By Kaleb Comstock
When it comes to killing big, mature, bucks, we need 150 plus acres of prime ground surrounded with unbelievable food and bedding, right? While that’s certainly my dream property, that’s definitely not the kind of property I have permission to hunt. Instead, I have access to less than 80 acres of nasty, thick river bottom that many people wouldn’t think would hold a big buck. That couldn’t be more false. I am going to dive into three things that I have learned from hunting this small property that has led me to kill four mature bucks in five seasons.
Patience
Having patience is probably my biggest lesson learned in the last five years. I would say more times than not, when I would hunt the small river property, I would see 0-2 deer per sit. Sometimes I would go three to five straight sits without even laying eyes on a deer. This made for some absolutely grueling, uneventful sits. The deer numbers on this small property are far from exceptional, which makes having patience critical for harvesting and hunting mature whitetails. Many sits went into killing these four mature bucks. Three of the four I killed in the month of December, which is why having patience and being patient is one of the biggest lessons I have learned. Not only did I learn to have patience in the treestand, I also learned to have patience when it came to running trail cameras. For example, in 2019, I didn’t get my first picture of double brow until October. The buck I killed in 2020 didn’t show up on the property until November 15th. This year, Bubbles showed up for the first time ever on November 1st, but seamlessly disappeared for 25 days after November 3rd. It seems like every year, there will be a mature buck that roams the river bottom and eventually calls it home, it’s just a matter of having patience and waiting for them to show themselves.
Patience is Kaleb’s best piece of advice for killing mature bucks.
Access is King
Having such a small property to hunt really makes me rely on my access and having good access is key to killing mature bucks. I have learned how to access this river farm in multiple ways depending on the wind direction. The river farm is surrounded by agriculture fields to the west and the river to the east. When the crops are in, my access is much more difficult. I will often utilize our boat to go in when I have a good strong Northwest wind. On November 3rd, 2018, all of our crops were still up and it was standing corn. This made access by ground extremely difficult when I hunted the north part of the farm. That evening, my dad and I took our boat in. That same evening I missed what would have been my biggest buck to date at the time, “Reason.” Using the boat for access was bullet proof on that hunt. We cut the motor and floated into the river bank. From there, I popped up, walked 100 yards and slipped into my treestand. I use the river to my advantage very often with northwest winds between the access to my stand and setting stands close to the river so the deer can’t get downwind of me. My dad and I have also gone in and made trails along the river to make the access quiet and bullet proof on northwest winds. When I have any wind with an east in it, I access the property from the field edge. This can be a gamble if the deer are in the crop fields, but my access along the field edge is extremely quiet and stealthy. I have been accessing the river this way the last 5 years which has resulted in 4 mature bucks.
Having the best access possible is crucial when it comes to deer hunting, especially when hunting small properties.
Staying Positive and Optimistic
Not only can chasing mature whitetails be a physical grind, it can also wear on your mental state and be mentally draining. This one kind of goes along with learning to be patient, I have also learned the importance of staying optimistic and positive. Deer hunting can no doubt be absolutely exhausting, but your season can also change on a dime in seconds. I remember this season, I had zero, yes zero, target bucks to hunt November fourth through the twenty-eighth. I was texting Alex about not being sure if I would even kill a buck this year. That all changed when I woke up on the morning of November 28th and saw Bubbles was back on the farm. This helped me remain optimistic that I would get another opportunity at him this year. Staying positive and optimistic can be extremely hard to do. I sat 48 times this year to finally make it come to fruition.
A positive and optimistic mindset can do more than you think.
Conclusion
Every year I continuously learn as a deer hunter. There’s something about chasing mature whitetails that drives me every year. These are three lessons that I have learned from hunting the small property and being able to kill 4 mature bucks off the property in 5 years. I am sure next year as I begin my chase for a deer I call “Half Rack” on the river farm, I will learn new skills that will improve me as a hunter.
