coonhunter

Belo, three seasons ago on the opening day of gun season I shot one similar to that one. As he was running a doe I could see 4 tines in his profile. It was a buck we hadn't seen before, but I thought I was lucking into finally shooting a ten point. I waited a few minutes for an open shot and put him down. What a surprize when I climbed down and walked out to him. 5 x 3 and not even a nice 3. Still trying to get a ten, but they just don't grow the extra two points on the two farms I hunt the most very often. Man, some of you guys must really have some tough hunting if you find it so hard to believe that some hunters can pass up several bucks a year. I have been doing it on two open farms for years. Yes, several bucks I pass on do get shot during gun season, but not all of them. That is why we continue to have nice bucks every year. Both these farms get hunted heavily the first week, and then are basicly abandoned until the next year. No four wheelers are allowed on either farm because people can't seem to follow simple rules, and it is a long walk uphill through open pastures and fields. Plenty of food and plenty of cover. That is all that is special about these two farms. I don't know what else to tell the doubters. We have it good and I feel fortunate. If the one farm ever goes to a lease, we are out of luck because we are just working stiffs with bills. No way we could pay. But, I would find another honey hole that takes a little work to get to and start the game all over.

No Paula, I recieved an answer in private that was informative and agreed with Keva, and was based on studies as well. And no, nobody came right out and called me a liar, but it sure was close. I know these forums fill up with braggarts and know-it-alls, and maybe a couple people thought I was just another one of those. All is well, and more people are putting their views in now so my question is answered. I was just curious how others felt about it. i will say that it is a nice problem to have, although the older bucks are not showing themselves to me yet. My biggest worry right now is that my vacation is next week, and the signs are pointing to the rut to take off this week. The last three years, it has held off until the week before gun season, but this weekend I started to see a mix of does with fawns and does alone. that is usually my number one sign that the rut is ready to go. And, the storm blew all the beech nuts off. That is usually my ace in the hole late in the gun season. I'm looking forward to the rest of the year, but it may call for some changes. But, that is part of what makes hunting deer such a fun hobby.

Bubba, I was wondering what other people do about these bucks. Not everyone has the luxary of passing on bucks like we do, but some on here do. I got a couple of good answers on here and in private. Just irritating to be called a liar when people don't even know me or my hunting land. I didn't even shoot a buck last year with a bow or a gun, but guess what? It didn't ruin my season. My buddy got a nice eight with his bow, and a nice eight with his gun. Great year for him, and I was right there enjoying it with him. Neither of them were quite 18 inches wide, but they sure were nice bucks, and they sure did eat nice too. My season this year is already a success because my buddy scored again, and I took his daughter out for the youth season and she shot one too. What more can a guy ask for? It is not all about the kill for me. I have hunted a long time and been fortunate enough to have good land to hunt. I have fun sharing my good fortune. Fast Eddie, if I was in your shoes I would probably take any deer I saw just to get meat in the freezer too. But remember, just because it is NY doesn't mean the hunting is all bad.

Only you can make that decision. Personally, I would give him one more year because he has plenty of room for more points. He may just be a real big six next year, but he may grow more points and really be nice. You are the one that has to be happy with it, and like you know, the best layed plans don't always plan out either. Either way, he is nice.

I always love it when the youngsters are along to help out and enjoy the hunt. Congrats on making your season a success even with a bad injury. Good luck on the doe.

A couple of you pretend to know something about how my partner and I hunt. Not everyone thinks they have to kill something to enjoy themselves. I passed up shots this morning at a young six and a 2 1/2 year old eight at ranges of 10 and 24 yards. It is easy for me to pass these youngsters up because I don't care if I get a buck or not. We usually have a couple bucks targeted and sometimes we are able to harvest them, and sometimes we don't. We always have plenty of does for meat no matter what. I'm not trying to grow a boone and crocket buck. We have never seen a buck here that even came close, but most years at least one of us can get an opportunity at an eight point with an 18-20 inch spread. And once in awhile a nice buck we have never seen will show up. Everybody has different views on how to enjoy deer hunting. I don't have any idea why anyone wants to rain on someones' fun. But, I guess that is how these forums work.

Keva, the one really good point in that article is that the does continue to pass on their traits, and there is no way for us to tell which one they are. Thanks for taking the time to post a reply based on facts that you took the time to look up. And yes, we are fortunate in the fact that we have had a great place to hunt since I was a teenager. The swamp is the key to for getting bucks through the gun season. Believe me, every year someone will get the bright idea to try and still hunt through it, and it is just too thick and full of water to do anything but skirt the edges. I am for the most part a sitter, and you can probably guess where I sit the opening day of rifle season.

That's what I am talking about Growalot. Maybe it is just a coincidence that we see more nice racks than when we started. It just seems like a lot of the bucks that make it through a season have 14-16 inch wide basket racks now. Before we had a lot of big 4 and 5 pointers even if they made it to 3 1/2. I'm not a scientist or a biologist, so I am just going by what we have seen over the last several years. It may be as simple as the fact that we don't shoot the first buck we see anymore. I just don't know, but it seems to work for us.

Snow off and on this morning for me also. Lots of movement early, but died off pretty quick. Some does had fawns, some didn't, so it is getting close to the rut time.

Tough crowd. I know we have a ton of fun hunting the way we do, and the other hunters on the farm have fun hunting the way they do, so it all works out. As for bragging, don't expect it from me. All our deer are butchered and eaten at our homes and friends' homes so of course we try to get as big of deer as we can and are stingy when we get doe tags holding out for nice big does. A few pictures for memories that is about as close to bragging as you will get from me. Just because we try for some nice racks doesn't mean we expect everyone else to do the same. We spent many years shooting the first buck that came along just like the majority of hunters. Then we started bowhunting and saw unpressured deer and bigger bucks, and we just decided to change our goals. Just how it worked out for us. Many years the only tags we fill now are doe tags or dmaps. No feelings of being better than anybody else. Hell, we are adult family men with a lot more responsibilities than killing deer. Just make some posts to exchange ideas with people is all.

The fact that it is a mature and wiser buck is not the issue at all. When you know the rut is getting ready to kick in and we know of a couple of real nice bucks in the area, of course he would have rather let him walk to maybe get a chance at a bigger one. And Dave may be right. Maybe we are wasting our time, but, I know for a fact that we see a lot more 2 and a half year old eight points than we ever did years ago. That is the reason we try to get these bucks if we get the chance. It really is a hard call because it is an open farm and like most parts of the state, if a hunter sees horns, it is shot. The wild card in the whole deal, is that there is a thick swamp that is almost impossible to get into except in the coldest of seasons. That is the number one reason we have some nice bucks on this farm every year. Most of the good bucks are killed during bow season before they really get pressured. I know about half way back to the car, we were wishing the snow was still on the ground. Always a tough, long drag where we hunt.

Any of you guys or gals use your tags on cull bucks to try and get them out of the breeding pool? The main farm I hunt had a lot of big bodied 6 and 7 points. In the last ten years I have killed quite a few of them that dressed out as high as the low to mid 190's. Finally, it seemed that we were mostly getting nice eights at 3 years old. Well, last year, a big bruiser of a six showed up and we didn't get him killed. Today my buddy got him, but he definitely got to spread his genes at least for a couple years. He dressed out in the high 180's and had a grand total of about 80 inches of horn. Sucks to use a tag for him, but we feel it makes our chances of seeing nicer racks a lot better. We do even have the second ten point in about 20 years of hunting showing up once in awhile. I can tell you that around this farm, bucks like to grow clean eight point racks. A ten is a rarity, and the last one was killed at 2 and a half with a rifle after I had let him walk a bunch of times during bow season. It sucked for me, but I was happy for the hunter. I just like people to have a place to hunt and to enjoy themselves.

Lots of deer movement this morning with a couple young bucks hound dogging through the woods. This afternoon my buddy got a big six we have had targeted for a couple years. Sucked for him to use his tag, but sometimes you have to take a cull out. Big old bruiser dressed out at 188 on the hanging scales. Horns had a lot of mass, but that is about it.

Remember that it is only a deer. Your life is probably not going to change very much if you get one. All too often people lose their minds it seems when gun season rolls around and they see a deer. Relax, enjoy yourself, and be aware of your surroundings. Make your first shot your best.

Three arrows in my quiver. Believe it or not, they are Beman 400's tipped with 75 grain muzzys. It has always worked for me all the way back to the aluminum arrow days, til I finally switched to carbon after years of saying no way. All I know is that at 39 yards, they still pass through the deer and leave a nice blood trail. Usually have a slam dunk of 20 yards or less, but it is nice to know that they perform under field conditions at longer distances.

I agree with you 100% Dave 6x6. That's what i meant in my earlier post when I said people don't even believe some of the things I have seen in the late part of the bow season. My hunting area is mostly shoot the first buck through, but there are a few areas that hunters are letting the young ones walk for the most part. Fortunately, I hunt a couple pieces of land that although not managed for older bucks, the experienced hunters are doing a lot more passing on the youngsters, and shooting some does if they really want some fresh venison. It really doesn't take long before neighboring properties start seeing some nicer bucks being killed, and it can spread. Once you get a few older bucks into the mix, a hunter can see some great rutting action where young bucks are scared to get too close to a mature buck while he is actively courting a doe. Or, if they get to curious or too close to the action, they get run off, and sometimes violently. I love it, even if i don't get a shot at a buck i want to shoot. Happens more often than not, but it sure is fun trying.

I'm with you Phade. I hunt a ton of thick stuff. The benefits are that you usually don't have a lot of company from other hunters, and if a deer shows up, it is usually close to or already in range. Just have to plan your shooting areas ahead of time, and have to pass up quite a few marginal shots. Tracking out an arrowed deer can be tough in the thick stuff because you usually can only get a general direction. Persistence has always paid off for me, and it sounds like for you also. And, I am pretty sure I know why you hunt that thick stuff too.

4F in town of Edmeston: Had whole weekend off and put in three good sits in two stands. Saturday morning the fog hung on for quite a bit longer than I thought it would. Very damp and still morning. Only saw two come by my stand. Both were fawns and their mommas were out a little further from them. Saturday evening the wind was kicking up pretty good but the deer were moving a lot better. Had a mixed bag come by my stand consisting mostly of does and fawns. A one horned buck and a 1 1/2 came through sniffing their trail pretty good but were still more interested in eating. This morning seemed like a beauty of a morning, but the wind was the wrong way so I had to move to a different set-up. I chose to stay on the downwind side of a bedding area just to see if any bucks were checking it out yet. Saw several does and fawns again, but no buck activity at all. I will say that one button buck came almost right under my stand, and his buttons were polished right up just like the big boys. Pretty enjoyable weekend, but the leaves are still holding out tough. Makes it tough to see activity on other trails so I choose to play it safe and stay on the outside edges until I know where to set up without having the older does wind me.

I agree with Burden24 about the timing being different across the state. Every year, it seems my area is a week later than places my friends hunt at. It may just be the fact that they see a couple youngsters trailing or bothering the does, and I don't worry too much until i see a two year old actively running a doe. For hunters that have never seen active rutting behavior, it is easy to be fooled by the youngsters, but when it happens for real, it is awesome if you hunt in a good area with a few older bucks. I have seen some sights over the years that people can't even believe happen around here.

The cold sure had the deer active this morning. I saw thirteen including three bucks all within range. The bucks were two from last year and one two and a half. They were traveling together and fed in the beech section I was perched in. The two youngsters spent a little time sparring and it seemed to get the older buck fired up because he chased them around a little grunting just about every step. Made for an exciting morning. Never had a deer move through until the sun started hitting the forest floor and warming it up a little around 8:00. Get back out this evening.

I guess I am in the minority here. I hunt on an open farm. People hunt turkeys, rabbits, squirrels, and grouse there during the day. I don't care if beagles run a rabbit right under my stand. I am just happy to be out in the woods. I see my share of nice bucks, and see lots of younger bucks to go with lots of doe and fawns. At night a couple times a week, I know at least one guy that runs coonhounds there as well. Guess what? I still see deer all through the season. During gun season, when the people really come out, I just have to get where they don't go. The number of deer drops for the first week or so, and then they are right back. That is what kills me about all the places locked up tight for one or two people. Sure, they see some nice bucks, but now there will only be a couple people enjoying the land instead of several like where I hunt. I just grew up knowing how to share and be more tolerant of my peers. At any time in the last 30 years I could have posted this land up tight, but still choose to share. No antler restrictions, but enough choose to pass on the young bucks that we see several nice 2 year olds and a couple mature bucks every year. Don't believe all the stuff they put in the magazines and on the hunting shows. Just become a better hunter and help out your peers once in awhile.

If you are spooking deer in the morning trying to get to your stand, you may want to try it in the afternoon and evening so the deer are bedded in the woods and have to travel by you to get to the field. You may end up spooking deer at the field when you leave as well.

Hardly any apples this year so the deer are on the grass and cut corn fields quite a bit. They will be around as long as you have some good cover. I am starting to see the deer eating the leaves from the berry briars in the woods. i will get back out this weekend and see what is happening.

There are times during the season that it seems like every doe and fawn in the county is hanging in my area. But, eventually the bucks show up. I haven't seen an older buck from my stand yet. I usually don't until they start checking the does, so i don't get too excited until the does start kicking their fawns out. Are you hunting in farm land, swamp, fields, or what?

I like a climber because I try to scout my way into a prime bowhunting spot. I will climb a tree well downwind from a potential hotspot, and work my way closer as I figure out the exact spot i need to be. I am not someone that feels the need to be 30 feet in the air. Most of the time i am 18 -20 feet up just to cover some of the rolling contours of the land i like to hunt. During the first few days of gun season I will carry my climber in and out, but as the deer start to get pressured, I will just carry a folding chair in a shouder bag to sit on the ground for awhile. If there is no action, I will just fold the chair up and walk to the next knoll or valley and set up again. although I walk quite a ways in to hunt most of my spots, I really prefer to sit my hunts out. I have had success still hunting, but prefer to sit in a stand.