Round and Round We Go.

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nor' easter
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Re: Round and Round We Go.

Unread postby nor' easter » Thu Oct 13, 2016 12:46 pm

I'm feeling your pain. Bird hunters have hammered my food sources every day putting my best deer on their toes and extremely nocturnal. I can only hunt Saturday afternoons due to my schedule so I'm going for broke this saturday even if it means belly crawling through the alder swamp. Hang in there brother. You'll get your buck

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mainebowhunter
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Re: Round and Round We Go.

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Thu Oct 13, 2016 2:13 pm

Darkknight54 wrote:Maine - I have been waiting for someone to talk about bedding w the wrong winds. I have bumped handful of bucks scouting and hunting that were there on the wrong wind. I am working w hill country in MO and it definitely throws me when it happens. Most times I chalk it up as young buck or does, but twice has been shooter bucks.
Most of these areas iv exp this are in fact primary core areas, so that explains a lot. But iv seen them in the primary bed for a N wind and it was a S wind for the day. I caught one getting up to move mid day so maybe they bedded in the AM and decided it was best to move, but it was still the wrong side of ridge.

So do you think that it has more to do w food than anything?
My theory (aside from food) has to have something to do w times of the year and predominant winds changing. I also believe pressure has a role in some places... I am still learning wind and thermals, but see shifting winds a lot. Obviously every where in the woods the wind conditions are different, Which in turn I see why higher / consistent winds are a major help pushing the envelope and hitting beds. The way I see it working is, where i am we are starting to get N winds days in clusters, but S wind is still the dominant wind at the moment. So maybe he doesnt hit that N primary bedding area until day 2-3 of the N winds? I just have no explanations other than he feels safe there. Thoughts?



I think it has more to do with food than anything. On one pieces of ground I hunt, I have 2 major bedding areas, some other minor ones. In between the 2 is an old apple orchard. Every night I have hunted that area from multiple places, I have seen deer. Last Saturday, one was a target buck. One 3.5yr old buck bedded this spot so many different times in September. Once the nuts started to fall, that kind of changed his pattern a bit. The bucks and does are not bedded that far apart. 2 mornings ago, 3.5yr and 7yr old were at the same apples at 8 in the morning. That night, I believe they skirted around me when they left the beds. Small buck took off running after I heard a "CLACK" I am guessing they hit horns. Its thick. Tough to see more than 50yds. You can hear deer coming well before you can see them.

I don't hunt much hill country and so most of my bedding areas are NOT wind specific. Get in the bed pre season, no wind / site advantage. I am also not hunting high pressure areas during archery. Very rarely is there ever another person in the woods where I hunt until November. Secure bedding is abundant.

Acorns are raining down. Maple leaves are dropping. Apples are on the ground. Those bucks bed any one of those areas on any given day, regardless of the wind. The round and round part is one day nuts, one day apples...one day nuts in AM, one day apples in AM. One day, nuts in a different section of timber. All the while, my cameras are getting daylight pics of these bucks. Here in the Northeast, with lower deer densities, you just have to hunt and hunt a lot. I have the time. So seat time is more important than perfect days. I am constantly hunting different sets in the same areas. Moving around. Took me 8 sits in the same area last year...moving sets around to kill target buck. It is just catching the buck you are chasing using that bedding area on a certain day.

One of the things I have mentioned a few times is food staging areas. I hunt a lot of those. Those are food sources within 75-100 yds of known bedding areas. I walk way out around to approach these areas and really careful about how I do it. The result? Deer continue to use it...bucks continue to use it during daylight. Even older bucks. Both does and bucks hit the apples morning and evening when they leave those beds. Bucks from a different direction. Sometimes, they are back to their beds early.

I run a bunch of cameras that are strategically placed so that I can check them when I hunt certain areas on walks in and out.
mainebowhunter
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Re: Round and Round We Go.

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Thu Oct 13, 2016 2:24 pm

nor' easter wrote:I'm feeling your pain. Bird hunters have hammered my food sources every day putting my best deer on their toes and extremely nocturnal. I can only hunt Saturday afternoons due to my schedule so I'm going for broke this saturday even if it means belly crawling through the alder swamp. Hang in there brother. You'll get your buck

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There is no pain here brother! Passed a lot of deer so far this year. So life is good here in the good old state of Maine. I am interested in having exciting hunts, high percentage sits. I MAY get a Maine buck. :D And I may not.

Your in a tough spot only hunting 1 day a week.
Your not close enough to where the deer bed. Most guys in Maine right now are STRUGGLING to even see deer. Acorn years are TOUGH if you do not have a lot scout time in. Deer are really spread out. Deer are moving very little outside of their bedding areas. Even doe groups. Tonight, they did not move until nearly 6:00 PM. And I am not far from where they bed.
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Stanley
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Re: Round and Round We Go.

Unread postby Stanley » Thu Oct 13, 2016 3:39 pm

Lots of scrub bucks and a couple of 2.5s Still looking to connect on the old boy. Just never know. Hey, it's fun and unpredictable, it don't get no better.
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.
mainebowhunter
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Re: Round and Round We Go.

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Thu Oct 13, 2016 3:58 pm

Stanley wrote:Lots of scrub bucks and a couple of 2.5s Still looking to connect on the old boy. Just never know. Hey, it's fun and unpredictable, it don't get no better.


Agreed!
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nor' easter
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Re: Round and Round We Go.

Unread postby nor' easter » Thu Oct 13, 2016 9:32 pm

mainebowhunter wrote:
nor' easter wrote:I'm feeling your pain. Bird hunters have hammered my food sources every day putting my best deer on their toes and extremely nocturnal. I can only hunt Saturday afternoons due to my schedule so I'm going for broke this saturday even if it means belly crawling through the alder swamp. Hang in there brother. You'll get your buck

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There is no pain here brother! Passed a lot of deer so far this year. So life is good here in the good old state of Maine. I am interested in having exciting hunts, high percentage sits. I MAY get a Maine buck. :D And I may not.

Your in a tough spot only hunting 1 day a week.
Your not close enough to where the deer bed. Most guys in Maine right now are STRUGGLING to even see deer. Acorn years are TOUGH if you do not have a lot scout time in. Deer are really spread out. Deer are moving very little outside of their bedding areas. Even doe groups. Tonight, they did not move until nearly 6:00 PM. And I am not far from where they bed.


This property is a new one for me this year and I have a 4 month old at home so I haven't done my due diligence as far as scouting goes. I have 4 or 5 general bedding areas, but I can't get right into them until after season. I'm glad you are seeing bucks and passing the little ones. Good luck and have fun!

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wmihunter
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Re: Round and Round We Go.

Unread postby wmihunter » Thu Oct 13, 2016 11:57 pm

Good analogy joere

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