Drenalin 2020 Season

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

HB Store


User avatar
Drenalin
500 Club
Posts: 1093
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2018 6:47 am
Location: America
Status: Offline

Re: Drenalin 2020 Season

Unread postby Drenalin » Tue Apr 21, 2020 12:48 am

Made some headway on one of my goals for this year, kind of. Got my daughter out for a "camping trip" in the backyard, which is pretty much the best we can do right now. When I got home from work, I got her out to help set up the tent - a shaped, floorless tarp. She basically played and chased bumblebees while I did all the work. Then we gathered up her sleeping pad, bag, folding chair, and a hard limit of one stuffed animal for the night out. Built a small fire in the fire pit and made s'mores after dinner...her mom thought it would be a good idea to give her two s'mores and heaven only knows how many roasted marshmallows. We don't give her much sugar - she was bouncing all over the place, right before bedtime. Mom was shockingly concerned about bugs in the floorless tent so she sprayed a perimeter of bug spray around my daughter's sleeping bag, which had me coughing and gagging when we got in.

My daughter is a chatterbox - you know when she's awake because she talks nonstop, and you know when she's asleep because she stops talking. Except when she talks in her sleep. Anyway, got her in the tent about 8:00 for bed and we laid there and made up stories to tell each other - nothing scary, she's only four. She pretty much talked my ear off until 9:00, and asked me what that sound was every time the wind blew, or a dog barked, or a bird flew over. I asked her if she was scared because of the dark, and she was. Asked if she'd rather sleep inside, and it was a hard "NO!"

By 9:00 I was ready to go to sleep myself, so I thought I'd trick her into going to sleep. I kind of turned my head a little and growled and she said, "Dad! What was THAT?" I said, "I think it was a bear. I'm going to sleep because bears won't eat you if you're asleep." She got real quiet for a few minutes, I thought we were home free, then she informed me that she had figured out that sound was just "a truck rumbling it's wheels." Then she talked till 10:00 when I finally told her that if she didn't go to sleep I was going to make her go inside. That settled her down.

She did great, especially considering she's only been camping once before in her four years. She didn't mind sleeping on the ground, didn't complain or worry about the bugs, didn't let the cold (mid 40s) bother her, and didn't ask to go inside when it started to rain. Overall we had a great time and I can't wait to do it again, even if we have to stick to the backyard for a while longer.


I also got out Sunday for a little trout fishing and put another half dozen rainbows in the freezer. Going to have to smoke a batch this week. Next Saturday should be a scouting trip, if I don't end up building and painting bird feeders instead. At this rate, this will be the least prepared deer season I've ever had. But I'm having a blast spending more time with the kids. If it's warm enough Sunday afternoon, I'll get my daughter out for her first fishing trip.


User avatar
Drenalin
500 Club
Posts: 1093
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2018 6:47 am
Location: America
Status: Offline

Re: Drenalin 2020 Season

Unread postby Drenalin » Tue May 05, 2020 12:43 am

May 2nd - Scouting Trip

Finally got back into the woods this weekend to do a little scouting. The area I wanted to check out is a large creek bottom, close to 300 yards wide by 2 miles long, with a lot of steep ridges and drainages dumping off into it from the north and south. As you'd expect in this area, there's a sea of laurel in the bottom and creeping up the ridges. Also a lot of white oak on the tops of the ridges and some red oak off the tops. My original access plan got scrapped, so I accessed off a gated logging road that was around a mile and a half walk. I believe this logging road is open in the fall, and other hunter sign at that end of the creek bottom would support that idea. But from what I can see it doesn't look like many people are getting up out of that bottom. I found some bedding on the ridges, but most of it is either out of season or very lightly used. Probably the best thing I found was a spring or seep near the top of one of the higher ridges. It was a steep climb to get there, but that spring is being used heavily by deer. Tons of tracks in and around it and a spiderweb of trails all over that ridge. Also found rubs from last year and several much older than that. With so much food and cover in close proximity, and assuming that most human pressure will be in the bottom, this could be a hot location in the fall. I'll have to check the spring later in the year though to see if it's still active or if it's a seasonal thing.

There seems to be a pocket in the creek bottom that isn't seeing much, if any, pressure. My next trip in here, I plan on accessing from the other end so I can check pressure there and define the limits of that pocket. Then I'll focus my efforts on the best stuff within it. I don't really want to be in here more than one more time before season, maybe two at most. I feel really good about being able to get away from other hunters and into a solid concentration of deer in this area.

I also spent a lot of time shooting the new crossbow this weekend. I've got it dead on at 20 and 30 yards, shooting off a rest. Plan is to do another 2-3 sessions like that to break the string in, then switch over to shooting only broadheads and from various positions. If anyone has a recommendation on a good crossbow target, I'm all ears. Pulling bolts out of my old compound target was quite a chore.
User avatar
Drenalin
500 Club
Posts: 1093
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2018 6:47 am
Location: America
Status: Offline

Re: Drenalin 2020 Season

Unread postby Drenalin » Mon May 18, 2020 11:49 pm

May 16th - Scouting Trip

Got back into the area I scouted a couple of weeks ago, this time from a different direction with easier access. Last time in here, I walked in on a logging road that is closed now but open during hunting season. On the map, the logging road ends before it gets to the bottom I've been looking at so when I was in here last time, I got off of it before the "end" and hit some of the ridges and part of the bottom. It turns out the "end" of the logging road is actually a second gate and the road continues on for quite a ways. The road is apparently open in the fall up to this second gate, so there's actually easy access to both end of this bottom. On top of that, another logging road branches off and skirts along the opposite side of the bottom from where I was two weeks ago and basically runs the entire length of the bottom, right to where I came in this weekend. I couldn't see any of this last time because everything is leafed out. Most of the human sign is still close to the network of logging roads, but this whole area is almost certainly getting more pressure than I thought. There were a few drainages coming into the main creek bottom that I walked up a little ways and found heavily used deer trails. One of them had some pretty large tracks relative to the others, but they could have made at different times with different moisture/mud conditions. If I hunt this area at all, it will probably be on a hub above this particular drainage where several drainages, ridge lines, and fingers come together. Might be a good spot in the rut, especially as pressure pushes deer out of the creek bottom. I'm not planning on coming into this area again unless I decide to hunt it, and I'm not sure I will even invest a hunt in it unless I see during the season that the area isn't getting hit much.

I also got my daughter out for another "camping trip" in the backyard Saturday night. It amazes me how much of an adventure that is for her and how much she loves just sleeping in a tent in the backyard. Spent a little time trying to show her some constellations, but she was mostly interested in pointing out individual stars and asking me if they were planets. Campgrounds will open up around here soon, so I may be looking at getting the whole clan out in June sometime. The weather has also warmed up a lot this week, so maybe a couple of weeks from now I'll get her out fishing. Next weekend is my anniversary so plans have already been made for me, and they don't include anything hunting, fishing, or camping related. Going to be a long couple of weeks before I can get out again.
User avatar
Drenalin
500 Club
Posts: 1093
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2018 6:47 am
Location: America
Status: Offline

Re: Drenalin 2020 Season

Unread postby Drenalin » Wed May 27, 2020 2:07 am

May 25th - Scouting Trip

Walked into an area I haven't been to in close to 20 years this weekend. It was always relatively low pressure and pretty good deer numbers, but that has changed quite a bit. The first ridge I checked out has been getting hammered, so I dropped into the drainage below that and went up and over the next ridge. Got into a lot better sign over there, with most of it being in a wide and dry creek bed. Lots of fresh droppings, and came across a couple of big tracks. Tried following them out, but lost the track pretty quick when I got out of the creek bottom. Did a quick map check and headed to where I thought would be the best bedding close by, but didn't turn up anything there. Even moving slowly and really looking, I didn't find any apparent buck sign like old rubs, and didn't turn up a single bed. Ended up being not much more than a nice hike, but I marked that spot off the map. I'm down to just a handful more areas I want to check out before season gets here, places I know from recent experience don't get much pressure. I seem to be getting into areas with deer pretty easily, but haven't had much success locating bucks specifically. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a little frustrating, but I'm really enjoying getting into these areas that I've either never been to or haven't been to for several years.
User avatar
Drenalin
500 Club
Posts: 1093
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2018 6:47 am
Location: America
Status: Offline

Re: Drenalin 2020 Season

Unread postby Drenalin » Wed Jun 03, 2020 6:29 am

May 30th - Scouting Trip

Hiked about a mile and a half into an area that I've been interested in for a couple of years now. I've found good sign in here in the past, but have only hunted it a couple of times even though I always see deer there. A few years ago, I talked to a local guy who had taken a couple of nice bucks in here, but he hasn't hunted it in several years. I scouted this area a little last year specifically for bedding without luck, but did find sign of good deer activity. The idea going in this time was to start where I had found sign before and work out from there. I got on a good edge where the more open hardwoods joined a thicker, higher stem count area. This edge ran down the ridge along a drainage to a large hub with several drainages and fingers coming together in a relatively small area. There was a well used trail along the edge and a number of rubs from previous seasons. In the hub at the bottom, there was quite a bit of deer sign indicating the area is pretty heavily used. I don't know that there will be a mature buck in there, but when I hiked out I scouted for a good vantage point on one of the higher ridges overlooking this area.

My plan for this area is to leave it alone until late October. At that point, I'll make at least one trip in there to post up on that high ridge and monitor deer activity in the bottom and on some of the smaller finger ridges through binoculars. Based on what I see then, I'll make a plan to either hunt it pretty quickly after that initial observation, or I'll back out and maybe give it one more observation sit a little later into November. Could potentially hold back until rifle season when visibility will be even better and I could have shot opportunities from my observation location. But, most of the beneficial rutting activity will have passed by then, so I think a little earlier is better. I have also noticed in previous seasons that seeking/chasing tends to start in this general area a little earlier than in other locations in my region. Whether I kill or not in here this season, I should gain intel that will be helpful in the future, even if it's only applicable as rutting activity picks up.

Whether it's due to deer numbers or densities on the public I hunt, or my own inadequacies as a hunter, I am simply not finding bedding areas in my scouting. But I am doing a little better finding those softer transition lines, and getting on a fair bit of deer sign at least partially as a result of that. I'm also almost exclusively focused at this point on more remote areas that there just aren't many people accessing. I've checked some potential overlooked spots, but so far none of them have actually been overlooked. I've got a couple more of these long hike areas to check out, then I'm going to start scouting adjacent to a couple of our lakes. I'm also planning to get out soon to glass/observe the small piece of private I hunt just to get an idea what's living there.
User avatar
seazofcheeze
500 Club
Posts: 3860
Joined: Wed Sep 18, 2013 1:13 pm
Location: Billings, MT
Status: Offline

Re: Drenalin 2020 Season

Unread postby seazofcheeze » Wed Jun 03, 2020 11:41 am

Drenalin wrote:May 30th - Scouting Trip

Hiked about a mile and a half into an area that I've been interested in for a couple of years now. I've found good sign in here in the past, but have only hunted it a couple of times even though I always see deer there. A few years ago, I talked to a local guy who had taken a couple of nice bucks in here, but he hasn't hunted it in several years. I scouted this area a little last year specifically for bedding without luck, but did find sign of good deer activity. The idea going in this time was to start where I had found sign before and work out from there. I got on a good edge where the more open hardwoods joined a thicker, higher stem count area. This edge ran down the ridge along a drainage to a large hub with several drainages and fingers coming together in a relatively small area. There was a well used trail along the edge and a number of rubs from previous seasons. In the hub at the bottom, there was quite a bit of deer sign indicating the area is pretty heavily used. I don't know that there will be a mature buck in there, but when I hiked out I scouted for a good vantage point on one of the higher ridges overlooking this area.

My plan for this area is to leave it alone until late October. At that point, I'll make at least one trip in there to post up on that high ridge and monitor deer activity in the bottom and on some of the smaller finger ridges through binoculars. Based on what I see then, I'll make a plan to either hunt it pretty quickly after that initial observation, or I'll back out and maybe give it one more observation sit a little later into November. Could potentially hold back until rifle season when visibility will be even better and I could have shot opportunities from my observation location. But, most of the beneficial rutting activity will have passed by then, so I think a little earlier is better. I have also noticed in previous seasons that seeking/chasing tends to start in this general area a little earlier than in other locations in my region. Whether I kill or not in here this season, I should gain intel that will be helpful in the future, even if it's only applicable as rutting activity picks up.

Whether it's due to deer numbers or densities on the public I hunt, or my own inadequacies as a hunter, I am simply not finding bedding areas in my scouting. But I am doing a little better finding those softer transition lines, and getting on a fair bit of deer sign at least partially as a result of that. I'm also almost exclusively focused at this point on more remote areas that there just aren't many people accessing. I've checked some potential overlooked spots, but so far none of them have actually been overlooked. I've got a couple more of these long hike areas to check out, then I'm going to start scouting adjacent to a couple of our lakes. I'm also planning to get out soon to glass/observe the small piece of private I hunt just to get an idea what's living there.


It sounds like you have been putting in the work. Just my opinion, but probably a smart move on the switch to a crossbow. It's pretty terrible to have the season end before it even starts if you run into a shoulder injury again. The last spot you scouted sounds pretty promising, hopefully a good buck or two will show up there for you in the bow season. Good luck and keep grinding.
User avatar
Drenalin
500 Club
Posts: 1093
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2018 6:47 am
Location: America
Status: Offline

Re: Drenalin 2020 Season

Unread postby Drenalin » Thu Jun 04, 2020 4:35 am

seazofcheeze wrote:It sounds like you have been putting in the work. Just my opinion, but probably a smart move on the switch to a crossbow. It's pretty terrible to have the season end before it even starts if you run into a shoulder injury again. The last spot you scouted sounds pretty promising, hopefully a good buck or two will show up there for you in the bow season. Good luck and keep grinding.

Thanks seaz! I wasn't crazy about switching to a crossbow at first, but I'm sure it was the right decision. My shoulder may have held out another year, maybe even five more years, but it didn't feel good and I've got a heck of a lot more than five years left to archery hunt and don't need any additional damage on top of what I'm already dealing with. It helps that I was able to get a good one, and it's been really intuitive and simple to get it just about dialed in. Less time shooting also means more time with my kids, and I can't overstate how important that's been for me.

Another unexpected result of making the switch has been the way I'm thinking of hunts. I've always hunted a lot from the ground with a gun, and have been mixing in more and more ground hunting with a bow the last couple of years. Now with the crossbow, I'm leaning pretty heavily toward doing almost all my hunting from the ground. Treestands certainly have their place and provide some major advantages, but by leaving that thing at home I'll be carrying 20+ pounds less weight which opens up more and thicker country to me to hunt. Sure, I could tote a treestand with me anywhere I wanted to, and a lot of guys do, but I've always felt a lot more free without that thing on my back. I don't know, we'll see how all that pays out this year. If I ever climb a tree again though, I think I'll be in a saddle.

Before this morning, I'd never clicked the link in your signature and visited your website. I'm glad I finally did. Can't wait to see how everything works out for you this year and read about your hunts! Good on you for having the guts (twice now) to go after what's important to you. Your blog post on e-scouting was outstanding by the way, certainly one of the best I've seen on the topic.
User avatar
seazofcheeze
500 Club
Posts: 3860
Joined: Wed Sep 18, 2013 1:13 pm
Location: Billings, MT
Status: Offline

Re: Drenalin 2020 Season

Unread postby seazofcheeze » Thu Jun 04, 2020 5:49 am

Drenalin wrote:
seazofcheeze wrote:It sounds like you have been putting in the work. Just my opinion, but probably a smart move on the switch to a crossbow. It's pretty terrible to have the season end before it even starts if you run into a shoulder injury again. The last spot you scouted sounds pretty promising, hopefully a good buck or two will show up there for you in the bow season. Good luck and keep grinding.

Thanks seaz! I wasn't crazy about switching to a crossbow at first, but I'm sure it was the right decision. My shoulder may have held out another year, maybe even five more years, but it didn't feel good and I've got a heck of a lot more than five years left to archery hunt and don't need any additional damage on top of what I'm already dealing with. It helps that I was able to get a good one, and it's been really intuitive and simple to get it just about dialed in. Less time shooting also means more time with my kids, and I can't overstate how important that's been for me.

Another unexpected result of making the switch has been the way I'm thinking of hunts. I've always hunted a lot from the ground with a gun, and have been mixing in more and more ground hunting with a bow the last couple of years. Now with the crossbow, I'm leaning pretty heavily toward doing almost all my hunting from the ground. Treestands certainly have their place and provide some major advantages, but by leaving that thing at home I'll be carrying 20+ pounds less weight which opens up more and thicker country to me to hunt. Sure, I could tote a treestand with me anywhere I wanted to, and a lot of guys do, but I've always felt a lot more free without that thing on my back. I don't know, we'll see how all that pays out this year. If I ever climb a tree again though, I think I'll be in a saddle.

Before this morning, I'd never clicked the link in your signature and visited your website. I'm glad I finally did. Can't wait to see how everything works out for you this year and read about your hunts! Good on you for having the guts (twice now) to go after what's important to you. Your blog post on e-scouting was outstanding by the way, certainly one of the best I've seen on the topic.


I hear you on the treestands. I hunted a lot more from the ground last year out west, partly due to lack of trees, partly due to longer hikes, partly due to the fact that I could cover way more ground, which was all new ground to me. There's definitely something liberating about ditching the stand altogether. As you mentioned, treestands definitely offer a lot of advantages, but they have some drawbacks too. Plus, in my opinion, hunting from the ground with a bow is a ton of fun.

Thanks for checking out my website. I appreciate the feedback on the e-scouting article. I put a fair amount of time into it, so hopefully that wasn't all for nothing :lol:. A lot of the information is probably old hat to Beast regulars, but I think there is probably at least one or two things of value even for the regulars. I have a few more articles in the works, but there's never enough time in the day to get everything done that I'd like to.
User avatar
G-Patt
500 Club
Posts: 543
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2018 12:45 pm
Location: Ohio
Status: Offline

Re: Drenalin 2020 Season

Unread postby G-Patt » Thu Jun 04, 2020 6:23 am

Absolutely agree with the crossbow-ground game. I plan on doing 90% of my hunts this year on the ground unless I see a compelling reason not to. Good luck this year! You're inspiring me to get out and scout this weekend instead of crappie fishing, though the call of the golden crispies can be overwhelming. :lol:
On my deathbed, I will receive total consciousness. So I have that going for me, which is nice!
User avatar
Drenalin
500 Club
Posts: 1093
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2018 6:47 am
Location: America
Status: Offline

Re: Drenalin 2020 Season

Unread postby Drenalin » Thu Jun 04, 2020 8:20 am

G-Patt wrote:Absolutely agree with the crossbow-ground game. I plan on doing 90% of my hunts this year on the ground unless I see a compelling reason not to. Good luck this year! You're inspiring me to get out and scout this weekend instead of crappie fishing, though the call of the golden crispies can be overwhelming. :lol:

You might be the first person to accuse me of being an inspiration. I don't know what that says about either of us. :lol: For what it's worth, I'd go crappie fishing!
User avatar
Drenalin
500 Club
Posts: 1093
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2018 6:47 am
Location: America
Status: Offline

Re: Drenalin 2020 Season

Unread postby Drenalin » Thu Jun 04, 2020 8:23 am

seazofcheeze wrote:Thanks for checking out my website. I appreciate the feedback on the e-scouting article. I put a fair amount of time into it, so hopefully that wasn't all for nothing :lol:. A lot of the information is probably old hat to Beast regulars, but I think there is probably at least one or two things of value even for the regulars. I have a few more articles in the works, but there's never enough time in the day to get everything done that I'd like to.

Old hat or not, it's worth it as least a refresher to just about anybody. Your tips on setting your map options on CalTopo were extremely helpful. Anybody reading this who doesn't know what I'm talking about should check it out at https://going4brokeoutdoors.com/tips-and-tactics-for-e-scouting-whitetail-deer/.
User avatar
Drenalin
500 Club
Posts: 1093
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2018 6:47 am
Location: America
Status: Offline

Re: Drenalin 2020 Season

Unread postby Drenalin » Tue Jun 09, 2020 6:34 am

June 6th-7th - No Scouting

Decided to have a full day with my daughter Saturday instead of heading off to the woods. Spent my morning buying and planting butterfly bushes and what seemed like a hundred flowers, which I let her pick at the local greenhouse. She had fun for about the first hour of work, then she asked me if she could go play while I finished. Said she'd come back and water the flowers when I got done! No big deal, I can see this getting old for a four year and old and it was all my idea anyway. That afternoon we built and decorated a couple of bird houses, and grilled venison backstraps for dinner (which I think is her favorite meal right now). Had a great day overall and don't regret skipping the boots-on-the-ground scouting for one day at all.

Had a chance to get out Sunday and ended up going fishing instead of scouting. Not such a good idea. Hot hot hot, low and slow water, and hardly a bite. Might be better off just getting all my trout fishing out of the way in March and April. I'd like to say I learned my lesson and I'll be scouting when I have the chance instead of fishing, but I'm sure I'll get back on a stream at least one more time this month.

I guess saying I didn't do any scouting this weekend is a bit of lie. I spent hours and hours looking over maps each night after the kids were in bed.
User avatar
backstraps
Moderator
Posts: 10109
Joined: Sun Jun 24, 2012 4:44 pm
Location: Tennessee
Status: Offline

Re: Drenalin 2020 Season

Unread postby backstraps » Tue Jun 09, 2020 11:34 am

Sounds like a great weekend D!! :clap:

Man you are right about the H O T lets not leave out its brother H U M I D :lol:
User avatar
Drenalin
500 Club
Posts: 1093
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2018 6:47 am
Location: America
Status: Offline

Re: Drenalin 2020 Season

Unread postby Drenalin » Sun Jun 14, 2020 11:24 am

June 13th - Scouting Trip

Tried a new area today. Not a long distance hike, but a truly steep and miserable one. Gained over 1300 feet of elevation on a route that measured 1.3 miles on the topo. Total trip ended up at 4.3 miles, and I’m feeling every step. Definitely was worth the effort though.

I wanted to scout a saddle formed at the head of three large draws, that also had a long narrow clearing in it. Found great sign around that clearing with a lot of trails coming in and out of it, and a pretty good trail about 15 feet off the edge. Tons of cover, and lots of droppings and tracks. Also found a well used seep off in the drainage running parallel with the clearing. There are not a lot of oaks up here but I did find a pocket of mature white oaks that were close to some bedding. I have some rough ideas for accessing and hunting this area in the fall, but didn’t set anything in stone because the way deer are using this area may totally change. Will be a scout/hunt mission next time up this mountain for sure.

Also scouted out a finger just south of the saddle that I thought would have bedding on it, and found a handful. Doe bedding area it appears, but that’s ok. The sides of this finger were extremely thick and I would be very surprised if I didn’t walk right by even more beds than I found. There were droppings everywhere, but the north side of the finger in particular was loaded with poop. Looked like all I found was a week or less old, and certainly from different days of the past week. I believe I’ve gotten into a good pocket of deer up there, just need them to still be using the area this fall. The right ingredients are there, including very low pressure due to access being pretty difficult.
User avatar
Drenalin
500 Club
Posts: 1093
Joined: Wed Jul 11, 2018 6:47 am
Location: America
Status: Offline

Re: Drenalin 2020 Season

Unread postby Drenalin » Wed Jun 17, 2020 12:49 am

Drenalin wrote:March 16th - Quick Update

Was out of the country last week and have spent the last several weeks preparing for that trip, so no scouting lately other than e-scouting. The new owners of one piece of private I used to hunt brought me a shed antler this morning. Said they picked it up right where I used to have a stand setup, before the logging started this past summer. It's a heavy beamed son of a gun for this area with four points on the side. Easily the largest antler I've held in my hands before. Sounds like they may not start building on this property any time soon, and there's a good chance I'll be able to hunt in there this year.

Got confirmation yesterday afternoon that I can hunt this property this season. Don’t know when I’ll get out to scout it, but this is great news!


  • Advertisement

Return to “Deer Hunting”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Smitty and 90 guests