Timing your hunts

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mheichelbech
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Timing your hunts

Unread postby mheichelbech » Sat Sep 03, 2016 10:30 am

What are the main factors that you use to judge when to dive into a spot for hunting and how do you best determine what the important factors are? Do you always have these pretty well nailed down? It's hard for me to see that if a guy has more than 5 or 6 bedding areas to hunt, how he could really know the best time to go in for all of them without years of experience in those areas.


"One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is and can show himself to be." — Theodore Roosevelt, 1893
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Hawthorne
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Re: Timing your hunts

Unread postby Hawthorne » Sat Sep 03, 2016 12:48 pm

If your not sure hunt it once early season, once late October , and once mid November. Most of my bedding areas heat late October because they hold does most of the year. I have one property I'm going into my 3rd year. Two years in a row I've had encounters with two good 8 points for the area one I shot both November 1st. I'll be there early November again this year. One of my main tactics is learning a bedding area and hunting anniversary dates. Has worked well for me if nobody stomps around in them before they get hot.

The buck Andrea shot in marsh bucks his brother seen in the same spot on the same date the year before. When a good buck gets knocked off another one will take its place the next fall a lot of times. Might have to do with deer density and habitat.
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Re: Timing your hunts

Unread postby whitetailassasin » Sat Sep 03, 2016 12:57 pm

mheichelbech wrote:What are the main factors that you use to judge when to dive into a spot for hunting and how do you best determine what the important factors are? Do you always have these pretty well nailed down? It's hard for me to see that if a guy has more than 5 or 6 bedding areas to hunt, how he could really know the best time to go in for all of them without years of experience in those areas.


The last part of your quote is what has been the ticket for me. Take JoeRE as an example: he documented and has had encounters that have multiple seasons of work and observations. Hawthornes advice is spot on by trying it throughout the season, but I'll add to that by pay attention to the details, rubs open up, big tracks coming out of bedding, browse areas, food sources dropping, pressure in your areas, wind direction, there are a lot of factors that aid you. Keep an eye on resident does, come pre rut and rut time bedding that has groups of does will get hot. Because food, pressure, and other factors, shift from season to season, so can bedding areas that get hot. Time in the woods and keeping good notes of what your seeing will pay off. Note every little detail, it's those little details can pay big dividends.

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Re: Timing your hunts

Unread postby monkatopaints » Sun Sep 04, 2016 10:10 am

I like to wait for a good cold front and temperature drop before I go in close for a beast style hunt. In my area of hill-country, the deer don't really like to move on hotter days so sitting sweaty days would be disastrous in my opinion. I also hunt the morning after a significantly cooling storm and set up on a route that is heading back to the bedding area. My hope is to catch the mature buck back to his bed late because it was a nice cool night for him to explore the woods.

Might be different in wetlands or river bottoms but these two things are my main factors for going in beast style. Put a 9 and 8 pointer in front of me utilizing these two main tricks last season on public land. If you have to hunt poor days and only have weekends then I'd rather hunt other game or sit in an observation stand of a new spot.
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Re: Timing your hunts

Unread postby bowkill00 » Sun Sep 04, 2016 12:29 pm

#1 cold fronts #2 moon phase #3 any change in barometer

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Re: Timing your hunts

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Sun Sep 04, 2016 2:01 pm

whitetailassasin wrote:
mheichelbech wrote:What are the main factors that you use to judge when to dive into a spot for hunting and how do you best determine what the important factors are? Do you always have these pretty well nailed down? It's hard for me to see that if a guy has more than 5 or 6 bedding areas to hunt, how he could really know the best time to go in for all of them [glow=red]without years of experience in those areas[/glow].


The last part of your quote is what has been the ticket for me. Take JoeRE as an example: he documented and has had encounters that have multiple seasons of work and observations. Hawthornes advice is spot on by trying it throughout the season, but I'll add to that by pay attention to the details, rubs [glow=red]open up, big tracks coming out of bedding, browse areas, food sources dropping, pressure in your areas, wind direction, there are a lot of factors that aid you. Keep an eye on resident does, come pre rut and rut time bedding that has groups of does will get hot. Because food, pressure, and other factors, shift from season to season, so can bedding areas that get hot[/glow]. Time in the woods and keeping good notes of what your seeing will pay off. Note every little detail, it's those little details can pay big dividends.

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Agreed. It takes me 3-5yrs or longer to really learn a property. Knowledge is one thing. Experience is another. Knowledge you can learn on the beast, experience is what happens trying to apply that knowledge in the field. None of it happens overnight.

I come at it from a bit of different perspective. I hunt basically Sept 10 to Oct 29. I segment my season into my highest odds spots. Then I bounce around and try spots, all the while running cameras that I will use the intel on for the next season or this season. When first week of October rolls around, I have goto spots that I will hunt. Same thing with last week of October, sometimes a little into November.

All the veterans of this site have multiple bedding areas and acres and acres of ground that they know intimately. No one is finding a bed with rubs, setting a stand and killing a buck. It might sound that way...but its quite a bit more complicated than that. WTA mentioned all of the factors that are considered.
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Re: Timing your hunts

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Sun Sep 04, 2016 2:05 pm

Also, I might add. This does not apply so much to midwest guys...but to coastal regions, tropical storms / hurricaines are dynamite for pushing deer to daytime movement as the storm approaches. I would take a tropical depression over a cold front any day of the week.

If we have any approaching this sept/october, I will be in the tree on a hot food source ALL DAY.
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Re: Timing your hunts

Unread postby Hawthorne » Sun Sep 04, 2016 2:09 pm

mainebowhunter wrote:Also, I might add. This does not apply so much to midwest guys...but to coastal regions, tropical storms / hurricaines are dynamite for pushing deer to daytime movement as the storm approaches. I would take a tropical depression over a cold front any day of the week.

If we have any approaching this sept/october, I will be in the tree on a hot food source ALL DAY.


If there's a heavy storm 1st week of October here I want to be in my stand waiting for it to pass covered in good quality rain gear.Seems like they will move any time of day when this happens. I shot one nice buck in conditions like this.

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Re: Timing your hunts

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Sun Sep 04, 2016 2:19 pm

Hawthorne wrote:
mainebowhunter wrote:Also, I might add. This does not apply so much to midwest guys...but to coastal regions, tropical storms / hurricaines are dynamite for pushing deer to daytime movement as the storm approaches. I would take a tropical depression over a cold front any day of the week.

If we have any approaching this sept/october, I will be in the tree on a hot food source ALL DAY.


If there's a heavy storm 1st week of October here I want to be in my stand waiting for it to pass covered in good quality rain gear.Seems like they will move any time of day when this happens. I shot one nice buck in conditions like this.

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I missed it last year. Partly because urban stuff fell apart and regular season did not open yet. BUT the buck I killed was on his feet at noon time/ 1oclock that day. It was the last daylight pics I had of him till I killed him 12days later. Another buck, same thing. The ONLY daylight pics I had of him...he was at an apple tree at noon, at 3 and at 5 (think those were the times) My buddy, same thing, big bucks on feet 1pm in the afternoon.
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Re: Timing your hunts

Unread postby mheichelbech » Sun Sep 04, 2016 2:39 pm

Do you all find that some places are easier than others to figure out? I have 2 areas that are almost like clockwork for deer in general and often mature bucks. Another area it can be a total crapshoot. None are really pressured except for the surrounding areas. The 3rd one I'm still having a hard time patterning movement and it's the smallest!

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"One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is and can show himself to be." — Theodore Roosevelt, 1893
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Re: Timing your hunts

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Sun Sep 04, 2016 2:50 pm

mheichelbech wrote:Do you all find that some places are easier than others to figure out? I have 2 areas that are almost like clockwork for deer in general and often mature bucks. Another area it can be a total crapshoot. None are really pressured except for the surrounding areas. The 3rd one I'm still having a hard time patterning movement and it's the smallest!

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100% Absolutely. I have one 4.5yr old buck that I will put a few hunts on this year. Saw him month ago. Went hung cams on food sources he frequented last season. Big droppings, same size at each spot. I am guessing he is doing the same thing.

Its only my second year on this property deer hunting. BUT the way the property lies, figured out where he was bedding, scouted it this past spring and believe I can kill him exiting those beds come October. The only curve ball this year...acorns. Might screw things up a bit.

Some spots you hunt and execute ...makes you feel like a genius. Other spots make you feel like you could not hunt your way out of a paper bag.


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