The Hunt For A Mature WMA Buck

After listening to Matt Beauregard speak as a guest on the Georgia Afield Hunting Podcast last fall, I knew right away I had to sit down with him for an in-depth story on WMA hunting for our 2021 August edition of GON Magazine.

I’ve known Matt for a few years now, (we attend the same church), and I was aware of him being a pretty successful deer hunter from pictures I’ve seen him share online. However, when we sat down and he broke down his public-land buck hunting strategies, I felt like I was being educated on the subject by a Harvard professor. Lucky for myself, and those reading this, Matt didn’t mind sharing his thought process and strategy for hunting heavily pressured mature deer.

Matt is only 30 years old, but he has already amassed a solid 15 seasons of WMA hunting experience, cutting his teeth the hard way without anyone to teach him anything about the sport. After several years of trial and error, Matt slowly began to put together a strategy for hunting mature deer. One that has started to pay off the past few seasons including last year when he was able to kill a south Georgia buck that measured 132 inches, and then a few weeks later he was able to apply the same strategy in Kentucky to kill a nice bow buck that scored in the 130s. Not too shabby by public-land standards.

The very first question I asked Matt was what WMAs were readers’ best bets to kill a big mature buck, and his answer got my full attention.

“I think a bunch of hunters, especially the new folks, get too wrapped up in the “this WMA is better than that WMA” thought process. I’m gonna tell you right now that every piece of public land in Georgia has mature bucks on it. The key to success is knowing how to consistently find them on each one. The strategy I use will work in southeast Georgia, the north Georgia mountains or in the middle of Kentucky for that matter. I hunt the same way everywhere I go.”

Here’s a breakdown of some of the topics I touched on in my interview with Matt. You may want to grab a highlighter or jot down some notes as you go. This was one of the most informative stories I’ve had the opportunity to work on in my time at GON.

Matt’s search for big public-land bucks usually begins in January or February when sign is still abundant and he can scout without getting busted by a big buck.

“When you get in their right after the season you can scout close to bedding areas without the fear of spooking deer. A big bonus is you can still find a bunch of rubs and scrapes from the fall, helping you to find the most promising areas,” said Matt.

Matt went on to say that even if you haven’t started scouting until August, there is still hope to kill a mature deer this season if you are willing to do your homework.

Matt relies heavily on maps to locate likely bedding areas and to determine how bucks may be using a piece of property. He said up until this last season, he relied on onX mapping but decided to make the change to BaseMap for some of the added features they offer. He can easily flip between satellite and topographic views, but Matt says that the ability to time travel is one of the most effective features he uses on the program.

“You can break down a piece of property much more efficiently if you know what it looked like two years ago, five years ago, and so on. It enables you to see some features that you may overlook with a traditional map.”

Matt said an example of this would be locating a grown-up clearcut and going back in time to see what it looked like before it was cut and then after. By using this advice a hunter can get a much better lay of the land they are hunting.

Another tip Matt had for readers is to spend a good deal of time scouting the private property around a WMA for clues as to where a mature buck might bed.

“If you can see a tripod looking over an ag field, you can almost be sure that the first few weeks of the season it will be pressured and a mature buck will react accordingly. If the adjacent public land is only open certain dates during the season, it can be a prime hot spot when it is open to hunt.

Matt Beauregard offers up some great tips to the guys specifically looking to harvest a mature WMA buck this fall. On these two pages are two public-land bucks that he has taken. The one above was taken in Kentucky, but Matt says his WMA tactics work all over the country and will kill mature deer on any WMA in Georgia.

While map scouting, Matt drops dozens of pins that he can later investigate.

“I try to mark at least a couple of dozen or so promising areas when I’m looking at a new property before I ever go to scout it. You have to do your homework if you’re gonna pass your test,” said Matt.

Once he arrives at a WMA he’s unfamiliar with, Matt will spend an hour or two riding the roads and jotting down notes. Paying close attention to gates, access roads and sign that other hunters are using the area.

“Your mindset has to be to get as far away as possible from other hunters, because that’s exactly what a big buck is going to do.”

Matt says that an easy way to get away from the majority of the crowd quickly is to put your hip waders on and cross a swamp or creek to get deeper into more promising areas.

“I’ll tell you now, most of the not-so-serious folks ain’t gonna cross a creek at three in the morning to go another mile into the woods. They are just not that dedicated,” said Matt.

When hunters do their scouting, Matt urges to pay careful attention to Stream Management Zones. These are wetland areas that timber companies aren’t allowed to cut when clearing timber, and they are prime mature buck bedding areas.

“A bunch of times a buck will bed on the edges of these areas, and they will use the edges to move around during daylight. It’s a safe zone for them where they feel comfortable.”

Wet areas such as stream management zones can be dynamite during the early stages of the rut when bucks are starting to chase. Though they can easily go days without food, they have to have water, and frequently. For this reason, if you find big-buck sign in these types of areas, Matt recommends forming a plan to hunt it.

Matt says though bucks bed in plenty of different places, nearly every mature buck bed will have the same common features.

“He will usually have something large behind him. Maybe a fallen tree, or a wad of roots from a tree that fell over,” said Matt. “They like to back up to that and face downwind. This way, they have cover and the wind coming from behind them, and they can see any danger coming from the front. A big buck is going to use all of his senses to try and survive. Knowing what he’s thinking can help you locate a prime bedding area.”

Once you locate a prime bedding area, Matt says to be sure and leave your trail cameras at home to avoid spooking a mature buck.

“I quit using them when hunting bedding areas, and I’m seeing a bunch more deer from the stand,” said Matt. “The scent that you leave on them setting them up and trouncing in and out of the woods to pull cards, change batteries, etc. will mess up a prime hunting spot quick.”

If Matt wants to try and figure out how deer are moving around a bedding area, he will do an observation sit where he will try to set up as far away as he can possibly see. This gives him an idea of the trails and times of day that deer are moving. This helps to formulate a plan for him to make his big move.

“When I decide to go in for the kill, it’s a now or never trip,” said Matt. “If I don’t get him that very first hunt, I rarely will hunt that area again. If you go into his bedroom and don’t make the kill, he will know you were there, and he ain’t coming back.”

For this reason, Matt says it’s important to make sure that the wind is in your favor and you take plenty of time making your way to where you’re going to hunt.

“You have to get in there early, and I’m talking two hours before daylight early. When you bump deer on your way in and there are still a few hours until daylight, it doesn’t seem to bother them the way it does closer to sunrise.”

Matt says if you ever do feel like you bumped a big mature deer, a popular method called the bump and dump might work.

“I know plenty of people who use this method,” said Matt. “I know the late GON writer Glen Solomon did, and we know how many big bucks he put on the dirt. All you have to do is climb or set up on the ground close to where you jumped him. Oftentimes he will come back through some time around mid-morning or so.”

Matt says this past season he has been hunting from the ground much more often, and that it enables him to quietly sneak in and set up within 100 yards of a buck’s bedroom while staying undetected. That’s a pretty important factor as an inch is a mile when hunting a mature deer.

“I hear people say big bucks go nocturnal, and I just don’t buy into it,” said Matt. “I believe mature deer make calculated moves to stay alive and they don’t move far from the safety of heavy cover during the daylight hours. You have about a 100- or 150-yard radius from a buck’s bed that he will get up and move around in. If you’re much farther than that, you’re out of luck.”

When I asked Matt about scent control for hunting big bucks, he said he rarely uses anything other than unscented soap along with washing his hunting clothes in unscented detergent.

“When I was a K9 officer, I saw firsthand how a dog’s nose couldn’t be fooled, regardless of what you tried,” said Matt. “A deer’s nose is much more powerful than a dog’s, and your best bet to beat it is to get him on your first time in.”

One final tip Matt had for readers is not to be afraid to do some rattling around the rut. It can be a productive way to bring in an otherwise inactive buck.

“Big bucks are dominant,” said Matt. “They’re the big dog in the woods, and they won’t put up with two smaller bucks fighting over their territory. If they hear it, they will come investigate. When hunting on the ground, I like to really make it realistic. I will clang the horns, kick leaves around, stomp the dirt, push saplings down and so on. I strongly believe the full effects are more likely to fool a big buck.”

With limited space in a magazine article, it is impossible to cover every aspect of hunting mature bucks on public land. Matt says for those with more questions, feel free to look him up on Facebook and message him questions you may have. Additionally you can find his podcast from last season on the Georgia Afield website.