Hunting the woods... and Hello!

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twksk8
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Hunting the woods... and Hello!

Unread postby twksk8 » Tue Aug 25, 2015 5:00 am

Hey everyone! I just joined the forum, but have been following it since last season. This will be my 4th hunting season, but only my second hunting public land. Last year was a great learning experience, but a complete bust in terms of actually connecting. I didn’t even get a chance to draw my bow on anything. I just felt like I was trying to find a needle in a haystack.

A few of my problems:

- I over hunted the same area because I kept telling myself, “now you know where they are! next time you’ll connect”. I’m pretty sure I pushed everything out of that area.
- My season got off to a very slow start because I changed up a lot of equipment early on, finally ended up getting the lone wolf assault 2 and some climbing sticks… stand problem solved!

I was able to scout the area a little through the summer, but honestly saw very little actual sign, other than the occasional scat here or there. I really tried not to press into any bedding areas. Here’s the problem though, it’s pretty much solid woods OR unmaintained fields, no crops.

I have so many questions, and can only speculate, but maybe some of you hunting masters can provide a little advise or insight?

Would you hunt the fields, corners, saddles, etc? What type of action might you expect in fields where there isn’t much more than tall grass, sticker bushes, and ragweed… Is this a gold mine or a worthless spot?

After watching some of Dan’s videos, I really felt like I understood the strategies for picking some spots based on topo maps and utilizing google maps, etc. However, I still felt like I did a lot of “random decision making” once I was out there trying to pick a tree. I tried to be as intentional as possible, but still… I felt like I’d go in with a plan and have to throw it out the window once I go to the spot I had in mind.

Altogether, I did see about 4 deer throughout my first season of public land hunting… so I know they’re out there! However, I didn’t have anything within shooting range except for one little spike.

I’m really not looking for a magic answer or anything, just wondering what you guys that are very experienced on public land might have to offer a newer hunter.

Thanks in advance!


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headgear
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Re: Hunting the woods... and Hello!

Unread postby headgear » Tue Aug 25, 2015 5:29 am

Since you are pretty new to this I would stick to the basics and just try and have fun. If those fields are just grass and not cut in late summer they aren't great food sources so I might ignore them. If they are cut and green then you might get some deer hitting them and you might even glass a few deer and setup a plan of attack for opener. Otherwise I might jump around a bit until you find some deer, if they are just out of range come back and see if you can't get a little closer the next hunt or two but eventually move on to keep from burning out an area. If you can post up some aerial photos that might help us get an idea of what you are hunting. Otherwise try and hang around bedding areas mentioned in the videos, they don't have to be exactly like the vids but anything thick or wet or a ridge with a lot of blow downs can all hold deer.
cdeam
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Re: Hunting the woods... and Hello!

Unread postby cdeam » Tue Aug 25, 2015 6:27 am

The beds are there somewhere. If you didn't find them try again in the spring. For now, hunt the edges. Wherever two or more types of vegetation come together.

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dan
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Re: Hunting the woods... and Hello!

Unread postby dan » Tue Aug 25, 2015 6:55 am

I could get pretty complicated answering this, but Im going to keep it simple for now and tell you to concentrate on the areas where hardly anybody goes...

From your perspective, you probably think Im crazy giving that answer, it most likely appears to you that hunters cover every inch of that ground... But, Im willing to bet there are some small areas off to the side, maybe along the road, maybe surrounded by water, etc... that most of the hunters avoid. Deer are masters at finding the spots with very little human ground scent....

If you forget every thing you know, just remember these two pc.s of advice and you will do ok:

1) over looked spots
2) stay mobile

Welcome to the BEAST! 8-)
twksk8
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Re: Hunting the woods... and Hello!

Unread postby twksk8 » Tue Aug 25, 2015 8:09 am

Thank you all for your replies so far! You are amazing and I greatly appreciate it!

I'll post some aerials this evening!
JoeRE
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Re: Hunting the woods... and Hello!

Unread postby JoeRE » Tue Aug 25, 2015 10:26 am

Welcome to the Beast :D

I will keep it simple too and not even say anything about tactics. If you have watched those DVDs you will have a lot of ideas bouncing around in your head. A lot of new hunters get discouraged particularly in our society where everything is about instant gratification. When you learned to drive a car you didn't just parallel park it your first time out. If you played a sport as a kid you didn't just get decent at it your first or second year. Hunting anything is like that. It takes many years to build a skill set of anything. Doesn't mean you can't have fun.

You will hear about a TON of great tactics on here. Jump in, try lots of stuff, keep an open mind, and keep it fun! Try new stuff but don't try to skip steps in the learning process. You will make mistakes and that is a good thing. Gotta make mistakes to learn.
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Horizontal Hunter
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Re: Hunting the woods... and Hello!

Unread postby Horizontal Hunter » Tue Aug 25, 2015 11:20 am

Welcome aboard. You have struck gold finding this forum. Go to the BEAST store and pick up the Marsh Bucks and Hill Country CDs and watch them several times.

Bob

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Vegetarian: vejiˈte(ə)rēən/noun: old Indian word for lousy hunter. :o

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Motivated
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Re: Hunting the woods... and Hello!

Unread postby Motivated » Tue Aug 25, 2015 11:38 am

Welcome! If you are learning from mistakes, then you are on your way.

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Work hard, stay humble, be kind.
welded34
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Re: Hunting the woods... and Hello!

Unread postby welded34 » Tue Aug 25, 2015 12:34 pm

Welcome to the beast!

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twksk8
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Re: Hunting the woods... and Hello!

Unread postby twksk8 » Tue Aug 25, 2015 1:53 pm

Thank you all for the advice and warm welcome!

I purchased the Hill Country Bucks DVD last year and am about to rewatch it!

A few things that definitely struck home so far:

The beds are there somewhere.


Yes! They are for sure! I found 2 good bedding areas last season, and because of their location I'm pretty sure they'll be there, or at least in close proximity, again this year. While scouting I was definitely trying to steer clear, but earlier in the spring I went right through them and couldn't take 2 steps without seeing a bed, scat, or something that had been chewed on. I guess what was going through my mind in preparation for this season was should I immediately hit those spots? Start off a bit further away? It's a guessing game at this point about how they enter/exit the area because they could realistically enter/exit from any direction due to the landscape. Last year I setup south of one for the morning and had a doe pass on the opposite ridge, shortly thereafter a coyote came through. I hit that spot one more time and had one enter the bed behind where I was facing and I didn't have a shot. When I was getting down to pack out, I looked up to see a coyote bed down 25 yards from me, somehow I saw him first though. That was the most action I saw in a single spot all season.

Map
Green areas = "food plots" aka "unmanaged fields"
Red areas = private land
Stars = places I've hunted (except the ones on the road, those were ideal parking spots)
Image


Here's the topo I came up with and some notes I made last season. I may be waaaay off :)

Red Dot = where I park
Orange Dots = potential deer beds
Green Dots = best potential deer beds
Blue arrows = prevailing winds putting deer in the best beds

Topo
Image

Hopefully you can see it, but the map and topo are of the same area... topo is zoomed in to a specific section because of the quality of the images I had to work with at the time.


From your perspective, you probably think Im crazy giving that answer, it most likely appears to you that hunters cover every inch of that ground... But, Im willing to bet there are some small areas off to the side, maybe along the road, maybe surrounded by water, etc... that most of the hunters avoid. Deer are masters at finding the spots with very little human ground scent....


Dan, I love this! I think I settled into areas last year and when I felt like the deer had left I guess I didn't really consider "where did they go"... the overlooked spots may have really paid off later in the season for me.


Thanks again!


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