How do I get a big buck?

When's the best time of year to get a big buck. I always hear how
all the big buck are gone, that we no longer have them here in
Pennsylvania. I believe it's true that the coyote's, bobcats and
mountain lions (well, according to the game commission, we don't
have them here, but they're here!!) have depleted our deer
population. It's so unfortunate, because it truly brings a bit of
revenue to our area as well as the state of Pennsylvania in the
form of licensing fees. Oh well, another form of government
control and the insurance companies part in all of the lies in
regard to the non critters that live here in our wilds. I tangent :-)

First part of the article reads:

The whitetail rut is one of the most studied phenomena in hunting, so you’d think we’d have had it all figured out long ago. But no—only recently, with the boom in deer populations and the growing popularity of trophy deer hunting, have many of the finer points of the whitetail breeding season been closely examined by biologists and observed by hardcore hunters. We may not have it all worked out yet, but we understand the rut much better today than we did only a couple of decades ago.

Just like old habits, though, traditional ideas about the rut are hard to break away from. Here are five persistent misconceptions about the whitetail’s breeding season.

Understanding the real facts can help you fill your tag now.

Myth #1 The peak rut is the best time to take a buck. It’s easy to have a Pavlovian response to the words peak rut. We can’t help it. Decades of magazine articles and deer-camp conversations have created a conditioned response that makes us take our vacations during the height of the whitetail breeding season.

Instead, we should be taking off a little earlier. Bucks are actually most mobile and vulnerable just prior to the most intense breeding activity, during a seven- to 10-day period called the “seeking” or “chasing” phase of the rut. By contrast, the very heart of the whitetail breeding season can bring some pretty lousy hunting because a large percentage of bucks are likely to be holed up with receptive does.

According to noted biologist and whitetail expert Grant Woods, the seeking and chasing phase is a time when bucks are raring to go but few does are yet in estrus. As a result, anxious bucks can be found on their feet at almost any time of day—checking scrapes, making rubs, and seeking and chasing does. “For anyone who knows their hunting area and its deer well,” Woods says, “this is the best time to take a buck.” My own experience has certainly confirmed this: The last four trophy bucks I’ve killed with my bow have all fallen during the seeking and chasing phase. I’d choose that period to hunt instead of the peak rut every time.

To read the entire article in regard to more myths....
check out the article on Field and Stream.