Early Season In the Northern Big Woods

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Cchez
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Re: Early Season In the Northern Big Woods

Unread postby Cchez » Sun Aug 11, 2019 3:29 am

tundra@1 wrote:I hunted Northern Bayfield county and Ashland county, from 1976 to 1994,,,,, shot some great bucks, but those days of hunting are done, because back then, we had good Federal forest mgt , no baiting, little ATV traffic, if any, and NO WOLVES..... You have to appreciate your hunting now, and competing with them wolves, so you have to adjust.

I hunt the western UP, as I have a home there. I scout a lot, and always key in on the drainage systems. This is how the deer move in my area, by following, crossing, and keeping tight to all the streams, for the most part.......

I am on all the log jobs, and those completed, and those that have been completed within the last 3 years,,,,,

Federal Forest mgt, is back on track, but baiting is heavy in the UP, and that also affects movement. When the wolves move in I move out,,,, they move a lot all the time, so you just have to deal with them

Better bucks will bed early in wolf country, since the veteran bucks know, that as the early evening comes, the wolves are out on the prowl,,,,, they are truly killing machines,,,,,

also do not hesitate, to hunt close to towns, close to roads, etc. Predator pressure in some areas, keep them out of the deep woods and closer to town and activity.

In the deep woods, it is tough, but you will see few if any hunters, and I know areas, that deer see no one, really so you do not have much to compete with except the wolf

do not expect to see huge numbers of deer, until late season,,,,,,,,,,,

I could write a lot about hunting the big woods, but I just wanted to add a little bit of info that I knew about, otherwise this would go on too long,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,



Thanks for the response tundra. Wolves are a problem where I'm at too, and its only getting worse. Not only are they out in the bigger forests, but they've started to adapt to the deer moving closer to the city and towns, and even the houses. Multiple people have had their dogs attacked while walking the hiking trails inside the city limits, and we see them regularly around my family's homestead.


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Re: Early Season In the Northern Big Woods

Unread postby Ranger Matthews » Sun Aug 11, 2019 5:30 am

I hunt the big woods of the northern UP MI. Early season for me the best spots are isolated apple trees. The only reason I bring that up is that they took me years to find and if you have lakes or rivers in the areas the early settlers may have planted some. Sometimes the blossums even show up on google earth if the picture is taken at the right time. For me the nearest ag land is probably 40 miles away and I usually stay away from clearcuts just cause they usually attract other hunters. I look for real old logging trails that you can barely tell are there. Over the years they get taken over by the deer and become the main travel corridors. You can find little pockets of brouse that the deer either have kept down from repeated use or if you get a deadfall or windstorm that knocks down some trees. The beaver ponds are good cause the beaver are constantly opening up the canopy and you get fresh growth. Either way early season is tough because I think the mature bucks run big loops that take 8-10 days and only stick around for days at a time during the rut. They just move from small pocket of browse to small pocket of browse. The only good thing is they seem to run the same trails so if you can find big tracks, rubs or scraps there is a good chance they will use the exact same trail because I dont think they just wander its more like they have road maps that they stick to. Thats where you need a food source that is short term like apples or oaks. The only other thing to check and a couple guys have all ready mentioned that when the maple trees first start dropping their leaves. Dan has talked about this and if you dont have oaks or apples it could be your only short term food source that could concentrate movement.
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Re: Early Season In the Northern Big Woods

Unread postby Joe Belly-High Rub » Mon Aug 12, 2019 3:33 am

A lot of good points made here already that I also observe in my area, especially the beaver dams. I hunt big woods of northern New England (me, NH, vt) and the reason the beast resonated with me so strongly was the focus on bedding instead of food. I have never been able to figure out reliable, consistent patterns of feeding in big woods. We have mixed hardwoods and northern conifers with various oaks spread out all over the landscape. Water is evenly distributed as well for the most part. So I have given up on focusing on food.

To me, big woods is all about post season and spring scouting for beds beast style. And lots of it. Otherwise, I'm just blind casting into a dark pool that might not even have a fish in it, looking for a needle in a haystack, pick your metaphor... I probably spend 10-15 times scouting for every one hunt. Tailoring and fine tuning the beast scouting methods to your area is where the rubber hits the road for me, and where the carefull observation and woodmanship need to be constantly sharpened.
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Re: Early Season In the Northern Big Woods

Unread postby headgear » Mon Aug 12, 2019 4:57 am

Cchez wrote:Headgear, when you say you are looking for the buck sign, are you meaning rubs and scrapes in the early season? I ask because i very rarely find any of those in the early season on our private, it doesnt show up until pre rut later in october. This has lead me to believe the bucks really don't use our private land in summer, and are showing up later for the rut. This is my first season using beast tactics and venturing off onto public lands, so it seems i just have to do some more exploring until i find an the bucks are using early season.


Yes any and all sign, mostly tracks but I always find a few rubs/scrapes early season. They won't be easy to find but that is generally a good sign, seems like a buck can leave tracks everywhere early season as they travel at night but if you can find some early season rubs they often can be from velvet peel or even after that, same for scrapes, they are rare but they are there and a lot of times that means you find them closer to bedding. Check out the hunting public videos from last year, early season and I am pretty sure Dan and Joe were finding some fresh rubs/scrapes as they kept pushing further out into the islands and Joe shot that great buck. Prime time all the bucks are leaving sign everywhere but during early season it is much more rare but can help pinpoint some of those early season areas. With that said I have only shot one early season buck and had a few other encounters but maybe some of our early season pros or Dan can comment more.
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Re: Early Season In the Northern Big Woods

Unread postby headgear » Mon Aug 12, 2019 5:02 am

I also notice the bedding can be a little different early season, at least in the bigwoods. The bucks are in some of the same general areas because the wind and thermals give them an advantage, however they aren't always further back like they get to when the leaves are down. I have bumped several bucks who were bedding in areas that spring scouting didn't reveal. This can of course depend on the bed and layout but just something I see a lot. I can be frustrating but really it is just learning about what the bucks are doing in different areas at different times of the year and fine tuning your setups to make the most of it.
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Re: Early Season In the Northern Big Woods

Unread postby Cchez » Mon Aug 12, 2019 12:59 pm

Lots of awesome responses on this topic so far, i appreciate all the info!
I did some scouting on a piece of big woods yesterday and learned a good bit about it. The clear cut had lots of doe bedding around the edges, and i found rubs and scrapes from previous seasons on the inside edge of the woods. The clear cut is loaded with red osier dogwood, raspberries, and poplars that are at perfect browse height. But it didnt appear as if they were eating on the dogwood yet.
Next i went down and walked the marsh and swamp transitions a ways from the clearcut, and i found some interesting things. I found that where certain terrain features were more defined than they tend to be around here, that bucks would bed on them. For example, i found a couple points inside the woods that looked down into the marsh that had bedding.
Now i headed out to a little island in the marsh that was backed up against a creek, just off a tamarack swamp. Well i busted outwhat i assume was a buck, i didnt see it, but i found his fresh bed in the thick stuff on that little island, looking out across the creek and marsh. I saw his trail where he crashed out of there and headed straight for the tamaracks. Another reason i thought this was cool is because he was where he was supposed to be. I had a north wind, and he was bedded on the southern part of the island facing south, wind over back. The last bit of intel i got, is i wont be able to bow hunt this area. Way to thick, gun season would be my best bet.
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Re: Early Season In the Northern Big Woods

Unread postby tundra@1 » Wed Aug 14, 2019 3:31 pm

some young guys have found out what I have shot,, in the UP,,, they asked me to cover some information... I felt very humbled that going on 70 some 35 year old would want to pick my brain,,,,, anyway, I told them to make the drive down to a Oshkosh, to talk to a real deer hunter, Dan Infalt, I know that 2 of them are coming for sure....... I said, just listen to that guy,,,,,,,

My days are heading for the end,,, I love all you young guys,,,,,, as far as the Beast,,,,, I just love it,,, it is what keeps me going
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Re: Early Season In the Northern Big Woods

Unread postby 218er » Wed Aug 14, 2019 3:57 pm

I grew up hunting along the mn - canada border but more recently I’ve bow hunted the mn bow hunter opener for about the last ten years just north of Duluth. I’ve witnessed deer eating maple leaves excessively. Several people mentioned beaver ponds. Topography, lakes, rivers, creeks, and ponds create pinch points that result in higher traffic areas. The clearcuts are the key. Focus on back trailing trails off the clearings until you either find clusters of rubs or jump deer from their beds. If you find old rubs follow them anyways, they often spider to other rub lines. I always see fresh rubs on opening weekend up there.
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Re: Early Season In the Northern Big Woods

Unread postby North » Sat Aug 17, 2019 3:56 am

Trout wrote:The MI DNR has a website that breaks down all state owned land by cover types. I use that to find areas where swamp, marsh or high stem count Aspen is adjacent to oak stands. Dont know if your state has the same GIS info publicly available


Not totally related to big woods hunting but this was a great tip. Never thought to look if my state had a map where I could determine the types of trees while e-scouting. This might be a game changer for my e-scouting. Thanks again Trout!
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Re: Early Season In the Northern Big Woods

Unread postby Tim H » Sat Aug 17, 2019 4:23 am

There is a lot of great information in the prior posts. I'll add this.

History in the Big Woods is important. The mature bucks will do the same things year after year at similar times in similar places. If you're starting fresh, you gotta lay that foundation down. Boots on the ground. Don't be afraid to make mistakes because you will, whether you believe it or not. A journal is pretty important at this point.

Trail cameras can be useful for data. I use cameras to learn day movement at certain times of the year in certain areas. Getting lucky on a mature buck isn't likely or common in early season. You kind of have to know that he's alive and where his likes to hang out. You won't find a lot of sign in the early season to go off of. That's where the woodsmanship and history come in.

Understanding your terrain, how the deer use it will be really useful. Did I mention boots on the ground? I doubt you'll have competition with other hunters in big woods. Be mobile. Move around and try some things.

But as mentioned, the predators are a factor. But just know that if the wolves are there, so are the deer. Otherwise the wolves wouldn't be there.

Bigwoods hunting can be really addicting but it takes a certain mindset to stick with it and be successful. Good luck! :D
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Re: Early Season In the Northern Big Woods

Unread postby Tim H » Sat Aug 17, 2019 4:26 am

tundra@1 wrote:some young guys have found out what I have shot,, in the UP,,, they asked me to cover some information... I felt very humbled that going on 70 some 35 year old would want to pick my brain,,,,, anyway, I told them to make the drive down to a Oshkosh, to talk to a real deer hunter, Dan Infalt, I know that 2 of them are coming for sure....... I said, just listen to that guy,,,,,,,

My days are heading for the end,,, I love all you young guys,,,,,, as far as the Beast,,,,, I just love it,,, it is what keeps me going


I love picking the older more experienced hunters minds of hunting. It's rare that we get to do it. I believe understanding our history of where we came from to where we are today is truly important!
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Re: Early Season In the Northern Big Woods

Unread postby Cchez » Sat Aug 17, 2019 4:58 am

North wrote:
Trout wrote:The MI DNR has a website that breaks down all state owned land by cover types. I use that to find areas where swamp, marsh or high stem count Aspen is adjacent to oak stands. Dont know if your state has the same GIS info publicly available


Not totally related to big woods hunting but this was a great tip. Never thought to look if my state had a map where I could determine the types of trees while e-scouting. This might be a game changer for my e-scouting. Thanks again Trout!



There's some great info on different state and county mapping sites like this. My county doesn't have a filter for tree types, but i know some county ones in WI that do that have helped me identify areas with oaks. One tip i can add to the virtual scouting, is i've learned how to identify areas with oak trees by aerial photos. It's helped my find a bunch of new areas, once i find the likely spots, i go in boots on the ground to confirm. Once you learn what they look like, it makes it WAY easier to find these hidden spots, you just need to verify with with your own eyes on foot to be 100% sure.

NorthwoodsWiscoHnter wrote:There is a lot of great information in the prior posts. I'll add this.

History in the Big Woods is important. The mature bucks will do the same things year after year at similar times in similar places. If you're starting fresh, you gotta lay that foundation down. Boots on the ground. Don't be afraid to make mistakes because you will, whether you believe it or not. A journal is pretty important at this point.

Trail cameras can be useful for data. I use cameras to learn day movement at certain times of the year in certain areas. Getting lucky on a mature buck isn't likely or common in early season. You kind of have to know that he's alive and where his likes to hang out. You won't find a lot of sign in the early season to go off of. That's where the woodsmanship and history come in.

Understanding your terrain, how the deer use it will be really useful. Did I mention boots on the ground? I doubt you'll have competition with other hunters in big woods. Be mobile. Move around and try some things.

But as mentioned, the predators are a factor. But just know that if the wolves are there, so are the deer. Otherwise the wolves wouldn't be there.

Bigwoods hunting can be really addicting but it takes a certain mindset to stick with it and be successful. Good luck! :D



I agree with you wholeheartedly on the the historical sign aspect of big woods. It was something i picked up one when i was younger and helped me connect on quite a few bucks during rifle season. That being said, for some reason (probably because i tend to overthink a lot of things) I never put that together for Bow hunting the big woods! I ALWAYS tried to hunt them like i was rifle hunting, i didn't understand the movement patterns and how they change throughout the year. Haha, oh well. I'm always trying to learn anything I can, im not too proud to admit that I really don't know a lot of things about deer. But there's only one way to get better.
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Re: Early Season In the Northern Big Woods

Unread postby North » Sat Aug 17, 2019 3:57 pm

Cchez wrote:
North wrote:
Trout wrote:The MI DNR has a website that breaks down all state owned land by cover types. I use that to find areas where swamp, marsh or high stem count Aspen is adjacent to oak stands. Dont know if your state has the same GIS info publicly available


Not totally related to big woods hunting but this was a great tip. Never thought to look if my state had a map where I could determine the types of trees while e-scouting. This might be a game changer for my e-scouting. Thanks again Trout!



There's some great info on different state and county mapping sites like this. My county doesn't have a filter for tree types, but i know some county ones in WI that do that have helped me identify areas with oaks. One tip i can add to the virtual scouting, is i've learned how to identify areas with oak trees by aerial photos. It's helped my find a bunch of new areas, once i find the likely spots, i go in boots on the ground to confirm. Once you learn what they look like, it makes it WAY easier to find these hidden spots, you just need to verify with with your own eyes on foot to be 100% sure.


I am still training myself to be able to identify some of those tree types by aerials, but having access to the forestry data for my state should help me cheat a little bit. I can always do a custom overlay on google earth with a screen shot of the forestry data and get a feel for what the oak stands look like compared to everything else.

It has taken me some time to figure out e-scouting as someone who took up hunting later in life. Dan's dvd's have helped a ton. Still have a lot to learn though about taking a big chunk of land and figuring out the best places to check out.


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