Buckmasters Magazine

If you want to be like the best, act like the best.

We all know that hunter who always seems to fill his tag. It doesn’t matter if the rut is early, late or slow, some guys always manage to fill the freezer. Many such hunters seem to take bigger than average bucks, too. I’ve had the pleasure to interview many guys and gals who fall into this category, and it has occurred to me they have a lot in common.

It also occurred to me that if more of us modeled our behaviors after theirs, we, too, could do better in the woods.

One thing they all have in common is they have no off season. John Eberhart from Michigan regularly tags big bucks and often does it on public land. Michigan always ranks in the top three for number of hunters, but Eberhart consistently tags bucks. How does he do it? He spends a lot of time preparing for deer season.

“I do a lot of post-season scouting,” Eberhart said. “When most hunters are sitting on the couch watching a football game, I am in the woods after the rut, looking for scrapes, rubs, and runways from the previous deer season. Instead of looking for sign when everything is green in the middle of the summer, I look for it when it is still fresh.

“If I find good sign in an area that I haven’t hunted, I immediately start looking for a tree to hunt where I can hang a stand,” he continued. “I don’t wait until summer. If I am hunting on private land, I clear brush, cut shooting lanes and prepare the tree I will hunt from. I don’t do these things in the summer or fall and am always thinking ahead.”

Cross the Border

Joel Maxfield from Mathews Archery has killed more whitetails than almost any hunter I know. Maxfield and other highly successful hunters I have interviewed over the years almost always hunt multiple states.
“Everyone thinks you have to be wealthy to hunt in several states, but that is not the case,” Maxfield said. “When I am hunting in a state other than my home state of Wisconsin, I hunt public land, knock on doors and ask for permission to hunt. I stay in cheap hotels need be. Hunting doesn’t have to be super expensive.”

Play the Draw

Another thing Maxfield does is apply for nonresident tags in states that hold big bucks.

“If you want to shoot a big buck, you need to hunt where big bucks live,” Maxfield said. “I always put in for a tag in Iowa and Kansas and am always on the lookout for other states that might hold big bucks.”

It can take up to four years to draw a tag in many of the most sought-after whitetail states, but according to Tom Johnson from Michigan, it’s worth the wait.

“Many hunters don’t want to wait several years to draw a tag, so they never apply,” he said. “That is a mistake. Drawing tags in a state that holds large bucks is the easiest way for a hunter to shoot a wallhanger without breaking the bank. The years I don’t draw a tag, I hunt in other states.”

Don’t fool yourself into thinking you don’t have the time to hunt multiple states. Eberhart says everybody is busy, so it boils down to maximizing your time.

“A few years ago, I killed a nice buck on public land in Illinois,” he said. “I only had a few days to hunt and was going to be hunting a late season food source, so I waited until the time was just right. When a nasty cold weather front came through, I headed south and quickly tagged a nice buck. I know some people don’t have flexible schedules, but sometimes the best thing to do is wait until the weather is perfect instead of marking a week on the calendar and sticking to a schedule.”

Use Trail Cameras

It’s amazing how many of the successful hunters I talk to make extensive use of trail cameras, not just during hunting season, but also throughout the year.

“With a large memory card and a set of good batteries, a game camera can last weeks or even months without the need to check it,” Maxfield said. “By having cameras in the woods all year, I am able to determine the habits of a buck throughout the year and from year to year. Sometimes pictures from previous years help me determine the habits of a buck I’m hunting.”

Eberhart says it’s a big mistake to wait until September to put out cameras.

“In the highly pressured areas where I hunt, bucks quickly become nocturnal if hunters are in and out of the woods right before season opens,” he said. “Do your homework and hang cameras months in advance so you can slip in to your spot with minimal disruption when the season rolls around.”

Have Multiple Setups

Successful deer hunters never bank on one spot, either.

“I like to have a few stands hung for a variety of wind directions,” said Tom Johnson, a self-employed salesman and one of the best deer hunters I’ve ever met. “I like to have stands in funnels, near bedding areas and along food sources. If I were to only have one good stand in the woods, it wouldn’t take long before that stand burned out and the deer learned to avoid it.”

Maxfield agrees. “I know I am an extreme case, but I have dozens of stands most of the time,” he said.

"Some of the stands I have hung will only get hunted a couple times, and some might not get hunted at all. I don’t climb into a stand because I have the day off or because it is the first day of deer season or the last day of deer season. I climb into a stand when everything is perfect for that stand. The weather has to be perfect, the wind has to be perfect and I have to believe that by climbing into a certain stand on a certain day, the odds of me killing a deer from that stand are really good.”

Put in the Time

Another common characteristic of successful hunters is they spend a lot of time in the woods. For those who don’t have much vacation time, Maxfield recommends making the most of whatever time they have.
“If I had only a week of vacation plus the weekends to hunt, I would wait until the rut kicks in,” he said. “I wouldn’t hunt early in the season because the weather is warm and the deer can be hard to hunt. I wouldn’t hunt just because it is Saturday and I have that day off. Focus on hunting when the odds are higher that you will see a lot of deer.”

Most self-employed people say they are married to their jobs, but it does lend some flexibility to the work schedule. Johnson makes whatever sacrifices are necessary to have plenty of time in the woods.

“I work like a dog all year so I can hunt hard when November rolls around,” he said. “If you want to fill your tag every year, you need to be in the woods as much as possible during the pre-rut and rut. Time in the woods trumps everything else when it comes to success.”

Patience and Persistence

Personality traits might contribute to being successful, too, and I’ve noticed the best hunters are patient and persistent. I have hunted with Johnson and Maxfield, and watching them was a real eye-opener.

From the moment their eyes open in the morning until the moment they close at night, those gentlemen are either hunting or preparing a new location.

Johnson said it’s critical to hunt just as hard on the last day of a trip as you do on the first day. You have to believe a monster buck could walk in front of you at any moment.

In a time when staying focused on something for more than an hour is difficult, these men stay focused on the hunt all day. Most days they stay in the stand from daylight until dark with very few breaks.

Eberhart focuses much of his time on hunting midday because that is when many hunters go home or take lunch breaks.

“Many of the places I hunt in Michigan receive a lot of hunting pressure,” he said. “As a result, bucks often move during the middle of the day when they know there isn’t much hunting pressure. I have killed many bucks during the middle of the day when I am the only person in my area hunting. Sitting all day requires mental toughness, but it’s often worth it.”

Read Recent Articles:

• Road Trip: Advice for getting the most from an outfitted hunt.

• More on Movement: Bucks might move less during hunting season, but they’re still there.