Is there many undisturbed mature buck hideouts anymore
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Is there many undisturbed mature buck hideouts anymore
I'm not talking no hunting land, managed, conservation etc. I'm talking the typical private wood lots and public hunting areas. Almost every piece of land I have been on has multiple stands either in my area and if not, the neighbouring spots all have stands, many people hunting or riding off road toys etc. Do you believe with so much traffic and pressure that most properties don't have the small out of the way spot anymore. An example is a place I used to bunny hunt. There was a swale behind the farmers barn.. I often kicked deer out of it, so did the farmer as he dumped junk back there, same as the neighbour on his atv. It was the most unused area on the farm but at some point it is used. My point is, we are told to find the most un used spots on our land but I'm finding more often than not, every corner is usually used up
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- Hawthorne
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Re: Is there many undisturbed mature buck hideouts anymore
I have no confidence hunting public land unless it wet thick and nasty. Those types of areas I find good spots that look UN used. If its easy access open woods I keep driving
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- Bonecrusher101
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Re: Is there many undisturbed mature buck hideouts anymore
Well said hawthorn! If it isn't thick with good browse and lots of briars, it's not thick enough. Wet adds another element many aren't brave enough to go. If the deer sign or sightings are not there you're out of the game. Deer are easy targets in big open hardwoods.
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- DaveT1963
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Re: Is there many undisturbed mature buck hideouts anymore
I think it depends on # of hunters, how much public land is avaiable and how well it is known for producing big bucks. You will be hard pressed in some states to find any public land that does not get pressured.... And some states that have a lot of public land. When I routinely hunted Montana it was pretty easy to find good whitetail hunting on public, as there was a lot of public land and most people were after elk and Mule deer. How long the gun session is can also be a factor. So is whether or not licenses are OTC or draw/permit. How remote/rough the land is can also be a factor.
The number of licenses sold by its self does not mean pressure. The worst public land hunting I have ever encountered is in N. TEXAS due to very limited public land, how small the land tracts are, and a huge population of people (DFW) that want to hunt. Kentucky it is not to hard to find a good spot not over run with people. Same for Kansas. Ohio and Illinois are tougher.
Some people have it made and won't realize it until they travel outside their home circle..... In some areas just finding A Public Spot to hunt is a challenge.... Much less EVER finding a mature buck on it.
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The number of licenses sold by its self does not mean pressure. The worst public land hunting I have ever encountered is in N. TEXAS due to very limited public land, how small the land tracts are, and a huge population of people (DFW) that want to hunt. Kentucky it is not to hard to find a good spot not over run with people. Same for Kansas. Ohio and Illinois are tougher.
Some people have it made and won't realize it until they travel outside their home circle..... In some areas just finding A Public Spot to hunt is a challenge.... Much less EVER finding a mature buck on it.
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Re: Is there many undisturbed mature buck hideouts anymore
I understand COMPLETELY hunter10. I live in Western PA where we have an extremely high number of hunters per sq mile. Since much of the state in the middle 3rd has a low population density, our numbers are even more deceiving since largely the hunters are stacked on either side of the state. This makes the area where I hunt have what most would consider probably some of the highest hunter density maybe in the country. Add to the fact the we legalized crossbows and have a large amish population...needless to say we have some pressure.
Since starting on the beast 3 or 4 years ago I have worked really hard at finding these areas that are undisturbed and I am still trying. I think the hardest part is that we lack unbroken tracks of woods within a huntable radius of where I live. Population leads to roads and if you are hunting a mile square, its only a half mile from any one road. Now I don't doubt that if I had a couple weeks a year to take 2-3 hour drives into the mountains I would be able to find some haunts that have limited if any pressure, but for me this is just not realistic at this point in my life.
Last year for example I bought myself a pair of waders and was super excited to cross some pretty major water to get to a secluded area near my home. I strapped on my boots in April and I struggled to get to the area (a trip I don't know that I could physically make with stand and bow. I was in the area for 5 minutes and found a climber and ladder stand within 75 yards....bummer.....so this yea I acquired permission on the back side of this area where a deep muddy river inhibits crossing my foot and it would be a loooooooooong canoe carry. I hiked as far as the public land would allow, .80 mile and was greeted with 2 old climbers and a ladder stand all within 150 yards or so. What I found was an old lane unmarked on the map met the back end of this property and allowed much easier access than I was afforded with my walk.
My best hope is to find pockets within the land and try to work from there. Like my post about old stand, I can only hope that these stands are abandoned or gun hunted, because I just have to accept the I am hunting where others have been and quite honestly I am running out of options...only so many farms to ask and public to hike until I reach the point I have more time to hunt further away from home.
I bought a recurve and more or less changed my challenge to that other than the pursuit of a a wall hanger buck. I needed to change or the simple process of constant disappointment was getting to be more than I could handle for something that was supposed to be fun.
Since starting on the beast 3 or 4 years ago I have worked really hard at finding these areas that are undisturbed and I am still trying. I think the hardest part is that we lack unbroken tracks of woods within a huntable radius of where I live. Population leads to roads and if you are hunting a mile square, its only a half mile from any one road. Now I don't doubt that if I had a couple weeks a year to take 2-3 hour drives into the mountains I would be able to find some haunts that have limited if any pressure, but for me this is just not realistic at this point in my life.
Last year for example I bought myself a pair of waders and was super excited to cross some pretty major water to get to a secluded area near my home. I strapped on my boots in April and I struggled to get to the area (a trip I don't know that I could physically make with stand and bow. I was in the area for 5 minutes and found a climber and ladder stand within 75 yards....bummer.....so this yea I acquired permission on the back side of this area where a deep muddy river inhibits crossing my foot and it would be a loooooooooong canoe carry. I hiked as far as the public land would allow, .80 mile and was greeted with 2 old climbers and a ladder stand all within 150 yards or so. What I found was an old lane unmarked on the map met the back end of this property and allowed much easier access than I was afforded with my walk.
My best hope is to find pockets within the land and try to work from there. Like my post about old stand, I can only hope that these stands are abandoned or gun hunted, because I just have to accept the I am hunting where others have been and quite honestly I am running out of options...only so many farms to ask and public to hike until I reach the point I have more time to hunt further away from home.
I bought a recurve and more or less changed my challenge to that other than the pursuit of a a wall hanger buck. I needed to change or the simple process of constant disappointment was getting to be more than I could handle for something that was supposed to be fun.
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Re: Is there many undisturbed mature buck hideouts anymore
Hawthorne wrote:I have no confidence hunting public land unless it wet thick and nasty. Those types of areas I find good spots that look UN used. If its easy access open woods I keep driving
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I agree. If it's a challenge to get to it will eliminate at least 90% of the hunting pressure and you can bet there will be at least a few mature bucks living there.
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Re: Is there many undisturbed mature buck hideouts anymore
I think it really depends on the time of the year. On the properties I hunt "private" most of the other hunters hunt November almost exclusively. So if I can work around those hunters I can do a better job on finding undisturbed bedding areas. If you get into the peak rut it is much harder. On the public ground I hunt early is also better. Squirrel hunters are the biggest obstacle.
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
- Horizontal Hunter
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Re: Is there many undisturbed mature buck hideouts anymore
briar wrote:My best hope is to find pockets within the land and try to work from there. Like my post about old stand, I can only hope that these stands are abandoned or gun hunted, because I just have to accept the I am hunting where others have been and quite honestly I am running out of options...only so many farms to ask and public to hike until I reach the point I have more time to hunt further away from home.
There are a log of old and abandoned stands in the woods that are rarely or never used. I really wish that states would restrict stands to portables only and require you to leave nothing in the woods is on public land. Public lands are first come first serve and it would stop people from leaving stands up year round effectively claiming that spot in perpetuity.
If I want to know if/when a stand is being used I hang a branch on it. It the branch is still there the stand hasn't been used. You will likely find that most of those stands are used during the gun seasons. IMO it is just as important to pattern the other hunters as it is to pattern the deer.
Bob
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Re: Is there many undisturbed mature buck hideouts anymore
Bob....i couldnt agree with you more and started a thread saying that on a pa message board..,boy did i take a beating!!
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- Horizontal Hunter
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Re: Is there many undisturbed mature buck hideouts anymore
briar wrote:Bob....i couldnt agree with you more and started a thread saying that on a pa message board..,boy did i take a beating!!
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I have taken a few beatings over that myself.
Do what you want on private but on public land we all pay the same fee and have the same rights to hunt where we want.
Bob
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Re: Is there many undisturbed mature buck hideouts anymore
If there is mature bucks living there, then there is spots that are somewhat over looked... Not all property is the same, and in order to be as successful as possible we need to seek out the best.
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Re: Is there many undisturbed mature buck hideouts anymore
I try to find water, then cross it with waders, hipboots or a boat. Do what others don't want to do and you'll usually find yourself all alone. Mature bucks do the same thing....minus the boat, hippers or waders
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Re: Is there many undisturbed mature buck hideouts anymore
dan wrote:If there is mature bucks living there, then there is spots that are somewhat over looked... Not all property is the same, and in order to be as successful as possible we need to seek out the best.
That's basically what I was going to say.
If there aren't hiding spots for mature bucks to use then they probably don't exist in an area.
Its not a matter of a 40 acre chunk somewhere that doesn't get disturbed. Its more like a 1 acre area over here with decent bedding doesn't get disturbed very often and 1/2 acre over there doesn't either. Definitely can change week by week through the season. In higher pressure areas the size of land a buck needs to survive is tiny....during daylight hours!
- Hawthorne
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Re: Is there many undisturbed mature buck hideouts anymore
Your land has to have P.O.L.T.S. potential for long term survival. Usually has to be at least 15 acres of thick and nasty on private land undisturbed. More than that on public probably
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Re: Is there many undisturbed mature buck hideouts anymore
You would be surprised how small of a patch of cover or nook or cranny a buck can hole up in within heavy pressure areas. It has blown my mind in so many cases and it never ceases to amaze me. Sometimes you have to about step on him, twice, before he blows out and gives you a heart attack.
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