4 expert steps to hunt big whitetail bucks in their daylight hideouts

#1  SCOUTING

What makes for an ideal staging area, one that mature bucks will confidently visit during daylight hours? Look for a small opening, where cover thins out along the route between a daytime bedding area and a preferred nighttime food source. These pockets are small in size, sometimes only 40 to 60 metres across, fringed with plenty of vegetation, a variety of browse and an easy escape route into the surrounding forest or thickets.

If the clearings hold a fruit-bearing apple tree, a mature white oak that’s producing a rich crop of acorns, or a lush food plot you planted the previous spring, all the better. Mature bucks have developed keen survival instincts, and these small clearings keep them from feeling exposed, as they would be in larger fields. And when deer feel safe while browsing, it encourages more daytime movement.

A quality staging area should contain enough forage to hold deer for a half-hour each visit. Even though they’re likely also craving a feed of corn or soybean, whitetails still need an incredibly diverse diet of foliage for their nutritional requirements. They’ll feed every three to four hours, and a staging area fulfills that need, often prompting them to leave their bedding areas earlier in the afternoon before heading to more exposed food sources, such as monocrops.

By the pre-rut, there should also be rubs visible just beyond the perimeter of the clearing where the deer enter or exit. And if there is already scrape activity along the border, you’ve hit the jackpot. Keep in mind this safe-haven snack bar is along their daily travel route, so the deer will usually enter one side and exit the other.

Think of these small openings as safe locations for a cautious big buck to watch, listen and smell for potential threats before revealing himself in his primary feeding area. Occasionally, a staging area will be within sight of the more open food source, while other times it can be further back along the travel corridor. When hunting public lands, in particular, locating and targeting staging areas, rather than field edges, can vastly increase the odds of success on pressured deer.

Since deer feel more secure in these small clearings, it also makes them more sensitive to disturbance. Careful scouting is a must, therefore, and minimal disturbance is key. Slip in at midday, when it’s least likely you’ll bump a buck. During or just before a light rain is even better, as any scent you inadvertently leave behind will be washed away.

Select your approach routes with care. A common mistake is to follow the same route as the deer because it’s always the path of least resistance, but that risks leaving your scent behind. The same goes for walking through the staging area. Instead, scout with your eyes and use binoculars to study the surroundings for deer sign, including trails, tracks, rubs, scrapes and browse lines four feet above the ground.

TRAIL CAM TIPS

1. To get the optimum scouting results from your trail cams, put the following six best practices to use.
2. The best spot to place a trail cam for buck surveillance is four feet off the ground, aimed at an active scrape 15 feet away.
3. Make sure to clear away any vegetation in front of the camera that might trigger the motion sensor when it’s windy.
4. Don’t place a trail cam right on a deer trail. Instead, set it up a few feet to the side to minimize detection, but still aimed down the trail for the best chance to trigger the motion sensor.
5. Set up your trail cams at funnels or pinch points in the terrain where deer movement is concentrated.
6. Avoid setting up your trail cam in front of bait piles—unless you love raccoon photos.
7. A good time to check your trail cams is just before a rainstorm, as it will wash away any scent you leave behind.