John's Journal...

How to Take the Buck that Nobody Else Can Bag

Remove the Hunting Pressure

Tad BrownEditor’s Note: Bucks of legend, those seldom seen and mostly nocturnal, that no one can take but that everyone chases have developed reputations of having almost supernatural powers over the years. Here's a look at how some of the nation's deer hunters successfully have pitted their skills against the bucks with the big reputations.

Tad Brown had a problem. Every morning as the sun started coming up in the woodlot where he hunted, Brown saw an elderly man hunting on the ground 50 to 70 yards in front of him. Then every afternoon when Brown went to his stand site, that same hunter would sit in that same spot. Brown had scouted intensively and knew because of the rubs and the deer tracks he'd seen that a big buck lived in that region. "I'd just moved to Auxvasse, Missouri, and I really didn't have another place to hunt," Brown, a part of the company that also owns Kolpin Outdoor Products, M.A.D. Calls, Lohman’s Calls and Flambeau, recalls. "The only spot I could find was a piece of property where the landowner allowed his family and neighboStephanie Malloryrs to hunt. That's the place I'd scouted. But the old gentleman hunting in front of me didn't seem like he was going to budge, and I didn't have another place to go." Although Brown spotted some small bucks and does, he felt certain a nice buck lived in those woods. To avoid the other hunter, Brown hunted in the middle of the day, but he still didn't see the buck he wanted to take.

“Finally, I decided I'd just get elbow-to-elbow with the other hunter," Brown explains. "I noticed that the elderly man would leave the woods about 5 to 10 minutes before dark to reach his vehicle by nightfall. One afternoon, near the end of the season, I remained on my stand until dark. I watched the old man get up and leave the woods. Before he'd gone 100 yards, I spotted the nice buck I'd hoped to see. That 7-point buck came down the trail where I'd expected him to and went right past where the old man had been sitting. When the deer stood at 30 yards, I took him with my muzzleloader. This 3-1/2-year-old buck scored 107 points on the Boone & Crockett scale. He was the biggest buck on the property, according to the landowner. I'm totally convinced that the buck was watching that older hunter. When the buck saw the man leave the woods, he felt safe enough to leave the thick cover and come down the trails he’d normally run after dark." Most of us know that hunting pressure can move deer out of an area. In this instance, with the removal of hunting pressure, the buck moved quickly back into the region.

Tomorrow: Hunt 'Em Backwards


Check back each day this week for more about "How to Take the Buck that Nobody Else Can Bag"

Day 1: Remove the Hunting Pressure
Day 2: Hunt 'Em Backwards
Day 3: Hunt Little Places
Day 4: Take A Shortcut Buck
Day 5: Bag a Farmland Buck

 

Entry 380, Day 1