Where do you start?
There are two VERY important questions that must be answered
before we can determine where you need to start:
- What are you hunting for?
- Where do you hunt?
Let’s begin with the first question…
What are you hunting for? One would think that if you were
reading this blog that the answer would be obvious – Deer! Well, yes that is
the obvious answer but it is a very broad answer. Do you want to harvest deer
meat or are you just hunting for a good Boone and Crocket buck. The difference
between the two is literally night and day.
Learning to put yourself into areas of deer concentration
where you will be most likely to harvest a few deer in a season is not that
difficult but putting you on a 140+ class buck is a whole different ballgame.
That is what brings us to the next question:
Where do you hunt?
If the answer to that question is any of the following, and
you are specifically looking for a “Trophy” buck, then you are in for some real
heartbreaking news.
- On a private parcel of land that the ole’ feller down the road lets me hunt.
- On Game Management land.
- In a hunt club, on 800 acres shared with 29 other hunters.
- In an area where dogs are permissible for deer hunting.
- In my backyard where I have about 10 acres.
Why are these such limitations to getting a monster buck?
Well for starters, if you are hunting on a private parcel of
land somewhere or even in your backyard, you have several huge limitations.
- While you are only hunting for Trophy Whitetails, the folks hunting all the lands surrounding you are hunting the “If it’s brown it’s down” strategy. You might have 150 acres there but the deer will wander much further than that and inevitably, they will wander in front of another hunter with lower standards than you. This creates several problems: The deer in your area are hard pressed to grow to maturity and the buck you’ve been watching on your trail cameras for the last year walked past hunter Joe before he walked past you.
- Secondly, what many people don’t realize is that during the rut (which is always the best time to harvest a trophy) a buck will travel as much as 10 miles a day in search of a doe, so the one you have been watching just might be 2 counties away.
- Third, as unfortunate as it is, you will always have to deal with trespassers and people illegally baiting just yards from your property boundaries.
Hunting on Game Management land or lands with permits to the
public:
Need I elaborate? In addition to the same downfalls listed
in the “Private” lands section, you now have to deal with all the idiots, carelessness,
rudeness, noise, talking, constant shooting around you, someone got to your
stand before you, there are four wheelers, people using the bathroom and that
list could go on forever.
In a hunt club:
Sometimes this can be good and sometimes it can be bad. I
know that often times, it is the only option you have to find land in the area
where you live. My best advice is to pick and choose the club and do so by a
number of different things. How much land? How many hunters? Do they manage the
herd – This is a biggie! I see so many clubs that say “It must be outside the
ears” and this is great, but they also do not allow any does to be harvested
and this is bad. To properly manage a herd, you must manage the does as well as
you must harvest the bucks that do not show good genetics. If you have a 4 year
old buck with 3 points on one side and 5 on the other, HE MUST ME HARVESTED
before he continues to reproduce. Most hunt clubs have good rules but bad practices.
If the club has so many hunters that there is only about 30-40 acres per hunter
available – don’t join! In addition to that, if a club assigns parcels on a per
hunter basis (meaning you have you own 100 acres to hunt as you see fit) then
be careful. If you are the new comer then you are getting the leftovers –
guaranteed!
In an area where dogs are permitted for deer hunting:
Only one good answer for you here, HUNT THE EARLY SEASONS!
Archery and muzzleloader are your best options. Once the dogs hit the woods,
the deer primarily go nocturnal and your best chances for success are the first
30 minutes of daylight and in your dreams! I love to hear a pack of dogs coming
through the wood just as much as anyone but I hate the use of dogs for deer
hunting. I enjoy actually “Hunting” deer and the dogs rob me of that freedom.
In my backyard where I have about 10 acres:
Refer to all the drawbacks above and start telling me about
all the ones I didn’t list in the comments section below.
Okay, now that I have pointed out all the negatives that
currently come to mind, I want to assure you that there are things you can do
to better your chances at success. As I mentioned in my opening statements of
this blog, I hunt deer and get lucky enough to harvest trophies in the process.
You can too and I will continue to share how as this blog gets deeper. Being in
the right place at the right time is always the best way to succeed and
hopefully I can help you determine where that best place is in your woods.
I have many hunting stories to share with you as time goes
on, both good and bad, as well as hunting stories that go so far beyond hunting
to include and unknown creature as well as finding a man on a thread of life
and later passing. I have actually been “deputized” as a hunter and offered
backup to the local sheriff. I have so much to share that it is hard to
determine where to start.
As always, I welcome your comments and criticism! In
addition, it you have a topic you would like to see covered or a question you
would like an answer to, please just leave it in the comments section below.
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