Let's talk serious deer hunting since we are here.

How many of you have a buck that you know you will run into this year? What is your method of attack? Let's hear it. Here's my top 3.

Buck #1.....

Saw this deer feeding on the side of the road in November 2017. He was 2.5 years old and had 8" G2s. Saw him again crossing the same road 500 yards further down, and this was in back in January. After a little bit of footwork I think I have one of his travel routes pegged. If any of y'all ever seen the big long tined 8pt on the wall in Hancock's BBQ, he ought to look similar to that this year.

Buck #2......

I've had a long history with this deer and if I don't get him this year, he will more than likely start going downhill. I know exactly where he beds, he has always been there every time I have entered it, which has been twice after the season was out and I was just dropping in, knocking on his door to say hi. The difficult part is he can see everything around him and he can see part of the road that everyone walks down, which is to the south of his bed. You can't enter into the planted pines he is bedded in. He will see you or smell you. He will not leave his safe zone during daylight, but he does get up and scent check the edges of it during the rut. He's a 6pt with no brow tines and is well over 200lbs. Getting him out of that bottom is going to be a challenge.

Buck #3..... This deer peruses our property in Tensaw a lot, especially during the rut. He beds on a little thick knoll surrounded by open hardwoods by the creek. He always enters his bedding area from the east with a strong north wind Cameras shown me that last year. He can't see anything to the north of the knoll toward the creek. He's probably a 5 year old by now. 9pt.

I've had a lot of success in the past by locating where mature bucks bed. I have done a lot of walking around and jumping big bucks. This has taught me a great deal about what to look for and what a hunted mature buck will look for as far as a safe hideout. As soon as I jump him, I will walk to where he was bedded and find out why he was there. This is what I have figured out.

1.....a mature buck will always bed in an elevated location where he can either see or smell anything around him, and the spot will most likely be thick.

2.....the most likely travel route he will take to that area will likewise be thick in nature and he will scent check it before he goes into it. Meaning if there is a strong wind, he will walk downwind of it or if there isn't a discernible wind, he will walk around it and in it to make sure there is no danger before he lays down to chew his cud. A few hours after he beds down, he's going to get up again and stretch his legs.

3. Once you let a mature buck know you have been there, which he will know within a few days or less especially if he is a home body, he will shut down and you won't see him for a while.

4.....You can jump a buck out of his bed, but as long as it is a one time occurrence, more than likely he will come right back to it in a few weeks.

5.....scrapes are for losers.

6......say you have a large grown up clearcut you know a big buck is bedding in.....look for a landmark like a big tree next to an intercepting edge. They often times use these landmarks to navigate their way out of a bedding area such as this, and they usually will follow edges.

Finally, someone talking deer hunting.

Why #5?

#5 go and call me a loser 😀

Corn....

Sounds good on paper!!!

One thing is a absulute in deer and turkey hunting,,,,,, there is no such thing.

I don't care who say what ,,,, it ain't always so .

You young guys keep that in mind . Lol

If youre saying mostly its a matter of being in the right place at the right time then I'm in agreement with you

I threw that one in there just for you Southwood.

Never use "always" and "never" when discussing mature bucks.

Scrapes can be VERY effective when hunting mature bucks IF you know how and when to hunt them.

Well come on man you’ve got to give us the how and when. We all know you’re one of the secretive big buck slayers on here

Couple of past hunting buddies of mine had a great buck on camera visiting a scrape at night. One of them hunted the scrape for 5 days straight, during the rut. He hunted somewhere else on the sixth day. That big buck went right to the scrape at noon on that sixth day! With a little more patience, he would have been at the right place at the right time.

He’s probably not gonna give away his secrets, but I can tell you from years of running cameras, your best chance is between 11pm and 3 am

I’ll add , IF you hunt the RIGHT type of scrapes . Iv seen people get tore up over them pie plate scrapes that show up every year .

I like hunting scrapes. Ones in road beds along super thick cover on both sides and back off them as far as you can. Ive busted some real good bucks on scrapes.

Like Casey said, many were between 11 am and 2 pm.

They dont mind easing out of the cover a little to check them mid day when they are used to no one being around.

Yep. Hot primaries during pre- breeding period on a buck that will move at least some in daylight can cost him his life. Location is a factor too, is the scrape located where a buck feels comfortable coming to in daylight? It may be night time use almost exclusively. Once breeding gets rocking , shift gears. Don't waste prime time sitting over cold scrapes.

Yep and yep. Location, location , location and pressure.

Listen to 2dogs and ODO. Folks waste a lot of time hunting over scrapes that are 1) not remotely close to bedding 2) have gone cold and 3) are only being worked at night.

My 2 best bucks were killed within 30 yards of multiple hot scrapes in or adjacent to very thick cover.

Yep. The only mature deer I have ever seen on a scrape during daylight was next to thick cover or in thick cover.

I killed my first deer hunting a fresh scrape last He was not a mature buck in the slightest though. It was extremely thick though so much so that I only had maybe two lanes for 10 yard shots.

Two years ago I got photos of a truly great, old gnarly buck along with 6-7 others. They were using the area as a travel route. I have not seen him since on any photos, which means I either screwed up and pushed them around-out of the area, he's been more careful about avoiding areas where I have my cameras, or he got whacked.

Since then I've learned more about the area, how the wind affects it, ways to enter-exit and predators I believe are affecting the deer and turkeys. The latter is nonexistent; I've seen only one gobbler and two hens ever in 20 years on the property. (I only put up cameras two years ago). I need to do more predator removal but have been lazy.

As for hunting deer, this year I'll have to be quite selective on days I go based on the wind and conditions. Probably will reduce the number of days I go but so be it.

Clem ,,, I would not Id just find other spots to hunt . A lot of things can change a deer's habits on any given day

A unknown buck may bounce through any where at any time . Just because you can't hunt your hot spot don't mean you wont/can't kill one . You have the time even if it's 15 minutes , go hunting . Ever time you go your odds go up . Ain't no bad spot or time just good and better .

I have done my fair share of scouting and waking through the woods and can say I don’t think I’ve ever bumped a big buck. I’ve jumped deer but usually I don’t even see them I just hear them. Stuff like this I just can’t even comprehend. I’ve hunted 10 years and have seen 2-5 mature bucks on their feet in my lifetime, most while not even hunting. I’m just ranting

You'd be surprised at how many you walked by and don't know it .

Back when I was younger, like 28 I believe, I found a GIANT community scrape the size of a car..not a car hood..a freaking car! Dead in the center of a cedar thicket along a swamp. Around 20 to 30 trees all rubbed up all around them. I knew it was a hot spot as it was a huge bedding area.

I had been archery hunting the area and knew 2 of the biggest bucks in the area, and had missed one and knew they both used those cedars, or the swamp.

Opening morning of gun I went in over an hour before first light with a sleeping bag, binos, grunt call and my shotgun and crawled under the cedars to where I was around 70 yards from it. You had to lie down and look UNDER the tree branches because If you stood up it was too thick to see far.

I rolled out the sleeping bag as and laid on it and as it broke first light there was a hot doe in it..stomping her front leg.

Within minutes a young buck came in but too small to shoot. Within 45 minutes I had seen 8 bucks checking out that scrape and smelling where that doe had been.. The last one to come in was one of the big 8 pointers. Surprisingly he came out of the swamp and up the hill on one of the smallest trails, headed to the scrape. He stopped to eat a mushroom at 35 yards and I blasted him in the shoulder with a pumpkin ball slug.

I shot a big 130 inch nine pointer like 5 years ago at 11:15 Xmas am checking a scrape just out of the thicket on a cleared shooting lane, atv trail in Walker county. I posted the story and photos here.

The next year I shot that big 10 pt on a big scrape in one of my roads with thicket on both side. he came right to my drag rag that I hung over the scrape. I also posted that story and the photos of him on here. He was a stud! 140 inch buck.

I shot a big 14 pointer in Walker cty after passing him on video 6 days earlier where he made a few scrapes when I was doing TV. Mistakingly thinking he was too small as he wasnt that wide of a buck. When we reviewed the video we realized it was that big 14 pt I had gotten trail cam pics of! I had screwed up!

I went in 6 days later..my first try at him again, after a big storm as I knew hed come check those scrapes. I shot him an hour and a half later at like 330 or 4 pm coming out of the thicket headed to those scrapes. Ive posted that video on here as well. A 151 inch buck!

At the right time, and the right place scrape hunting is excellent. I hunt scrapes every year. I just only hunt ones in thick bedding cover, and I like to get as far as I can from them though as the bucks always come in front the downwind side, smelling them from a distance Ive found.

My big 170 inch 14 point buck I also shot in thicket where Id found over 30 of his scrapes surrounding it. He was chasing a hot doe with a 150 inch buck and they were getting ready to fight. I posted that story and his pics here too. Another Walker County stud. Again I shot him on a cleared trail/shooting lane going through the thicket. He had just got his head and neck into the other side and I almost didnt get him.

That was the SAME year I shot that 130 inch 9 pointer, so 5 years ago or so.

Hunting scrapes in thickets is WHAT I DO. I learned from that big community scrape in those cedars 30 years ago when I was a youngster and that big 8 pointer!

You can bet this year Ill be setting in a ladder stand 100 plus yards off some scrapes in my thickets more then a few times .

I too as a kid found an area like what you described ODO. Thick all around, scrapes in an area that was open enough to see 40-50 yards. I screwed up when I told my dad about it. He went in there a few days later and killed a 140" 9pt. There was a little Slough to the right of it. During the rut then those northern peeper frogs are so loud you can't hear a thing. When that buck came walking through every one of those frogs shut up.

Nice. At least your dad got him.

I told NOONE until it was dragging time..lol. And I didnt want to then but he was heavy as heck. LOL.

I had to learn that the hard way. That was my lesson. Lol

Buck #1: The Power line feeder goes off at 7:15am and the buck shows up between 7 and 7:20 every morning.

Buck #2: The Pear tree field feeder goes off at 4pm and the buck shows up before 4:30 every afternoon.

Buck #3: The cotton house feeder goes off at 4:30pm and the buck is always waiting on it.

Buck #4: The creek feeder goes off at 7am and the buck shows up between 6 and 7:15am every morning.

The feeders are filled and the cell cameras are sending the pictures so I'm scouting now sitting in my recliner. This is low pressure hunting so I don't have to worry about the deer changing their pattern from me going in and out to check cameras. I just schedule which buck I want to kill around the football game I want to watch.

#5 is total bs. Killed my two biggest ones both over 140" over scrapes on public land. One at 10:30 am the other right before dark. Got some smaller ones off them too back when I shot immature bucks.

Yes number 5 was just to get folks to disagree. It plainly worked.

Here's a few Baldwin County bigguns. Gonna have to get quailman on one of these this year. One is every bit of 100 class, the other is a 130 class buck.

Those are the best meat deer .

Tinks and Blue 69 and Skunk cover up is all I use. Aint seen nut-n

I’ve killed a few good bucks on scrapes... then again I’ve hunted scrapes and never seen a buck! I’ve hunted deer I thought I had patterned and never seen him, only for someone to kill him 1/2mioe away. I think it has a lot more to do with luck, and a lot less to do with how skilled we think we are.

1/2 mile away*

Got a lot to do with the fact they are all individuals, similar to people. They have tendencies , that's all you can go off of, they still do the unexpected . That's why never say never and always when dealing with mature bucks.

Yep, we got 2 good mature bucks on camera last year during daylight Jan 1st checking scrapes, which is right before it all gets kicked off around here.

25 years ago I was easing slowly thru a big HW bottom in Sumter county on our 6,000 acre lease. I walked up on a VERY recently made scrape. I slowed my pace a lot. 50-75 yards later I found an even newer, big scrape. I froze and glassed the area. 75 yards ahead of me in open hardwoods I saw and heard the big 8 point making scrape #3, licking branch gland rub.....the whole 9 yards. The wind was in my favor. I shot from a kneeling position in the 2nd scrape. He only ran 30 yards. It was about 10 AM. I have harvested a lot of deer in my 73 years, but that particular experience is one of my most memorable and exciting ever.

I will hunt primary scrapes in thick cover but the small satellite scrapes out in the open don't get my attention. Now what I call thick and what someone else does may vary but most if not all my bucks are shot within 25yds and that is pushing it to the far side. Typically I do not hunt scrapes, but my best stand locations usually if not always have them come prime time.

Last year I shot a mature 9pt and a 8pt, both working scrapes. The 9pt was at 3:30pm, he was coming up a point out of a 4yr old cutover into some thick select cut. Every now and then I could see his feet coming up the ridge and the sun glare off his horns. By the time he made it to the scrape, which was only 10yds from me, to say my I was shook up was an understatement.
The 8pt was on an inside corner of a fish pond damn surrounded by thick cutover and select cut timber. He came in to freshen up a scrape that was located dead at the corner at 4:30pm.

Two years ago I killed a big mature 8pt at 8am working over a large scrape. I could hear him slipping through but did not lay eyes on him til he popped in a small clearing about 15yds out to freshen the scrape.