Hunt near home or farther away?

Discuss deer hunting tactics, Deer behavior. Post your Hunting Stories, Pictures, and Questions/Answers.
  • Advertisement

HB Store


Tcarlson
Posts: 118
Joined: Wed Apr 16, 2014 3:04 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Hunt near home or farther away?

Unread postby Tcarlson » Wed Jan 20, 2016 2:46 pm

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.

[ Post made via iPad ] Image


briar
500 Club
Posts: 1700
Joined: Wed Oct 23, 2013 3:57 am
Status: Offline

Re: Hunt near home or farther away?

Unread postby briar » Thu Jan 21, 2016 1:54 am

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.
Redman232
Posts: 1251
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2012 2:20 am
Location: NE Indiana
Status: Offline

Re: Hunt near home or farther away?

Unread postby Redman232 » Thu Jan 21, 2016 2:45 am

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.
Buckshot20
500 Club
Posts: 1969
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 10:02 am
Location: Central Florida
Status: Offline

Re: Hunt near home or farther away?

Unread postby Buckshot20 » Thu Jan 21, 2016 2:55 am

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

[ Post made via Android ] Image
kripp53
Posts: 342
Joined: Thu Oct 09, 2014 7:40 am
Location: Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: Hunt near home or farther away?

Unread postby kripp53 » Thu Jan 21, 2016 3:47 am

Wow, thanks for all the replies :D

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.
User avatar
Dewey
Moderator
Posts: 36727
Joined: Thu Mar 11, 2010 7:57 pm
Location: Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: Hunt near home or farther away?

Unread postby Dewey » Thu Jan 21, 2016 4:53 am

kripp53 wrote:Wow, thanks for all the replies :D

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.

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image
User avatar
Buckfever
500 Club
Posts: 1029
Joined: Fri Jan 14, 2011 3:19 pm
Location: NE, IL
Status: Offline

Re: Hunt near home or farther away?

Unread postby Buckfever » Thu Jan 21, 2016 3:45 pm

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.
User avatar
Lockdown
Moderator
Posts: 9957
Joined: Fri Jul 18, 2014 4:16 pm
Location: MN
Status: Offline

Re: Hunt near home or farther away?

Unread postby Lockdown » Thu Jan 21, 2016 4:36 pm

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.

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image


  • Advertisement

Return to “Deer Hunting”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 99 guests