Where to find bucks

Are the bucks heading to places on private ground or to an opening at dusk? Hunt accordingly. Hunt where the deer are.

Study maps, learn the rules and laws, learn how deer use various terrain. Prep gear ahead of time and use trail cameras to see what deer are in the area and what times they are moving. Try to blend into the canopy or surrounding cover. A good rule of thumb is to place your stand higher in open hardwoods and lower in swampy wetlands. If tree stands aren't for you, or you are hunting with a firearm, you can also try a pop-up ground blind.

After all of your preparation, hunt strategically. The HuntWise app uses an algorithm that takes into consideration: barometric pressure, moon phase, weather conditions, and time of year to predict the best times to get out and hunt. Make sure you are scent conscious and wind conscious.

Hunt the right spots at the best times. Before you head out, make sure you know the wind direction, and remember that you can check HuntWise to compare your hunting spots by the wind. Once you are out there, be aware of the direction the wind is taking your scent and try to keep the wind blowing in your face. Home Species About Blog Contact. Know Where to Find Public Land It is crucial to know where land boundaries fall for public and private property.

Scout in Multiple Ways The modern hunter is accustomed to digital mapping technology. Make the Tree Work For You When you find an area that has a lot of deer traffic, make the spot work for you. Avoid Other Hunters Mature bucks made it their old age by avoiding hunters.

Try Different Hunting Styles Hang-on tree stand setups and tree saddles are all the rage right now but don't forget, pre-set stands, climbers, ground blinds, spot and stalk, and wearing ghillie suits on the ground. Identify Where Deer Spend Time When you are out scouting public land, look for three things: bedding areas, food sources, and travel paths. Do Your Homework Study maps, learn the rules and laws, learn how deer use various terrain.

Stand Height Tips Try to blend into the canopy or surrounding cover. Chances are you lack quality browse cover and a quality fall time food source. A common and easy way to increase the attractiveness of your property in the fall is to increase your woody browse by hinge cutting, logging, or TSI timber stand improvement. It creates structural bedding areas, that increases security, and a buffet of fall time browse that deer love, and will increase your holding power in the fall.

Large food plots get all the rage now, but I personally think security cover especially in pressured areas are hard to beat for upper age class deer. I hunt big woods No corn no beans no alfalfa. All natural browse etc. Your comments on target security and food bring the does then the bucks will come.

Instead, always pack gear that will allow you to stay afield if the weather changes. A thin raincoat or poncho will easily fold up into your pack or pocket. You can even purchase camouflage umbrellas that will strap to a tree above your head. The bucks will certainly still be on the move. It was an early afternoon one November about 15 years ago, and my father was sitting comfortably on his hunting seat, leaning up against a tree.

Anticipating the gloomy day, he had unpacked his rain poncho and settled in, relying simply on vision to hopefully pick out a deer in the loud, heavy rain. After several hours of inactivity, he lowered his head and rested. When he later lifted his gaze, he had to blink a couple of times—standing only 20 yards in front of him, in the pouring rain, was a very impressive pointer and a doe.

The deer were totally oblivious to his presence, and the rest is history. Other than during mating season, bucks will spend several hours a day bedded in carefully selected locations. The last two locations always provide sufficient vegetation to hide from predators, as well as enough branches to act as tripwires to alert them to any approaching threat.

Along the edge of a small, marshy lake, little did I know there was a tiny island obscured by cattails. At first I speculated that there were just too few does in the area, causing them to move elsewhere during the rut. Then during a hunt several years ago, my cousin spotted some dense cattails that seemed to protrude too far into the lake and even rise up into some dogwood shrubbery.

To him, this suggested there was firm land out there, and since our hunt had been very quiet over the previous couple of days, he elected to walk out into the cattails to check it out. By the time he was halfway to the undiscovered island, about six deer burst from cover and smashed through the cattails, angling past him back to the shore. We each got a buck that day.