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.