Why can't I take a Trophy Buck?

[wallter]

I have been Deer Hunting for about 22 years and have yet to shoot a Trophy. I won't bore you guys with my Bio. Basically I pretty much seem to know what I am doing (avg. skill level). I'm looking for a good book, video, HSOforum, tips from this forum, ANYTHING. I want to make next year the year I get the big boy. Thank ahead of time.

[Mark Christianson]

A lotta luck helps too.

I went 21 years without shooting a decent buck.

2002 I got a 110" 9 pt.

2003 I got a 126" 8 pt.

2004 I got a 147 1/8" 11 pt.

Do you have food plots? Crops nearby? Do you own trail cameras?

If you can do some food plots, thats number one in my book. Give the deer the nutrition to grow that big rack, and also to provide them with potential food year round.

Trail cameras will tell you what you may or may not have in your woods. If you happen to get some pics of a giant, you can not only hone in on his patterns, but you may also get a little more desire to hit the woods a few more times.

I have no secret. No books, videos, etc helped me. I think a lot of my recent success is luck, but adding some enhancements(foodplots) sure is a good trick to add to your arsenal.

[jlm]

Put in the time in an area that will produce! That is the best advice I can give. I am not talking several days or a couple of weekends, I am talking a serious commitment with 100's of hours scouting and hunting. I can't even imagine how many miles I put on walking and driving this year. Thousands for sure. Be patient, you will not shoot a trophy deer every year. I have taken several but have also gone through years of not taking one because I strongly feel taking smaller bucks in an area hurts your trophy potential. Put in the time in a good area and you will have results. Maybe for you just seeing a trophy deer is a place to start and is a big step in tagging one. You have to know where they live and how to access them before you can start hunting. If you try to find one by accident, you most likely will never see one. Tactics are much different when hunting mature deer. Simple things like the type of clothes you wear and where you park your truck need to be considered. I personally believe that if you want to tag a trophy buck, and more just like him, you have to hunt with committment and you have to have a passion for it. If you can't commit to that, you have to rely completely on luck and in my book, complete luck has never hung a monster on my wall. They are there because of hard work and a passion for the sport!

[wallter]

Sounds like scouting is the key. In my bow hunting area (just rec'd permission in 2004) I have permission to hunt an area where there have been several big bucks taken over the years. When is the best time to scout?

[jlm]

I love scouting during the Spring. It allows me to do some shed hunting and the area will look almost exactly like it did in the Fall. Keep a log book and keep track of scrapes and rubs and major trail systems (be sure to look for the secondary trails as well, they are a big key for mature bucks). All this scouting will produce a picture come late next Fall. You will have to scout Summer months to get a grip on Early Fall patterns, however, in my opinion, large mature bucks will rarely change key areas such as sanctuary lands and bedding areas. They will come back to these areas regardless of time of year if they are safe. Good luck and let us know of your progress!

[JohnnyC77]

Great advice (as usual from here) but I have a few things to add, of course.

#1- How do you eliminate your scent?? Most shows I watch and books I read emphasize scent reduction A LOT! Wash your clothes with special detergent, use special dryer sheets, keep them in scent proof bags until use, dress in the field, spray yourself down with scent killer, use a cover scent, and washing yourself with scent free soap and shampoo are all things that I have picked up over the hours of off-season video watching. Now you don't have to do this all, but it can't hurt! If you can’t do it all, try to at least do these three things, it will help you see a lot more deer.

- Wash with scent free soap and shampoo

- Use scent killer spray

- Wash your clothes with scent free stuff

With that all said you are never going to be completely scent free, still remember to play the wind and have it in your favor as much as possible, sometimes you can’t help it though.

#2 Through scouting try to locate a big buck...you can't hunt him if he isn't there. If you hunt land that contains only small spikes, forks, etc. you can't shoot a big one unless he passes through on a freak chance. Look for big buck sign - BIG sheds, rubs on big trees, etc. Remember though - big and little bucks both rub little trees so if you don't see any big (cant get your hands around it) trees torn up don't give up on the spot. The best way to scout for deer though is to actually SEE THEM. This is the ultimate proof they are there, obviously, and it also gets your blood rushing just to see them. There are three ways to see big deer. First is walking through the woods and looking for them, sitting in stands etc. The second is to drive around looking at fields and such. I like to do it mid-late summer evenings. The weather is great and the big bucks aren’t spooky at all. The third way is to use trail cameras. This is by far the most expensive route to take. I have one I JUST GOT, so you would have to ask someone else about them.

#3- Let the little ones walk. I am only 19 years old, but I have yet to shoot a buck. This year alone I passed on 3 different eight pointers, a six pointer, a fork, and a spike, on my various hunting lands because they weren't mature yet. Someday I am hoping that my patience pays off big, and I feel it will. Another duh statement: if you shoot the spikes they will never get big, and just because it is born a spike doesn’t mean it will be one forever.

#4 - Lastly (sorry this is soo awfully long), be patient. When you sit on stand, try not to fidget. Keep alert and scanning around you for the big one.

Well I hope this helps you land the big one, again I am sorry about the wordiness of it! GOOD LUCK!!!

JohnnyC

[Jeremy Donabauer]

The first thing you should do is go to a state that you have a standing chance in. Minnesota used to be the best but now it is average at best. I'm sure you're a good enough hunter but the chances in MN are minimal (with a very few exceptions of course).

[wallter]

Wow! Thanks for all that you said a mouthful. It seems to keep coming back to scouting any and every form of scouting. See my new posted topic.

[hobbydog]

Scouting is important but is often misused. Where do you hunt? Public or private? How many acres? How many days do you hunt? What time do you get in your stand and leave your stand?

First there has to be quality bucks in the area. If there is much hunting pressure all the scouting....trails, patterns, scrapes, etc. kind of goes out the window the day before the season starts. (how many put up portable stands the day before?) The bucks will move into tougher cover and change their patterns. You have to think one step ahead....if this are gets pressured, where are these bucks going to move to?

Second, we shot five 8+ pointers this year....approximate times they were shot. 8, 9:20, 9:30, 10:15 and 3 in the afternoon. This is pretty close to what we see year after year. If you are getting out of your stand between 9 and 10 you are leaving in the peak time.....especially if you are hunting during the rut.

[wallter]

hobbydog,

Now we're talking. Here are my answers; I hunt private, about 180 acres, I hunt about 10 days w/bow here, I normally hunt pm & climb into stand about 1-2 hrs. b4 sunset, there are 3 other people in there 2 (stands up weekend b4)of them will hunt the 1st 2 wknds of bow & a crew during firearms of 2-8 but normally 2 guys the rest of bow season. Basically, I am looking for knowledge when hunting on either side of the firearms season but not during. Thanks.

[JohnnyC77]

Try to hang your stand for the early season VERY EARLY! Like a month to three weeks before hand and then STAY OUT until you hunt it!! That might be part of your problem!

[WB make the CUT]

Dont shoot little bucks, and try to brain wash the big hunter down the road drinking a cooly over his "Big Spike"

You might try a state that has no hunting during the rut.

Good luck!

[JohnnyC77]

I agree on BOTH counts. Trophy deer management is a "community effort". If you are good and pass up bambi but your neighbor shoots him, it is a lost cause. This is extremely evident on small tracts of land (less than 40 acres) where even bucks in well populated deer heards roam more than 1 property. Wallter hunts 180 acres and might not have to do this, but most of you should talk to your neighbors and see if they will enter into some kind of quality deer management with you, or at least agree not to shoot all the fork horns and small six pointers. I am sure you will have many neighbors that will agree to this, if they know you are managing the herd also it might make them less ansy to shoot a small buck, because they know you won't shoot it either.

[BLACKJACK]

Two more things I'd like to add here beyond the scout, scout, and more scouting in both spring and fall. Spend as much time as you can in the woods between Oct. 25 and Nov 15, the bucks have breeding on their minds. Second, and this kind of contradicts the first, expand your hunting area and have some stand sites beyond that 180 acres. I firmly believe that you can burn an area out if you hunt it too much, the deer start to shy away from areas with too much human activity and scent, at the very least they'll turn nocturnal on you. Big bucks don't get big by being stupid. If you have found an area with a big buck, hunt him only when the time and wind is perfect, otherwise stay the he11 away from that area.

Wallter, have you determined what a 'trophy buck' is to you? Is it an 8 pointer? A 10 pointer? 12? How far beyond the ears do the antlers need to go to be a trophy in your book? Think about that now so when the moment of truth comes, you can concentrate on the shot. If you haven't shot very many deer with a bow, you need to shoot a few, to get the bugs worked out, so when Mr. Big does come along, you're ready. And after spending lots of time in a tree stand you decide to shoot a nice 6 or 8, don't let your buddys give you grief. You've earned it, 80% of the bowhunters never even shoot a deer, and if its a trophy in your eyes, thats good enough. Good luck.

[nolte]

If you want a good reading source on this, check out

"Bowhunting Pressured whitetails" by John Ebernhart

He gives a no talk approach and doesn't try to promote a bunch of products.

Most of the articles you read are from guys that hunt in Big Buck Meccas with lots of private managed lands. Areas where most of us don't have the opportunity to hunt.

[jigginjim]

Blackjack, your info is right on, I have hunted in many parts of Minnesota. I shot my first deer in 1992 after the Halloween storm during a special hunt in December. It was only a button buck,but at the time that was my trophy after 19 years of no deer. For past 12 years I've been hunting in Kandiyohi Co. shot a deer each year after no bucks, just hoping to get a deer. This year i shot my trophy a 10 pointer. The green score was 147 with 16" inside spread. G2's are 12" and 11 6/8". G3's at 9 6/8, 9 4/8.

The final score is beening done this week.

[96trigger]

I just want to add a little bit. I started out shotgun hunting in SEMN and I remember when it was hard for me to see deer in the woods during the season. When I turned 18 I started bowhunting and spent more time scouting. The first couple of years were tough and it was hard for me to see deer when I bowhunted. I was willing to shoot a doe but often I would get busted by sent or when I drew back. After a couple of years I started to learn when to draw, I became a fanatic about scent elimination. I showered before I went out with scent free soap, my camo was washed in scent free soap, my antipersperant was scent free, I used scent killer when walking to the stand. This helped greatly increase the number of deer that I saw. Although deer sighting increased, the number of bucks that I was seeing was not. My biggest problem was lack of scouting and immobility. I hunted private land and the stands were permanent. It wasn't until I started hunting state lands and using movable stands that I was finally able to start seeing numerous deer and even some bucks. I still have yet to shoot a deer with the bow because I now pass up on the does, but it's exciting when they are right under your stand and don't know that they are there. Many times this year I had good bucks in the area but none came within shooting range. I was sure not to spook the does because they always came through first. I guess that if I was to give 2 points that have greatly increased my deer sighting.

#1. Scent elimination, Scent elimination, Scent elimination. A Scentlok suit has more been more than beneficial for me and it is the one thing aside from the bow or gun, that I will not go in the field without. I also still do the whole scent free shower. I no longer worry about wind as much. I have had deer walk right by me with the wind in their face.

#2. Be mobile. I know that it contradicts the whole have the stand in early But I have found a ladder stand or climber can easily be put up off a trail with very little notice from the deer. I have found that deer will change the patterns during the rut so sometimes, making a quick move will be enough to put him in range. It would have worked this year had the buck lost interest in feeding and chased after a doe.

I have found that since I started bow hunting, shotgun has really become less of a challenge. I have really learned to read deer, I learned how to let a deer come in close enough for an easy shot, I also learned how to take my time, aim, and have great shotplacement. Keep trying, it will come.

[Eric_Sieve]

I agree wholeheartedly....scent free is the way to be....sounds like a anti-drug slogan or something!!!

[hobbydog]

Maybe because these guys have been hunting next to you

[Eric_Sieve]

WOA!!!?!?!??! Where the HECK did you find that, and WHERE was it taken??? JEEZE!!!

[Jim Hudson]

Wallter... so far people have given you some great advice.. I want to add something else here that I did not see in the previous posts.. First off, as others have said, you need to hunt an area that holds mature deer. So here it goes...

To consistantely harvest mature deer in an area you hunt, you need to hunt the high precentage places to see these deer. These precentage places will change as the hunting season changes because the deer's needs will change (ie #1 Early fall=hunting trails coming to and going from prime food sources, #2 a period known as the "October Lull"=hunt near food sources but also bedding areas as the bucks usually are only moving short distances for food and safety as they are storing energy for the rut, #3 comes into the different stages of the rut (pre-rut starting usually the middle of October, the chase phase, the bredding phase)=each one of these can be broke down but you can find a lot of good reading to research this to help you as this is when is prime time to harvest a mature buck as their guard slips a little bit where I try to hunt converging trails or known trails known to be used consistantly by a mature deer I am hunting but these deer can be anywhere at anytime so be prepared and hunt all day during this time period if you can, #4 then comes the post rut=a reverse in the order of what happened before as in they will recover moving less to and from food sources then more widely as winter sets in to gain access to prime food sources.)

Now knowing this, look for areas in your hunting spot that will funnel or move deer during these changes to known feeding, beeding, intersecting trails, etc in your hunting area. These deer are not stupid and use the topography of the land and other features to minimize their loss of energy. And this is done by scouting your land, and these funnel areas can be found using topographical maps first (and the aid of aerial photographs if you want to be really specific). Look for terrain features on the maps that will funnel deer to specific food sources, what looks to be like bedding areas, etc etc. Then get on foot and check it out, seeing if what you thought was true and put the rest all together. Year in and year out this is they way I consistantly harvest mature deer in the big woods of northern Wisconsin. Using the maps and terrain to my advantage I cut down on a lot of just fumbling through the woods. Some people always think to themselves while in their stands "why do deer always use that one trail and not this one?" by using this technique you will know why....

A good book on this is called Mapping Whitetails that can be found at Krause Publications. Okay, if ya have anymore questions, let me know. I hope this helps and I didnt confuse you too much... there is more to be said about terrain features and what not but we can leave that to another post too after you tell me the type of area you hunt etc...

[Eric_Sieve]

Where was this picture taken!!!!! The suspense is just KILLING ME!!

[Mark Christianson]

Thats been flying around the internet for quite a while.

I have heard several different stories about the same picture.

It would be interesting to know more about it indeed.

[roosterslayer]

hey BLB that picture is the way our trucks look like after a opening weekend in ottertail county isn't it?!!! LOL

i know you havn't seen this display name before, but how about officer122 from ******* any hope all is well,good luck fishing the rest of the year.

[HC Eye Hunter]

I have been bowhunting for 33 years (mostly state ground) and have put down my share of large mature bucks and I think there are a couple of key and basic things to always keep in mind.

First, Get out into the woods and learn how to read sign. Anyone can get lucky and stumble onto a good buck and kill it, but to consistantly harvest mature bucks you have to learn there habits

Second, Deer have routes they travel. Hunt down wind from where the deer are coming from. Deer have a helluva nose and I don't care what kind of gizmos you use to try to hide your scent, being down wind from your quarry is the always the best!

Third, Don't hunt the same stand every time you go out. And if the wind is wrong to hunt out of a particular stand that you like. Dont Hunt It and find a stand that works for the conditions.

None of these recomendations are rocket science and if you enjoy hunting whitetails they shouldn't be considered work. Like the Nike commercial says Just Do It!