A mature buck is likely to travel out of his way to use an opening in a fence rather than jump over it.

“Roger said years ago told me that a mature buck will go at least a hundred yards out of his way to go through an open gate or a down spot in the fence rather than jump that fence.”

Early season hunting is an effective way to pattern mature bucks before the disruptive behavior of the rut begins.

“I guess I'd say if you're if you haven't tried early season before, give it a shot because this is the first time I did it and you can really have a chance to pattern a big buck before they start going crazy with the rut.”

Hunting whitetail during the early season provides a higher probability of encountering a mature buck on public land than hunting during the peak of the rut.

“So, um even though it's way more challenging and difficult to hunt early season, um my like percentage chance of getting on a big mature buck on public land is way higher um during that time.”