, as well as a waterhole. It's basically crops, we've built 5 permanent stands on it. During gun season from a couple of the stands you can see all of the other 4. During bow season I hunted 4 of the 5 there, plus 3 sites on another property, 1 on another, 2 on another, & half a dozen in WI.

It sounds to me like you may be over hunting the stand. You may not be, you may have just been unlucky, it happens. I hunted a portable with prime buck sign 4-5 times this fall, saw lots of does & fawns, one small buck. I hunted two other spots with very little sign a total of three times, saw 4 deer total, a doe, a 6 pointer, & the 10 & 11 that I shot. That was the only time I saw either of those deer. My buddy's pretty sure he saw the 10 back in October nearly half a mile away. The sign isn't always there, you just have to be there when one cruises through. Any kind of a funnel can be good. I've got a couple of spots that are just 4 corner fence junctions, but a lot of deer show up right there or very near there.

[HunterLee]

I would hunt the funnel to the NE of you stand on the north end of the field in the woods. And find a funnel on the edge of the garden. Not sure of the property lines there but the south edge by the corn is sure to have deer and a good funnel area. I would have 3-6 stands on that land with one for each wind and a couple good stands for a west/ northwest winds, and for a south wind as we have been getting lots of them this year.

Also on the south end of that field in the woods looks to be a good area for a stand. But you need to scout and see what would work. Either hang it for a south or north wind, and pick them off as they cruise the in side edge of the woods.

[bigbucks]

Looking at the photo again I bet there's one or two really good trails crossing that E-W road in the North center. There's no other places where woods get that close to each other from North to South on that road. I'd bet they either follow that finger going North & hit the SE corner of the woods on the North side of the road or go out the thicker woods to the East & follow what looks like a fenceline on the North side of the road, probably both. You'd want to be at least a 100 yards off the road I'd think, unless there's some spot where multiple trails intersect closer & you wouldn't be really visible from the road, although that doesn't always matter, especially since it's a gravel. Chances are that spot has a distinctly better time, either morning or evening, but you'd figure that out by hunting it or scouting it.

[lungdeflator]

like previously put your time in scouting, you might have to sacrifice the rest of this season to scout for next season but it might be worth it. check the big block of woods east of your stand. the thickest part of those woods and that thin swamp on the east side of the woods would be good places to start

[WestCentralGuru]

I would agree with the thick spot running through the big block of woods east of your stand and the slough. That is where i would key in on. Scout the edge of the slough looking for trees over 3 inches in diameter that have been rubbed up. This will help you to key in on his travel routes. Try not to leave too much human scent in the area.

[walleyeguy7]

yes i would say too that you should do more scouting and giving your stand site a rest overhunting an area can change their habits pretty quickly. maybe carry a stand in with you early in the day check out a few other areas that you think may be good and set it up and hunt the evening. i like to try to find a couple different doe bedding areas and locate the trails that run between them they can be good all day but be careful poking around you dont want to kick a bunch of deer out.the lower edges of swampy areas or tall grasses. also deer like to hang out on the south facing hillsides when its chilly out. another thing you can do is wait till the snow flies and you can find fresh tracks to and from the bedding areas, other than a trail cam that wiil give you the best insight as to where they are going to and from.

[MrCrappie]

Thanks for all your input guys. I'm probably just not hunting hard enough. I'll definately have to do more scouting and moving around. Can't wait till the colder weather moves in!

[96trigger]

I don't think anybody said that your weren't hunting hard enough. Don't get that impression. If it were me, I would have at the very least, three different stands in that chunk of woods, I would never hunt the same stand more than once a week, unless it is abnormally hot with deer and/or the rut is full swing.

If you are seeing that many deer, the bucks are around. Some things to think about.

Bucks don't always follow the same path as the does. When I see a buck, its because a doe has come out in the field to eat. Usually the bucks don't come out with them, they normally come out from somewhere else. I don't see them come out together very often. I have never seen a BIG buck come out with a doe, its always does first, then later, from somewhere else, the buck follows.

When I say hunt the does, I am talking abot finding where they are feeding and hunt that source. Not necessarily their travel corridors.