The author believes that mature bucks deemed by some hunters to be totally “nocturnal” will move during daylight hours at some point during the season. The trick is to be in the right place at the right time when it happens! Photo by BillKinney.com

As the last few minutes of legal shooting time began to tick away, I resigned myself to the idea that I would not see a shooter buck on this hunt. So I attached my bow to the pull-up rope and prepared to lower it to the ground. As I held the rope out from the stand and was just about to loosen my grip to allow my bow to be slowly lowered to the ground, movement in the edge of the thicket I'd been watching caught my attention: A nice buck was standing there.

One look told me he was a mature animal and one that I'd be happy to tag. I quietly unhooked the bow from the rope and then slipped an arrow from the quiver and onto the string as the buck stood just 20 yards away. Somehow I pulled it off without having the buck catch my movement. I then readied myself for the shot. After a couple of minutes of staring out into the field of standing corn, the buck made his move. He exited the security of his bedding fortress and began slowly walking my way between the rows of corn along the field's edge. At a range of 10 yards, I connected with an easy shot and soon claimed my prize, a mature 12-point buck that scored 145 inches.

I took that buck over 20 years ago. He was the first of three I took from that same stand over a period of a few years. Knowing this, it would be easy to conclude that this location was one of those magical stands that can produce big buck after big buck on a regular basis. The truth is, that was a super stand location, but there is so much more to the story and a bigger lesson to be learned from this hunt.

To be consistently successful at tagging mature bucks, we must look at the details as well as the obvious. From each mature-buck encounter that I've had in the past, I look for those tidbits of information that will allow me to be more successful in the future.

PIERCING A BUCK'S ARMOR
The hunt I just described provided me with some significant insight into the movement patterns of mature bucks in that area, as was evidenced by the fact that I was able to later harvest more bucks from that same tree. It also taught me some things that I was able to take with me on every hunt I've been on since. More specifically, I learned that even mature bucks that seem to be nocturnal are vulnerable.

I often hear hunters refer to bucks as being "nocturnal." More often than not, the term seems to be used as an excuse for lack of sightings or success. Now I'm not about to suggest that mature bucks are out waltzing around during daylight hours as readily as other deer, but I also don't make excuses for my lack of success. In fact, the only excuse for my own lack of success in any endeavor is my own lack of effort.

The buck described above helped develop my understanding of the nocturnal nonsense that I have so often heard regarding mature whitetail bucks. I have since tagged mature bucks during every phase of the hunting season -- early season, the rut and late season. These bucks were all taken with archery gear and were all a result of natural movement, not forced movement. Did I just get lucky enough to find mature bucks that were not nocturnal while many other hunters are cursed with hunting animals that don't move in daylight? I don't think so! I know for a fact that mature bucks do move in daylight during all phases of the season.

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