The Best Week for Finding a Trophy Buck
Recognize the Different Types of Classes
 Editor’s Note: Famed baseball announcer Dizzy Dean once said, “If you done it, it ain’t braggin’.” And friends, I’ve done it. I’ve found the magic week to hunt deer that increases my odds for bagging a trophy buck. You don’t have to bet on moon charts, tide charts, soothsayers or any hunting aids. I know the very best day to bag a trophy buck because I have the scientific research and the qualified experts to unequivocally b ack me up.
During the peak of the rut, does elude bucks for two reasons. When flirtatious and coquettish, they want to increase the bucks’ desire to breed. Too, they may try to escape from a suitor they don’t consider desirable. “If a doe is ready to breed with the buck she wants, she may run 30- to 40-yards away from the buck and then circle back to him,” Dr. Keith Causey,retired wildlife professor at Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama, reports. “She doesn’t intend to leave her core area, but is being flirtatious. If a hunter sees a doe run a short distance, then circle back to the buck, or, if she runs a short distance and waits for the buck to catch her, then you know that this doe wants to be bred by the buck you see. If she’s willing to let the buck breed, he’s likely the best buck in the area. Usually does select breeding partners based on body weight an d antler size.”
If you see a doe run full speed for 100 yards or more and never stop to wait on the buck or circle back to the buck, then this doe probably is avoiding the attentions of an inferior buck. “Does will run through the woods as fast as possible to escape being bred by young or inferior bucks,” Causey says. “This phenomenon explains why you’ll often see little bucks chasing big does,a nd then two or three minutes later you’ll see a really big buck coming down the same trail, chasing the same doe. Most of the time, if a doe is running as fast as she can from a buck, though the buck may be a nice 8-point, he may not be the biggest and oldest buck in the area.”
“Older age-class bucks are extremely sensitive to hunting pressure,” Causey emphasizes. “After hunting season is over, and before hunting season begins, these bucks will frequent open places during daylight hours more often than they will during hunting season. Therefore, if you scout intensively two weeks after the season and a month before the season begins, you may see that trophy buck of your dreams.”
Tomorrow: Where to Find Thick-Cover Sanctuaries |
