#1 Mistake deer hunters make.

Don discusses the number one reason a lot of #whitetaildeer hunters fail, from his experience. He gives his insight on what that mistake is as well as how to keep from making it. Mature whitetail bucks are a different animal, and you can't expect to consistently take the biggest buck with the wrong techniques and strategies, but this one thing may be the biggest reason.
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[@luckxy7760]

Absolute truth. However, not every property affords this type of hunting

[@koolaidman5421]

Good point. The best thing to do is gather as much knowledge as possible and apply it to get the best odds. Not every property has 100% scent free access and stands in areas to see bucks in daylight. But using knowledge you might be able to get the highest % available and up your odds.

[@ML-ks2lj]

Just gotta work at it habitat improvements. I don't have property yet but one day I will

[@bndwoodlands775]

Very well done videos. To the point, no stuttering and stammering, and concise and short and to the point. No silly music at the beginning. My kind of video. Keep up the good work!

[@SM-eu5xl]

True statement. I hunt large tracts of public land and since game cameras have gone mainstream and can be purchased dirt cheap, the woods are full of them. Can't walk a ridge, thicket edge, finger, transition zone, etc; without getting your picture taken. Then these same hunters are spending all season walking to and from these cameras checking SD cards. Gotta learn to hunt the hunters as much as the deer anymore.

[@55zachman]

Where do you live?

[@TChannelowashmachines]

I was about to say. Those cameras would grow legs down here

[@tylerparker3024]

Dont hunt the spots people will hunt. Hunt the spots the deer will run to when they get pushed out of those spots. Like a deer drive with strangers.

[@urmom69610]

​@tylerparker3024 if you can legally shoot there, usually already 6 trucks there by 4, can't go where the hunters aren't on public

[@tylerparker3024]

Some pieces you can't but if you find a piece with a real hard to reach area that nobody is willing to go to, that's your best bet. In my experience. Public land hunting definitely stinks there's a lot of people out there. Even if you beat them there they will walk right past you and not think anything of it.

[@wyattgameradams1364]

Totally right on every level. The more u go in a place the less a big buck will. Great video.

[@sdichampion]

I learned my lesson from years past. I used to burn out stands in desperation to harvest a deer. This year I decided to set up my stand early, 2 cell cameras and try to pattern the deer before trying to go in. I sure hope it help my success. Great video. Thanks

[@teenelomz9402]

If only my bull headed uncle would understand this.

[@2CanTan]

Great video! We need more of your prayer breakfast or group videos on here. I’ve watched /listened to the one at a church where you talk about that field edge and the 40 acre bedding and the men’s breakfast one probably 20 times each. And your exodus about cam pics a lot as well, but I love the way you combine your religion into your stories when you speak. We need more men like you in hunting and thank you.

[@mrnova5769]

Respect a man that tells it how it is. What you see is what you get.. I subscribed the internet needs more like him

[@ramsaycountry1177]

I agree 100%, almost a month and a half into season and I've only hunted 6 times. And I own almost 600 acres here in Ohio. The less you hunt the more they more in daylight.

[@davidepool5884]

New subscriber. I don’t hunt much anymore due to a back injury, but I still enjoy learning anything about deer and deer hunting. I never thought I’d see the day when I wouldn’t enjoy deer hunting. I deer hunted for 8 to 10 years after my injury. Every year it became more difficult, and painful trying to get set up, and then setting there for hours. I finally had to give it up. I have gone a few times and hunted on the ground. It’s very hard to enjoy something that you love doing when you are in constant pain.

[@geba9452]

This is my first year hunting and I’m a,ready learning this the hard way. Had a spot where I set a trail cam up and the first couple times I checked it I had everything from nice bucks to bear to elk to coyotes..So I started going there a lot super excited and now a couple months later I’m lucky to see anything at all on my trail cam it’s crazy how I have literally scared the wildlife away from my lil area by being there all the time...

[@marvinmcafee4275]

Really appreciate the fact you get to the point an don't drag things on forever

[@mattd8411]

Agree 100 percent people don't realize how smart and private these bucks are. I have a few places I won't even hunt till its the rut seems like it pays off. Thanks for the video.

[@tremdawg]

God bless Don 🙏🏼🦌🌅…. Great advice. I’m 54 .. been hunting just about 45 years… lost my dad a few years ago now…. Hunting has been different without him around. I have 7 acres that locally is nearby some really good bedding . I have a stand right on the edge of my property and if I don’t interrupt anything up there, I can sit in the stand and see just a lot of deer.. I have learned over the years to barely go in there ever. Especially walking around making fake rubs and stuff like that. I was teaching my grandson about how deer can tell when you’re being a predator or if you’re just walking around taking a hike leisurely. Thanks for all the great advice Don!! 🙏🏼🍁🦌

[@thomashood3748]

Great advice. I appreciate that you and a few others are speaking out about the really old 5 1/2 yr old bucks and older are really a different individual deer from the rest of the herd. Much more harder to kill

[@bradleybrauning2397]

Very true advise. Pressure is the number one key, especially for a small parcel of property.

[@coreymcchesney7044]

Don is no joke. He is very seasoned and has the mounts to confirm it. Thanks for the help Don.

[@whitetailevolution]

I love this. Such great advice. Definitely the most important thing any hunter can do to have consistent success with older deer is to keep the hunting pressure low on their property. Don't get me wrong, I love mock scrapes and creating whitetail habitat with the family, but the #1 factor with success is always hunting pressure.

[@ryanreynolds3630]

Took me many years to learn this. I still struggle with it because I'm addicted and want to be in the woods every chance I get lol. However I get better success when I hunt only the good opportunity days and limit the amount of trail camera checking to only when i go in to hunt as they're all on the way to my stands.

[@danhagins8225]

I totally agree, I hunt all ways down wind.

[@robertforss8881]

Great advice as always Don. I've always believed that one of the best things you can do on your land is not be on your land. It's hard to do because we all love to tinker and work on our land.

[@barryklein6521]

Absolutely 💯% If only I could get the rest of my hunting group to understand that...There was an 8 year old 9 point typical that lived on our property its whole life I starting keeping track of him when he was 3...This was a smart buck...He had all of us figured out the hunting areas were burnt out cause my hunting group goes through the motions...Its hard to get everyone on the same page when everyone just wants to do what they want to do... Anyhow, longstory short the 8 year old ended up getting poached by the neibors... Cheers and good luck this year...

[@JayN4GO]

Preach son. Only wish you made as many videos as they did.

[@weirdmood8102]

There's not enough to tell, when it comes to mature deer. It's almost as easy as the old adage;" kiss". Keep it simple.... nutrition, solitude, sleep, and wind. Those are the only few things we really need to know, to kill these old fellas. I'm far from a professional hunter, so I could be missing 1,000 other helpful tips and tricks to killing mature deer, But that seems to be the gist to me. Best of luck to you this season, Buddy.

[@kapperoutdoors]

Fantastic stuff! Fully agree, sanctuary is key!! Cheers!!

[@chiya2006]

That’s exactly what I was thinking about a spot I regularly hunt on a private property last season. A hunter who has a permission on the same spot, last year he decided to put a few trail cams around. A week or two prior to hunting season, he increased his visits to those cams, changing their spots, basically he was all over the place leaving his scents. Hunting season came and it was the worst year for me and my hunting buddies. We did not see a single deer in daytime hours. They all went nocturnal which was very odd considering we’ve been hunting this spot for about 6 years. I did think about those frequent visits had ruined our spot then, but I didn’t have a solid reason to mention it to that guy, but seeing this video just proofed my concerns and my gut feelings were right 🙁

[@davidtpierce]

HALLELUJAH Don. !!!!! It took me awhile to actually "Adhere" to this same mindset. But I Promise you that the very same year that I did I noticed a Big difference and now that I've made it a Priority it gets better every year .!!! I've taken some of my "great idea" in the wood food plots and planted them in switchgrass, miscanthus and shrubs for bedding and STAYED THE HECK OUT.....And now, I do exactly what you mentioned and hunt the edges as they head/come to my food plots. Thanks for the Best advice ever!!!!!!

[@cha-ka8671]

This guy is right and I feel like a moron after listening to him. Thank you for your one single point and it's the truth.

[@hoythunter4853]

Thumbs up or thumbs down? I literally cannot decide. A little over the top against other methods that work but also it makes sense. Especially, if you stick with the point he's really intending to make. I haven't watched his other videos but will check them out. In the end, no button push from me. I do think it encouraged me to be even more cautious this year. Thanks!

[@chasinggiantswithhigginsou6147]

I did acknowledge that those other tactics work to a degree but when you are hunting 5 and 6 year old bucks the rules change. Thanks for watching!

[@hoythunter4853]

@@chasinggiantswithhigginsou6147 thanks for the fast reply! Agree, you did acknowledge them. I think overall, I followed your point. Well taken by me too. Maybe it will help me. There's some 190s on my permission properties, I hope to get.

[@Bigtruckdriver1987]

This is the best advice out there hunt the edges and put up a feeder to draw them out

[@mikelauer8352]

Don "The Legend" Higgins agree 100%.

[@JustinMentionedIt]

This man knows what he is talking about , an old fella taught me this trick

[@kennethheern4896]

It makes since. I have 50acres, with good cover a 10 acre hay field and a old pond. I know I overhunt it. In 2015 I stayed out of the property, never went in to hunt until the last day of gun season. About 1/2 hour before sunset a nice buck came out and gave me a 30 yard shot. When retrieved him he scored 154”. Now I know that’s not a giant to some, but it was the biggest buck I’d ever had a chance to harvest. I need to try that again, but it’s hard to stay out.

[@th9539]

As always....Don keeps it simple and sticks to the facts derived from years of trial and error (aka experience)

[@mattwilkie9713]

3:04 I've never thought to try a horizontal scrape... Genius!

[@louiscooper6572]

Best advice I've got off KZbin or anything article on killing big bucks thanks don ....

[@sethrooker5144]

Couldn’t agree more! Great insight on this simple reminder. Over pressure is so detrimental.

[@mrglock2313]

The first time I've seen you, and I already like you. Me personally when I am "Buck" hunting I actually have a rule for my main spot, I stay out all the time and 2 things have to happen. November 1st and a proper wind I may not get my wind until Nov 5th but once I get it I go in and usually kill the first sit!! I have even bucked out here in IL the same day. 👍

[@fjbsr2338]

Your absolutely right about the human intrusion 👍🏼that’s why I hunt where no one else gos 👍🏼 and I harvest that big buck every year. And I never take anything under 6 points ..... Hunt smart and hunt safe👍🏼👍🏼

[@ryanfarmer5155]

My deer season is about 12 to 15 days long tops, I don't hit the woods until last week of October, hunt the November days with right winds, I stay out all October basically, I never go close to bedding and I hunt outsides. I kill my buck every year. This year I tagged out my first hunt evening hunt, October 31st. Dons right on point

[@johnjohnson-sm3yf]

Every word you said is true . I go in usually a month ahead to check stands ect and stay out till hunting day . Seems to work why change anything.

[@dennismitchell5010]

100% agree. I try to just hunt my stand a couple of times a season.

[@drumandball]

Totally believe this idea! So many guys turn their property into a playground for hunters and not a habitat for deer

[@WhitetailVigilantes]

So, while great advice, it's kinda short-sighted. Let me explain. You can do all those things (food plots, scrapes, watering holes, etc) and yes, you may effect your hunting in the short term. But in the long term, it's a sound investment. And regarding bedding areas, not everyone has access to bedding areas. That's my case. And I still kill some great bucks. Human intrusion is definitely the biggest factor, but figuring out how to work around it pays dividends.

[@JoeMilesMWT]

Great video Don....100%.....it’s amazing how quickly a great property can go down hill when guys are in there all the time “ making it better”....thanks for sharing!

[@helenevans7263]

You nailed it, I just love watching you

[@tedrickabus2087]

My problem is neighbors compounding the issue. They don't have discipline and don't want to talk about an overall strategy. Just yesterday, he decides he's not having success so he pulls out the rifle and target practices for two hours. And we are seeing heavy pre-rut activity with the smaller bucks. Arrggg!! Clearly you live in an area of excellent genetics. Wish we had that caliber of buck around here. We are in year 4 of APR in our county and they just applied APR to neighboring counties. Hopefully we see bigger deer each year. I just have to live with the neighbors I have and be thankful they only hunt a few weekends a year. I also need to get more disciplined as I love to be out on the land. I try to make September a quiet month.

[@Lanny-io9bi]

This is absolutely true and it's soooo overlooked by tons of hunter's

[@josephtreadlightly5686]

Great video Don. I believe that hardy 10 foot grass that u developed that withstands the hard winters in the north is great. It is more helpful to the fully mature 6+ year old buck than a food plot. Wrapping that grass around a couple of sides of your sanctuary area would be like a preserve guarded by a buffer zone. Whatever u can do to make the big 🦌 feel like they aren't being spied on & they aren't in danger is the only way to consistently seeing them since u can't shoot something that u never see. I have showed several people your article on the history of the Illinois DNR & it has changed the way they think about the DNR up here in MN. Keep up the good info. Don. Thanks.

[@TheRaghorn]

80% of the woods on this farm which is about 60 acres is rarely stepped on. Some of the land has not been stepped on for 6 years. All stands are set up on the outside edge. I rarely hunt more than 10 days during the whole season and I always kill or pass I nice bucks every year.

[@zombiekiller5568]

Can I get a it's about time...when you hunt State Park none of that stuff works. I've owned 20 acres 15 years that I only hunt ( two weeks only) in November your strategy is true that's why I hunt State Park. Because opening day I'm ready to go to the woods.

[@boblangeland1333]

So when do you start? Opening day of bow, mid October, end of October. 1 week before gun? How much pressure is too much?

[@HarvestOutdoors]

I wish he would parallel this with size of the property. How many acres is his sanctuary?

[@brandonyoung7760]

I have a property I started hunting last year. Deer were everywhere. Shot a good mature 4½+ buck on opening morning. Over the spring I put in a homemade blind, ¼ acre kill plot, water hole and this year the only deer I've seen is does and small bucks. Only a mature deer on cams once in a blue moon. I think from here on out I'll maintain my food plot and leave the rest of the property alone.

[@nategremore9162]

I couldn’t have said it any better! Our philosophy to a “T”. We leave ours alone so that the neighbors push the bucks (and does) onto our place.We seldom hunts ours until the fifth or sixth day.

[@Kurtonvr]

Absolutely love your videos...best dam whitetail advice I ever heard..and iv been hunting for 40 yrs..since I shot my first deer at 10 yrs old..♥️♥️♥️♥️

[@outside2585]

I get this and want to abide by it, I just can't seem to identify prime buck zones on my 500 acres. it's such thick backwoods, there's no rhyme or reason it seems. But this is definitely sound advice. Thanks!

[@bgorges2792]

Great video. One thing I have been wondering though: How much hunting pressure is TOO much pressure? i.e. How often can/should I hunt my property? I have my land set up exactly like you describe in this video but I always second guess how often I should be hunting it because I want to limit the pressure I am putting on my 40 acres during the season.

[@chasinggiantswithhigginsou6147]

If you have your stands in the "right spots" and always play the wind, you can hunt it about every day depending on how it lays out

[@jasonsparks4601]

@@chasinggiantswithhigginsou6147 hunting it every day.....only if you leave zero trace/scent. Entry and exit are key to the game!

[@scottpulver4920]

Outstanding advice. Would you agree that some property should only be afternoon hunts? Primarily due to access. I have access to 105ac in southern Ohio and entry to stands for the morning is a challenge unless I walk WAY out and around and bring a change of clothes. I do use a utv and a atv to work on trails ect. When I leave after weed whacking or whatever I’ll have deer(doe) watching me and within two hours of leaving the bucks are there. I have used my machines to make deer stop and look then turn them towards my stands. I want my daughter to get a Ohio giant this season from a ground blind eye to eye. Thank you for your advice and I’ll keep watching.

[@715outdoors2]

I have 40 acres from my grandpa and dad, the built the cabin smack dab in the middle of it. It's hard to keep noise down and during the gun hunt theres so much activity that if you don't fill your tag opening morning you may not see another deer. Very frustrating.

[@baileysmith6664]

If everything is fairly quiet it shouldn't matter, deer will come very close to camps when winter starts they will come in for hay or corn right in the camps yard (in Ontario baits legal)and we see does at night when we stay there and my view out of my favorite stand is beside an abandoned maple syrup shack if it's always there it doesn't bother them same reason people put there treestands and pop ups up weeks or months before they hunt, and give them a reliable food source like a food plot or bait if it's legal where you are

[@danielpifer9222]

Great content Don! Took me a long time to grasp this until I actually seeing it in person! Keep up the great stuff! Deer season is just around the corner!

[@DanShimer]

I agree with leaving the middle alone and hunting the edges! The more you visit areas the less likely it is to see the mature deer.

[@xkoldfuzionx]

I couldn't agree with you more. Only problem is, we share hunting rights with an old timer that can't seem to figure that out and is always walking the property year round, even scouting during hunting seasons. We deal with what we have as most of us are forced to do.

[@gregorioswood2380]

Good advice, if you own a big piece of private deer property, not sure that covers many of us hunters.

[@michaelcope2329]

I have a small tract, my area also has houses scattered throughout, so no matter where you go they smell humans, farm dogs that get loose and roam and vehicles on country roads that travel through the area, everyone shoots guns in their backyards, rides 4 wheelers, etc. They do country stuff, most all of them also pour corn in their back yards that abut the woods and shoot deer from their house when they see them in their yard. There are some big bucks around but no matter what they move at night almost year around, occasionally you will see one during daylight but its only during the rut or a significant cold weather event. To a large extent it doesn't matter how we use our property because of adjoining property types and uses, again, there are always people in around this area as there is a small rural community in the area where our property is located. I think by and large this is common for most small tract land owners. What I"ve noticed the deer do is this, 1) Regardless of time of year the deer move during odd hours, forget daylight and dark they move around 10 am high noon or 2 pm, why, I can only figure that is when they know the least amount of people are in the woods 2) Forget hunting feeders they will not go to them during daylight unless its super cold and has been raining and their basically cold wet and hungry and then its only does and it will be very late in the evening at or near dark before they show up 3) Shooting houses, fixed ladder stands and even climbers, not good they can pick em out a mile away and most of the deer walk around looking up because the hunting pressure is so high here in LA and especially my area, you have to get on the ground or very near ground level and get covered up 4) They move half between paved roads and interior trails on the property, so say your property has a road that fronts your S property line that runs E and W and then about 200 yards back from that you have an interior trail or road that also runs E to W, the deer will split the difference between the 2 trails or roads and travel damn near down the middle between the 2 and again during daylight this will be done at 10 am 12 pm or 2 pm it will not be done near sunrise or sunset, at those times they are on lock down due to experience from hunting pressure and general activity of neighbors that are moving at or near those times either leaving for work or coming home from same 5) They will come to food plots during day light at dusk but only for about the first 2 weeks of the season, even if you don't shoot in those plots after the season is open for 2 weeks they will avoid food plots like the plague until well after dark most of the time the slap middle of the night say 2 to 3 am Here is what works for us Our season ends in January, so from there on until after Turkey season ends at the beginning of May is your window to work the property, once May rolls around back out and do not go back in until mid to late August at that time pick a weekend and do all of your fall/winter prep and get it done in 2 days then do not return until opening day then at opening day hunt as much as you want to but just make sure your hunting the wind, your scent control is on point, don't do or use any of the gimmick crap so NO decoys, grunt calls, can calls, tinks rut sticks, etc., while yes that stuff works on some deer some of the time, its typically the young bucks during their 1st or 2nd rut. Not that there aren't exceptions and some monster old mature bucks fall for it and are killed using those strategies but on small tracts in high pressure areas its a no go. Sneak in with good wind and try and disturb the area as little as possible, also, vehicles don't scare deer, hunters walking in the woods does, we drive the truck in to within about 30 yards or so of where we plan on hunting and then walk. Just turn off the radio, your door sensors, etc, and open close doors very quietly. Nothing seems to mess within them as much as walking around does, I think thats because your leaving scent with every step and also human foot steps are simply not a natural sound in the woods and they have learned to associate it with predation. 4 wheelers also, those are chariots of death, they know that 4 wheeler is brining predators, but the trucks don't seem to bother em. Once the gate opens and your on the property talking and all activity except getting to and from hunting location is as close to zero as possible, get in, hunt leave. If you kill 1, track and drag out as quietly as possible, take pictures, dress and clean off the property if possible if not at your gate by the road. No hollering yelling high fiving and picture fest in the woods, get the deer and get out and also if you want to hunt a deer that is gonna move at 10 a.m. be in that spot for daylight so everything has had many hours to settle down since you came in. Same goes for other times, you better have been in there for 2 to 3 hours minimum before you think they'll walk. You can't go in at 830 for a 10 am movement, they have to have time to forget about you coming in. I worked my backside off to afford our property and its pointless to put in those kind of hours and make the sacrifices my family made to have land of our it we never go enjoy it, if all I'm trying to do is kill a monster buck every year, I can go and outfitter hunt and do that for a whole lot less money and time than all that is required for most of us to own our own place. I've added up the time and money in a small tract operation and its staggering, again, if it was purely big bucks I could go to Texas or Canada every year for $3,500.00 to about $7,500.00 (depending upon size of deer and location) and spend a week at a low fence or no fence (free range) operation be treated like royalty and kill a very respectable buck for the wall every single year. While we kill a few deer, do I have anything like Don does on my wall, no, and maybe never will, unless I can make the jump and 1 day own 1,000 acres of my own and turn it into my own little Texas type place. I own my place because sometimes I like to just go sit the woods and be at peace and enjoy watching the woods go to sleep or wake up, or spending a day on the tractor to unwind from the office, maybe shoot some squirrels and cut some firewood. So while I do agree to some extent with what he says, maybe the title of the video should be #1 mistake 5.5+ year old plus mature trophy buck hunters make Also there should be some talk in here about if that is what your trying to, avoid buying small tracts and either go on outfitter hunts or save up until you can buy hundreds or thousands of acres and control it with an iron fist, everyone needs to remember that stuff on outdoor and sportsman channel is not the realty for the vast majority of the hunting population but is for the uber wealthy minority of people like Blake Shelton and that guy McMillian, when your flying private jets and hunting exclusive well managed very large private properties its different and we all need to acknowledge that. Not hating on them, wish I had that kinda time and money to enjoy that lifestyle but in the hunting and outdoor community those types and those types of hunts are 1%ers. Last but not least public lands get blasted year around with pressure now, people hiking, camping, biking, atv's, birding, canoeing, hunting, etc., and yet somehow someway giant mature bucks are killed every year on public ground, so killing them on land that is used and set aside as a monster buck preserve is possible, it just takes some work.

[@thomastaylor3419]

It took me too long to realize how monumental it is to have perfect access in and out so the deer do not realize they are being hunted. Easy to do on my little 15acres. I have to be more creative on our lease in Missouri where I cant manipulate my access. Shot my 3 best bucks the last 3 years. (Should have had a 4th) just paying way more attention to access, and of.course wind.

[@corybraswell510]

Very good points! I have 5 stand locations on 80 acres and all are on the perimeter! I am a big believer in that as well you want to push deer to the interior of your land if you put them at all..... It may be difficult to stay out of the gut of the property but it pays off tremendously!!

[@commonsenseapproach101]

I 100% agree with pressure, but that also has a flip side to it. My folks own a farm and we use to have 500 head of cattle in the home quarter that we had a feed yard. They retired from farming ranching and converted 80% of the total land into wildlife/conservation. We have 3 quarters for pheasant hunting and 4 for deer hunting only, and the home quarter we keep for does mainly, and that quarter our hunting dogs(2) are always in a building(the old barn) and we play with them every day outside(very well controlled) but they bark everyday when they see us and plus our smell is right by the bedding areas and travel routes. Every buck that we harvest with the bow has been 5.5-7.5 years old and they all came from the home quarter(160-210), but what we noticed was after 5.5 yrs old the bucks stayed right in the old feed lots that we designed with plots and let the weed grow, plus made a path for travel routes. The key to this is WEEDS!! tall weeds(rag weeds grow like crazy in old feed lots) but the path we create is rye path. Yes the whole farm is surrounded by trees and spots of CRP and alphafa but all the deer we got were less than 70 yards away from the shop and the dog kennels. How is that? Well when some bucks get old they get lazy and their home area shrinks, and they go right were the does are always at and let the does come to them when rut season starts. Yes we only touch the stand areas 1 time to clear shotting areas, but i do that in the spring time(less bugs and cooler, and then when i hunt it pre rut or rut, i clear little stuff, usually none to do). But i think the deer because use to us talking and the dogs after 5.5 yrs old and become lazy. Yes i 100% agree on the pressure part! With that, take this piece of advice i learned the hard way. ALWAYS put your new bow hunting boots in dirt for 2-3 days, dig a hole and put the whole boot in the hole and cover it up(seal the top of the boots first) and then poor water over the hole every day except the last day or 2. Then let them sit outside for a full day. New rubber sent is the worse sent to leave out there i found out, i had a monster 3.5-4.5 yr old(was going to let go until i saw him 10 yards away and realize he was a 180-190 and wind was right and suddenly he stomped and left fast, well on the way out i noticed the strong smell of rubber on my newer boots and half hour before the encounter the wind switched and left my rubber sent there, after doing research on the chemical make up of rubber i realized what happened. Sad ending to that buck, the next year he was poached by a guide 2 miles away and the guide got let off pretty much(guiding has ruined hunting in south dakota), i got to see him in person again and he was 205!! non typical

[@mlcatfish75]

Simple but very good advice!

[@DrawnArchery]

Great video Don! I'm ready to become your Ohio apprentice!

[@Tonnsfabrication]

I am not a hunter, but I own 100 acres in the hills of Ohio and I can tell you where I always see big bucks. They're always on the sections of land that I seldom visit. I have two lakes with a really brushy willow thicket in between, the bucks really like that area, I see them in there all the time. The does could care less about the firewood buggy , they just stand off the edge of the trail and watch you go by.

[@chasinggiantswithhigginsou6147]

If you would be so kind as to allow me the priveledge of hunting your land I would be grateful and treat it like it was my own. Thanks

[@Me2Lancer]

Well said, Don Higgins. Best advice I've heard on taking mature whitetails. I liked and subscribed.

[@jeffreyquinn1064]

Don you are putting the stands on the outside and inside corners you have a sanctuary and you are probably backed by what you call advisor's well what your doing is putting your sets on the outside so your deer feel safe so with no clowning around when the rut comes buck's are gonna have to chase them does so your clients and you better hunt the wind and you can't always fool mother nature, and if the sets and you get up and you check out the weather and the you put guys that their sets are okay and the other sets are splitting hairs, the clients want to hunt there is no way for you to believe that some of these people are going to get aggressive with these bucks these guys are going to be seen grunting if the buck doesn't see or smell another buck he will fool around leave then return a different way to out fox and finally know humans have been there chewing tobacco and people will smoke and then your sets that were okay then you have the wind changed swirling and it blows to the bedding area and mother nature comes out the winner cause all the human scent has been blown into your property so you can't always depend on the way you have the set's you those deer know there are humans deer know when season is In please when they hear 1st shot heard they will rut more at night you may kill 2 or 3 if your property isn't fenced in

[@juanrodriguez-mu7ko]

Thanks for the advice, really appreciate it, I’m a new hunter I’ll all the advice I can get. Not a property owner yet but I’m working on it 🙏🏽

[@rodneygilbert5183]

I live in the middle of my hunting land guess l need to move.

[@waynestevenson9613]

Yeah I’m wondering if I shud hunt my property anymore?!?!

[@kevincooper4429]

P

[@WorkingClassBowhunter]

This is great. Love this topic. Thanks for the video!

[@3thunting637]

My first time listening you. I appreciate how you get to the point, to the issues. I see some things that I'm doing right, definitely see some where human intrusion may be costing me. Will make that adjustment immediately! Do you have website, or areas of listening or reading your material?

[@chasinggiantswithhigginsou6147]

www.higginsoutdoors.com

[@edwardshackelford9335]

What if you don’t have like no 100-200+ acres and just have a small acreage to hunt and don’t have permission to hunt the other property around you and others are already hunting it but you have great bedding and water source but the bucks still go to the other property. What do you do then? But there is crop fields all around on three sides of the small acreage. Which allows for food sources.?????

[@sethschoettmerhardcorehunter]

That can’t get any more true keep the good videos going love them

[@fishingmichiana]

Is there ever a time you can enter the sanctuary? Not during season but For example shed hunting?

[@chasinggiantswithhigginsou6147]

I do shed hunt my sanctuary and also go in during the winter for some habitat improvement work

[@allaylan7498]

Don, I have 70 acres and have horses during the summer months in 20 acres of pasture within that 70 ( first year of pasturing). Do pasture animals affect how or whether bucks will use the property?

[@chasinggiantswithhigginsou6147]

they can depending on layout

[@richstafford1245]

I love these guys that preach treating your land like a pediatric burn unit. Let’s say say a mature buck beds on a ridge point in a thermal tunnel wind to his back watching his entrance trail. He is virtually invulnerable. A coyote or human bumps him. The bed did its job. Why would he leave? Makes zero sense. He will come back to the same bed on the right wind. You can’t blow mature bucks out of this type of bedding with C4. There are only so many beds like I described. That’s why mature bucks use them. There are 3.5 billion people on this planet and god knows how many predators. If these bucks reacted like these guys want you to believe they would constantly be on the move and run out of bedding areas. They get bumped almost on a daily basis. These guys must think deer just rem sleep in their sanctuaries for eight hours a day lol. I was on a all day sit on public land in PA and watched someone’s radio collared dogs they were training bump the same 100 inch eight point out of thick mountain laurel 4 times in a three hour time frame. He simply circled back to his bed. He never left. He eventually browsed his way to me before dusk but I ran out of shooting light. Btw a hundred inch eight point is a trophy where I hunt.

[@jimmyriggs6676]

I learned this a few years ago I don't even have a corn feeder anymore I hunt in the white oak flats here in east Texas

[@coopshomestead4176]

I enjoyed. Thinking how to apply to some public land.

[@Funski1000]

Out in the Sticks, Can’t seem to find any rubs or scrapes. Hay fields and oak trees. What am I missing?

[@stoneybonjoney9576]

So how do you get to your stand without human intrusion? Is it better to walk or use a four wheeler? Also, you could put stands on the property lines and push deer to the middle of your property. But if they feel safe in the middle of the property, why would they go towards the edges where they know you travel to get to your stands?

[@scottpulver4920]

Question for you. In my few years of hunting almost every deer I ever shot always turned and ran back to where they just came from, meaning the other property. So if that happens and you can’t track your deer on that property does your neighbors tag him? Happened to me two times. Depending on wind and access if you hunt the middle(at certain times) the deer may not make it over the line. Love your advice and content. I’ll keep watching and learning. Thank you

[@CanyonMitchell]

Where i live you're allowed to go on someone else's property and get your deer. You just have to let the property owner know what's going on. He has to let you retrieve your deer or he will be fined. I live in Washington state.

[@jasoncoulbourne5271]

Finally someone I can agree with!

[@robertyetsko80]

What are your strategies for hunting public land

[@patrapper7367]

Got my biggest buck where people hike and mountain bike all the time. Yep, everyone has advice out there all right.

[@BC_I_LETU]

Tons of great information, do you do anything with public land hunting? All this information is great if I could control a woods but it seems to be much harder on public land. Also with the internet, we all get the same information. “Go deeper, go where others won’t” but everyone is seeing that so that’s a useless tip anymore because everyone is doing it now. Just wondering if you have any public land ideas. Thanks for doing good videos without bs filler.

[@chasinggiantswithhigginsou6147]

I do hunt some on public but to be honest it is a small fraction of my total hunting time. At some point in the future I will do a video geared towards public land hunting

[@siqi]

If everyone is going deep then u don’t need to, they will push the deer out of woods for u. So stay on the main road and have a cup of coffee ;p I’m thinking this advice belongs to “bad “ section:)

[@boblangeland1333]

Do you hunt the edges of your property the entire season, or wait to get aggressive when the rut starts?

[@MrJimbo1212]

refuge, refuge, refuge! spot on...

[@rorydavis2577]

True. It all depends on what your hunting for. The guy that promotes water holes openly says he doesn’t care if he has spring or summer bucks. He goes on to say no work should be done on the property during the time these mature big bucks are there. WHS Jeff Sturgis very classy guy.

[@billdawson8458]

Great video. So does the no human intrusion include the whole year? What about those who utilize their acerage for multi purpose enjoyment like hikes, firewood, etc. Thanks in advance.

[@chasinggiantswithhigginsou6147]

The less human intrusion the better and this does include all-year and all activities. The best bet for most landowners is to select part of your proeprty for no human intrusion and have some acreage set aside for other activities

[@billdawson8458]

Thanks that’s what I thought. I only have 60 acres so that may be hard. When I first bought the property I had much more big buck sign and pics. As I’ve done more “improvements” there are nothing but does and a few small bucks.

[@djw195]

Great stuff Don keep it coming. I’ve hunted for many years, early on I hunted almost every chance I could and rarely shot any deer let alone a nicer buck for my area. Over the years I just tried to play to my best odds which has led to more deer killed per sit, and I believe it’s because I’ve become more conservative with my hunting strategy over time ie. hunt the best times based on information available while staying on the “outside” as much as possible to get my shot, instead of diving in and blowing everything up. Now More overall prep work goes into every kill with much less actual hunting.

[@chasinggiantswithhigginsou6147]

you just perfectly described my approach to hunting mature bucks!

[@gregoryjones6714]

Any advice on hunting public land.? Not much foot traffic but moderate atv traffic on the gravel and dirt trails.

[@kennystrange8705]

Great tip!! Makes sense maybe that’s why people try other dumb things!! Lol.. But you right I’ve killed a lot of bucks on property that’s never been hunted in several years it’s amazing how good the hunt is and how many you see.. and there are no kid pools in sight!! Lol..

[@totalcardetailing2022]

I have a friend that seen somewhere on tv that if you keep your field mowed it would bring in deer. But he has not seen any bucks in about 7 years now. I have tried my best to tell him different.

[@chasinggiantswithhigginsou6147]

A lot of deer hunters do more to hinder their chances for success than help it. I am trying my best to help other deer hunters but in some cases it is a tough battle

[@neolightproductions]

Well my property is screwed. I actually use my property for everything. lol.

[@AlexZorach]

I don't even hunt, but I spent a lot of time in nature and observe deer and other animals, and this is spot-on. Younger deer are naive, but deer learn over time and the older they get, the more wary they become of human intrusion. Part of this is natural selection too: the ones that make it to older ages are the ones that survived and they did so by staying clear both of hunters and other death-traps like roads and vehicles. The more time you spend meddling on any plot of land, the less time the older, more experienced deer will spend there. One thing I'd be curious about though is the effect of these different management approaches on the ecosystem as a whole. In areas that don't have wolves or other predators of deer, we humans are really all there is controlling their population, other than disease. I have noticed that properties with more human presence often have less severe problems with overbrowsing than ones where humans stay completely out of sight (and smell.) Older bucks can be really hard on tree saplings and can hinder forest regeneration, and if the situation is bad enough, it can contribute to a property becoming overrun with invasive plants like Amur honeysuckle and can eliminate a number of native plants because there are a lot of native plants that the deer prefer as food. At the same time, a lot of human intrusion degrades the ecosystem in other ways, like by bringing unwanted weed seeds in, or with some soil types, compacting the soil or causing erosion if you drive on it too much. I'd be curious if you've noticed any difference in the effect on the ecosystem as a whole, based on how much human intrusion there is. Does leaving it alone and "hunting from the outside" have more of a beneficial effect? Would you change your advice in an area that has a problem with invasive plants and severe overbrowsing, or does it still hold?

[@thadsmith9226]

What time of year would be best to put out cameras and hang stands?

[@chasinggiantswithhigginsou6147]

I like to hang stands in the winter right after season closes. As for cameras, I start putting them out in early July

[@farmboy7064]

I've been doing exactly what your talking about in this video and it definitely works. I have a wall of nice bucks to prove it.

[@russelllangworthy8855]

You're also in Iowa, which puts you way ahead of the game.

[@dr.stevenwadeau.d.3382]

What type of land is the center of your property? Like CRP-type stuff or what? Love the video and I’m newly subbed!

[@chasinggiantswithhigginsou6147]

It can best be described as old grown-up cattle pasture. It has a creek running through it with some =scattered big oaks and a lot of woody regeneration

[@dr.stevenwadeau.d.3382]

@@chasinggiantswithhigginsou6147 gotcha thanks! Sounds like good cover