I'm in a similar situation with three kids myself. I do both. The public I hunt near home is about 2 miles away and my travels take me 2 hours. I do most of my hunting near home and save the away trips for a couple of times a year primarily during the rut. I scout the away properties about 4 times a year and use the aid of cameras in both situations. I would do both if I were you and save the travel for weekends away. You've earned it anyways. What also helps in our situation is having a reliable hunting partner. I hunt with my dad and brother which helps with scouting and bow hunting.
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Hunt near home or farther away?
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Re: Hunt near home or farther away?
My great limiting factor other than living in a state with high pressure and not a lot of big bucks is my non desire to travel to hunt. I can think I will do it and say I will do it, but I never will. We are limited to short evening weekday hunts and Saturdays as we are not permitted to hunt on Sunday so I need to be able to get to my spots quickly and efficiently.
I know its not right and sounds horribly lazy, but I just hate time in the car when I don't have much time to begin with.
I know its not right and sounds horribly lazy, but I just hate time in the car when I don't have much time to begin with.
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Re: Hunt near home or farther away?
This is one of the reasons I'm an advocate for hunting smaller parcels, especially close to home. Takes less time to scout, there aren't as many hiding spots for a big buck, he's either there or he isn't, there are fewer options for him to enter and exit, meaning fewer possibilities for the hunter as well. I have more time afield when I travel, so I'm not afraid to scout in season and those properties are bigger. Off season scouting I focus on close to home small properties. With room to roam, larger properties further from home can be scouted in season with a stand on your back.
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Re: Hunt near home or farther away?
Redman232 wrote:This is one of the reasons I'm an advocate for hunting smaller parcels, especially close to home. Takes less time to scout, there aren't as many hiding spots for a big buck, he's either there or he isn't, there are fewer options for him to enter and exit, meaning fewer possibilities for the hunter as well. I have more time afield when I travel, so I'm not afraid to scout in season and those properties are bigger. Off season scouting I focus on close to home small properties. With room to roam, larger properties further from home can be scouted in season with a stand on your back.
Agreed. Run and gun
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Re: Hunt near home or farther away?
Wow, thanks for all the replies
I think I will plan on focusing near home to see what, if any, big bucks are around. If I don't find a lot of sign during my spring scouting then I'll start to work farther out.
I think I will plan on focusing near home to see what, if any, big bucks are around. If I don't find a lot of sign during my spring scouting then I'll start to work farther out.
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Re: Hunt near home or farther away?
kripp53 wrote:Wow, thanks for all the replies
I think I will plan on focusing near home to see what, if any, big bucks are around. If I don't find a lot of sign during my spring scouting then I'll start to work farther out.
Sounds like a great plan.
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Re: Hunt near home or farther away?
Last couple years I made the decision to scout and hunt 1:45 minutes away. I put the time in terms of scouting and stacking the odds. I was sure I was going to be successful this year and then family conflicts caused me to only hunt 4 times this year and I missed the whole rut. You can't kill them if they're not there. But you can't kill them if you're not there.
I'm moving my hunting back home. It's harder but at least I can hunt.
I'm moving my hunting back home. It's harder but at least I can hunt.
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Re: Hunt near home or farther away?
If I were you I'd speed scout one or two spots far from home and see what you find. If things look like they do back home, then hunt around home.
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