Mental reassurance

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muddy
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Mental reassurance

Unread postby muddy » Fri Oct 15, 2010 1:43 pm

I'm hunting a chunk of public land where I have VERY exclusive access too. What I mean is that instead of having to walk a couple miles I figured out a way to only have a 200 yard walk into the stand locations. I only cut 2 trails perpendicularly and when I do, I step over them. I parallel another tail 20 yards downhill from it so I don't bugger it. The first stand is on a small ridge on the downwind side for a NW wind, the other stand is 60 yards on the other side of the ridge for a SE wind and I have to step over 2 major trails to get to it, but 2 even bigger trails that I am most concerend about I never get near. Anyway, I don't screw around and hunt on the wrong winds and thus far I've seen A LOT of deer due to a high concentration of acorns in the area. I have yet to blow a deer out of there and plan to continue hunting the area so long as the winds prove perfect.

Any idea on how long I can pound this before I'm hurting the area with scent? I take GREAT care to avoid any trail and thus far, as I said, even when deer cut areas where I've walked I haven't been detected. I firmly believe I'm OK so long as I continue to not cut corners and hunt smart. This morning I saw over 40 deer, it's just a matter of time before something big walks through on the acorns.
Last edited by huntinnurse on Sat Oct 16, 2010 2:44 am, edited 4 times in total.
Reason: Per Muddy's request


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Re: Mental reassurance

Unread postby dan » Fri Oct 15, 2010 1:50 pm

I think the spot gets worse every time you hunt it... The same bucks that use the heavy trails also use the trails you cross occasionally... I would hunt it occasionally as long as I was seeing deer... Pounding that stand in my opinion will not only damage it now, but for years.
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Re: Mental reassurance

Unread postby muddy » Fri Oct 15, 2010 1:55 pm

I'd normally agree with you except that this place has done nothing but be awesome for the past 5 years, last year was the best with several shooters sighted. What has hurt it is my tendency to call/rattle to often, which I have cut off completely this year.
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Re: Mental reassurance

Unread postby muddy » Fri Oct 15, 2010 1:57 pm

And by "pounding it" I mean only hunting it with the correct winds, just more frequently because this year I'm seeing tons more deer due to the acorns. I'm not stupid enough to try and push my luck on sub par winds.
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Re: Mental reassurance

Unread postby Dor » Fri Oct 15, 2010 2:04 pm

I'd be cautious posting PL spots if I were you muddy. I rest it a bit. Pounding is never good.
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Re: Mental reassurance

Unread postby huntinnurse » Fri Oct 15, 2010 4:02 pm

Muddy, I've followed your posts and hunting seasons and style for several years now and you really know what you are doing. I beleive oyu will get a Beast of a buck very soon!!!1 If the winds are right, I believe it may very well be in 2 weekends. The moon will be right and you will be right. Yo got the right stuff. Don't doubt yourself. You have done the homework. Soak your boots in scent killer, get a bunch of acorns and crunch them up in a tub and then set your boots in them. You will kill the unwanted scent and have the scent they are after with each step you take.
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Re: Mental reassurance

Unread postby Hodag Hunter » Sat Oct 16, 2010 4:06 am

Keep after them Muddy, continue hunting smart like you are and shouldn't be a problem.

Had a spot like that 2 years ago. Second season bowhunting a ton, and I mean a ton of deer (for that area) were bedding on or close to the "swamp" I was hunting and traveling 1/4 mile north to a still standing corn field.

That December I had different working arraingements and hunted no less than 5 days a week in that spot in the afternoons......not always from the same stand, but up and down the swamp to hardwoods transition line for 100 yards. Corn was off the other side of the hardwoods 1/4 mile away.

Seen bucks every night, best night was 13 differnt bucks with (4) being shooters all with in 40 yards. Guy just needed to figure out what trail to hunt as there was a trails all over from the swamp to the corn. Best hunting I ever had.....didn't even seem fair when I was hunting it.

That's the year I shot the "one horner" and it flew off on his death run. Couldn't find it in the snow :roll: :oops: ...waited until spring to recover and never did find the other side. Became too greedy and had my sights set on a particular buck and waited until the last day of the season to shoot and took the 1st good buck that came thru.....the "one horner."
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Re: Mental reassurance

Unread postby ryanm » Sat Oct 16, 2010 6:09 am

muddy wrote:And by "pounding it" I mean only hunting it with the correct winds, just more frequently because this year I'm seeing tons more deer due to the acorns. I'm not stupid enough to try and push my luck on sub par winds.


I think each trip the scent rubs off walking in an out of an area and the trail is what the deer walk into after you've left.

When the rut gets rolling I think you can "pound" a good area a bit more because the deer are flying through, more distracted and are just following does that may not even be from the area. Good time to hunt funnels, I try to save a couple areas for that time of year.
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Re: Mental reassurance

Unread postby dan » Sat Oct 16, 2010 12:40 pm

There is a big difference in the varied properties each of us hunt...
The public land I hunt here might have one 150 inch buck per 1000 acres.
The public Muddy hunts might have 25 150 inch bucks or better in a 1000 acres... And the private managed stuff some people hunt on might have 50 or more per 1000 acres...
The area I hunt might have 1 hunter per 100 acres... Muddys might have 1 hunter per 500 acres, and the managed property might have 1 hunter per 1000...
On the public where I hunt 99% think any buck is a trophy... Muddys area might have guys who are a little more selective. On the managed property every buck might be passed till its 4 1/2...
Obviously, a property with more shooters ups your odds...
Properties where small bucks are passed, don't see many hunters and survive, or for whatever reason get to live a another year.

Where pressure is high, stupid bucks die. Where stupid bucks are passed to survive they get old enough to be bigger stupid bucks.
Where I am at a buck that lives to be 2 1/2 needs to be pretty damn smart and not make many mistakes...
My point is, Muddy pounding this stand will likely produce a shooter buck for him, BUT, he will be educating some of the deer, and the ones that have made it to the oldest age classes of 4, 5, or older, will be hard to trick. So, if the goal is not to shoot the biggest buck, but just to get a good buck, its probably a good idea to pound the spot if its your best option. But if the goal is to take a good buck, but your hoping you might get a chance at a monster older buck, less pressure would be a good thing.
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Re: Mental reassurance

Unread postby Hodag Hunter » Sat Oct 16, 2010 3:52 pm

I like Dan's last post and probably wasn't clear enough in my example comparing hunting areas with Muddy's.

To be short, the spot I hunted in 2008 was full of "stupid bucks" ....hence my statement saying it "didn't even seem fair".

Seriously they were not all there in the elusive catorgory, but
still had some smarts, just not comparable to high pressure animals. This property explained to me how some entry level hunters can and do score on decent bucks year in and year out. But sigh, can't hunt this area anymore.....land was sold :(
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Re: Mental reassurance

Unread postby GRUD » Mon Oct 18, 2010 12:27 am

Less pressure is always better but it's Public, go for it. Watch though the trails, I find that the older bucks a lot of times travel the lesser trails, and don't hang out with a lot of other deer. Also if there are finger points going out from the main ridge check for a trail perpendicular to the finger points about half way down the point, which connects point to point. In souther Indiana older bucks on public land hop from point to point to avoid hunters. Its a weird place to hunt but effective when gun starts because of the pressure. The trail is usually faint.
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Re: Mental reassurance

Unread postby UPbowhunter » Mon Oct 18, 2010 5:13 am

Muddy, good job doing your home work on that spot. But two things jump out at me on the spot as you describe it. One- you are hunting a food source with from what you described has a lot of deer useing it. In my expeirence when your hunting a food source two things happen, deer spread out and pick your scent up after you leave, and two you spook deer on your exit out after dark. Both may not be picked up by you at all. Two- you said you are crossing trails, that is a recipe for slowly killing a spot. You may not pick it up but mature deer bucks and does are picking you up, and and may start hitting the ridge later and later. If there is a reason to hunt it hard though is the fact that its a short term food source and if you dont spend time in it you may be to late. Only you can read the sign and deer reaction, to your presence. I think the fact that your asking you really know the answer your just hoping someone else will confirm it. Use your gut.
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Re: Mental reassurance

Unread postby muddy » Mon Oct 18, 2010 6:21 am

The last evening I hunted it it was nearly 80 degrees, I saw deer all evening and by the end of the night I had counted over 10 different bucks. Bad winds are predicted for a few days so I'll not be in there but I think my careful approach of the area is paying off. Maybe a few deer know something is up but I'm not worried yet when I'm seeing as many deer as I'm seeing. By the time the acorns start to disappear this place will start to show more pre rut rubs and scrapes. When this happens more and more outside bucks will be cruising through just like every year. I'm still confident things are safe here as I've only hunted it 3 times since Oct 1 and always on the perfect wind. Thus far no spooked deer that I've seen or heard.

I did do some scouting well to the north of this area and found that I can approach and hunt this area much easier from another direction, at least for morning hunts when deer are moving S to N as they typically do.
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Re: Mental reassurance

Unread postby 3dog » Mon Oct 18, 2010 2:06 pm

That's great you're getting in and out with little disturbance. One thing I've noticed tho with bigger bucks is they like to track you after you're gone so there very well could be a slob or two that know what you're up to. If it were me, the next time I hunt it would be when every ting is perfect, wind in right, moon is good and weather is optimal for big buck movement such as just before or just after a big storm or a low barometer. Good luck Muddy.


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