LAST EDITED ON Nov-02-11 AT 11:01PM (MST)[p]I've taken several good bucks and my dad's neighbors would comment to him about how lucky his kid was (my hunt was never complete until I took the antlers and "reported in" to dad...right up until he passed away). Dad would always reply, "Lucky hell, he just works harder than you".
The definition of big bucks is individual but I've done fairly well and agree with everything 1911 said, except it doesn't necessarily cost a lot of money (It costs TIME & physical effort.). I don't have much money. I have good equipment and I spend gas money but that's the major cost.
BUT, hike a LONG way; get far from the road. A meadow isn't worth much. Deer don't really eat grass and, if you're looking for bucks, it's probably too low.
There is a genetic-species-longevity reason to explain why bucks allow the does and fawns to have the ideal habitat, leaving the mature bucks to live on the "marginal" habitat...so says Dr. Geist.
Grant (that's I) believes he's almost certainly right but describes it more simply: bucks live in places NOBODY wants to go....too high, too steep and too ROCKY (they really like rocks). They also go down into canyons with no roads in the bottom.
ANY motorized vehicles makes noises and odors they don't like.
My "secrets": Be in position to hunt and shoot LONG before you could see to do so. Stay there until AFTER you can see (opposite the safety advice I teach in hunter-ed classes). Look under and beside EVERYTHING..use your binos & spotting scope; then look again. Become adept at spotting an ear or the white of a muzzle at a mile or more (optics again).
Realize you're hunting something that (in their world) is smarter than you. He's been hunted by mountain lions for 10,000 generations and he's the one who survived...and has survived 5 or 6 hunting seasons. Understand he can be almost nocturnal and is willing to WAIT motionless (while he explains a noise or odor) for a LONG time. He's willing to lie hidden while you walk within feet. If he detects you first, you lose.
When you find him, don't miss.
Good luck!
Within the shadows, go quietly.
