Ohio Valley Outdoors Magazine

Big Buck: Play the game on his terms

By Robert Gratson

This seems to be one of the biggest problems and scenarios that I am asked for help with every year from many hunters all over the country. They all start by saying “I am after this huge buck, I know or I thought that I was doing everything right. The only problem is that no matter what I do, I can’t get that mature buck into shooting range. I occasionally see him moving off or through in the distance or I don’t see him at all. I know he is there! I am hunting all the sign from using the right scents at the right time of year to setting up where there are fresh rubs, scrapes and trails”

My response to that question or statement usually gets me quite a bit of attention. Here is my response.
The first thing that I will tell you to do in this situation is throw out the scents, take the stand out of the woods or simply leave it at home and stop hunting the scrapes and rub lines! The first response from that comment is usually “why shouldn’t I just stay home?” Its very hard for a lot of people to swallow what I just said, but to anyone who knows a mature buck’s style and the bucks mode of life, realizes that what I just said couldn’t be closer to the truth than us knowing our own first names. Let me explain a little here before we go further!

You have to realize one thing for sure and stick with it. That old buck has been there for a long time and gets smarter by every passing minute. We are not talking about a two to three year old animal here. We are talking about an animal who has managed to survive for at least four and a half years. Put yourself into his playing field and try to understand where he is coming from. All that he has done for his whole life is developed his skills. Not a lot of them, just what he needs to live. He has the same ritual every year and day of his life similar to ours. He eats, sleeps, breeds and survives...That’s all.

Now, knowing that you have a big buck where you hunt, I take it that you already have some kind of feeding and bedding pattern figured out, right?
Here at this point, is where we all have messed up big time and never knew it. We see rubs facing one direction a nice fresh scrape and a couple of trails. OH BOY! We have a HOT spot! ...NOT! What I have researched and encountered first hand over the years is; yes, almost every deer in the herd will visit the primary scrape except for the big guy. (“except” is the key word here)You say huh? Oh yes, he will visit that scrape but not how you assume the buck does.

The buck will not show up and rub his legs, lick a branch or paw at it giving you that awesome show that we all want. In fact the buck will usually pass by downwind and be able to determine just how fresh and heated up things are from there. Sometimes from 100 yards away or further. Remember, this guy is smart and he is extremely unsociable. The buck has learned over the years that every deer in the core has hit the scrape or just walked through it or pawed at it. All that he has to do is make a big loop or just stay downwind of the scrape. In his journeys, he will cross every trail and path that leads to and from that scrape in that area and has just check out the scene without you ever knowing that he did it or as most of us have experienced; you just caught a glimpse of him moving, just out of range.

One key thing to learn here is or a question to ask is; just what does he get from a scrape? In checking that scrape and the trails from afar, he has just checked the entire herd in his core area for competition, sex, and numbers of animals, age, newbies and what the overall health and sexual readiness is of his herd. Now here is a real kicker. He will do this daily. A new deer scent in the area hanging from a tree on a wick or a dripper might catch his attention, but in his travels, if he doesn’t cross the trail that the deer used in which he smells leading to the source or from the source. The buck has just been alerted and will avoid going any further and he does what he does best; avoided you and danger for one more day. Remember that he isn’t dumb and knows that the deer he smells had to walk from somewhere and not just materialize from the air. So my best advise is to not use anything to attract him or lure him in. Play the game on his terms and keep things natural. No scents makes great sense on a mature buck!

OK. Now the jaw dropper. Leave the stand home for this buck. I understand you totally! It was the hardest thing for me to do. Let me explain. Again, how many times have you been nailed in the tree by an old doe or a decent buck? Or you are seeing that big buck pass just out of range no matter where you are set up? It happens to all of us. This guy is old and you are invading his home, he knows every blow down, rock, tree and shrub as well as we know our own living rooms. The slightest change doesn’t go unnoticed even at 15 feet in a tree. Yes, he is color blind to an extent but not blind. He is able to see a change and notice something just isn’t right, that’s how he has survived so many years in that core area. Do not get me wrong, tree stands are one of the greatest tools that we as sportsman have available for us to use. Just remember that you aren’t hunting the average buck here. You are probably hunting the Alpha buck in his own core.

The best and most effective technique to hunt him is on his own level. Stay on the ground and use his furniture as your camouflage. If you walked into your living room, would you notice me sitting there on your TV quicker or would you notice me sitting crouched behind your couch quicker? Find a good thick tree, clear away the leaves at the base with a good wind in your favor and you will see deer for sure. Keep your tree between you and where you think that buck will show and soon you will be amazed at how much action and how close that he comes to you. I must tell you, it takes alot of practice and a little bit of confidence to do this type of hunting. But once you master this technique, you will be amazed at the many opportunities that will arise in the near future for a big buck. Be patient, this technique is one that I have just recently mastered and have practiced this technique over the past 20 years.

The hardest thing to be able to do at this is; to be able to draw on an approaching deer...Practice drawing on does. I use the forest as my aid. Start to draw as the deer is passing other trees. This greatly helps you with your draw timing. Practice makes perfect and you are hunting the perfect buck. I have taken many nice whitetails using this technique by throwing everything that I have read right out the window and going into the woods as what seemed like empty handed to say the least. It most definitely will make you a better hunter in the long run.