Question for Scott Shawl: Killing Trees

Discuss deer hunting tactics, Deer behavior. Post your Hunting Stories, Pictures, and Questions/Answers.
  • Advertisement

HB Store


DOA
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Feb 24, 2018 11:41 pm
Status: Offline

Question for Scott Shawl: Killing Trees

Unread postby DOA » Thu Mar 01, 2018 1:40 am

Listened to your podcast, great information. Being that you and your family have a long history hunting big woods, I am wondering what your opinion is of killing trees that are productive for mature bucks over decades. Also would like to hear opinions on “rut zones” where deer wind up year after year during rut and doe behavior during rut. With a big deer hunting family that spans several generations like yours, I am all ears for these types of patterns that one person might not be able to connect the dots on in a single lifetime. Would love to hear other people’s feedback on this too


User avatar
elk yinzer
500 Club
Posts: 1229
Joined: Sat Jul 29, 2017 5:39 am
Location: Central PA
Status: Offline

Re: Question for Scott Shawl: Killing Trees

Unread postby elk yinzer » Thu Mar 01, 2018 3:01 am

DOA wrote:Listened to your podcast, great information. Being that you and your family have a long history hunting big woods, I am wondering what your opinion is of killing trees that are productive for mature bucks over decades. Also would like to hear opinions on “rut zones” where deer wind up year after year during rut and doe behavior during rut. With a big deer hunting family that spans several generations like yours, I am all ears for these types of patterns that one person might not be able to connect the dots on in a single lifetime. Would love to hear other people’s feedback on this too


I don't really do the podcast deal much and never heard of this dude, but I'd be interested in finding this one. I definitely think there is something to the almost migratory "rut zones" in the big woods.
Treasurer, United Bowhunters of PA
https://ubofpa.org/membership-3
User avatar
wolverinebuckman
500 Club
Posts: 2764
Joined: Fri Dec 08, 2017 11:55 am
Location: S Kentucky
Status: Offline

Re: Question for Scott Shawl: Killing Trees

Unread postby wolverinebuckman » Thu Mar 01, 2018 3:05 am

elk yinzer wrote:
DOA wrote:Listened to your podcast, great information. Being that you and your family have a long history hunting big woods, I am wondering what your opinion is of killing trees that are productive for mature bucks over decades. Also would like to hear opinions on “rut zones” where deer wind up year after year during rut and doe behavior during rut. With a big deer hunting family that spans several generations like yours, I am all ears for these types of patterns that one person might not be able to connect the dots on in a single lifetime. Would love to hear other people’s feedback on this too


I don't really do the podcast deal much and never heard of this dude, but I'd be interested in finding this one. I definitely think there is something to the almost migratory "rut zones" in the big woods.


Singing Bridge here on the Beast
Bummer of a birthmark, Hal.
User avatar
Singing Bridge
500 Club
Posts: 7162
Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2010 1:11 pm
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pro ... 1329617473
Location: Logged in - from above
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Question for Scott Shawl: Killing Trees

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Thu Mar 01, 2018 2:00 pm

Listened to your podcast, great information. Being that you and your family have a long history hunting big woods, I am wondering what your opinion is of killing trees that are productive for mature bucks over decades.


Killing trees like those you mention exist and my family has used many of them over generations of hunters. It doesn't have to be a tree, either. Ground sites also exist that we have used successfully.

For example, I am thinking of a spot my grandfather was the first to hunt. I am intimately familiar with the area and there isn't a doubt in my mind I could kill one of the biggest bucks in that area right there this fall if I was of a mind to. Not only is it adjacent to several of the most mature buck bedding areas that region has, it overlooks travel to doe bedding areas.

I have several killing trees / ground blind in addition to the one I mentioned. They are holy areas to me, and when one of my family members quits hunting it I leave it alone. That's just what seems right to me. Once every few years I will run through one of them while out scouting and they always contain sign that verifies they remain the spots that they once were.

The last time I went through an exact spot that my dad hunted many years ago there was a big rub from that fall less than 10 yards from his spot. He killed bucks 12 or 13 years in a row there.

Logging, forest fires and the like have the potential of shutting down those spots, always something to consider.

Also would like to hear opinions on “rut zones” where deer wind up year after year during rut and doe behavior during rut. With a big deer hunting family that spans several generations like yours, I am all ears for these types of patterns that one person might not be able to connect the dots on in a single lifetime. Would love to hear other people’s feedback on this too


Rut zones in the big woods will repeat themselves over and over barring any major habitat change or winter kill. For example there are numerous linear projections that mature bucks travel every year between doe families. It may be a swamp edge, a powerline a world class buck I hunted used to travel between doe families, land bridges, or the topographical edges we discuss here on the Beast so often.

I stuck a trailcam up in one of these rut zones where guys hardly ever see a deer elsewhere doe to a low population and the fact that it is a National Forest big woods. I ended up with hundreds of buck pictures, buck fights on camera... on and on.

The doe patterns during the rut in the big woods are far from predictable. Although there is usually a strong bed to feed pattern, many does will approach buck bedding areas on their own if they are unhappy with the way things are progressing.
User avatar
PK_
500 Club
Posts: 6894
Joined: Tue Nov 20, 2012 5:10 am
Location: Just Off
Status: Offline

Re: Question for Scott Shawl: Killing Trees

Unread postby PK_ » Thu Mar 01, 2018 2:07 pm

You are not supposed to be killing trees on public land :D
No Shortcuts. No Excuses. No Regrets.
Everybody's selling dreams. I'm too cheap to buy one.
Rich M wrote:Typically, hunting FL has been like getting a root canal
User avatar
Babshaft
500 Club
Posts: 608
Joined: Sat Nov 11, 2017 12:00 pm
Location: Ontario...Great White North
Status: Offline

Re: Question for Scott Shawl: Killing Trees

Unread postby Babshaft » Thu Mar 01, 2018 2:52 pm

Thanks for starting this thread! Really awesome!

Scott (and anyone else), do you tend to hunt from the ground often in the thick swamps you hunt? A lot of the bedding I’ve found recently in the cedar swamps up here have no trees to climb near the bedding - I’d be 150 yards from the closest bed.

Any advice? Thanks.
User avatar
Singing Bridge
500 Club
Posts: 7162
Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2010 1:11 pm
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pro ... 1329617473
Location: Logged in - from above
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Question for Scott Shawl: Killing Trees

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Sun Mar 04, 2018 2:00 am

PK_ wrote:You are not supposed to be killing trees on public land :D


I'd like to have some people arrested that do...

Mature stands of white cedar in the northern states are critical wintering habitat for whitetails and when they are cut, public or private, it is a veritable crime.

Even the biologists that have studied them have little understanding of the role they play, in that they do not yet comprehend how the oldest stands provide limitless wintertime food to the deer... even when all the white cedar fronds are out of reach.

It really burns me up. :lol:
User avatar
Singing Bridge
500 Club
Posts: 7162
Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2010 1:11 pm
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pro ... 1329617473
Location: Logged in - from above
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Question for Scott Shawl: Killing Trees

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Sun Mar 04, 2018 2:08 am

Babshaft wrote:Thanks for starting this thread! Really awesome!

Scott (and anyone else), do you tend to hunt from the ground often in the thick swamps you hunt? A lot of the bedding I’ve found recently in the cedar swamps up here have no trees to climb near the bedding - I’d be 150 yards from the closest bed.

Any advice? Thanks.


I hunt on the ground inside cedar swamps a lot. I have shot many bucks on the ground with bow and rifle. When I was growing up it was illegal to gun hunt out of a tree... we learned quickly how to hunt bucks on the ground in the swamps we hunted.
User avatar
Babshaft
500 Club
Posts: 608
Joined: Sat Nov 11, 2017 12:00 pm
Location: Ontario...Great White North
Status: Offline

Re: Question for Scott Shawl: Killing Trees

Unread postby Babshaft » Sun Mar 04, 2018 4:59 am

Singing Bridge wrote:
Babshaft wrote:Thanks for starting this thread! Really awesome!

Scott (and anyone else), do you tend to hunt from the ground often in the thick swamps you hunt? A lot of the bedding I’ve found recently in the cedar swamps up here have no trees to climb near the bedding - I’d be 150 yards from the closest bed.

Any advice? Thanks.


I hunt on the ground inside cedar swamps a lot. I have shot many bucks on the ground with bow and rifle. When I was growing up it was illegal to gun hunt out of a tree... we learned quickly how to hunt bucks on the ground in the swamps we hunted.


Thanks man this just opened my eyes to a ton of good spots I’d been avoiding because I was too hesitant to hunt on the ground.

Once again, you’re awesome. Thanks for all the help.
User avatar
wolverinebuckman
500 Club
Posts: 2764
Joined: Fri Dec 08, 2017 11:55 am
Location: S Kentucky
Status: Offline

Re: Question for Scott Shawl: Killing Trees

Unread postby wolverinebuckman » Sun Mar 04, 2018 7:20 am

Babshaft wrote:
Thanks man this just opened my eyes to a ton of good spots I’d been avoiding because I was too hesitant to hunt on the ground.


I really gave ground hunting a go this past late season. It was nice being so mobile, and I had a great encounter with a doe at 8 yards. Does don't typically get my heart pumping, but having her walk straight toward me face to face was exhilarating. My heart might not survive a big buck! I plan on including many more ground hunts this year.
Bummer of a birthmark, Hal.
User avatar
Babshaft
500 Club
Posts: 608
Joined: Sat Nov 11, 2017 12:00 pm
Location: Ontario...Great White North
Status: Offline

Re: Question for Scott Shawl: Killing Trees

Unread postby Babshaft » Sun Mar 04, 2018 9:24 am

wolverinebuckman wrote:
Babshaft wrote:
Thanks man this just opened my eyes to a ton of good spots I’d been avoiding because I was too hesitant to hunt on the ground.


I really gave ground hunting a go this past late season. It was nice being so mobile, and I had a great encounter with a doe at 8 yards. Does don't typically get my heart pumping, but having her walk straight toward me face to face was exhilarating. My heart might not survive a big buck! I plan on including many more ground hunts this year.


That sounds awesome man! Thanks for the encouragement!
User avatar
Singing Bridge
500 Club
Posts: 7162
Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2010 1:11 pm
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pro ... 1329617473
Location: Logged in - from above
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Question for Scott Shawl: Killing Trees

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Sun Mar 04, 2018 11:15 am

wolverinebuckman wrote:
Babshaft wrote:
Thanks man this just opened my eyes to a ton of good spots I’d been avoiding because I was too hesitant to hunt on the ground.


I really gave ground hunting a go this past late season. It was nice being so mobile, and I had a great encounter with a doe at 8 yards. Does don't typically get my heart pumping, but having her walk straight toward me face to face was exhilarating. My heart might not survive a big buck! I plan on including many more ground hunts this year.


Great plan and it is the best experience when up close and personal.
User avatar
ghoasthunter
500 Club
Posts: 2211
Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2018 6:09 am
Location: New jersey
Status: Offline

Re: Question for Scott Shawl: Killing Trees

Unread postby ghoasthunter » Sun Mar 04, 2018 2:32 pm

Singing Bridge wrote:
Listened to your podcast, great information. Being that you and your family have a long history hunting big woods, I am wondering what your opinion is of killing trees that are productive for mature bucks over decades.


Killing trees like those you mention exist and my family has used many of them over generations of hunters. It doesn't have to be a tree, either. Ground sites also exist that we have used successfully.

For example, I am thinking of a spot my grandfather was the first to hunt. I am intimately familiar with the area and there isn't a doubt in my mind I could kill one of the biggest bucks in that area right there this fall if I was of a mind to. Not only is it adjacent to several of the most mature buck bedding areas that region has, it overlooks travel to doe bedding areas.

I have several killing trees / ground blind in addition to the one I mentioned. They are holy areas to me, and when one of my family members quits hunting it I leave it alone. That's just what seems right to me. Once every few years I will run through one of them while out scouting and they always contain sign that verifies they remain the spots that they once were.

The last time I went through an exact spot that my dad hunted many years ago there was a big rub from that fall less than 10 yards from his spot. He killed bucks 12 or 13 years in a row there.

Logging, forest fires and the like have the potential of shutting down those spots, always something to consider.

Also would like to hear opinions on “rut zones” where deer wind up year after year during rut and doe behavior during rut. With a big deer hunting family that spans several generations like yours, I am all ears for these types of patterns that one person might not be able to connect the dots on in a single lifetime. Would love to hear other people’s feedback on this too


Rut zones in the big woods will repeat themselves over and over barring any major habitat change or winter kill. For example there are numerous linear projections that mature bucks travel every year between doe families. It may be a swamp edge, a powerline a world class buck I hunted used to travel between doe families, land bridges, or the topographical edges we discuss here on the Beast so often.

I stuck a trailcam up in one of these rut zones where guys hardly ever see a deer elsewhere doe to a low population and the fact that it is a National Forest big woods. I ended up with hundreds of buck pictures, buck fights on camera... on and on.

The doe patterns during the rut in the big woods are far from predictable. Although there is usually a strong bed to feed pattern, many does will approach buck bedding areas on their own if they are unhappy with the way things are progressing.
good stuff id like to ad that looking for historical rubs will often help the beasts find these travel corridors you don't need fresh rubs just scars on trees and its game on.
THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL A HUNTER HAS IS BETWEEN HIS SHOULDERS
User avatar
Singing Bridge
500 Club
Posts: 7162
Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2010 1:11 pm
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pro ... 1329617473
Location: Logged in - from above
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Question for Scott Shawl: Killing Trees

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Mon Mar 05, 2018 1:50 am

ghoasthunter wrote:
Singing Bridge wrote:
Listened to your podcast, great information. Being that you and your family have a long history hunting big woods, I am wondering what your opinion is of killing trees that are productive for mature bucks over decades.


Killing trees like those you mention exist and my family has used many of them over generations of hunters. It doesn't have to be a tree, either. Ground sites also exist that we have used successfully.

For example, I am thinking of a spot my grandfather was the first to hunt. I am intimately familiar with the area and there isn't a doubt in my mind I could kill one of the biggest bucks in that area right there this fall if I was of a mind to. Not only is it adjacent to several of the most mature buck bedding areas that region has, it overlooks travel to doe bedding areas.

I have several killing trees / ground blind in addition to the one I mentioned. They are holy areas to me, and when one of my family members quits hunting it I leave it alone. That's just what seems right to me. Once every few years I will run through one of them while out scouting and they always contain sign that verifies they remain the spots that they once were.

The last time I went through an exact spot that my dad hunted many years ago there was a big rub from that fall less than 10 yards from his spot. He killed bucks 12 or 13 years in a row there.

Logging, forest fires and the like have the potential of shutting down those spots, always something to consider.

Also would like to hear opinions on “rut zones” where deer wind up year after year during rut and doe behavior during rut. With a big deer hunting family that spans several generations like yours, I am all ears for these types of patterns that one person might not be able to connect the dots on in a single lifetime. Would love to hear other people’s feedback on this too


Rut zones in the big woods will repeat themselves over and over barring any major habitat change or winter kill. For example there are numerous linear projections that mature bucks travel every year between doe families. It may be a swamp edge, a powerline a world class buck I hunted used to travel between doe families, land bridges, or the topographical edges we discuss here on the Beast so often.

I stuck a trailcam up in one of these rut zones where guys hardly ever see a deer elsewhere doe to a low population and the fact that it is a National Forest big woods. I ended up with hundreds of buck pictures, buck fights on camera... on and on.

The doe patterns during the rut in the big woods are far from predictable. Although there is usually a strong bed to feed pattern, many does will approach buck bedding areas on their own if they are unhappy with the way things are progressing.
good stuff id like to ad that looking for historical rubs will often help the beasts find these travel corridors you don't need fresh rubs just scars on trees and its game on.


Great point- I rely heavily on old rubs and old rub scars are a huge part of what I look for. Many hunters can tell a rub that was made a year ago, but watching them heal over the years can tip you off to old rubs that the majority walk by without "seeing" and that are quite old.

Do these many years old rubs have significance to me? You'd better believe it, there's a reason a buck rubbed there.
User avatar
Babshaft
500 Club
Posts: 608
Joined: Sat Nov 11, 2017 12:00 pm
Location: Ontario...Great White North
Status: Offline

Re: Question for Scott Shawl: Killing Trees

Unread postby Babshaft » Mon Mar 05, 2018 10:12 am

I found a great ground spot in a cedar swamp that has an isolated beaver pond. It was easy to find the bedding for the predominant west wind, but it definitely wasn’t easy to find a tree to climb with the thick cedar canopy. I found two nice clumps of downed cedars that’ll work for a NW and a SW wind. If I hadn’t of seen this thread I’d still be standing in knee high water trying to figure out what to do.

Thanks a ton lads!


  • Advertisement

Return to “Deer Hunting”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 76 guests