Hunt till Harvest.

[Four Seasons]

Does anyone else locate a Buck, learn that Bucks movements and lifestyles and not be satisfied with anything less?  Bigger if it happens of course but nothing less?  Hunt a deer. Not any deer?  These Bucks are a couple hundred miles apart.    Satisfaction 

[suburbanfarmer]

It must be nice to have access to land that holds such nice deer. Some of us dont have the access to fulfil that dream of chasing one specific deer.

[Four Seasons]

2 minutes ago, suburbanfarmer said:

It must be nice to have access to land that holds such nice deer. Some of us dont have the access to fulfil that dream of chasing one specific deer.

  One of those bucks lived on a state park and sure was available to others. I would have to say most on this site hunt private lands with deer of this caliber available. 

[suburbanfarmer]

Just now, Four Seasons said:

  One of those bucks lived on a state park and sure was available to others. I would have to say most on this site hunt private lands with deer of this caliber available. 

You sir are than on a totally different level than the newbie that I am. I dont even see many deer on stateland and i have worn out plenty of boots in the last decade.

[Marion]

@Four Season Whitetail's all I want to know is what is the current status of the mullet I need more pics of it's epicness

#ThankYouForLessOverzealousModding #WeDemandUnlimitedLikes
#WeDemandADislikeButton

[Lawdwaz]

1 hour ago, Four Seasons said:

Does anyone else locate a Buck, learn that Bucks movements and lifestyles and not be satisfied with anything less?  Bigger if it happens of course but nothing less?  Hunt a deer. Not any deer?  These Bucks are a couple hundred miles apart.    Satisfaction 

I’ll say “not me”. 
 

Please explain how you do it........many here would love to hear some of your strategic moves to outwit the bucks.  
 

To have your success year in and year out I’d say that your just hunting the same general area each fall and catching those bucks in the same areas. If not that, I don’t know how many trip to camp you take each year but it’d have to be substantial or you’re relying heavily on multiple cell cams.

Either way, I’m all ears. 

Edited January 1, 2021 by Lawdwaz

[johnplav]

Not me.  I hunt a few parcels, and shoot what shows up.  Relaxing, fun, enjoyable, delicious.  Maybe I’ll do it your way someday... but I’m good for now. 

[Four Seasons]

16 minutes ago, Lawdwaz said:

I’ll say “not me”. 
 

Please explain how you do it........many here would love to hear some of your strategic moves to outwit the bucks.  
 

To have your success year in and year out I’d say that your just hunting the same general area each fall and catching those bucks in the same areas. If not that, I don’t know how many trip to camp you take each year but it’d have to be substantial or you’re relying heavily on multiple cell cams.

Either way, I’m all ears. 

  Same lands every year like most other hunters. I do put many a miles on the Dodge heading down to hunt the Park and do have somewhere around 20 cameras out every year here at the home farm and down at camp. Have many choices of bucks to hunt most years but myself I like going the one on one route and try to beat one certain mature buck on his turf. Prob let a couple go bigger then the ones I picked out but kinda liked the turned brow’s on the North buck and the body size of the buck on the park.           To me it just seems more like really hunting them anymore after all these years hunting and bucks takin. 

[Four Seasons]

45 minutes ago, The Jerkman said:

@Four Season Whitetail's all I want to know is what is the current status of the mullet I need more pics of it's epicness

#ThankYouForLessOverzealousModding #WeDemandUnlimitedLikes
#WeDemandADislikeButton
 

About mid back at the moment. You know with this flu going on it was tough getting a trim. 

[wolc123]

I know the feeling.  It has happened to me  2 or 3 times, in my 39 deer seasons.  I dont run trail cameras, so I am reliant upon pre season observations of "shooters" . 

 In 1986, I saw a nice 8 point one night, out in my grandparents garden, at night with my flashlight in August.  It was eating sweetcorn out of their garden.  I  Hunted hard for it, starting on opening day of bow season (Oct 15).  I saw it once thru bow season, but too far to shoot.  I heard it grunt and watched it walk away with a doe.

On opening day of gun season that year, I heard what sounded like someone dragging a picnick table thru the thick brush, adjacent to my tree stand, just before sunrise.  The buck stepped out under my stand, right at legal sunrise.

I pushed a 16 ga slug up into the reciever of my m37 Ithaca, and slammed the action closed.  I centered the crosshairs of my 1.5x Weaver scope on his shoulder, and sent him to the promised land.

Fast forward to 2016.  We were over at my parents place for dinner in September, when I noted a bachelor group of bucks out in a clover plot behind their house.   There were 6 bucks in the group, most 1.5's and 2.5's.  One had a tall rack and a body that dwarfed all the others.

On Veteran's day that year, I was over there with my crossbow.  I started out in a ground blind overlooking the clover plot, but it just didn't feel right.  I moved to my 2-story blind, in the adjacent woods.  I found the upper deck half full of fallen leaves.

My parents saw the high tined, huge bodied buck come out and feed in the clover, shortly after I moved.  Suddenly, it lifted its head, looking at the woods where it heard what it thought was a rival buck clearing leaves from a scrape.  When it arrived at the intruders location, it was double lunged with my bolt.

This season, once again we were over at my folks place for dinner in September.  Just before dark, we saw a buck walking across the back yard.  My criteria is 3 or more points on a side, and I only saw 2, so I was not too excited.  

I had success on opening day of gun over there 2 years in a row, so I was there again this year.   Sure enough, he showed up at 10:15 am..  I  only saw the 2 points on the left at first, so I gave him a pass.  A grunt call brought him in for a closet look. The rest is history. Here is Joe:

Edited January 1, 2021 by wolc123

[Lawdwaz]

6 hours ago, blackbeltbill said:

   Is Four Season Whitetails now simply Four Seasons? 

  Same writing style and hunting areas-  6G+ 8M for both or the same guy- LOL! 

I think you're on to him Bill....

[Lawdwaz]

8 hours ago, Four Seasons said:

  Same lands every year like most other hunters. I do put many a miles on the Dodge heading down to hunt the Park and do have somewhere around 20 cameras out every year here at the home farm and down at camp. Have many choices of bucks to hunt most years but myself I like going the one on one route and try to beat one certain mature buck on his turf. Prob let a couple go bigger then the ones I picked out but kinda liked the turned brow’s on the North buck and the body size of the buck on the park.           To me it just seems more like really hunting them anymore after all these years hunting and bucks takin. 

Very nice....

At what point in the pre-season do you make the determination on what buck you'll target or is it an evolving decision through the season depending on trail cam pics?

[Jeremy K]

Does anyone pursue a deer that hard and work a fulltime job while having children at home? Add to it a 2 hour drive to the hunting spot?

[BizCT]

Does anyone pursue a deer that hard and work a fulltime job while having children at home? Add to it a 2 hour drive to the hunting spot?

I believe the OP is retired.


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[moog5050]

I have 2 spots I hunt.  When using trail cams, I usually have photos of a couple of bucks at each spot I would call targets and use the intel I have to hunt them as smartly as possible.   Have I killed a target, yes more than once.  Do I hold out if a new buck comes by that gets me excited, nope.   Only twice have I targeted a specific buck and killed it ON THE FIRST HUNT going after him.   Killing a target or specific buck is neat.   Killing one specifically targeted on the first hunt felt great.  

However,  I am always really impressed with folks that can go to new ground they never hunted and figure it out quick enough to kill a mature quickly.   There are guys that travel state to state and seem to knock down a beauty at each spot they hunt.   

[crappyice]

Does anyone pursue a deer that hard and work a fulltime job while having children at home? Add to it a 2 hour drive to the hunting spot?

Me! This is exactly the deer I wanted to harvest yesterday...cause he showed up and I had a proper tag and an empty spot in my freezer!



Good to see you FSW - I do mean that. We differ in our motivations but I respect your game.


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[phantom]

I don't know to be picky about which deer to take you need to have the time and the  evidence that the  big one is around to take .  Plus not have  neighbor that don't hunt or chances are they will  shot him first .  Just having private land  does not guarantee anything if the  neighbors all hunt unless you have a huge property that is  enough that they never walk off it .

[Bolt action]

I learned long ago that seeing a "shooter" on camera will get me excited, but does not mean that I'll see him alive and in range during the season. Like some others on here, i work 50+ hour weeks, have a young family, etc. I'd love to have the time to pursue specific targets, but life doesn't allow me to at this point. For now I'm going to target deer. If they happen to have horns, well that's a bonus.

[Four Seasons]

1 hour ago, crappyice said:

Me! This is exactly the deer I wanted to harvest yesterday...cause he showed up and I had a proper tag and an empty spot in my freezer!



Good to see you FSW - I do mean that. We differ in our motivations but I respect your game.


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Lol. Good Deal. I still take plenty of does to fill the freezer but won’t take a smaller buck than what I know is out there and available to me if I hunt him smart and have luck sitting on my shoulder. Have been lucky enough to kill bigger but won’t settle for smaller just to say I shot a buck. Haven’t for years and that’s prob the biggest reason I have mature bucks to chase every year.   Way to many doe tags available to get the meat needed. Self employed and time to hunt helps big time no doubt when it comes to leaving this farm to head West. 

[DoubleDose]

This is a great example of why it is hard for the DEC to manage the NYS herd and for hunters to not judge each other or put your standards on others.  Public versus private land, old growth forest, new growth forest, farmland, suburbia, access/opportunities, deer densities, herd structure, local capacity, hunter pressure/densities, gun versus archery only areas, DEC DMU harvest goals, etc etc etc.  All different throughout this state geography.

 

 

[luberhill]

Well I see lots on my cameras , but didn’t see a buck this year while in the woods 

[chrisw]

I don't hunt a specific deer per se. I do I guess but I'm not going to hold out exclusively for that deer. I'll run cameras all year and pick out the top 3 I'd like to kill and try to put myself on them, but if a roamer wanders into my arrow that looked good in the moment then that's great too. I had a couple picked out this year, then found myself sitting close to home on opening night on a piece I've hunted before but didn't scout or put any cameras in this year. It's really just a quick hunting spot. I saw 3 bucks that night and tagged the biggest. Wasn't even exactly sure what he was, saw a nice frame and decent length points so I let one fly. I'm not one to walk past a $20 bill and hope I find a $50. Not yet anyways. If I think it's 3.5+ then I'm probably shooting.

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[wolc123]

7 minutes ago, luberhill said:

Well I see lots on my cameras , but didn’t see a buck this year while in the woods 

Just the opposite for me last season.  I don't own a trail camera, but saw quite a few bucks in the woods.  I am thankful that I did not see a larger one, after punching my tag at home in WNY.

I thought for sure that was going to happen to me for the first time ever last year. I "settled" for one on opening day of the southern zone, that just barely met my harvest ctiteria. There would be about 60 more pounds of store-bought chicken consumed in this household over the next year, had I passed that buck, and I am no fan of that.

The oddest thing about last season, was that I saw antlered bucks on my last two Adirondack hunts, but no antlerless.  I usually see 3 or 4 bucks per doe at home, but not up there.  I can't wait for early ML season up there this year.  I am due to see a dozen antlerless deer then, to square my usual sighting ratio, back up to what it has always been up there.

[doebuck1234]

Am not one to hunt a specific deer either.if it feels right and happy with the size i wont hesitate.over the last few seasons i have held off more on shooting smaller bucks in beginning of season,holding out to end of bow season to let an arrow fly.

passed on 2 smaller this year in hopes of seeing something bigger,did get close to drawing on a small 8pt though.was fortunate enough to harvest one ive been watching on camera sence velvet which was one of my "target bucks" and first for the wall.

To each their own on how they want to hunt,not knockin anyone for their ways.Getting out there to enjoy the sunrise and woods wake up is good enough for me!

Edited January 2, 2021 by doebuck1234

[sodfather]

Hunting a specific deer can be rewarding I’m sure but at the same time frustrating. Your constantly thinking about that one deer and everytime a twig snaps it’s the thought of is that him? Me personally have tried this many years ago and my season was littered with anxiety. Don’t know what ever happened to that deer I’m sure some other hunter got him but nevertheless not worth the anxiety in my opinion. I only have limited amount of days to hunt . Need to make the best of them . Congrats on the buck .