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Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8327192 07/21/21 03:54 PM
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Originally Posted by txtrophy85
Originally Posted by QuitShootinYoungBucks
Originally Posted by txtrophy85

Hunt where they exist. That’s the key.


Pro tip #2, they don't get any bigger if you kill them while they're young. I.E., they don't exist if you kill them early.


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Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8327201 07/21/21 04:01 PM
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I’ve been blessed to kill my fair share of big deer but if their aren’t any around or you kill the young ones you won’t kill a big deer. If you do the lucky factor kicks in. Their is a pretty large number of guys on here and several in this thread that routinely kill them so luck helps buts it’s definitely not the deciding factor at all but having said that I’m a big fan of being lucky in a good location up

Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8327210 07/21/21 04:19 PM
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Im a big fan of gettin lucky too grin


It's hell eatin em live
Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: Hudbone] #8327216 07/21/21 04:24 PM
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Originally Posted by Hudbone
'Hunt where they exist." Stay within the confines of the HF.


That’s my plans for whitetail


For it is not the quarry that we truly seek, but the adventure.
Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8327562 07/21/21 10:28 PM
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That’s true

Add in a little luck and bingo!

I had 8 acres at a place I owned here in NTX

On my game cam, I had a 143 8pt, 152 10 pt and 163 10 pt

How do I know what they scored, lol

My neighbor had the neighboring 100 acres and took them all over 3 years

I just wasn’t lucky enough to catch them during legal hours or season

Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: redchevy] #8327568 07/21/21 10:30 PM
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Originally Posted by redchevy
Im a big fan of gettin lucky too grin


Been lucky a lot, but lately ain’t been that lucky


For it is not the quarry that we truly seek, but the adventure.
Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8327606 07/21/21 11:26 PM
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Guy told me years ago - "if you want to catch big bass you have to fish where there are big bass" - never forgot that and of course it pertains the same to deer hunting


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Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8327700 07/22/21 01:08 AM
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Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8327738 07/22/21 01:40 AM
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How about hunt every day during deer season instead of just being a weekender.

Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: BigfootWallace] #8327765 07/22/21 02:06 AM
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Originally Posted by BigfootWallace
How about hunt every day during deer season instead of just being a weekender.


Would be great if deer hunting paid the bills.


For it is not the quarry that we truly seek, but the adventure.
Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: BigfootWallace] #8327770 07/22/21 02:13 AM
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Originally Posted by BigfootWallace
How about hunt every day during deer season instead of just being a weekender.


Interesting you mention that. I ran across a study that found Thursday was the best time to hunt during any given season. The study used radio-collared deer that were tracked over a rather large lease in South Carolina, the goal being to gain a better understanding of how hunting pressure impacted deer movement. It found that on average, deer take about three days to return to their normal movements after seeing heavy pressure from hunters.

Last edited by Texas Dan; 07/22/21 02:15 AM.

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Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: Texas Dan] #8327822 07/22/21 03:03 AM
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Originally Posted by Texas Dan
Originally Posted by BigfootWallace
How about hunt every day during deer season instead of just being a weekender.


Interesting you mention that. I ran across a study that found Thursday was the best time to hunt during any given season. The study used radio-collared deer that were tracked over a rather large lease in South Carolina, the goal being to gain a better understanding of how hunting pressure impacted deer movement. It found that on average, deer take about three days to return to their normal movements after seeing heavy pressure from hunters.


Was that public or private land where the study was done?

On the properties I frequent, deer can’t read a calendar. I’ve hunted some ranches where human activity would change their behavior ( unhunted ranches with zero human presence whatsoever until we came onto the property ) but on most being there for 2-4 days in one run didn’t negatively effect deer movement.


For it is not the quarry that we truly seek, but the adventure.
Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8327925 07/22/21 11:41 AM
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Originally Posted by txtrophy85
Originally Posted by Texas Dan
Originally Posted by BigfootWallace
How about hunt every day during deer season instead of just being a weekender.


Interesting you mention that. I ran across a study that found Thursday was the best time to hunt during any given season. The study used radio-collared deer that were tracked over a rather large lease in South Carolina, the goal being to gain a better understanding of how hunting pressure impacted deer movement. It found that on average, deer take about three days to return to their normal movements after seeing heavy pressure from hunters.


Was that public or private land where the study was done?

On the properties I frequent, deer can’t read a calendar. I’ve hunted some ranches where human activity would change their behavior ( unhunted ranches with zero human presence whatsoever until we came onto the property ) but on most being there for 2-4 days in one run didn’t negatively effect deer movement.




WHen I've been on leases that got most of the hunting pressure from Friday to Sunday I've always liked taking vacation days and getting there on Wednesday evenings or earlier if possible and getting in a few, 'quiet' hunts before the mob returned. Always seemed to see some deer that just didn't show up on the weekends. Of course there are usually a few deer that are just a tad 'smarter' than the average on every place and require an extra trick or to to put a tag on.


High fence, low fence, no fence, it really doesn't matter as long as you're hunting!
Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8327985 07/22/21 12:45 PM
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Originally Posted by txtrophy85
Originally Posted by Texas Dan
Originally Posted by BigfootWallace
How about hunt every day during deer season instead of just being a weekender.


Interesting you mention that. I ran across a study that found Thursday was the best time to hunt during any given season. The study used radio-collared deer that were tracked over a rather large lease in South Carolina, the goal being to gain a better understanding of how hunting pressure impacted deer movement. It found that on average, deer take about three days to return to their normal movements after seeing heavy pressure from hunters.


Was that public or private land where the study was done?


Here's a link and a few comments taken from the well documented study...

While attending Auburn University, Clint McCoy captured and placed tracking collars on 37 bucks living in the Brosnan Forest of South Carolina (Dorchester). McCoy used portable GPS technology to monitor bucks that ranged in ages from 1 ½ to 4 ½ years old. The equipment enabled McCoy to determine where each buck was every 30 minutes. All bucks were tracked for three months from August through November, with the rut occurring from late September through early October.

McCoy studied buck movements on 6,400 acres north of U.S. 78, owned by Norfolk Southern Railway. Two-thirds of the property is in longleaf pine stands, with swamps and oak stands dispersed throughout the area. There are more than 100 food plots planted on about 300 acres of the property. More than 60 feeders also are used to draw deer into shooting range. Deer hunting season began on Sept. 15 and ran throughout the study period.

“After a hunter had sat in a stand just one time, bucks would stay out of the danger zone of that stand for the next three full days, meaning they wouldn’t return, on average, until the fourth day,” explained McCoy. “This finding held regardless of whether the hunter had shot at a deer. Just occupying the stand made bucks stay clear of it for several days.”

Link

Last edited by Texas Dan; 07/22/21 12:52 PM.

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Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: Texas Dan] #8328045 07/22/21 01:40 PM
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Originally Posted by Texas Dan
[quote=txtrophy85]

Here's a link and a few comments taken from the well documented study...

While attending Auburn University, Clint McCoy captured and placed tracking collars on 37 bucks living in the Brosnan Forest of South Carolina (Dorchester). McCoy used portable GPS technology to monitor bucks that ranged in ages from 1 ½ to 4 ½ years old. The equipment enabled McCoy to determine where each buck was every 30 minutes. All bucks were tracked for three months from August through November, with the rut occurring from late September through early October.

McCoy studied buck movements on 6,400 acres north of U.S. 78, owned by Norfolk Southern Railway. Two-thirds of the property is in longleaf pine stands, with swamps and oak stands dispersed throughout the area. There are more than 100 food plots planted on about 300 acres of the property. More than 60 feeders also are used to draw deer into shooting range. Deer hunting season began on Sept. 15 and ran throughout the study period.

“After a hunter had sat in a stand just one time, bucks would stay out of the danger zone of that stand for the next three full days, meaning they wouldn’t return, on average, until the fourth day,” explained McCoy. “This finding held regardless of whether the hunter had shot at a deer. Just occupying the stand made bucks stay clear of it for several days.”

Link


Interesting for sure

But I've seen where some mature, very smart bucks will return within hours of the pasture being vacated. hahahah
In fact, just last year I went down to try and help a couple friends find a big, slick 10 book deer. I sat in one stand they'd gotten pics of him the past few weeks at the corn feeder about 35%-40% of the time it fed.
One buddy dropped me off the 1st hunt and I saw 15+ bucks including several great deer that were mature but not him. I told him I'd walk in the next morning and did from about 1/2 mile away. No show again. He sat there and I went to another stand 1/2+ mile away he'd been know to also come to and for the next 3 days not a glimpse and not a single picture came through of him even at night at those 2 corn feeders.
We left the ranch at 11am and at 2pm he started getting pics from teh stand I was in....it was him and he stayed for nearly an hour. lmao
The stand was about 1/2 mile from the main road leaving camp. I told him that deer was so smart he simply stuck to the brush any time he heard a vehicle leave the ranch house. So, the following week he snuck down there on a Thursday after lunch and never went to camp. He parked about 3/4 mile away from the stand in the opposite direction of camp and walked in. The feeder went off and about 5 minutes later I got a pic of a 177" slick 10 laying dead on the ground.

My point to my long story is that even deer on the same ranch can be completely different personalities. Some are very, very hard to kill once they are mature, some are not. It's one of the reasons I ALWAYS would smoke the doe that came out and stomped, blew, and snorted at me from 200 yards away upwind when 20 others were upwind 40 yards away and couldn't care less I was in the stand. Keep the gentle ones that almost act tame and kill the whistle blowers. lol


High fence, low fence, no fence, it really doesn't matter as long as you're hunting!
Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8328054 07/22/21 01:44 PM
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The biggest bucks live near the camp house and near deer stands.

Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: freerange] #8328131 07/22/21 02:32 PM
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Originally Posted by freerange
Originally Posted by Texas Dan
The answer is a simple, four-letter word - Luck.

Luck is helpful, but completely useless if you arent where they are.


Right on freerange. IME the biggest bucks are loaners, nocturnal, until the rut starts, then they range a wide area. Obviously this is more prevalent in wild, free ranging deer and not protein addicted local bucks. A big, wild, free range buck will only breed 3-5 does per year, so being in the right place at the right time is key, at least for me.

Last edited by Jgraider; 07/22/21 02:39 PM.
Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8328143 07/22/21 02:37 PM
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Hunting pressure makes deer smart.

We get picktures of deer all the time on random corn piles with a camera on it that never show up at the feeders.


It's hell eatin em live
Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8328149 07/22/21 02:41 PM
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We have never killed our biggest whitetail bucks over a feeder. They may venture near one to check for does, but never seen the biggest ones actually feeding there. YMMV.

Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: Jgraider] #8328195 07/22/21 03:04 PM
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Originally Posted by Jgraider
We have never killed our biggest whitetail bucks over a feeder. They may venture near one to check for does, but never seen the biggest ones actually feeding there. YMMV.


I don't think I've ever shot a deer (doe or buck) at a feeder. Pigs often, deer no.

Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: Hudbone] #8328207 07/22/21 03:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Hudbone
Originally Posted by Jgraider
We have never killed our biggest whitetail bucks over a feeder. They may venture near one to check for does, but never seen the biggest ones actually feeding there. YMMV.


I don't think I've ever shot a deer (doe or buck) at a feeder. Pigs often, deer no.

Dang, Hud. Im surprised. I thought I was the only one and hesitated to admit, but since youre out of the closet.... I had never shot a deer at a feeder either until last year. My 181 was a regular at a feeder so I got a crossbow and got him early in bow season. Prior to that it was always spot and stalk or on road corn.


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Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: ILUVBIGBUCKS] #8328370 07/22/21 05:03 PM
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Originally Posted by ILUVBIGBUCKS
My point to my long story is that even deer on the same ranch can be completely different personalities. Some are very, very hard to kill once they are mature, some are not.


Not saying you're wrong but I've never seen a mature buck that was easy to kill, unless it was during the rut when they become sex crazy. I could also see them becoming very conditioned to farm and ranch activities, much like squirrels that take up residence in your yard. Yes, like the differences I see between the squirrels in my yard and those in the deer woods, it's the frequency of their interactions with humans that's likely the reason for these differences in their personalities.

I once had a photo of a very old buck that was taken at a feeder that was next to public land. It was the only time we ever got a photo of him, much less ever actually seen him. We all agreed that buck eventually died of old age in the National Forest without anyone ever having laid eyes on him.

Last edited by Texas Dan; 07/22/21 05:15 PM.

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Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: txtrophy85] #8328375 07/22/21 05:09 PM
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I have killed just as many mature bucks at a feeder as I have killed away from a feeder. Many of them standing directly underneath the feeder...they owned it and you could tell when he was not at the feeder. The other bucks would not go underneath the feeder.


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Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: Texas Dan] #8328381 07/22/21 05:16 PM
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Originally Posted by Texas Dan
Originally Posted by ILUVBIGBUCKS
My point to my long story is that even deer on the same ranch can be completely different personalities. Some are very, very hard to kill once they are mature, some are not.


Not saying you're wrong but I've never seen a mature buck that was easy to kill, unless it was during the rut when they become sex crazy. I could also see them becoming very conditioned to farm and ranch activities, much like squirrels that take up residence in your yard. Yes, like the differences I see between the squirrels in my yard and those in the deer woods, it's the frequency of their interactions with humans that's likely responsible for these differences in their personalities.

I once had a photo of a very old buck that was taken at a feeder that was next to public land. We all agreed that buck eventually died of old age in the National Forest without anyone ever having actually laid eyes on him.


A large majority of big bucks are easy patterned in Aug into early Oct.

Stx and Iluvbigbucks have made a livings patterning big deer… that is literally.

Better question would be to ask them to explain how and when they find bucks the most consistent in their routine, and if that correlates to kill ability.

Prominent Rut is worst time to target a specific deer, IMO, because he has no pattern, even his core area is inconsistent. If you aren’t target a specific deer then it’s great activity assuming you are in the lockdown phase.


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Re: Txtrophy’s best kept secret to killing big bucks.... [Re: stxranchman] #8328384 07/22/21 05:22 PM
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Originally Posted by stxranchman
I have killed just as many mature bucks at a feeder as I have killed away from a feeder. Many of them standing directly underneath the feeder...they owned it and you could tell when he was not at the feeder. The other bucks would not go underneath the feeder.


Were most of these HF, LF, or equally common? Just trying to see if there might be key factors at play.

I have seen cases where a mature buck would lay up around farm houses and barns for the safety it seemed to provide from predators. However, they always relocated to thicker and safer quarters soon after the season opened.


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