Ever notice bucks dissapear when gun season opens

My tackle box is full of hutch’s heads- for the money they are the best out there and his paint jobs are sooooo nice!! Glad to hear you guys are getting them!

shhhhhh….hutch’s swim jigs are my secret weapon!

I will second Hutch’s jigs, he has something there.

I’ve never heard of Hutch’s swim jigs. Do they have a website where I can order some?

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I’ve never heard of Hutch’s swim jigs. Do they have a website where I can order some?

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Here ya go!

The website is riverwalleyes.com and Hutch is out of Prairie Du Chain, WI.

Hutches swim jigs are great.They track straight skirts are tied on and they have a plastics keeper just wish I was the only one who knew about them

I was talking to my neighbor Don across the alley this morning and asked him if hes seen anything nice during this shotgun season. He said hes seen a few but out of range and hes also a bowhunter so he should have be able to have gotten close for a shot. He and I talked about where the bucks go and what they do after they hear the first shots of gun season and this is what both of us have seen and come up with.

I told Don I’ve seen them stay in heavy brush and stay bedded until you get almost right on top of them then they’d kick up and run. Thick brushy areas are a magnent for hiding deer. I said I’ve seen them use the terrain to hide themselves while searching for does or running from another hunter. Don said hes seen them hide behind a single tree and watch the approaching hunter or hunters, and if they think they can they will stay hidden behind that tree changeing positions to cover themselves as the hunters direction changes, they will change positions always putting the tree between the buck and the hunter(s). I’ve never seen that because I don’t gun hunt much but know the bucks would do that. He told me one year he was hunting some private property and was in his tree stand and watched a couple neighbors cross the fence. He looked a diffrent direction to see if they were kicking up any deer, hearing the hunters as they approached. Don said he seen an older buck near a thicket and as the hunters approached he could see the buck get down on its knees and crawl through the brush, never leaving the thick brush and putting two smaller trees between him and the hunters as they approached and passed by.

I told Don I’ve never seen that eigther but seen a report on radio collared bucks in a fenced 50 acres heavily brushed area done for this particular study. They said as would be hunters walked this area they could see the buck was moving because of the radio collar and them holding the homeing device but they couldn’t visually see the buck. They said the only thing this buck could have been doing is crawling on the ground trying to hide himself and trying to escape. I said for the big older bucks to escape they’d have to be part rabbit and he said they didn’t make it that far from being stupid. I’ve hunted during shotgun season occasionally for deer, and hunting the rabbit seasons here alot and have kicked up many bucks laying along heavily brushed fencelines away from other areas and thier there to get away from hunters that push just the major areas. I’ve come up with the conclusion that bucks will and do hide anywhere they think thier safe and year after year they find those good hiding spots where they rarely see hunters go by and after gun season opens thats why a hunter doesn’t see as many. You guys got any ideas on what happens to them after they hear the first few shots?

I would agree… they do get smarter

They don’t grow old by being stupid. I have a little thicket about 100′ x 75′ in the middle of my field. Few elm and scrub trees and a lot of crap brush with a treestand in the middle. Over the last 20 years, I can”t tell you how many deer I have kicked out of there while walking by, or going to that stand. Shot a number of bucks bedded in there while walking by!

A tract of land that is properly set up and that is also hunted properly should only get better as the season goes on. For example if you build your bedding areas in areas that are NEVER frequented by humans the deer will figure these areas out and stay there during heavy pressure. as far as hunting during the gun season We only hunt Bucks that are using escape routes from the neighboring land onto our land. In all reality we see more bucks as the season progresses. I consider my whole farm a sanctuary during the firearm season. it is not uncommon to see deer feeding midday even after opening weekend.

We talk about what it must be like for a deer the friday before gun season almost every year . The endless line of headlights heading north for hours on end and the constant rumble of the highway. It has to feel like living in a country beeing invaded by a super power ! These bedding areas and sanctuaries seem very appealing all year long but invaluable when the guns start blasting. Defining these areas and learning how to hunt them properly is on my to do list next spring for sure!