Tony Posted December 27, 2006 Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 i can use all the information i can get. seems everyone here in Iowa has a 150+ hanging on there walls, except me. i want to know how many of you guys that have shot really big bucks actually knew the buck was in the area before you shot him? how did you know he was there? when you shot him was it the first time you saw him or had you patterned him and set up specifically for that buck only? what factor did the rut play in your sucess? was it just luck? please explain in detail if you can. im trying to figure out if i need to find a better place to hunt. i mean if you want to kill a 160 or above you obviously must hunt a place where theres one like that around. i had a few nice bucks come by this year, 130s to 160ish. if the orange army didnt kill them all, i might get my shot next year at a really good one. i just want to know if i need to refine my hunting tecnique. i learned that no matter what i MUST watch the wind and not over hunt my places until prime rut time. Shoot Strong Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ALAN Posted December 27, 2006 Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 Re: Bowhunting big bucks: need info. from what i know or have been taught is this..do some scouting,watch the wind,and scent control..the guys that took me this year allready did some scoting and looked for deer activity once they saw some nice rubs etc.. they set there stands up in the area.one of the stands is a hot morning stand and ones a hot afternoon stand.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbeck Posted December 27, 2006 Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 Re: Bowhunting big bucks: need info. I have a friend that hunts in Ohio, He consistently shoots over 150" bucks. His method is to drive around in the summer, locate a few bucks that will satisfy him. Then he approches the land owners, and offers them a minimum of $1,000 if he shoots the buck. This doesn't work with every land owner, but he has great success with this method. He doesn't own property of his own, so he gets permission quite often with offering to pay. I don't know if this will help you or not, but as a land owner, I know there are many years that I don't have a good buck on my property. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdvantageTimberLou Posted December 27, 2006 Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 Re: Bowhunting big bucks: need info. Tony, I have a friend who shot a 204" monster in Canada earlier this month. No one there knew it was on the property they hunted on as it was an Outfitter's land. He was just in the right place at the right time, it could have been anyone sitting in that stand on that day, he just got lucky. He has shot tons of bucks and this one is his best. But he does put in time when he hunts in Michigan and in Iowa. I think the trick is having land that is close to your home or even your backyard and scouting year round. Looking for sheds and putting up trail cameras. Most guys fall into the right place right time deal. Sure some skill is involved in getting the buck, but luck helps too. How many guys spend countless hours scouting and watching a particular buck only to have a neighbor shoot it or the deer get hit by a car? Its hard to pattern deer but if the land is not pressured, I think if you put out cameras, plant food plots to help the herd out, keep the ratio of does to bucks good, work on some QDM, you can have yearly success. Good luck Tony and anytime you get a mature buck, whether 120" or 220" is an awesome feat with sting and string, some guys though that get consistent big bucks just have all the right things working for them and their hard work pays off each season. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superguide Posted December 27, 2006 Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 Re: Bowhunting big bucks: need info. I think more bucks get saved by overscouting than by not enough-if you see him feeding prerut he's not going to change unles he's botherted or the food source changes-in the rut he'll be where the does are or on the way too them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need2hunt Posted December 27, 2006 Report Share Posted December 27, 2006 Re: Bowhunting big bucks: need info. Tony I'm going to post twice in your thread, one answering the specific questions you have and another long post with some more info, maybe there will be something in my ramblings to help you out. This one is shy of the 150 mark but I still think he qualifies as "big" i want to know how many of you guys that have shot really big bucks actually knew the buck was in the area before you shot him? This buck was killed on Oct 21, 2003. While others had hunted the property, it was the first year deer hunting there for my hunting partner and I. Both my partner and I had seen this buck in the area while hunting in Oct. how did you know he was there?I had seen him twice from stand and my partner had seen him twice as well. when you shot him was it the first time you saw him or had you patterned him and set up specifically for that buck only?Like I said we had both seen him, as far as patterning him with just those 4 sightings of him we pretty much figured out what he was doing and when. what factor did the rut play in your sucess?Oct 21 is prerut and early on in prerut at that, but as you can see by his neck he started early LOL was it just luck? I think anytime you get a big deer in bow range that luck was involved but in this case there was some experience and maybe a touch of skill. This deer had started on the other side of the picked cornfield I was sitting by. In fact he skirted my partners stand at about 50 yards, Sue tried calling to him but he just ignored her and kept going. Meanwhile I had heard something behind my stand and was looking to see what it was, when I turned around he was already 3/4 of the way across the field and was looking like he was going to follow his normal trail which was about 50 yards from my stand. I grunted at him, he ignored me, I grunted a couple more times, same result. He was now getting close to the edge of the field and another 10-15 yards and my odds of getting him where going to fall drastically. So I took my grunt call and blew into it as loud as I could, THAT got his attention. He stopped and without even looking over in my direction he pinned his ears back, bristled up and started tearing the ground up with his front hooves. He then stiff legged his way to the side of the corn field and into the pasture posturing the whole way. He then proceeded to tear up a few small trees on his way towards me, at 15 yards he was right behind a downed tree and I drew back and waited and waited and waited. then instead of walking out he thrust his head right in the middle of all those downed brenches and just tore them to shreds, I couldn't take it any more and had to let down, this was the point where I'm questioning if it was going to be a close but no cigar situation. But he finally stopped shredding the tree and stared at the opening in front of me, then he ducked his head and started walking under the tree towards the opening, I drew back, set the pin and it was over with a 10 yard shot. This one grosses 171 and some change i want to know how many of you guys that have shot really big bucks actually knew the buck was in the area before you shot him? I did not know that this particular buck was in the area, I did know that this time of year I typically would see anywhere from 2-5 of this caliber buck while on stand - but normally it was in the distance on the neighbors property. how did you know he was there?I actually had went out hunting with the plans to pull a stand before dark before the shotgunners came in for the weekend. I hunted a spot for a couple hours and decided to head toward the stand that needed pulled about 1.5 hours before quitting time. I took my time heading to the spot as I was on the high side of the property and I noticed a large bodied deer chasing a doe down under the stand I was going to pull. when you shot him was it the first time you saw him or had you patterned him and set up specifically for that buck only?Even though I had a stand right where he was it was the first time I had seen him in this spot. what factor did the rut play in your sucess?It was the weekend before shotgun season, or in other words the best time to be bowhunting in IL, the rut was going strong and he was locked down with a doe - in other words the rut was vital to my success. was it just luck?Yes, Yes, Yes and No - I will admit that the majority of taking this buck was luck, no doubt about it. But at the same time there were some things that i had to be willing to do to get a crack at him. First I had to realize how much time I had left and how I was going to be able to get into the area he was without spooking them out - simply i had to be willing to take the loooonnnggg way around and come in with the wind and land structure in my favor. I got to where my stand was with 45 minutes left so it took me 45 minutes to get to where I thought i needed to be and in that time I had to pray that they were still in there somewhere. Next decision is to climb into the tree or stay on the ground, I chose to stay on the ground because after making it into position due to the land I didn't want to get picked off climbing into a stand or pulling my bow up. So I snuck up an additional 15 yards to a line of cedars and stood right inside of them. With about 20 minutes left I spotted a deer wag its tail about 50-60 yards away - I didn't know it at the time but it was the doe - all i knew was that the deers direction was away from me, so I took out the CAN call turned it over a couple times. He steps out of the briar patch approx 15 yards from me and he is so hooked up on hormones he is just looking for another doe. I am facing the wrong way and have to turn all the way around (with my eyes closed saying "you can't see me, you can't see me" LOL) he's still there looking for the doe, I draw back, set the pin and bury it as he takes off. I was so excited that in trying to see where he went I caught myself running toward where I had shot him. I stopped and got a little focus as I didnt want to accidently scare him on to a different property and as I stood there looking and listening I saw him cut back through an opening about 30 yards in front of me and do the snowplow. WOW. I knew he went down and so I left and let the landowner know that I'ld be back after dark to find my deer. So as you can see on this one lot's of luck with a little skill mixed into it. Unfortunately this one doesn't have a pic because its... The one that got away, but for some reference it was the big brother of the one pictured above i want to know how many of you guys that have shot really big bucks actually knew the buck was in the area before you shot him? This was the first year that Sue hunted with me and the first time she went out (early Oct) she had him and the bachelor group he was with within 35 yards of her stand. We didn't see him again until the rut, it's a long story but for how it applies here we saw him tending a doe in the pasture that's just down from our stands. how did you know he was there?See above. when you shot him was it the first time you saw him or had you patterned him and set up specifically for that buck only?After seeing him tending the doe that close to our sets I knew there was a big chance that he would be in the area for the next few days so I took a day off work to specifically hunt this deer. Also to let you know how much I had my heart set on this deer, the day that we saw him with that doe we also walked into another group of bucks on our way to the stand, I had crept to within 20 yards of a 140 class 8 point, drew back, set the pin and then couldn't take the shot because it would have been my last buck tag and i wanted to put it on that one deers antlers. what factor did the rut play in your sucess?Once again it was primetime in IL, just before shotgun season, the rut once again would have played a major role. was it just luck?No for luck however the reason behind the no photo above was all of stupidity. Like I said I knew he was in the area and I knew why he was there. I got in early and I set up in my stand that was right by where I had shot the 171, I put out a decoy (doe) and dumped a bottle of doe estrus on the ground right behind her. Then I nestled into my stand and waited for light. I finally caught movement but the problem was that it was down in the pasture where we had seen him before. Through the trees I could make out several big bodied bucks just mopeing (sp?) around in the pasture. I was almost positive that he was going to be down there but I couldn't make out through the trees if he was. That's when stupidity started creeping into it... Not knowing was driving me batty, it had rained the night before and everything was still wet which meant that everything was quiet for walking. I knew that from where I was I could get down and make it to a place to check the field and if he was there be able to move into position for a shot, but I also knew that that wasn't a good choice and that I should just stay in my stand. Well let's just say that it was a mental battle which saw me lower my bow three times and bring it back up twice. Yep, it finally got the better of me and I decided to make a move to check the field. I got down and made it slowly into position without being spotted, checked the field but most of the big bucks had moved off, there were still a couple big ones (but not the one I was after) and a few small bucks and does. I turned and started the slow stalk back to my stand... which if you didn't guess it already is were my butt should have been... I almost made it, I was only 15 yards from my stand, 25 yards from my decoy, the decoy that the buck I was after was starting to mount when he saw me. I can still see that massive rack turning and running through the woods. A classic case of great plan, poor execution. By the way i got back in my stand and was so mad at myself I finally took out my rattling bag because I just felt like making some noise. Ended up rattling in a buck just to my right, at first glance he was head on and looked like a 2 year old with only about a 16 inch spread so I decided to pass on him - well when he turned his head I could see he was a 10 point with his G2, G3 and G4 on both sides being at least 12" each. It got me thinking more about pulling the trigger on him but he never presented the shot and I'm still not sure if I would have shot him. I've got some other things I need to do but I'll post my other thoughts later today or in the morning. G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted December 28, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 28, 2006 Re: Bowhunting big bucks: need info. thanks guys this is exactly what kind of info i was looking for. thanks Need2hunt for the details. im trying to see if there is a connection between guys that shoot big bucks. thank you very much. keep it coming.. Shoot Strong Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billkay Posted December 28, 2006 Report Share Posted December 28, 2006 Re: Bowhunting big bucks: need info. Luck always plays a factor but knowing that a large buck is in the area is the place to start. Scouting once the season ends is a great time to locate deer without negatively impacting your hunting. Trail cams will give you some priceless info in terms of particular deer, their size, patterns, and the time of day they are in each spot. Hunting in the earliest part of the season I think gives you the best chance at a particular buck beacaus ehe is likely still in his summer pattern. Once the rut comes in, a lot of other factors will impact a given deer, including how far he will search for does, where the does are feeding, and hunting pressure. The deer I took this year I had been seeing for about 3 years. The trail cam photo I got of him 3 weeks before I killed him showed him to be a 160 class buck. When he was killed, he had lost a split G3 about 8 inches each and about 4 inches of main beam. He rough scored about 142. I think that knowing the deer is there is the most important step to killing a big deer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest IAbooner Posted December 29, 2006 Report Share Posted December 29, 2006 Re: Bowhunting big bucks: need info. You are in one of(if not the best)the best states in the country for trophy bucks! You are wayyyyy ahead of many! I know! I live here too! That being said, I have bowhunted Iowa for close to 30 yrs. I have had several chances at 170"+ deer in that time. In fact I can safely say that I see at least 1 or two b&c class deer eash year! The biggest rack on my wall would probably go 140"! I pride myself on putting myself well with'in bow range of BIG deer almost every year! But that is where the pride ends. Seems like something always goes amiss. I had a true 180"+ animal at 13yds two years ago and made a stupid mistake and he got a free pass! Lotta work involved, lotta luck involved! Takes just the right mix at the right time!! But I love to see them, so I will keep trying! Some of my close encounters with big deer would make grown men cry!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CanadaGuy Posted December 29, 2006 Report Share Posted December 29, 2006 Re: Bowhunting big bucks: need info. i have to ask whats better bowhunting from a blind or tree stand Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CanadaGuy Posted December 29, 2006 Report Share Posted December 29, 2006 Re: Bowhunting big bucks: need info. hey need2hunt those are some nice bucks buddy. Congrats. I'm still trying to get my first bow buck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buckee Posted December 29, 2006 Report Share Posted December 29, 2006 Re: Bowhunting big bucks: need info. Great reply Gary and some Great bucks to prove your points. There is also that sheer luck factor that comes into play during the rut, that none of us can second guess, and that is, a buck showing up, that you've just never seen before. We've had it happen so many times to us, and it still leaves us in awe when he shows. Patience plays a big roll in getting big bucks. I've lost mine so many, many times and settled for something smaller, when I knew deep down, if I had of just waited a little longer, I would have gotten the big boy, or maybe even that one none of us has ever seen before. The rut is magic, and I love it. We don't have anything too huge here in the blacktail department, compared to those whitetails, but it sure is nerve-racking and fun to wait for Mr. big, however you define him. Patience, homework and Luck...ya can't go wrong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Straight Shooter Posted December 29, 2006 Report Share Posted December 29, 2006 Re: Bowhunting big bucks: need info. I know your in Iowa, but you've got to be in an area where 150's roam. The area's you could be hunting might not hold the caliber of deer your looking for. Of course 120 to 140 is nothing to bat an eye at, but I've always heard hunt where they are and everything is else fall inplace. And a lot of LUCK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly Posted December 29, 2006 Report Share Posted December 29, 2006 Re: Bowhunting big bucks: need info. Awesome post Gary and Awesome Pics... Makes me want to tag along with you on your hunts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly Posted December 29, 2006 Report Share Posted December 29, 2006 Re: Bowhunting big bucks: need info. The only adivce I can give Tony is: Shoot Strong! Now where did I hear that from. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
need2hunt Posted December 30, 2006 Report Share Posted December 30, 2006 Re: Bowhunting big bucks: need info. Tony I had the big long (not too long ) post made up today in a text doc and I accidently lost it, so that still might come later for now heres a couple more for instances. Another one that got away it's hard to tell from the pic but he's a wide 10 point that is probably a little over the 150 mark i want to know how many of you guys that have shot really big bucks actually knew the buck was in the area before you shot him? This year we picked up a couple new properties approx 1 week before the first IL shotgun season. Nothing overly special mostly open fields but it did have a couple of small treelines. I saw this buck 4 times in 5 days, first time he was chasing a doe on the property we were hunting, next 3 times he was in the neighbors picked cornfield along with some other bucks with some hot does. The one evening the doe led him all the way to within 15 yards of my stand but it was past shooting time when they got within range, ended up staying in the stand quite a while after dark so I didn't bump them. how did you know he was there?see above when you shot him was it the first time you saw him or had you patterned him and set up specifically for that buck only?After 5 days of seeing him on the neighbors property we received permission to hunt there. The pattern was pretty easy as cover was sparse. They stuck to the creek bed and then would make there way out to the large horseweed patch in the middle of the picked cornfield. They would bed at the creek or in the horseweeds but at night they were alway around the horseweed patch to eat. I only had one opportunity to take him with a bow and that was the evening before shotgun season. I knew where they liked to enter and exit the horseweed patch and also knew that getting in there without bumping deer was going to be a problem. I used the one hillside in the field to cover most of the open area but still ended up kicking out a few deer from the weed patch, luckily they were just a few does and I had gotten around the most of it without being seen. I settled in and waited and just like all the other nights with about a half hour to go the deer started coming out. I first saw him at about 80 yards feeding in the cornfield, he was slooooowwly coming my way but I was running out of light. I pulled out the CAN call and turned it over, he looked in my direction and kept coming but not fast enough to get there before it got dark. So I took out my grunt call and gave him a couple grunts. That did the trick and he dropped his head down and started stiff legging it down towards me. I realized that this was going to have to be a real close shot as he was quartering too pretty hard and would be getting more broadside the closer he got, infact how I was positioned he would basically be right on top of me before he would be able to see me... then the wind changed (I know you know what happens then Tony). He was 30 yards and coming fast until the wind changed - there was no blowing or stomping or stopping to figure out what that was, he hit my sent and was gone... dang that hurts what factor did the rut play in your sucess?Once again major factor was it just luck?the only part of luck involved in this one was BAD, I did everything right in my mind that I could do, right down to having the spot I was going to take the shot - then something happened that I had no control over and the game was over. Beleive it or not Got away #3. This deer would have easily been the largest antlered buck I had shot he was a 10 pointer that had everything, great tine length, mass and width. He was very symetrical and would have had very little for deductions. A very conservative estimate would be a 170 class. i want to know how many of you guys that have shot really big bucks actually knew the buck was in the area before you shot him? I was hunting on one of LLBUX's leases. It was the first year he had leased the property so we didn't know what all was there but he had some cam pics of a few nice ones. Arnie was nice enough to let me come back a few times through the year when I could and he didn't have any other hunters on and I went down for a coule days in Nov. I knew the property had some big deer on it but didn't know this deer was there. how did you know he was there?I didn't when you shot him was it the first time you saw him or had you patterned him and set up specifically for that buck only?All I had was some good input from Arnie and the farmer plus a little bit od scouting on my part. I was on the side of a small ridge between a deep ravine and a cow pasture I had hunted this spot a couple other times when I was down before and had seen some small bucks and also noticed that I had some does bedding in the area so with Nov heating up it seemed like the logical choice. I set a decoy out below my stand with hopes of getting a buck to see it off of either my ridge or the next ridge over. I heard something coming through the leaves and lookedto the south of me and allI could see where these huge antlers coming down the side of the ridge towards me. Thought I had the perfect set, hardly any wind plus it was in my favor. The trail that he was on looked to go by my stand at about 15 yards if he held his course but at about 40 yards he stopped. DOOOOOHHHH!!! This really gets the nerves going! He just started acting a little bit antsy and I couldn't figure out why. He hadn't seen the decoy yet and I thought maybe if he did he would commit the rest of the way so I used the CAN call, he looked down and saw the decoy and took came down about another 5 yards, so about 35 yards with no shot... he stops again and is looking even more nervous. I waited and waited to see what he was going to do when he starts to take these really small backwards steps. I figured he had somehow busted me or figured something wasn't right so he was goiing to slip out. So I went to the last resort and pulled out my grunt call, turned it away from him and gave 2 small grunts. that's when I caught movement reeeeaaaalll close. I was so mesmorized by him I never picked up on the doe that he was trailing, the doe that is 15 yards from my stand up the ridge so about eye-level with me. The doe that is getting close so that everytime she heres a buck grunt it means tuck your tail and run which is exactly what she did. Then i found out why he was so nervous he wanted to go check my decoy but didn't want to let her out of his sight, he was backpeddling to get back on the same trail that she was and right up over the hill they went. what factor did the rut play in your sucess?Once again major factor was it just luck?I would say this was the right place at the right time type of luck. But the input I received from Arnie and the farmer concerning the property helped me pick the right spot for that hunt so experience of the property was also a factor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Posted December 30, 2006 Report Share Posted December 30, 2006 Re: Bowhunting big bucks: need info. Well here we go. I'll try to help the best I can by answering your questions. We own 120 acres of "good hunting land" in south central WI. We, meaning my dad and I started QDM 16 years ago. As a big part of QDM is food plots we put in an abundance of them. We put the majority of them in areas that we can see from a tower that we built in order to watch the deer. The tower is on a big hill overlooking most of our land. We start watching the food plots usually around the end of July to early August. While I can never be 100% sure my dad believes he saw my buck at the end of Aug. from this tower. I have a buddy that leases hunting rights from my dad and he believes he saw it at the end of Oct. I never saw this buck until the 3rd of Nov. He was running a creek bottom chasing does. Nov. 4th I saw him again. Same time, Same place. I went out the next morning knowing he was in the area and I climbed a stand just up the ridge from the creek bottom. If I told you I set up "just for him" i'd be lying. The prerut was in full swing and the bucks were moving. I saw five different bucks that morning everyone of them running crazy. I spotted my buck at about 100 yards and grabbed "the can" I tipped it a few times and he stopped but never looked my way. He slowly started coming my direction but I could not see him because of the smaller pine trees he was in. He started rubbing one of them and it got quiet. I hung my bow back up thinking he just went up the ridge. 5-7 minutes passed and I heard a small twig snap. There he was at 6 yards. I grabbed my bow, drew back, and let him have it. While mine only grosses out at 157 1/8 it is one of the biggest ever taken out of our area. Did luck have a big part in it? YES. Did I put my time in? YES. Scouting is a major component to killing big bucks. You need to know what kind of bucks are in the area. As far as overhunting an area? I have mixed feelings on this. My buddy hunts almost everyday. Granted he wears scentlok but, everytime he hunts he is still leaving scent. My dad is always walking around filling water barrels ect... I think the deer get used to the "traffic" and as long as they don't smell you, you are ok. The biggest part in killing a big buck is not shooting a small one, and scouting. You need to know what you have in the area. Oh yeah, here's mine. Good Luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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