Fooling that buck

Take quartering-away shots at bucks like this.

Killing a nice buck with a bow is easy. Don't believe me, just ask any hunter who has done it several times.

It's a bit like your first kiss, first love, first child or the first of anything. Doing it the first time is most difficult, and each time after that it gets a bit easier.

Much of shooting a good buck is how the hunter sets everything up. Stand positioning in relationship to buck travel is part of it. Knowing when to draw on a buck is part of it, as is knowing your personal limitations. A big part of shooting a buck involves planning ahead.

Know where & when bucks travel to meet the does.

Deer move through certain areas, and follow special patterns. Bucks, in particular, are used to going wherever they want and doing what they please. Bucks often are bullies, the swaggering dude on the beach, and they are used to everyone giving way except a larger buck.

Bucks are accustomed to does and fawns, and lesser bucks, getting out of their way. If the does are found in certain areas, regardless of whether it is a pre-rut, rut or post-rut situation, the bucks won't be far away and somewhere en route to the girls is the best spot to be.

If hunters can control their scent, have safe and noiseless stands, and know when to draw, shooting one of these egotistical bucks can be very easy. But planning ahead is part of the key.

Learn long before the season opens where the bucks will go to meet up with the girls. Does are the main attraction after Oct. 20, and hunters who know those locations are a leg up on other hunters.

Bucks occasionally come together with does before they enter the feeding areas. The does and fawns then head out, and bucks often move back and forth through heavy cover 50 to 100 yards from the feeding areas, and then when they are so inclined, the bucks move out.

Studying any interaction between bucks and does now can pay off later as the rut phases change. Right now we're on the cusp of the full rut as the chasing phases slows down.

Bucks know where does are now, and you should too. That’s where bucks will be.

Bucks often follow their own routes out to the fields where the does are found, but sometimes they move off the trail as they follow along behind the does. Sometimes bucks will use the same trail used by does and fawns.

The secret is to find where they stage before moving out, and set up a stand downwind. Sometimes, in these key locations, it may be wise to have stands set for the primary wind direction and another for the secondary wind direction.

Choose your own poison but my preference is for a cedar or pine tree within 20 yards of the trail the bucks use to approach this staging area. Most hunters want to see the buck coming for a long distance, but it makes no sense to set up that way. If you can see a buck or doe coming for a long distance, those animals can see you as well.

My preference is for the deer to pass me on my left side (I'm right-handed), and approach from behind me. I'm tucked back into the shadows, regardless of the time of day, and since I know where the deer will come from, I am well camouflaged. I've wearing my Scent-Lok clothing, have sprayed my rubber boots with a scent eliminating spray, and know the wisdom of being still and quiet.

By having the deer come from behind me, and on my left side, I can often hear their approach, and can be at full draw before they get even with my position. I time my shot when they are quartering-away, and aim to hit the off-side shoulder blade with my two-blade broadhead.

Pass-through shots are OK but I want my broadhead inside & cutting the buck.

Don't holler at me about pass-through shots. I've seen too many pass-through hit miss all the vitals. I want my arrow to stay inside the deer, and with every running step the animal makes, it continues to cut. I seldom have a buck go past 70 yards with the arrow inside him.

Pre-planning is an important thing. If your plan is perfect, and you execute all facets of the hunt properly, the deer will offer an easy shot and arrowing the animal is a given.

Don't believe me, give it a try. Your set-up for a shot often is the one factor that controls the success or failure of your hunt.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors