AuburnNYC

How do you properly age a big rutting buck? I'd like to try it for my next one.

How does this work in a truck or typical SUV without a traditional trunk? How do you hide the case from view with no trunk?

Saw a big buck in hard antlers on the PA side of the upper delaware this weekend on public land. He was relaxing on the lip of a small saddle and I watched him quietly slip up over the edge and presumably up the next slope.

I was up along the Delaware river over the holiday weekend and it seems like things are pretty dry this year - and saw lots of deer sign near water sources. Anyone have luck over water sources in these conditions? In the past I've seen a lot of does over water sources during a drought but not bucks.

This is an important point. I've had bucks several times wind me after I see them - and then just slink off without making a sound whereas does seem more likely to blow when you're detected. I'm sure some I never even saw.

It would be interesting if a cold front came through and I didn't have to buy a separate tag for it. I have a lifetime license and they still try to figure out ways to get me to buy more tags ha.

Going to caveat that I'm not Dan Infalt or anything. In my experience does will sacrifice bed safety for other things, like convenience to food sources. Bucks I've found generally bed in the safest, thickest, most remote terrain available to them in a given area. So for me some places (like Southern NY) that may be mountain laurel on the military crest of a point where they can look down the hillside in front of them and hear anything coming from behind in the laurel. In another place it may be cutover and in another that may be a spot of high ground in a marsh (though I've never killed a "marsh buck"). For example, on a piece of land I used to hunt does would bed basically anywhere things were moderately thick - even close to the camper trailer we stayed in. They'd even bed in open woods among blowdowns etc... I only saw bucks in person and on camera outside the rut in the thickest stuff on the backside of a series of fields during daylight hours. That area was thick enough that you couldn't walk through it without making a commotion, to the west was level ground and fields and to the east open woods with a steep downward slope. I suspect they liked it because they could visually cover the downslope with their eyes while anything coming from the fields would be easy to detect.

Hi - I know you posted this last year but wanted to see if you still have a spot open or if you have any additional information? Thanks!

Hi - did you fill the slots or is there any more information?

This. If you watch shows like The Hunting Public or other guys who hunt public land all over the country, their connect rate in places like New York/New England/Southeast or other eastern forest biomes on public land are very very low vs. hunts in other parts of the country. On most tracts of public land here, even finding a "mature" buck is going to be a lot of work much less targeting it specifically unless you're highly experienced, really know a piece of property well, and maybe have some unique access so you're hunting a spot others aren't.

Really like the look of this thanks for sharing. I mostly saddle hunt and when I'm on the ground I just wear an ASAT leafy suit and use whatever terrain is available.

I do a couple of things that I think help but at the end of the day if a deer is alert and sitting right downwind that's probably not going to be fixed by any amount of scent control. Isolate Clothes: Outer layers of hunting clothes have their own large plastic tote they stay in until I'm out of the car and putting them on Ozone: I have a cheap ozone generator in that tote that I run off an inverter in the vehicle. I run the ozone for a short period between hunts and over night. I'll also run it periodically in my hunting vehicles. Scent Free Health Products: I use scent free detergent, soap, shampoo, and deodorant during the season Caffeine Pills instead of coffee: Not sure if this actually does anything but figured I'm doing the other stuff might as well do this also

I've seen many bears (as many or more than deer) in NJ near the NY border, but as soon as you get out of the "neighborhood" types of areas they don't seem patternable to me. On the NY side of the border and further into NY I barely see them at all, maybe once or twice. I've heard the same thing as @wolc123 - that bears are absurd to drag out of the woods... so keep that in mind. One thing I'll tell you with bears is they can slip in/on/by you EXTREMELY quietly... in NJ I've been deer hunting and suddenly there's a bear peeking out at me from 10-15 yards away in a bush. Ironically it seems like the larger the animal the quieter they are. Squirrel > Deer > Bear

Need to try to figure out where he's bedding on those points. It's still summer so you don't need to worry about messing up a hunt. Also, if that crop is going to be gone by fall, there's a good probability those deer will be eating somewhere else. That 4 way intersection is likely a pinch point/inside field corner where deer are walking the edge of the field but avoiding the water (see red dots on below). Personally I'd try to hunt this in the evening as close to bedding on the western point as I could, but that inside corner could be good also. If there are does in the area, an inside corner like that could be fantastic during rut with bucks traveling between the water and field. Evening: Pretty simple - get close to bedding along trails on that western point. It gets darker earlier in the fall so movement during daylight now doesn't necessarily equate Morning: If there are bedding areas on the east point, you may be able to get a good morning hunt in if you can slip down along the river and avoid feeding areas or you could try the kayak if you're really quiet with it. It seems tough to hunt that western point in the morning without spooking deer.

You're not hurting fall deer movement patterns in the least scouting right now.