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and population dynamics — such as doe fawning areas, bachelor grouping and the rut — bucks commonly have very differing cores with each season. Furthermore, food, the rut and hunting pressure often causes major and minor shifts during hunting season.
STEVE BARTYLLA
This simple fact is both the hunter’s best friend and worst enemy. It works out very well in that during the off season, we can slip into a buck’s fall bedding area and make fairly major changes and still have it appear natural by the time he finally cycles back through the next fall.
On the flip side, when a The author strongly hunter discovers an active believes mature core area during hunting bucks move much season, if at all possible, he more during the should avoid waiting for
is the kiss of death to hunters. day than some hunters believe. This next week to hunt it. Because However, if one then goes Midwestern buck was core areas can be very fluid on to create massive shoot- one of several he has in nature, don’t count on the ing lanes and leave odor all taken during midday buck continuing to do the over the area, our odds do go hunts. exact same thing the entire down significantly. season.
Bucks can also know the details of Hunters who assume a buck’s routine their in-woods food and water sources will stay the same are often left hunting very well. However, size has a lot to do core areas that have been abandoned.
with how tuned-in they are. For example, a hunter can often get away with far more while setting stands or hunting a large oak ridge than they could with a small pond. In either case, the buck is normally not as touchy as in his bedding area.
The same holds true for staging areas. It is my belief that this comparative easier going attitude in both these locations is due to the buck feeling more secure because it is on its feet.
Finally, the connecting trails are where bucks are both most at ease and least familiar — and where hunters can get away with the most. After all, the bucks aren’t really lingering here and are far less likely to notice a few branches out of place. They’re just getting from Point A to Point B.
Before I move on, I must point out that no matter what part of their home range they are in, bucks are still bucks. Sure, there are generally different tolerance and comfort levels in these groupings, but a buck still is most often going to slip away first and ask questions later if he senses danger.
I view core areas as the locations where bucks spend most of their daylight hours on a fairly consistent basis. Because they often don’t spend much time in most of the surrounding habitat, core areas can be fragmented.
The biggest challenge lies in finding the active areas, and there really isn’t a simple formula for accomplishing that goal. Most times, it’s some form of a combination of observations, scouting camera pictures, buck-sign interpretation and, of course, woodsmanship. It can be very tough figuring it all out, but unearthing even a relatively small portion and piecing it into its grouping can put you well on your way to success.
— Steve Bartylla is a veteran outdoor writer, seminar speaker and big-buck hunter from central Wisconsin. For more information on his buck-hunting tactics, visit deeranddeerhunting.com and click on the “Our Contributors” link.
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The tendencies for bucks to shift their core areas over the seasons comes in handy. With changing food sources
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