Yes sir I know I hunted the right spot. Didn’t start out great but got better. Plus setting up others is what made mine season cause they had success. Little late getting to this video. Happy belated holidays!!
Thank you! Finally someone who realizes just because your not seeing your target buck does not mean that deer is nocturnal. It simply means he’s avoiding where you are . We had mostly night pics of our target bucks. But knew they were not far due to the sign . I connected late season on one of them . He was chasing a doe early morning and then they bedded late morning . I caught up to them at 1:30 pm they were both feeding as I slowly peeked over a ridge . Shot him 200 yards from our stand. This is up in Maine .
It was a rough season for me this year. I hunted new spots this year on public lands. Saw a bunch of deer. Now I know where and what I have to do for next season. Scouting season is upon us now. Good luck
Great video as always!! Missed the biggest buck of my life at 20 yards because I didn’t practice shooting my broadheads. Shot felt good and I shot right under him. Shot my broadheads at my target later that day and I was consistently shooting 8 inches low. Let this be a lesson to ALWAYS PRACTICE WITH YOUR BROADHEADS BEFORE YOU GO HUNTING!!!
@@jaredschaefer-gx7hz thanks for the note! And sorry to hear about your miss… sage advice on shooting with your broadheads. Something we all need a reminder on from time to time
Excellent in information! I did not fill my tag the last 2 seasons. But had several nice bucks on camera with day and night photos. Thanks for the motivation!!
I had a left over muzzle tag and doe tag. Tracking/stalking deer on high pressure public land not easy. I got a few " thanks brother" for bmpng them out to them. Thats part of the game. Good for them. Happy scouting, God luck next season
I didn't capitalize this year but I got a lot of great info for next year. The majority of photos I got of what appeared to be mature bucks were in daylight. I was able to take cameras down that I left up from before archery season began until the end and verify one new spot was exactly what I thought. I'm looking forward to next year with all of this information and being able to hopefully capitalize on a nice buck with it. Thanks for the great video!
Great advice. I would say 1/2 my bucks were daylight and half were night times. My son actually killed the biggest buck during youth gun. He ended up beein 5.5 yrs old and scored 152”
Seen a ton of deer this season, however, the big boy I was after was in bow range 3 times from the same stand & I never got a clear shot. It's my fault 100%. I failed to setup before the season & had no shooting lanes trimmed. Lesson learned, carry on!
I saw one giant buck (180+) here in Wisconsin on public land this season. He was one of over 30 different bucks that I saw during our state's archery season. Other than the big one, I saw only 2 bucks that were older than 1.5 years old - two eight-pointers probably around 100-115 inches. The rest, right around 30, were all small spikes, forks, and six-pointers. I don't use trail cameras and have been relying on finding large tracks and rubs to focus my efforts. I am hoping that by just becoming more familiar with my hunting grounds (around 65,000 acres combined) that I will eventually find where the big ones (140 inches and up) are living. Thank you for the thoughtful content.
Funny thing, I had 10 beauty bucks on cam day and night from Oct 15-30. 3 scrapes not 30yards apart. Come Nov 1st every one of them literally disappeared! Had a spike and a 4pt hang around. It was on public with a fair bit of pressure, but I still can’t figure out what happened. I was supper excited to super disappointed. This season I’m going to bow hunt last 2 weeks of Oct before rifle season. Any thots or ideas to what may of happened? Thanks 🤘🏻
Thanks for the video and the tips. I hunt a heavily pressured area near the middle of a square mile cedar swamp on 40 acres in ag country in WI. We started baiting in the last 7-8 years to get the deer to come to the interior while crops are still on because our sightings were deteriorating. Problem is going in there once a week to bait (myself) and my uncle baits and checks cameras 3-4 times a week because he’s retired and likes taking walks. We used to see 30-50 deer during gun season 10+ years ago before he retired and now we’re lucky to see 10 since he retired and we started baiting. I know deer avoid bait when the gun pressure is on , but I think the main problem is all the scent and trips to the cameras/bait prior to the gun season. Also he has built numerous ground blinds near his bait (1) and cameras (2). I know between the scent , ground blinds and bait is why the numbers have dwindled. Sounds like you’re a believer that blinds/shooting houses affect deer daytime or any movement as well. I think if elevated and in lightly pressured areas they can be somewhat effective even on 2+ yr old bucks.I’m to the point where I’m going to stop baiting and finally bought some cell cams. And I plan to keep hunting as far from his high pressured areas as I can. Has been somewhat effective during bow season for me , but the gun season has been horrendous for some time now,unless I get a hot doe nearby or I can grunt a cruising buck in on the fringes.Are tending/trailing grunts highly effective for you too when not overdone. I mostly blind grunt bc of the thick cover and to pull a buck off the neighbors.But I try not to overdue it or call to often or they might catch on and circle hard.Also I try to end my grunt seq. into the wind w movement of the call to try to steer the bucks upwind and not downwind depending where I think they will come from. The movement simulates a buck chasing. Also I have snapped some branches while calling when desparate and that helped me get my biggest buck back in 2020, a 133inch 9pt. He came in looking for a fight , hair standing an all. Sorry for the xtra long post but I wanted to layout the situation. Keep the videos coming boss.
@@tjr4483 hey good info here. It sounds like you have identified the issues and I think you are correct: the constant intrusion into your property certainly is hurting your hunting land. The cell cams will help a lot. Also, I think stopping the bait is a wise choice as well. You just can’t keep blowing out the property over and over to set bait. I think box blinds can work if you have screened access to them and you aren’t bumping deer each time you get in and out of them. Good luck
I had a “good year” but didn’t meet my goals. I shot a good buck out of state on my first sit. Sat 29 times in MN, almost all on public. Ended up caving and shooting a 2.5 year old 8 point the last Friday of gun season. I’m thankful for the things I’ve learned and the venison in my freezer, but disappointed in my decision of lowering my standard too early in the season. Have lots of great bucks to chase next year, but a LOT of boot leather to burn between now and then.
Weird thing is a had multiple bucks with day light pictures on public land at a mock scrape and vine that I installed about 5-6 years ago . I had 2 nice shooter 8 pointers a big 6 a 5 multiple spikes and does but I couldn’t find and other scrapes and rubs nothing to a point that I was ready to leave the area and all of a sudden boom starting around Halloween till gun season opener Nov 16 they were all over my vine and scrape usually I would have plenty of pictures before very strange . I did get an opportunity at one of the bigger 8 pointers but unfortunately it didn’t work out . My question why no sign in the area no scrapes or rubs I’m baffled by it and I logged miles?
@@louisgiardina8918 I’ve seen that at times as well. I’ll actually get big deer on camera but no sign (rubs and scrapes). It seems this situation presents itself in my spots where it’s more of a “pass thru funnel” more than a doe zone bedding area. In the doe zone areas (where more deer are spending a lot more time) I do tend to see the rubs and scrapes.
It’s most likely a crop Rotation or drought/lack there of type of situation. If you are close to a swamp/water you might have a lot more summer pictures of deer on a dry year. If it’s a wet year, they may have other areas they prefer to summer. That’s my theory on it I guess.
Here’s how you know. You consistently put your target bucks in the dirt. I have a super busy life. I am extremely selective WHEN I hunt. I use cameras only to inventory.
If you get photo/vids of Bucks daylighting in early Oct, but just occasionally, will you try to find where he beds, and maybe Bust him out, just to know where he was and maybe get a better idea how to set up on him ?
That’s not my style no. In that scenario you describe, I’ll try to find a bottleneck to catch him passing thru it. One that I can get into and out of without walking the whole length of the bedding area
Thanks for the reply. I had a few Bucks showing themselves very early Oct.10.30am 3:00pm so they had to be bedded up close I figured but wasn't sure how close. Clear-cut close, might of been in there. I'm working on that !@@northernforestwhitetail
I hunt southern WI Green County area. Lots of deer and buck age structure is getting better but not great like it used to be. Doe/Buck Ratio is still abysmal. I missed a big 140s 8 point with my crossbow on the 17th of Nov. Been after him for two seasons and finally closed the gap. Pretty disappointing as it was an easy shot. Then i got lucky opening morning of rifle with a 155-inch 11point on friends' property by the Wisconsin River.
@@sarafayelawton652 you can’t find fresh tracks or a natural scrape? Cameras don’t lead you to deer. You need to know how to read the woods first, to understand where to put the cameras. The photos only confirm what you already found. I explain this in numerous videos.
![Build Ultra Thick Bedding Cover with Red Oak and Aspen Pocket Cuts [How I Build Mine]](/img/n.gif)
Yes sir I know I hunted the right spot. Didn’t start out great but got better. Plus setting up others is what made mine season cause they had success. Little late getting to this video. Happy belated holidays!!
@@whitetailwarriorsdeercamp88 you too!
Thank you! Finally someone who realizes just because your not seeing your target buck does not mean that deer is nocturnal. It simply means he’s avoiding where you are . We had mostly night pics of our target bucks. But knew they were not far due to the sign . I connected late season on one of them . He was chasing a doe early morning and then they bedded late morning . I caught up to them at 1:30 pm they were both feeding as I slowly peeked over a ridge . Shot him 200 yards from our stand. This is up in Maine .
@@dannyknapp515 that’s awesome- congrats! And thanks for the note. Good luck this year
@ thank you good luck to you also you have a few beauties on cam there 👍🦌
It was a rough season for me this year. I hunted new spots this year on public lands. Saw a bunch of deer. Now I know where and what I have to do for next season. Scouting season is upon us now. Good luck
@@BackMountainOutdoors thanks for sharing and good luck to you too
Great video as always!! Missed the biggest buck of my life at 20 yards because I didn’t practice shooting my broadheads. Shot felt good and I shot right under him. Shot my broadheads at my target later that day and I was consistently shooting 8 inches low. Let this be a lesson to ALWAYS PRACTICE WITH YOUR BROADHEADS BEFORE YOU GO HUNTING!!!
@@jaredschaefer-gx7hz thanks for the note! And sorry to hear about your miss… sage advice on shooting with your broadheads. Something we all need a reminder on from time to time
ive never heard of someone NOT shooting a new head before hunting with it, thank god you didn't hit the deer.....
Excellent in information! I did not fill my tag the last 2 seasons. But had several nice bucks on camera with day and night photos. Thanks for the motivation!!
@@gfalk3972 you bet go get after them for next year!
I had a left over muzzle tag and doe tag. Tracking/stalking deer on high pressure public land not easy. I got a few " thanks brother" for bmpng them out to them. Thats part of the game. Good for them. Happy scouting, God luck next season
@@SwampStalker11 thanks and you too
I didn't capitalize this year but I got a lot of great info for next year. The majority of photos I got of what appeared to be mature bucks were in daylight. I was able to take cameras down that I left up from before archery season began until the end and verify one new spot was exactly what I thought. I'm looking forward to next year with all of this information and being able to hopefully capitalize on a nice buck with it. Thanks for the great video!
@@brob-zy8zi very good sign that they were in daylight. Nice work
Great advice. I would say 1/2 my bucks were daylight and half were night times. My son actually killed the biggest buck during youth gun. He ended up beein 5.5 yrs old and scored 152”
@@transamguy9073 wow congrats to your son. Great work and thanks for sharing
Seen a ton of deer this season, however, the big boy I was after was in bow range 3 times from the same stand & I never got a clear shot. It's my fault 100%. I failed to setup before the season & had no shooting lanes trimmed. Lesson learned, carry on!
@@bonekollektor1659 wow good encounters though. Next year you will get him hopefully 🤞
Very good unbiased info.
Good info.
@@daveguttormson6315 thanks for sharing- happy new year
I saw one giant buck (180+) here in Wisconsin on public land this season. He was one of over 30 different bucks that I saw during our state's archery season. Other than the big one, I saw only 2 bucks that were older than 1.5 years old - two eight-pointers probably around 100-115 inches. The rest, right around 30, were all small spikes, forks, and six-pointers. I don't use trail cameras and have been relying on finding large tracks and rubs to focus my efforts. I am hoping that by just becoming more familiar with my hunting grounds (around 65,000 acres combined) that I will eventually find where the big ones (140 inches and up) are living. Thank you for the thoughtful content.
@@richarddean3154 incredible- and kudos to you for not relying heavily on trail cams. Good work out there!
Great advice! Thanks for the videos!
@@JosephTodd-ms6rf you bet glad you enjoy them
Funny thing, I had 10 beauty bucks on cam day and night from Oct 15-30. 3 scrapes not 30yards apart. Come Nov 1st every one of them literally disappeared! Had a spike and a 4pt hang around. It was on public with a fair bit of pressure, but I still can’t figure out what happened. I was supper excited to super disappointed. This season I’m going to bow hunt last 2 weeks of Oct before rifle season.
Any thots or ideas to what may of happened? Thanks 🤘🏻
Really appreciate the thoughts here, always good to just take time and evaluate the past year.
@@shadowdawg04 you bet glad you enjoyed it. Take care
Thanks for the video and the tips. I hunt a heavily pressured area near the middle of a square mile cedar swamp on 40 acres in ag country in WI. We started baiting in the last 7-8 years to get the deer to come to the interior while crops are still on because our sightings were deteriorating. Problem is going in there once a week to bait (myself) and my uncle baits and checks cameras 3-4 times a week because he’s retired and likes taking walks. We used to see 30-50 deer during gun season 10+ years ago before he retired and now we’re lucky to see 10 since he retired and we started baiting. I know deer avoid bait when the gun pressure is on , but I think the main problem is all the scent and trips to the cameras/bait prior to the gun season. Also he has built numerous ground blinds near his bait (1) and cameras (2). I know between the scent , ground blinds and bait is why the numbers have dwindled. Sounds like you’re a believer that blinds/shooting houses affect deer daytime or any movement as well. I think if elevated and in lightly pressured areas they can be somewhat effective even on 2+ yr old bucks.I’m to the point where I’m going to stop baiting and finally bought some cell cams. And I plan to keep hunting as far from his high pressured areas as I can. Has been somewhat effective during bow season for me , but the gun season has been horrendous for some time now,unless I get a hot doe nearby or I can grunt a cruising buck in on the fringes.Are tending/trailing grunts highly effective for you too when not overdone. I mostly blind grunt bc of the thick cover and to pull a buck off the neighbors.But I try not to overdue it or call to often or they might catch on and circle hard.Also I try to end my grunt seq. into the wind w movement of the call to try to steer the bucks upwind and not downwind depending where I think they will come from. The movement simulates a buck chasing. Also I have snapped some branches while calling when desparate and that helped me get my biggest buck back in 2020, a 133inch 9pt. He came in looking for a fight , hair standing an all. Sorry for the xtra long post but I wanted to layout the situation. Keep the videos coming boss.
@@tjr4483 hey good info here. It sounds like you have identified the issues and I think you are correct: the constant intrusion into your property certainly is hurting your hunting land. The cell cams will help a lot. Also, I think stopping the bait is a wise choice as well. You just can’t keep blowing out the property over and over to set bait. I think box blinds can work if you have screened access to them and you aren’t bumping deer each time you get in and out of them. Good luck
I had a “good year” but didn’t meet my goals. I shot a good buck out of state on my first sit. Sat 29 times in MN, almost all on public. Ended up caving and shooting a 2.5 year old 8 point the last Friday of gun season. I’m thankful for the things I’ve learned and the venison in my freezer, but disappointed in my decision of lowering my standard too early in the season. Have lots of great bucks to chase next year, but a LOT of boot leather to burn between now and then.
@@season2seasonoutdoors372 hey it happens- I’ve done the same. Hold your head up high and get after it this off season. Good luck!
Weird thing is a had multiple bucks with day light pictures on public land at a mock scrape and vine that I installed about 5-6 years ago . I had 2 nice shooter 8 pointers a big 6 a 5 multiple spikes and does but I couldn’t find and other scrapes and rubs nothing to a point that I was ready to leave the area and all of a sudden boom starting around Halloween till gun season opener Nov 16 they were all over my vine and scrape usually I would have plenty of pictures before very strange . I did get an opportunity at one of the bigger 8 pointers but unfortunately it didn’t work out . My question why no sign in the area no scrapes or rubs I’m baffled by it and I logged miles?
@@louisgiardina8918 I’ve seen that at times as well. I’ll actually get big deer on camera but no sign (rubs and scrapes). It seems this situation presents itself in my spots where it’s more of a “pass thru funnel” more than a doe zone bedding area. In the doe zone areas (where more deer are spending a lot more time) I do tend to see the rubs and scrapes.
It’s most likely a crop Rotation or drought/lack there of type of situation. If you are close to a swamp/water you might have a lot more summer pictures of deer on a dry year. If it’s a wet year, they may have other areas they prefer to summer. That’s my theory on it I guess.
Here’s how you know. You consistently put your target bucks in the dirt. I have a super busy life. I am extremely selective WHEN I hunt. I use cameras only to inventory.
If you get photo/vids of Bucks daylighting in early Oct, but just occasionally, will you try to find where he beds, and maybe Bust him out, just to know where he was and maybe get a better idea how to set up on him ?
That’s not my style no. In that scenario you describe, I’ll try to find a bottleneck to catch him passing thru it. One that I can get into and out of without walking the whole length of the bedding area
Thanks for the reply. I had a few Bucks showing themselves very early Oct.10.30am 3:00pm so they had to be bedded up close I figured but wasn't sure how close. Clear-cut close, might of been in there. I'm working on that !@@northernforestwhitetail
I just figured out where i should've been huntin on the way out from the seasons last hunt... isnt that the way it goes though.
@@seanbarrett657 yep. Seems to go that way a lot! Oh well I guess just need to adapt for next year. Good luck
@northernforestwhitetail yup. Already got a new plan startin.
I hunt southern WI Green County area. Lots of deer and buck age structure is getting better but not great like it used to be. Doe/Buck Ratio is still abysmal. I missed a big 140s 8 point with my crossbow on the 17th of Nov. Been after him for two seasons and finally closed the gap. Pretty disappointing as it was an easy shot. Then i got lucky opening morning of rifle with a 155-inch 11point on friends' property by the Wisconsin River.
@@deerslayer4204 good work!
Your knowledge is built on cameras, which not all of us can afford.
@@sarafayelawton652 you can’t find fresh tracks or a natural scrape? Cameras don’t lead you to deer. You need to know how to read the woods first, to understand where to put the cameras. The photos only confirm what you already found. I explain this in numerous videos.
@northernforestwhitetail yes, the art of woodsmanship is the way to go for me.
run a camera most of the year, you'll be surprised at what you see ;)
tag soup
@@RonBourgeois I’ve been there many times- get after it this off season 👊🏻