People are shooting huge whitetail bucks in small tracts in cities and suburbs where bowhunting is permitted. In Connecticut, northern Virginia, New York—and out in Missoula, Montana.
Last week I filmed a TV segment with Kevin Robinson; the heavy 8-point rack with killer brow tines is from his 2016 Montana suburbs buck. Kevin will tell his story on an episode of BIG DEER TV later this fall, but here are a few of tricks.
When archery season opens in early September, Kevin hunts high in a draw that overlooks town in the evenings. His tree stand is tight to one of two deer trails that run up and down the mountain. He knows these suburban bucks, and if a big deer has not passed his stand by a certain time in the evening, he knows he is not coming on the first trail, but should be walking the second trail. So he gets down, gets the wind and thermals right and sneaks over to one of three ground spots to watch the second trail. That’s how he got the three-beamed buck on the left side of the photo.
Kevin said, “It’s all about scouting and watching early-season deer on their tight and predictable summer pattern.”
He hunts fairly hard in September, but when October and the “lull” roll around he stops hunting and leaves the local deer alone until later in November. “Not hunting for 4 or 5 weeks, that’s hard to do, but I know how good the hunting will be as the rut comes on,” Kevin says.
In November he typically hunts from a tree stand set lower in the draw and much nearer houses, roads and developments. “Local town bucks that I hardly ever see up high start moving around and looking for does, and the action really gets good.”
For city bucks, Kevin says grunting works well, and a drag line with doe scent can be good in the rut.
