Some Big Whities For Ya...

[Walking Buffalo]

Great video WB , kind of reminds me of 2 guys I knew that use to patrol Main St on Lady's Night in back in the 90's ...

I don't recall any girls running away during my patrol.

[butcher]

"My best success in numbers of big buck sightings during the rut has been to sit tight on the edge of bedding areas. If the deer are using this place and there is a hot doe in the group, the big buck could be in there keeping her locked down tight. He will try to keep her in cover until dark. A clue to when a hot doe and a dominant buck are in a bedding area is the presence of satellite bucks circling the area. With this said, getting a shot at the big guy is still extremely tough. Usually they will stay in cover until dark."

This is exactly what I have been finding. I lost patience and killed one of the satellite bucks this year.

[Ourea]

"My best success in numbers of big buck sightings during the rut has been to sit tight on the edge of bedding areas. If the deer are using this place and there is a hot doe in the group, the big buck could be in there keeping her locked down tight. He will try to keep her in cover until dark. A clue to when a hot doe and a dominant buck are in a bedding area is the presence of satellite bucks circling the area. With this said, getting a shot at the big guy is still extremely tough. Usually they will stay in cover until dark."

This is exactly what I have been finding. I lost patience and killed one of the satellite bucks this year.

To say it's a game of patience and calculation is an understatement.
A guy has to use his brain and patience over his boots.

I find its an interesting dynamic that the 3 to 5 yr old bucks can be killed quite easily but the top of the food chain bucks are a whole new game.

The "formula" is a lot tougher to dial for a species that is so "patternable".

[butcher]

To say it's a game of patience and calculation is an understatement.
A guy has to use his brain and patience over his boots.

I find its an interesting dynamic that the 3 to 5 yr old bucks can be killed quite easily but the top of the food chain bucks are a whole new game.

The "formula" is a lot tougher to dial for a species that is so "patternable".

Patience and brains??? I'm screwed!

[Ourea]

Patience and brains??? I'm screwed!

Oh god, that made me laugh.

Im sure many appreciate ur self deprecation.
Funny stuff.

cheers

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Oh god, that made me laugh.

Im sure many appreciate ur self deprecation.
Funny stuff.

cheers

butcher has neither patience or brains ...but he makes up for that with his sense of humor.

[358mag]

I don't recall any girls running away during my patrol.

Yes the good old days a GOS on lady's and no bag limit ............ and from want I remember your were pretty good on your patrol ...

[Husky7mm]

I'm curious to know how far some of these 'nocturnal' bucks travel to show up at food sources at night. Are bucks truly nocturnal or appear that way because they show up in the dark where we expect to see them like fields or food sources? Do they travel 200 meters? 500? 1 km? 2 km? more? Think of how far a human can walk in 30 mins or 1 hr let alone a whitetail buck. Where are they spending their daylight hours from dawn till dusk? Moving all day or holed up with the does in the same select patches of secure habitat? Probably different answers for different areas.

Everytime I see photo's of animals on cams during the night - I like to ask myself where are they during daylight?

For sure!!!

[Bugle M In]

So, if the buck/ deer movement dropped right off around Dec 8th, than the whole "hunting the new moon" doesn't
really matter??
Did the deer movement drop off only for daytime hours?? and still showed up in the dark hours??
Or, was this just the end of the rut, and the thought is the bucks just headed away somewhere to "recover"??
Great thread !

[Sitkaspruce]

My experience, along with my two hunting partners, was that all the big bucks we had on camera disappeared around the 18-20th. On Nov 17th, I caught a big muley out with his girlfriends at 11 am on a pipeline ROW and he did not care one bit that I was there, soon after that, I caught another younger but good muley buck bedding alongside a road with his girlfriends, soon after that a nice mature 5x5 buck on a mission crossed in front of me. That day I saw over 30 deer out feeding or looking for love, all between 10 and 3. I checked a few cams a couple days after and 3 big bucks showed up in the daytime to have a snack on that day to. That day was the near the beginning of the "new moon" Those bucks never showed up again, day or night. Same for my partners cams. Small, young bucks yes, the big boys disappeared

This is another piece of a huge puzzle that has not fallen in place yet. I have learned that hunting these creatures is both exhilarating and frustrating....like others have said, they test your patience and your brains. But are they ever fun and addicting.

So if these big bucks are hitting the sites all night long, hanging around with the does for the first 3 weeks of Nov, then hit the same spots once in the daytime, then disappear for the rest of the season, did they leave due to no receptive does in the area (bred them all), or is there other causes I need to throw in the puzzle box?? Do you think I am close to a bedding area or are they travelling a ways to the sites (due to all night picts)?? I know weather played a big part this year as we had no snow all of Nov (maybe 4" total) and the weather was warm, with lots of days of temps up to +6 and just below freezing at night. The deer were not concentrated and spread out all over.

This is such a good learning post, I am hoping to add to is as it progresses. Thanks Ourea!!

Cheers

SS