Hunting Big Timber

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H2archer
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Hunting Big Timber

Unread postby H2archer » Mon Aug 29, 2016 10:56 pm

Most of the public land areas that are close to me are mostly/all big timber. There is little to no ag land near by. These areas are FULL of mature white and red oak stands however.
With that being said... How do things like funnels, travel corridors, and bedding differ from farm land or marsh type hunting? What are the things that pop out to you on a map or in person when scouting big timber? What sort of terrain features do you try to zero in on?
The terrain here is varies quite a bit with some rolling hills and some jagged terrain with very steep ravines. No large creeks or rivers on any of the public land I hunt. Mostly just small (small enough to step across) streams so I can't see those playing much of a factor in travel routes (could be wrong here).

Jake


mainebowhunter
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Re: Hunting Big Timber

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Mon Aug 29, 2016 11:36 pm

The toughest part about bigger timber with no swamps, marshes or breakups in it, is the fact that the deer can and will bed / feed anywhere in it. It means, you cannot take a big piece of timber and just walk the edges, dismissing a vast majority of it like you would a marsh. IF there is acorns and food spread throughout all of it, deer will use it. It means a lot of boot leather is burnt looking for spots. Where I live, hunt a lot of 2000 acre chunks of timber. BUT, cross the road, your into another big acreage. It just takes time and years to really learn it. There is no "easy" button with big chunks of timber. I just try to break them into manageable sections and attack it over a period of time.

Transitions can be subtle. Softwood to hardwood. Standing timber to clearcut. Thicker cover butting up to open hardwood. Most times, I try gravitate to the most diverse/broke up looking spots first.

Hill country, that is also a feature that change how the deer moves. Thats a whole topic in itself.
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Re: Hunting Big Timber

Unread postby H2archer » Tue Aug 30, 2016 12:29 am

mainebowhunter wrote: I just try to break them into manageable sections and attack it over a period of time.



Thanks for the reply. This is what I have spent most of the year doing in my spare time. I don't think the chunks i'm hunting are as big as the ones you're in, but i'm pretty new to the whole scouting game so it ca n still feel a little overwhelming. I've walked MANY miles this year. I've enjoyed every one of them. I did finally, last weekend, find some "good" sign. I found a rub line from last year that crosses a small creek but I couldn't really tell where it went after about 100 yards on either side. The creek bottom is pretty thick then open timber on either side. This, and the fact that this area is actually pretty close to a road and access area, kind of confused me. But, I plan to get back in there this evening and see if I missed something that might lead me to his/their bedding area.

EDIT: I was just looking at an aerial of this area and it looks like there might be a little pine thicket about 50 or 60 yards up that creek bottom. might be a good place to start looking.
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headgear
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Re: Hunting Big Timber

Unread postby headgear » Tue Aug 30, 2016 1:20 am

Check out the Hill Country dvd in the beast store, there is a whole book worth of info there and big shortcut to hunting the terrain you are in. I don't really have hills in my areas but I still learned a ton just from watching it.
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Re: Hunting Big Timber

Unread postby H2archer » Tue Aug 30, 2016 1:57 am

I have the hill country dvd, watched it several months ago and now I can find the case but not the dvd (so it goes with a toddler running around the house). I may have to order another one.
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Re: Hunting Big Timber

Unread postby bobbo1686 » Tue Aug 30, 2016 3:32 am

I hunt big timber areas in Indiana. There is ag in the bottoms here but it doesn't really matter once the acorns start falling and the ag is harvested it all goes back to how the deer relate to the topography, the vegetation, and pressure. Definitely try to use topographical maps to find areas that have saddles, long ridgelines that get pinched by a drainage or multiple ridgelines that run together to form a hub. I have had luck in these areas. Check your aerial maps and especially Google Earth for changes in vegetation shading over time. Deer are just like fish in how they relate to cover. They will gravitate to a small pine thicket in the middle of a huge chunk of hardwoods, the edges of clear cuts, or any small openings you can find such as log landings. By understanding the way the deer use the topography first will help you to eliminate some of the areas that you may think are good. Spend some time doing the desktop reconnaissance and then field-proof your findings. Give an area a look and then pull it back up a few days later. You will be surprised at the way things pop out from one day to the next. Good luck!

Bob
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Re: Hunting Big Timber

Unread postby Divergent » Tue Aug 30, 2016 3:36 am

The deer I hunt seem to bed on rounder shaped secondary points with a more defined military crest. I don't find as many beds on longer/skinny points or ones with a gradual military crest. Add in cover and it starts to narrow down considerably.

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Re: Hunting Big Timber

Unread postby H2archer » Tue Aug 30, 2016 3:43 am

bobbo1686 wrote:I hunt big timber areas in Indiana. There is ag in the bottoms here but it doesn't really matter once the acorns start falling and the ag is harvested it all goes back to how the deer relate to the topography, the vegetation, and pressure. Definitely try to use topographical maps to find areas that have saddles, long ridgelines that get pinched by a drainage or multiple ridgelines that run together to form a hub. I have had luck in these areas. Check your aerial maps and especially Google Earth for changes in vegetation shading over time. Deer are just like fish in how they relate to cover. They will gravitate to a small pine thicket in the middle of a huge chunk of hardwoods, the edges of clear cuts, or any small openings you can find such as log landings. By understanding the way the deer use the topography first will help you to eliminate some of the areas that you may think are good. Spend some time doing the desktop reconnaissance and then field-proof your findings. Give an area a look and then pull it back up a few days later. You will be surprised at the way things pop out from one day to the next. Good luck!

Bob


awesome info. I appreciate it. I'm still trying to get these topo maps down a little better. I have a friend who is an avid backpacker and topo map user coming to dumb it down for me a bit so hopefully that'll help out.
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Re: Hunting Big Timber

Unread postby BA-IV » Tue Aug 30, 2016 6:48 am

timberwolf311 wrote:Hunting an area like this can be, imo, some of the hardest to TRUELY understand. I feel there isn't as much consistency in these areas vs other. The same food source is available on 100's or 1000s of acers, bedding is rarely different from one hill to the next, doe populations rarely congregate anywhere, and the bucks are spread thin. This is all just my silly opinion lol. I tend to focus on topography to help me when buck are seeking does. Outside of that you gotta find a bed and hope it's used regularly bc I have seen them just have so much avabile bedding that it's hard to nail down.

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This is about what I feel like 99% of the time. Here in Louisiana, I have yet to find beds, sheds, or true core areas with any kind of consistencies. Granted I've just started truly scouting WAY more then I hunt, but I can count on one hand the number of sheds I've found looking in the mature pine timber. I am focusing on terrain to help me funnel deer this year, and GUESSING at bedding and hoping I'm right. This is a new style and I'm throwing myself 100% at it, win or lose, I'm going all in on Beast Hunting this year.
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Re: Hunting Big Timber

Unread postby H2archer » Tue Aug 30, 2016 7:10 am

timberwolf311 wrote:Hunting an area like this can be, imo, some of the hardest to TRUELY understand. I feel there isn't as much consistency in these areas vs other. The same food source is available on 100's or 1000s of acers, bedding is rarely different from one hill to the next, doe populations rarely congregate anywhere, and the bucks are spread thin. This is all just my silly opinion lol. I tend to focus on topography to help me when buck are seeking does. Outside of that you gotta find a bed and hope it's used regularly bc I have seen them just have so much avabile bedding that it's hard to nail down.

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Yep. That about sums up 90 percent of what I've seen so far.

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Re: Hunting Big Timber

Unread postby H2archer » Tue Aug 30, 2016 7:13 am

I think I'll take another walk, see if I can find a lone apple tree or something that will draw them in. Other than that, just hunt the terrain/wind like I normally would.

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Re: Hunting Big Timber

Unread postby Razorhead » Tue Aug 30, 2016 8:52 am

Check the leeward side of saddles. Sometimes the more subtle saddles have more activity than the prominent ones.

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Re: Hunting Big Timber

Unread postby H2archer » Wed Aug 31, 2016 2:18 am

Well I decided to make one more trip into the woods, then let it settle til season. Thought I had found the perfect spot. Thick swamp bottom, old rub line leading out of it to a slight saddle. Then I found myself being photographed by someones trail cam! So if you're in eastern Ohio and you find a picture of a startled looking guy on one of your moultree game cams.... that's me! :D

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mainebowhunter
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Re: Hunting Big Timber

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Wed Aug 31, 2016 3:09 am

H2archer wrote:
timberwolf311 wrote:Hunting an area like this can be, imo, some of the hardest to TRUELY understand. I feel there isn't as much consistency in these areas vs other. The same food source is available on 100's or 1000s of acers, bedding is rarely different from one hill to the next, doe populations rarely congregate anywhere, and the bucks are spread thin. This is all just my silly opinion lol. I tend to focus on topography to help me when buck are seeking does. Outside of that you gotta find a bed and hope it's used regularly bc I have seen them just have so much avabile bedding that it's hard to nail down.

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image

Yep. That about sums up 90 percent of what I've seen so far.

[ Post made via Android ] Image


Most of the time its there...trust me. But it takes a lot of time and effort to understand it. And it takes years of doing this to truly get a grasp on chunks of timber. Its not something that you are going to figure out in a couple seasons being here on the beast. For me, in any chunk of woods, I am figuring on a 5yr investment of my time before I really get an understanding of how deer use a block of timber. Thats a 5yr investment and I have some experience knowing what I am looking for. One way to help shorten the learning curve are trailcams and a lot of them.

For example, in one chunk of timber I hunt, its 2000 acres. I do not hunt the whole 2000...but I spend a good bit of time on 800 acres of it. I have acorns all over. BUT there is 1 acorn tree the deer will HAMMER over all of the others. 1 tree in 1000s. They feed on the others but they REALLY hit this one. I will get 1500-2000 pics every 3-4days when they are on them. 2012 the tree dropped before season opened. 2015 no 3.5yr were hitting tree. 2016 same tree has nuts, guessing 3.5yr will be there shortly. Good chance I can catch a buck leaving his bed to hit the tree before dark.

Back in the swamp thread, Singing Bridges was talking about giant swamps they hunt / have hunted. They have generations of guys that have hunted those areas.
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Re: Hunting Big Timber

Unread postby H2archer » Wed Aug 31, 2016 4:42 am

Makes sense to me. I don't expect or want it to be easy. I am doing this as a passion and a hobby not strictly to put food on the table. Since I've started seriously scouting I think I enjoy it more than I do the actual hunting. If it takes me 5 years to figure it out and I end up with a decent buck (would be my first) then I'll consider that 5 seasons well spent, and I'm sure I can pop a doe once or twice a season in the process.

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