Tips & Tactics

Big Bucks Hide in Small Places

Big Bucks Hide in Small Places

By Ken Piper

Most hunters think that you have to go deep in the woods to find a big buck – deeper than anyone else is likely to go.  That’s partially true: You will find bucks in places other people don’t go, but it isn’t always deep in the woods.

We tend to think bucks react to pressure by leaving an area when, in fact, radio telemetry studies have shown they simply move less in daylight and tend to stick to secluded hideouts within their normal haunts.

An experienced, older buck will use small woodlots, hedgerows, windbreaks or even just tall grass as a hideout. Any clump of cover that allows a buck to see danger coming could be a buck hideout. Such places also make excellent breeding sites where buck and doe pairs will stay together for the 24 hours or so while they complete their courting activities.

While it probably won’t be worth your time to just sit and watch a clump of trees in the middle of a cut cornfield, it is a good idea to carefully check such areas with binoculars as you take a break for lunch, or as you travel to or from a stand location.

You just might be rewarded with a wallhanger.

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