deer hunting

A Sweet 16-point PA Buck for a Sweet 16 Hunter

Dave_Maccar — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 14:41:32 -0500

Hanna Harris celebrated her Sweet 16 not too long ago. On opening day of the Pennsylvania buck season, just two weeks after her birthday, she appropriately tagged this monster 16-point whitetail on her first solo hunt. Steve Hill got the story on this sweet-16 buck, which could rank in the state’s top five as either a typical or nontypical, and on Hanna’s family of hunters.

Father of Ohio Hunting Family Tags 180-class Whitetail the Same Day Daughter Downs First Deer

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 12:02:25 -0500

Daniel Elder of Whitehall, Ohio has hunted the same ridge in Perry State Forest for 17 years, frequently bringing his wife and three children along. The ridge has been good to the Elders, including 15-year-old Savanna who downed her first deer while hunting alongside her dad this year. That was the same day Daniel tagged this 180-class typical whitetail from the ground with a crossbow on his wife’s birthday. What a present for mom, a nice deer from daughter and a monster buck from dad. Steve Hill talked to the hunting family and got the story.

Patience and Scouting Yields Giant Double Drop Tine Buck

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 16:33:40 -0400

Maryland resident and bowhunter Luke Muldoon spent the spring and summer scouting a monster buck he first spotted last October. He watched as he grew a serious rack that developed double drop tines by opening day. Steve Hill talked with the hunter and learned how patience and a dedication to glassing landed Muldoon this elusive 180-class giant.

Last-Minute Game Plan for Trophy Bow Bucks

Joe_Cermele — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:56:13 -0400

The Symptoms: The boys at Last Minute Hunt Camp have been scrambling to get ready for the bow opener. They’ve scouted every feeding area, inspected possible bedding cover, and scoured every terrain funnel on the property, scouting for buck sign. Only they didn’t find much—just a few fresh rubs. Now they don’t know where to hang their stands and time is running out.

The Diagnosis: Eventually leading to feelings of desperation, APP is bad enough by itself, but many hunters seek a cure by tromping all over the early-fall woods, looking for buck sign when it is typically scarce, and potentially spooking deer.

Sound familiar? Take heart. It’s not too late to pattern and tag a good early-season buck.

The Cure: The Three-Step Program. You need to go into stealth mode because scouring the woods for buck sign now is likely to be counterproductive. Remember that every time you see a white flag, you’ve just taught a deer something. Limit the amount of in-woods scouting now, and the deer will be less wary on the opener.

I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume your procrastination is less about laziness and more about limited time to glass in the evenings or to regularly check trail cameras. If so, follow this plan:

Scout at Home: Start with aerial photos of your hunting grounds or try downloading a satellite-imagery program, such as Google Earth. Now pinpoint potential early-season food sources. Then look for terrain funnels or corridors of cover bucks may use as travel routes to the chow. Keep that map handy and...

Head Out on a Midday Mission: Go to those food sources during midday, when you’re least likely to encounter deer, and carefully scout the perimeter for entry routes. If, like the guys at Last Minute Hunt Camp, you’re lucky enough to find a few fresh rubs, don’t blow it off as “not much sign.” This is, in fact, very important sign now.

Our research at the University of Georgia, as well as research in other regions of the country, clearly indicates that younger bucks make relatively few rubs early in the breeding season. Any fresh rubs you see now were probably created by a more mature animal. The same goes for early scrapes, so also keep an eye out for exposed dirt and licking branches.

Set Up, Wait, and Watch: The sign you’ve located, in conjunction with the funnels you’ve marked on your map, should tell you how bucks approach the feeding area in the evening. Quietly hang a stand along a travel route 50 to 100 yards off the feed, being careful not to walk on or leave scent along potential buck trails. When there’s more than one possible trail through the staging area, hang your stand overlooking the one on the far downwind side. The idea is to start conservatively and have your first hunt double as a scouting mission. You may tag a buck that evening, but if you don’t, you should be in a perfect position to learn exactly where you need to set up next time.

Bag More Big Bucks By Finding the Dominant Doe

Joe_Cermele — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:43:09 -0400

Among humans, the dominant male often gets the cutest girl. Among whitetails, he gets the heaviest. And that’s good news for you, because by locating and patterning the biggest doe now, you can put yourself in prime position to bag the biggest stud in your hunting area as the rut begins to heat up. Here’s how:

Find Her: Too often we get hung up on scouting for buck sign. To make this strategy work, you need to get away from the rough cover and rugged terrain bucks favor. Instead, stake out the low-lying, easy-living quarters nearest the best buffet. Locate alfalfa, wheat, soybeans, acorns, or food plots with grassy or brushy bedding cover nearby. Then glass these areas early and late in the day to find the largest doe.

At first glance all does look pretty similar, but examine them carefully and you’ll notice the differences. The biggest doe will be thick-chested and plump, almost pot-gutted. She’ll resemble a good buck without antlers but with a large head and often a Roman nose. You can pick her out by behavior, too. She’ll be the wariest, coming into the open last and looking around most. She’ll also dominate the other does with kicks or bluff attacks.

Pattern Her: Mark where she enters or exits the feed. At midday, scope out the nearby cover. Odds are you’ll find a staging area of low brush and saplings. Follow her tracks or trail, which will likely lead to a gentle knoll, bench, pine thicket, or copse of cedars or bushes. That’s the home of the dominant doe. You may even find a large bed and several slightly smaller ones nearby, confirming that the spot is her group’s home.

Ambush Him: Now consult a topo map or use your knowledge of the area to determine the location of the nearest security cover—a thick swamp, steep brush-choked ridge, or tangle of blowdowns where a good buck may live. Next, determine how that buck will get from there to the doe’s hangout. A weedy ditch, brushy draw, overgrown fencerow, saddle, or line of dark timber are all good bets. Follow these likely travel routes slowly toward the security cover until you find a thinly outlined trail, large isolated tracks, or lightly rubbed saplings. Then hang your stand.

A buck is most apt to visit the biggest doe’s living quarters at dawn, dusk, or midday during full-moon periods, or after a sharp cold front blows through. Be patient, and you may find the king of the woods searching for his queen with the rut still weeks away. If not, just wait a little longer. The odds of his showing up outside the big doe’s bedding area only get better as the breeding season gets closer.

The Bucks of Autumn

fieldandstream-editor — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 04:41:07 -0500

Send in your photos today! If it's published in the magazine we'll send you a $99 flashlight from SureFire. Make sure to send your photos to fsletters@bonniercorp.com. Good luck!

October Part I 2007
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September Part I 2007
August Part II 2007
August Part I 2007
July Part II 2007
July Part I 2007
June Part II 2007
June Part I 2007
May Part II 2007
May Part I 2007
April Part II 2007
April Part 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006

The Bucks of Autumn

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 20:00:00 -0400

Dream Bucks: Your Trophy Deer Photos From the 2005 Hunting Season

fieldandstream-editor — Thu, 03 Aug 2006 05:00:00 -0400

Hunting Tips from Master Outdoorsman Jerome B. Robinson

fieldandstream-editor — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 11:00:00 -0400

How to Judge a Buck: Can you guess the score of these 10 B&C trophies?

fieldandstream-editor — Tue, 25 Jul 2006 20:00:00 -0400