Breaking down hill country...

[mauser06]

I understand the leeward top 1/3 thermal tunnel stuff...


I understand benches, cuts, saddles etc...


I'm still getting a headache and tired legs trying to break down big woods hill country. I'm starting a new piece and it's a giant. I know it's somewhere around 12k acres public..but I believe there is more owned by a different entity that is open to hunting.


After seeing a 25" wide buck being drug out of there today...I am devoting a lot of time to scouting it this season and hunting it next.


My gut was right...the slob was killed on the ridge I reached my eyes on. Actually an 11", a 15" and the slob (all 8s) were killed on that ridge and 3 big ones got away.


There is so much sign and the land is so vast I just find myself "lost". It also doesn't have a ton of points so I'm at a loss of where else to find preferred bedding. Lots of longggg ridges and not much for true points.

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[dagger]

That sounds alot like the area I hunt. The ridge is over 5 miles long and you climb 800' in elevation. First I looked for all the topo features, points, benches, draws, Brooks etc. Then I looked for all transition lines and softwood clumps. When I scouted that place I found that most of the bedding was in at around those softwood clumps up near the top, or just over on the leeward side. However one buck bed I found, I was dropping down off a saddle on the leeward side and I got down maybe 200' or so and I jumped a deer so I went to where I jumped it from and found a lone bed that had been used many many times but it didn't have any buck sign near it. That bed was a little point that does not show up on a topo map and it was in hardwoods except there was some kind of hardwood bushes just around that spot. The other buck beds I found were 2.5 miles in above a big draw with a Brook running down the MTN. Anyhow I look at topos and aerials and look for any kind of, thickets, softwood clumps, points, benches, saddles on top or in the top 1/3 on the leeward side for bedding. Then saddles, benches and even very faint benches, trans lines ravines, brooks, anything that would be a travel route. It takes alot of legwork to follow up on your assumption's but killing a big woods buck is very rewarding. Good luck and don't expect instant success, you need the patience of job to get it done in this kind of country.

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[dagger]

I would post pictures of what I'm talking about but I don't have wifi so it's not going to work now.

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[mauser06]

I just looked... average is 500ft from the creek to the top but it seems like it's a few miles lol.


Looking at it on the topo there are more points than it feels...they are just large and many are big round points..I'm used to tighter points I guess....


I think besides scouting I'm going to whip my but into better shape so those hills aren't so bad lol. Scouting will take care of some of that too.

Gotta figure out a system to pack my gear better...



The benches in the area are absolutely awesome. Most show up on topos..

The pressure in the area is pretty astronomical...I talked to a hunter today and he said just on the mile stretch or so there was well over 50 vehicles. But the pressure is so isolated because you're normal hunter isn't going over those hills. Can almost cross off a good portion of the land based on easy access. Lots of trails and right of ways...

I have 1 ridge I wanna focus on...

Tough part is hunting time... almost couldn't shoot a buck there and make it to work the next day. Need a full day to hunt it because you're talking a few hours just getting in and out. To get a deer out solo will be a chore. I haven't figured out if packing it out or dragging miles down the creek bottom trail is the way to go. Or drag it down to the creek then pack it and climb. Or......? Lol.


I'm excited... especially seeing a good buck come out of there.

There was only 13 of them and they were done shooting by noon or so...they didn't scratch the surface and besides them I doubt other hunters venture that deep.

Its kinda crazy to wrap my head around that hunting style.


I'm curious on early season and if the big ones migrate that deep due to pressure or if they are getting big by living there. Not much to glass or shine...trail cams will be the way to monitor what bucks are where..
Fingers crossed for snow for next week.

I am not a good tracker or still hunter..but I'm getting better.



I actually prefer it over archery hunting and I'm sickly addicted to hunting big woods. There's no feeling like boots on the ground and hunting one down. I love archery hunting and the closeness and the ambush factor...but there's something about being on the move hunting...

I wish I always had snow... unfortunately even in rifle and the late season snow is hit or miss. Often a miss.

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[dagger]

That surely sounds like my neck of the woods. Most places I hunt are 1000 acres or much more of strictly woods and swamps. Im only one season into beast style hunting and let me tell you, the info on here is dazzling. Being able to break down the big woods on maps is extremely helpful. I couldn't make heads or tails of what the deer were doing before I watched Dan's videos because the deer density around here is 4-6 deer per sq mile and a guy didn't have alot of runins with deer. But over my 15 year's of hunting I've covered alot of ground and when I look back to the encounters I've had and deer I've shot it wasn't all random. So I would take that piece one section at a time and scout it until you have a good handle on what's happening, and trust your instincts when you find someplace worth hunting and don't be afraid to spend a little time there but also don't hunt the same spots over and over and over. That kind of country gets a guy in shape and he certainly will work for his deer! I know first hand what it's all about. I hunt the barren woods of southern NH

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[dagger]

Mauser what state are you from, if you don't mind me asking? It sounds like we have similar country to hunt

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[dan]

Start small... Don't look at 12,000 acres... Look at one section you think is the best and learn it well. Then you can start to expand from there when your comfortable doing so...

[mauser06]

Dagger, I am in Pennsylvania...a chunk this large is rare...we have some big hills and big woods but we also typically have more roads..we also have a lot of small woodlots and farmland but I'm planning on this being my last year on any of that. Lots of land changes and I should be living farther north by next year. We typically have a much higher deer density. This area, I thought would be pretty well shot up being they have special doe tags and a special doe season..but I think the remoteness saves plenty of deer..



Dan, I woke up this morning and that "light bulb" clicked. I knew that answer. Lol.

I don't think that 25" slob was an exception. Being so big and remote I'm sure there are other slobs getting to live longer than a year or 2.


I am sure this is going to take a while to figure things out.

Wish it wasn't 100 miles from where I live now!


It's funny how predictable other hunters can be. Besides that Amish crew and a guy in the parking lot I didn't see another hunter all day. There were plenty of vehicles around. Didn't see drag marks or gut piles even up on the flat near the road either. Once I left that flat I didn't see boot tracks, stands or flagging tape..


I haven't even looked at the other side of the road on the topo or the other road which opens more doors...

My buddy also told me his neighbor owns a chunk and they would certainly let me hunt it...their nephew hunts there the first day and that's it. If nothing else it might give me "back door access" to places off the road depending where the property is.

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[Southern Man]

There is so much sign and the land is so vast I just find myself "lost".

I agree with Dan, start small.

It's nice to hunt a property that doesn't have property lines every 100 acres but its easy to get caught up in looking at a very large chunk of land and that is sometimes overwhelming. Deer aren't evenly scattered over a piece of ground. I like to find the major activity areas, areas of hunting pressure, and work from there a piece at a time. It takes a while. Sooner or later the big picture will be easy to see.

[RidgeReaper]

I myself have found just under 10k acres of public in one tract. Ive devoted a few days to it already. I got a buck first day this year so I had a bit of time to spare. Ive scouted it a few times aside from going in blind with the wife to try to get her one. We were in great locations I came to find out by the sign I found later while scouting. My point here is take it a little at a time. "Only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time." Ive been chunking as much as I can into day scouts where I just cover as much ground as I can to learn how the land looks and where the thickets are and taking notes of bucks I jumped and beds found...I have a really awesome scouting and hunting cellular tablet case where i keep a topo and notebook and everything I need so I can mark my points and everything right on google maps and look over it later. I could post pics of my journal setup if anyone wants to see what I mean. Im in PA too by the way and yes in my area chunks this large are few and far between.