It’s an easy trap for whitetail hunters to fall into – spending too much of their precious time hunting elusive, and downright unkillable bucks. But there is a solution that will put meat on the table and antlers in your fingers and it’s by profiling a killer. Maybe you’ve heard of making a buck profile but aren’t sure the benefits or just how to go about it. Don’t worry, here’ hows.
The Trap of Trail Cameras:
In this age of trail cameras, it can be easy to fall into the trap of thinking every deer that shows up in your pictures is killable. In reality, they are not. Thinking so is a fatal error that causes many wasted hunts and missed opportunities on bucks elsewhere. There are two types of buck profiles we’ll address here: a general profile to help you target the right deer, and specific buck profiles to identify weaknesses in a particular deer based on his personality. Let’s address the general profile first.
Making a General Buck Profile:
For a general profile, think of it as a filter to help determine which bucks to hunt based on evidence. When you run across a buck from scouting that fits this well thought out decision filter, you get a “yes” and know you should put in time on that buck. However, when you see that huge buck show up at night, that makes your mouth water but does not meet the requirements, you need to be able to pass on hunting him for the time being because he’s a “no” based on this filter. So yes, you need to make a profile, and find bucks that fit it. But how do you do that?
These factors are musts for me to find that killer buck. Your profile may be a bit more specific, but should include these basics below. Keep notes on bucks you find, until you find one that fits the profile, and then hunt him.
Buck Profile Trait #1 – Shows Himself in Daylight
If a buck you are hunting never shows up in daylight, it is impossible to kill him (legally). So why hunt him unless he proves that he is? Many times hunters pursue bucks they see show up at night at feeders and trail cameras, but never have intel to prove that he is active when he can be killed. Why? Maybe out of ego, or that irresistible draw to that mythical ghostbuck of which legends are made, or maybe because of the challenge of such a task. However, chasing him does not put the odds in your favor. Yes, you never know when he may show up in daylight, and betting on the rut does put that chance in your favor a bit more, but if you don’t have sufficient evidence this characteristic is present, you should not waste time on him.
YOUR PLAY: Stay out but keep tabs on him. If she shows in the day, he starts fitting your profile more and you may be able to move in on him if he fits your other criteria. Otherwise, stay out and hunt elsewhere until he fits this part of the killer profile.
Buck Profile Trait #2 – Is Able to Be Patterned
This is all about odds. If you don’t know anything about his movements, habits, or patterns, then odds are very low that he will show in a random place you happen to hunt. This requires intel from scouting (on foot, glassing, trailcams, observation sits, etc.). The more clues you have about this, the better you can tell if he fits the profile. Does he show repeating behaviors that will help you kill him? Let’s break this into two parts:
1. Places He Shows
Does he show in areas at certain times of year (based on past experience and intel) or get careless during the rut? If you can find predictable, repeating patterns this is what you are looking for. This could be routes he takes from bedding to feed, where he likes to feed on a consistent basis, where he cruises during the rut, or other repeating occurrences of travel. The key here is repeating, and the more he repeats the better.
2. Places He Lives
Can you find his home range and favorite bedding areas? Does he like to bed on a certain ridge on a certain wind, so you know where not to intrude (and thus keep a sanctuary, and him on your property)? Or is he just occasionally cruising through your ground, at night, but spends most of his time somewhere else (and therefore a largely unkillable buck)? Answering these questions is key to getting a buck patterned, and determining if he fits the profile of a killer buck.
YOUR PLAY: The key is intel here, if you don’t have it, you won’t know if he fits the profile and is therefore worth spending precious time on. Gather intel as if your life depends on it, and make your decisions with it. Remember, there are only so many good hunting days during the year, so make them count!
Buck Profile Trait #3 – Haunts Huntable Areas
You now have him patterned, but if he does not hang or travel in a huntable area on your property, then you may have to scratch him off the list. Do you know where he beds? Do you know how he accesses food and bedding areas so you can catch him coming and going? Do any of these areas he frequents allow you to get in and out without alerting him? If your entry and exit are not rock solid, or if he just does not like to show much in huntable areas on your property, attempting to hunt him may just drive him out of your area for good, so beware.
YOUR PLAY: Do a property inventory. Put on a map his bedding, feed, and travel routes as best you can based on gathered intel. Find potential stand sites close to these where you can catch him in daylight that are low impact, and identify potential routes to come and go with minimal intrusion, as well. If you cannot find these, keep searching and keep an open mind. However, if not, the check mark may have to go from huntable, to unhuntable on your hitlist.
Buck Profile Trait #4 – Is a Buck You’d Be Happy With
This is probably a no-brainer for some, but also essential. No one wants to hunt a buck they don’t want to shoot, but at the same time we do want to have success. There is a balance that must be found when putting bucks through the profile’s filter to see if a “yes” or “no” pops out at the other end. Again, these should not be pipe dreams, and we don’t want to waste time, but just because a 1.5 year old spike makes it easy does not mean you should shoot him either. Be realistic with your area, and your goals, and making a killer profile can amp up the odds of taking a great buck this season.
Making Specific Buck Profiles
Although some were mentioned above, here are some specific buck personalities to look out for – tells to tip you off on certain bucks and how you can best hunt them.
1. Is He Sedentary or Mobile?
According to recent MSU collared buck research, bucks fit into two categories, sedentary and mobile (MSU study here). Sedentary bucks tend to be home bodies and stick to their area being much easier to pattern. Mobile bucks have several home areas they bounce back and forth to and from at certain times of the year. Try to categorize bucks as you inventory them into these two categories, finding out what the home areas are for sedentary bucks (easier to kill), and when mobile bucks show and disappear on your property (harder to kill). Some mobile bucks may need to be checked off the list due to this, especially if they leave where you can hunt during the season.
2. Specific Tells
There are certain things you can pick up on in individual bucks to take advantage of -chinks in his armor that you can target. One is his level of aggression, or lack thereof. This will reveal how aggressively you can call, rattle, use decoys, even invade scrapes and challenge him with scents. Another is if he hangs with specific bucks, which can help you know when he is in the area, especially if he has a subordinate buck he’s using to keep him safe (something I capitalized this year on with a public land 10 point that sent a 6 point to check scrapes before he did).
There could be many other nuanced characteristics you can observe and keep track of to help you in your quest to kill a mature buck, but the main point is paying close attention for these tells, being honest about when and if you can kill a certain buck, and using a buck profile to your advantage to help seal the deal.
High IQ Takeaways & Challenges:
- Analyze how you are gathering data on bucks, and also how you are logging this intel. What can you do better to organize, log, and identify key traits of bucks.
- Analyze past years and also your specific hunts. How much time are you spending hunting bucks that are unshootable by the above 4 standards? How can you change this? Be honest here..
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