When Bucks Disappear

In my book, “Proven Whitetail Tactics”, I wrote a chapter entitled, “When Deer Disappear. That chapter chronicled what happens when the first couple days of the gun season are history, and you’re still in possession of an unfilled tag. As many hunters already know, trying to find a mature buck after the guns have been going off for a couple days can be like trying to find the proverbial needle in the haystack.

It’s true. Mature bucks seem to possess the uncanny ability to literally fall off the face of the earth after the opening two days of gun season. Even with a fresh tracking snow, I’ve often found it’s darn near impossible at this time of the season to find even one set of huge, hoof-dragging deer tracks coursing through the woods.

Finding less and less deer sign as the season progresses can be downright exasperating. Believe me, this sort of thing happened a lot during my early years as a deer hunter. Fortunately, I eventually hit upon a system that has helped me consistently put big bucks on the ground well after the opening few days of gun season.

One thing became quickly apparent when I was developing this system. The amount of human intrusion into a specific area played a HUGE role in how the bucks in that area would behave. Of greater interest than this, however, were the kinds of places mature bucks would seek out in their attempts to avoid contact with humans.

I’ve seen instances when these perfect hideout encompassed many acres. But I’ve also seen cases where the “perfect” buck sanctuary consisted of less than an acre of cover.

Once while pheasant hunting, my dog jumped a huge 10 point buck and two does out of a tiny patch of knee high grass. The amazing thing is that I had just stomped through that grass myself. Those three deer had remained hidden, even though I had walked within a few yards of them. Judging by the sign I found, the grassy patch had served as a sanctuary for the whitetails throughout the just completed nine day gun deer season.

Here’s the deal. Regardless of the size of the area concerned, or how much pressure it’s being subjected to, there’s almost always some part of that area that, for one reason or another, hunters will ignore. Maybe it’s too thick and/or nasty. Or maybe it’s too far out of the way. Or perhaps it’s just too obvious. So the way you see it, no big buck in its right mind would attempt to hide out in such a spot.

If you remember one thing from this segment, let it be this: Mature whitetails are masters at quickly figuring out EXACTLY which parts of their ranges are being harassed and which parts are seeing little or no human activity. Provided all the right elements are in place, like quick access to food, adequate cover and safe escape routes, big bucks will immediately take up residence in these lightly pressured spots.

My philosophy is that if there’s enough cover to hide a rooster pheasant, there’s probably enough to hide a big buck. Hey remember, hunt hard, but always hunt safe!