Ohio Observations

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SamPotter
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Ohio Observations

Unread postby SamPotter » Fri Dec 11, 2015 10:24 am

I've been hunting at my friend's place in SE Ohio for a few years now. He has 350 acres of woods with some agriculture on neighboring properties 1/2 mile north. The place is crawling with deer. As many of you may know, baiting is allowed in Ohio. It seems like every person that hunts has a spin feeder out back. I shot a doe down there last week and it was literally the fattest deer I've ever butchered in my life. I felt like I was skinning a bear- I couldn't even grip the hide she was so greasy. Her gut was full of corn and she had dingle berries from such a rich diet.

My friend owns 3 spin feeders, but hasn't run them the past 2 years. Despite that, there was no shortage of deer seen (10 at a time on occasion) or mature bucks. What I really clued in on this year was that the property seemed to be almost 100% devoid of deer when I was headed to a tree in the morning darkness, but around dawn they'd start trickling back to bed on any one of the various hills on the property. Then, an hour or so before dark they'd be up again and headed off the property to feed at neighbor's feeders. Based on prior years when my friend did run feeders, most of the activity at the feeders was after dark anyhow.

What I liked best was the ability to sneak into good spots in the wee hours of the morning and not bump deer because they aren't even there yet. Based on this, I've decided it's best to let the neighbor's keep the local feed store in business and reap the benefits.

So I guess the moral of the story is that if you had to choose, it is better to own the bedding than the feed...

Here's a map that shows observed deer movement (either from a tree or a trail camera):

Image


Jed33
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Re: Ohio Observations

Unread postby Jed33 » Sat Dec 12, 2015 1:05 am

It has been about 8 years since I lost a hunting paradise in Vinton Co. OH, and let me tell you I miss the luxury of being able to hunt deer that had to travel to get food. A lot of daylight activity when the deer need to travel over that type of terrain to get to ag fields, so it was in my opinion "easier" hunting when the deer would browse their way from the bedding to the fields often miles away. Harvested a lot of deer doing what you are doing on your buddies property.

I will say that one year I got a buck and his stomach was full to bursting with corn. The nearest corn field was about 2 miles from where I harvested the deer. To my knowledge there were not any feeders around this property. Most of these vast chunks of land were thousands of acres owned by paper companies or logging companies and the people who hunted the same property didn't use feeders. I think that deer will continue to use the oak ridges for food, browse and bedding, and travel vast amounts of land to reach other feeding areas that are open for the night feeding. Whether it is feeders or fields use the natural habitat and travel corridors to your advantage during the daytime.

Just looking at that topo gives puts a smile on my face! :D
Redman232
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Re: Ohio Observations

Unread postby Redman232 » Sat Dec 12, 2015 1:40 am

Having access to the bedding is infinitely better in my opinion. If I had to take a destination food source, it would be very close to prime bedding. With the exception of the 2 year old I shot this year, I have never shot a buck in a crop field and I hunt farm country.
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kenn1320
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Re: Ohio Observations

Unread postby kenn1320 » Sat Dec 12, 2015 1:46 am

Deer will bed by the food source if not pressured. Its likely your buddys property has lots of deer bedding there cause its not hunted much or incorrectly. The neighbors are probably constantly out filling feeders and checking trail cams by the feeders. Its addicting, I do it in my back yard. I limit myself to once a wk, and thats tough. If I had to choose bedding vs food, bedding would be my choice. Ive hunted property with no bedding and all food and seen lots of tracks, but no deer. While the guy hunting across the street showed me trail cam pics of nice bucks in day light and said his spot had great cover/bedding.
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SamPotter
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Re: Ohio Observations

Unread postby SamPotter » Sat Dec 12, 2015 2:58 am

Jed33 wrote:It has been about 8 years since I lost a hunting paradise in Vinton Co. OH, and let me tell you I miss the luxury of being able to hunt deer that had to travel to get food. A lot of daylight activity when the deer need to travel over that type of terrain to get to ag fields, so it was in my opinion "easier" hunting when the deer would browse their way from the bedding to the fields often miles away. Harvested a lot of deer doing what you are doing on your buddies property.

I will say that one year I got a buck and his stomach was full to bursting with corn. The nearest corn field was about 2 miles from where I harvested the deer. To my knowledge there were not any feeders around this property. Most of these vast chunks of land were thousands of acres owned by paper companies or logging companies and the people who hunted the same property didn't use feeders. I think that deer will continue to use the oak ridges for food, browse and bedding, and travel vast amounts of land to reach other feeding areas that are open for the night feeding. Whether it is feeders or fields use the natural habitat and travel corridors to your advantage during the daytime.

Just looking at that topo gives puts a smile on my face! :D


It's definitely a different experience than hunting run of the mill farm country or big woods. I would agree that it is comparatively easy once you figure out the terrain and the general deer patterns. This is my 4th season on this property and things really started to click in my head this year.


kenn1320 wrote:Deer will bed by the food source if not pressured. Its likely your buddys property has lots of deer bedding there cause its not hunted much or incorrectly. The neighbors are probably constantly out filling feeders and checking trail cams by the feeders. Its addicting, I do it in my back yard. I limit myself to once a wk, and thats tough. If I had to choose bedding vs food, bedding would be my choice. Ive hunted property with no bedding and all food and seen lots of tracks, but no deer. While the guy hunting across the street showed me trail cam pics of nice bucks in day light and said his spot had great cover/bedding.


This is an accurate guess. Indeed, it isn't hunted much and when my friend or any of his other friends or family hunts it (very rare) their access routes and stand choices are boneheaded in my view. I try my best to suggest better strategy or stand site, but I generally have very little luck getting any of my hunting friends to follow my advice. Most of the time they seem to think it sounds like too much work to walk farther or climb a steep hill on foot when they can do it on an ATV, but there is also an element of "I can do it myself" type of attitude. I have one friend that will do exactly what I suggest and he has had great results. Not trying to pat myself on the back too much, but there are no shortcuts to success in deer hunting.
When I hunt there I try to take a low impact approach and in turn the deer stay on the property. It also helps that the property had a select cut log-job last winter that only added to the bedding cover.


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