Deer hunter or Buck hunter

[noodle one]

  Have you ever notice that year after year the same people always get a buck. We ask are they lucky or maybe they know something that others don't.  My father hunted for years and never got a buck, then on the other side, I had a brother in-law who got a buck every year that I can remember. Yes there is some luck that comes into play, but for the most part, it is the way we hunt. Every year I get (2) two bucks,one with bow and one with gun, and during the season I see other bucks. Some people say that I am a good hunter, while others say that I am lucky. I have a brother that tells others how lucky I am because of the big bucks that I get. I say we make our own luck. When I hunt,I don't hunt just deer, I hunt bucks. If I am hunting on land that I know and have hunted it many times before , then finding a buck is made a lot easier. When hunting land for the first time I don't look for deer so much, as I try to learn the lay of the land. I try to find the cover and locate the open woods, and how the land lays ,north, south, east, and west. That is important to me. There is a difference between being a deer hunter and a buck hunter. I don't claim to know all the answers for getting a buck every year, but I do have places were I know if I hunt there, I am more likly to see a buck than just deer.

  So get out there and learn the lay of the land. Learn were north, south ,east and west is. Learn were the shade is and what time of day. Learn to be a buck hunter and not just another deer hunter. We all have our good days and bad ,but dont give up.

[gundeck]

Nice post.  I would say I hunt deer.  I just want to fill the freezer.  I have seen more doe than buck this year, but a lot of it has to do with luck.  You can set everything up right, but sometimes it just doesn't play out the way it should.  That said, I think buck are easier to get (especially during the rut) because they can be just plain stupid sometimes (even the older ones).  Makes me better understand why we were such idiots as teenagers!

[Bleitten04]

I would say I'm a deer hunter but I'm always trying to upgrade my knowledge of how to bag a buck.  I love to fill the freezer and like to take a buck if I can.  As for the luck part of it.  Some people are lucky and just see more bucks.  However you still do have to shoot and kill it.  And then recover it.  So its not all luck.  You still need to know good woodsmanship to collect a deer!!!

[noodle one]

Nice post.  I would say I hunt deer.  I just want to fill the freezer.  I have seen more doe than buck this year, but a lot of it has to do with luck.  You can set everything up right, but sometimes it just doesn't play out the way it should.  That said, I think buck are easier to get (especially during the rut) because they can be just plain stupid sometimes (even the older ones).  Makes me better understand why we were such idiots as teenagers!

I feel killing a buck is easier with a bow before the rut, not during the rut. I have hunted on the ground for the last (20) twenty years, I don't hunt out of tree stands. To me that is to easy. Hunting is what one makes of it.

[fasteddie]

I consider myself a Deer hunter . Although I would love to take a buck with a big rack , i'll take a doe whenever afforded the opportunity ( except for doe fawns ) . I know a couple guys that won't shoot doe but that's their choice . Fill the freezer . Now all I have to do is take a couple .

[Doc]

There is only one thing that makes taking a buck more difficult than a doe. That is the sheer difference in numbers of each. I have never seen a doe making a rub or scrape, announcing their presence and habits. I have never seen a doe begin to spend every waking hour wandering around in search of breeding opportunities. I have never seen a buck take on the role of "look-out" like the does are accustomed to doing throughout their lives. I have never seen a buck have to provide the intelligence for offspring. By far, the doe is the more alert, the most defensive minded, and the smarter of the two. The only reason that does eventually turn out to be easier to take is the fact that they outnumber the bucks by a huge margin.

So while we often pat ourselves on the back for harvesting bucks, it is the doe that can prove to be the more worthy prey to match wits with.

Doc

[wztirem]

That is certainly true.

Look at how many does are killed in comparison to the number of DMP's issued each year. Does are pretty savvy when it comes to not being killed.

The females of any species are usually the smartest anyway!

[wztirem]

I consider myself a Deer hunter . Although I would love to take a buck with a big rack , i'll take a doe whenever afforded the opportunity ( except for doe fawns ) . I know a couple guys that won't shoot doe but that's their choice . Fill the freezer . Now all I have to do is take a couple .

DMP's for many hunters (gun hunters) may represent an insurance policy for a successful season. Its frustrating to see many permits simply not filled by hunters who possess such permits and who only hunt opening day. While many permits are transferred many are simply wasted.

Areas of State Land upstate and close to home which I hunt, the DMP's issued have remained consistent, however second chance permits are no longer available and many applicants are denied.

From a deer management point of view this is a serious problem to tackle.

Due to hunter overcrowding on State Lands the opportunity to kill a doe on a permit is difficult; for the majority of the deer are pushed into areas where hunting is not allowed or into areas where hunters will not attempt to hunt.

As the season progresses, hunter participation decreases and opportunities increase to kill a deer. However one can appreciate the frustration of a such a hunter who does not have a DMP (was denied) or who was unable to have a permit transferred to him/her.

Perhaps, the DEC should consider implementing a system whereby unused permits can be turned in by hunters who have quit for the season enabling those hunters who want to shoot a doe given the opportunity to do so.

[20ftupatree]

DMP's for many hunters (gun hunters) may represent an insurance policy for a successful season. Its frustrating to see many permits simply not filled by hunters who possess such permits and who only hunt opening day. While many permits are transferred many are simply wasted.

Areas of State Land upstate and close to home which I hunt, the DMP's issued have remained consistent, however second chance permits are no longer available and many applicants are denied.

From a deer management point of view this is a serious problem to tackle.

Due to hunter overcrowding on State Lands the opportunity to kill a doe on a permit is difficult; for the majority of the deer are pushed into areas where hunting is not allowed or into areas where hunters will not attempt to hunt.

As the season progresses, hunter participation decreases and opportunities increase to kill a deer. However one can appreciate the frustration of a such a hunter who does not have a DMP (was denied) or who was unable to have a permit transferred to him/her.

Perhaps, the DEC should consider implementing a system whereby unused permits can be turned in by hunters who have quit for the season enabling those hunters who want to shoot a doe given the opportunity to do so.

I am a deer hunter, I am always looking to bag a buck of course I think thats every hunters objective when we take to the field. I however have only been able to take 2 bucks in my entire hunting career. I have always filled my anterless tag (bow tag, muzzleloader tag) and for me that was all I set out to do (i need ice fishing meat for those long cold days on the ice) but I have eaten a lot of buck tag sandwiches (not to tasty). BUT to be fair the last 3 years I have really gotten serious about hunting as I have gotten older. In years past I just went out (usually with a group of friends) and pushed off mountains, or go in before light and out by 9:30/10 A.M. I had no strategy at all, I'd walk till I found some sign and sat down waiting for a deer to walk by. Like I said these last 3 years I have invested in cameras, started doing some research, scout my lands, I am eager to learn everything and anything I can about the all elusive whitetail I pursue which is the main reason I am here on this site. I don't feel like I have a whole lot to offer but I do a lot of reading and gathering of different ideas you gentlemen post, and I truly believe this site has shed a ton of light on my mistakes and undeveloped techniques. For that I am thankful for sites like this where real "hunters" meet in a common place and share ideas and experience, trials and errors etc. not just sitting at my local coffee shop listening to people share their BIG BUCK stories.

My father tried to teach me as much as he could but he was a "flatlander" from Florida who never hunted so his experience by the time it was my turn to go with him was very limited so when I started it was me and my weapon heading into the woods uneducated and very "green". So I say I'm self taught.

Now not to highjack the thread but I know a guy in Vermont who was bragging the other day about the DMP's he recieved this season. He uses his brothers address in syracuse to get a resident license but only hunts 3 weeks out of the season in NY. He says he got 3 DMP's this year! I have been rejected once again this season for the 4th year in a row! Just kind of ruffled my feathers knowing I got denied and this guy, who is NOT a resident, and will not fill the tags got 3 and they will go to waste. I asked him "if he doesn't think he'll fill em will he transfer them to at least to his brother?" His response....."F him he wouldn't for me, I'd rather throw them away!" Now isn't that nice!

[sits in trees]

i like venison, if it's brown, well you know....

[wztirem]

i like venison, if it's brown, well you know....

Thats okay by me.

[fasteddie]

The females of any species are usually the smartest anyway!

I would have expected Gwosalot to come up with that statement !  : ... :