Big Woods Rifle Season Tactics

[croz2173]

Hi all,

I'm brand new to the site and to be honest most of the tactics discussed here are new to me as well. I've only got two more days to hunt archery here in PA, so I would like hear some thoughts on the best way to approach a high pressure hunting situation such as the PA rifle season.

The area I hunt is a rectangular tract of about 10,000 acres of unbroken big woods, no access except main roads on the perimeter. The topography is steep with a lot of points and valleys, rocky, ton of mountain laurel, and some extremely thick areas. My plan for now was to hunt a large area, 100 acres about, that is so thick I'm confident no one else will be there, and that deer will gravitate to it. This area is a mix of laurel, small hemlock, brush, blow-downs, and rocks.

There are a couple of places in there that I could hang a stand and be able to see maybe 50 yards in a couple directions. These spots are deep inside the thick stuff, the only places I could find that I could see more than about 15 yards. One of my questions is, would I be better off hunting these spots or trying to find where deer would enter this thick area once they are pushed. To get to the stand sites inside the thick stuff, I would be making a lot of noise, causing a big disturbance, although very early, hours before light.

My other question is about later in the season. The opener is crazy, ton of people in the woods, I assume the mature buck will try to hunker down where they wont be bothered, hopefully where nobody will be but me. During the middle of the week is quite different. There is very little pressure, especially far back in. I know a mature buck is not going to want to move during daylight after the assault of the opener, but where do you think he would rather be? High up on a ridge with the wind coming over his back and a long view down the hill in front of him, or hunkered down in the thick nasty stuff? Maybe both are possibilities? Just wondering whether my time would be better spent peeking over ridges/points or still hunting though heavy cover.

[lostinstateforest]

I hunt areas like this for archery and rifle season. My personal opinion may differ greatly from the rest but here it goes. You need to find escape routes. What I mean by this is an area that is on the edge of pressure, that offers a comfortable route for moving from danger. These are are not always the thickest. Often for me there are the backsides of ledges or low(maybe a creek) points in the laurel. One of my best spots is large opening area, maybe 300 yards by 500 yards, it is surrounded by laurel on all 4 sides. I have shot more deer in the opening in the center of the laurel than anywhere else. My opinion is bc the deer feel the pressure from one of the four sides and choose to make a big move/long distance and opt to do this through the open area vs the thick, bc I believe they feel safer there when running or pressure gets to close. Now once they cross this opening they quickly get back to the thick stuff. What in have found is if you get far enough from the pressure that no one is kicking deer up your odds drop greatly. I have spent years getting up at 2 am to get deeper than anyone else before first light and have found these deer are not on their feet and no one get them moving. This is bc the obviously sense the pressure but don't feel it. They are to deep and more likely more mature is some cases, which leads to not leaving the laurel for days and days.

They are not deeper bc they are older. They are older bc they are deeper. This isn't their first rifle season and probably a bad time to catcht them slippin, but my opinion on where the big boys will be is that they have a spot that they go when this pressure occurs. In my area one spot the often go is on the back side of a cliff where no one would ever walk, bc a deer would never there. It's so steep it's almost unwalkable, but I kicked at least 2-3 bucks out of there in one walk and saw the 2 biggest bucks I have ever saw head there together opening day. This spot is smaller than my house but offer a lot of safety. So with that said I believe the like higher rather than lower and they like easy exit vs tripping over themselves when the 5*// hits the fan.

[ Post made via Android ]

[headgear]

On opening day of rifle season I like to sit an escape route at a funnel, I get down there nice and early and let all the guys I hunt with make a push to me, it has worked one time on a nice mature 9 pointer. After that its strictly rut tactics but what I learned from Dan was to move around throughout the day to be in the best spots at the best times. So hunt doe or buck bedding in the morning and a cruising area or funnel mid-day, then back to bedding at night. In your case I would hunt the thick stuff in the morning and evening, then mid-day sit between the thick stuff/bedding or on a saddle to catch cruising bucks.

[Buck Clark]

I hunt in PA throughout the rifle season and I find that deer gravitate towards the steepest terrain they can find and will be located in the thickest cover available. Watch for deer to move to the edge of cover to catch a warming sun during the late morning or mid afternoon if the weather is really cold, below 20 degrees. They will stick out like sore thumbs if you have snow. I would try to get into the middle of the nasty stuff if you can without creating too much noise, or get above it on the hillside or watch it from across a valley, whichever is easiest and keeps your target area within your comfortable shooting range. Most of my shots during rifle season are under 50 yards, so it sounds like you found a great spot to me! Good luck!