Another STUMP

[mauser06]

So, my last post about being stumped helped ME and others think our way through. Lots of good info posted etc.




Yesterday I ran to a small piece of public on a lake shore. Last year, I had a couple turkeys there. I wanted to see if they were still around.


I cut a set of BIG buck tracks. I believe he was heading upto the oaks to feed and he took off down to his bedroom. But I could be completely wrong.

The hunting pressure is ridiculous up on the ridge. The last 2 years (that I've been going there) there's been big tracks up high.

I followed the tracks down towards the lake shore.


Found a heck of a trail littered with his big tracks.

Followed that to a little point of land on the lake shore.


That little point was shredded. Big time. Big high Rubs. Anything smaller than my wrist was blown apart like a brush hog got it.


I've never scouted a lake shore and fell for the trap..I spent a lot of time combing that little point. Then the light bulb went off...he wouldn't bed there. He's cornered if he does.


I was running out of daylight so decisions needed made.

There are some good looking knobs around that point...I thought they might hold his bed. They are I'm pretty open woods though. I looked quick and found a trail leading to a nasty tangle. Some is wet swampy stuff. Some is thick high stem count stuff.

I followed that trail. His running tracks went down towards that stuff but I lost them.



There isn't a ton of land to work with.



The point that was shredded wasn't doe bedding or anything. It looked like it was gunna be a big buck bed room or doe bedding based on the concentration of sign.

South the woods open up. North is the swamp/thicket. East is the oak ridge.


The concentration of rubs is kinda throwing me through the ringer. I guess I want a reason why all that sign is there. I would imagine his bed room isn't far off??


I have to go back this week.


Figured I'd open the discussion and get some ideas and then like last time, post my findings.






Hard to walk by a smallbarea with several rubs of that size...and anything smaller completely blown apart.

[mheichelbech]

I wouldn’t say he is trapped being on a point. Bucks are good swimmers. If there isn’t any other land nearby he could swim to it may be an issue.

Did you find any bedding on the point?

[mauser06]

No bedding on that point. It looked good though. Nice hemlocks mixed with hardwoods.


Nearest land is 350-400yds. Jumping in the lake for a swim to escape seems like a poor plan? I know they can and will swim...



Don't know if I mentioned. Topos and ariels don't really help. Weird deal where the topos don't show much. So it'll be "old fashioned boot leather"




The concentration of sign is just luring me in. I believe here was a scrape as well. Hard to tell as the lake shore gets beat with wind. But sure looked like it. Like I said, I was loosing light so I was sorta running around like a mad man.


My guess is the point is staging before he heads up the hill into the open to feed?

[Wannabelikedan]

I would be willing to say that he is probably cruising between doe bedding and the shoreline during that pre-rut to rut transition and laying down rut sign. Most probably done during the night. The terrain coupled with the lake drawing thermals from the high ground allows him to scent check from the lower elevations. The areas with the heaviest sign is probably doe bedding. Most of the oldest bucks I see have that pre-rut ritual of cruising at night in search of those first hot does and leaving their mark on the area. Its like the most seasoned and skilled athletes training and prepping for the big game. They're ahead of the pack.

[mauser06]

Id suspect the swamp/thicket is holding deer. Maybe him. Maybe does. I didn't come across any bedding near the sign. But like I said, I was looking light and making quick decisions. The hills above the sign are wide open mature forest. Same with the south.


Him running off down that direction leads me to believe he Maybe lives down there somewhere.


Might be in the swamp/thicket...just not laying down the sign in there.


The prerut theory makes sense due to the concentration of sign and obvious aggression. I just feel he's living nearby too.



Really wanna find his core area.


Water access might be key. Which I don't have...but could. Lol.


Between the obvious deer hunting and small game hunting that takes place on the rest of the ground, I feel like he's gotta be living down there somewhere.


Anxious to get back in there and see what I can find. Might even try to leave a couple cameras. I aughta be able to tell him apart. Might get an idea of when he's coming through and direction that might point me towards a bedroom.

[PK_]

My guess if there is that much sign on that point he is either bedding there at night or taking does in there to breed them if it’s out of the way, or both. Bucks don’t just walk into random dead end areas and tear them up repeatedly. At least not that I have seen. He is spending time there hard horned for a reason.

[mauser06]

Thats something I didn't think of....be a heck of a little hide out to corner a doe till she's partially willing.


1 rub tells me a buck was there at some point with hard antlers.


A small area with several rubs...he spent a minute there. For some reason. At some point.


Maybe a rut bedding area. Like was mentioned, he could monitor above due to the lake thermals...and anything coming out of the thicket/swamp heading to the oaks, he can see/smell.


But the tracks I saw would line up to be the owner of those rubs. And he headed right down there. So I'm somewhat convinced he's living there.


The specific piece is....interesting. I wrote it off for deer...fishermen on the lake. Small game hunters chasing stocked pheasants and rabbits..maybe some waterfowl hunters...back road on one side..lake on another..highway on another..a well access road down the center..some open fields...some private I know gets hunted heavily. I just wrote it off. Small and seems busy.


But, I haven't seen a single tree stand. Just a few places where it's obvious someone sat on the ground deer hunting up top.

A lot of the piece is thick and nasty. But enough oaks and browse and open woods too.

Maybe it is getting overlooked by most deer hunters?

There is plenty of deer sign if you look for it. And I was seeing plenty of deer in turkey season last year.


We'll see. I'm going to take at least a day and try to comb it over heavy and see what I can come up with.


I think he's still there now...there's historic sign as well as this years...I'd like to find his bedroom...that'd help me figure things out.

I wish the terrain showed on a topo..that would help.

The well access road is the obvious access...but I could walk way beyond and sneak up the lake shore from the south.. Or drop in off the road and come up from the north. Depending where he gotta be killed and what the wind and thermal conditions are.


I'm intrigued enough I think it warrants a good look. I was planning to head for the hills this week...but this is local. Which means I can hunt it more..or monitor it a bit through the season..

[PK_]

Yea I have watched bucks take does into odd little dead end spots like that seems like simply to get the pressure off from competing bucks if wind is blowing to water bucks won’t come from downwind only from ground scent and only one way for him to guard.

If you ever get to watch bucks with does in open ground that is all they are constantly doing is looking back downwind waiting for the next fight to come, and they always come.

[mauser06]

Our rut has been.....so so. In PA. It's getting better...butbwhen the buck to doe ratio is like 1:20 and most bucks are 1.5yo, you don't see the true rut.

Even now, after seeing some of the rut in SE Ohio, Pennsylvania is still lacking. Boy those OH bucks are aggressive abd vocal. We're getting better with age structure and buck to doe ratio though.


I actually struggle with rut hunts because of it. If there is an area I really feel like I'm lacking, it's rut hunts.


Thats sorta been my goal as I progress...from day 1 till the end of the season in January...be able to go out and stand a good chance of getting a shot at a 2.5+yo buck.


This past seasons buck in Ohio is actually the first "rut buck" I've killed that was actively seeking or chasing etc.

[dan]

Rut would bring a periodic visit to a point like that if it had doe bedding... A beat trail full of his tracks and that much sign tells me the buck is probably bedding there. Usually they need good escape, but I can think of a few spots on lake shores where they dont and I killed good bucks who made that mistake... I would look at that point a little closer, and not be so quick to write it off...

[mauser06]

I'm more interested in this spot now that I'm looking at it again.


Good 3+ finger tracks on a trail a few feet from the waters edge going both directions.

Historic rubs all over.


Trying to see if there is a direction of the rubs. Many seem to point south....I took a different access in and there's at least 3 worn trails coming from the south. From here, the woods look wide open...but there's a lotnof ground I can't see.


Going to work that direction next.


This little point is pretty secure with the hemlocks...but there are acorns on the ground. Still thinking maybe a staging area before he enters the open timber.


Running out of time. Greener in just a few days.

[mauser06]

So I followed trails to the south of the small point....

There were several. Not much for rubs but big tracks on them.


Didn't realize it but the access road pushes down and doesn't leave much woods between it and the lake.


So, now I'm figuring that sign is night time sign. Just too much human activity...access road, pheasant hunters etc. Shotgun hulls tell me the thicket/swamp get hit hard.



Followed the trails and they all dumped out in a small brushy field.


Decided to circle the field edge and see what I could find.


Followed a trail heading for a narrow funnel. I NEVER thought it'd be worth looking at because it's sort of a dead end. On the other side of the funnel is a 20 or so acre piece.


There were several scrapes on an old logging road in the tightest part of the funnel between the highway and the lake shore. Hmmmm

Kept following the trail and basically led me to the holy grail of deer sign. Old sign...new sign...big sign.

I found several active scrapes. Not huge scrapes..3 footers...like I usually see near buck beds.

Several non-acrive scrapes...but some were car hood sized.

Lots of big oaks on that piece.


The interior of it is the highest ground and thick and nasty. Lots of dead falls and brush. Trails weaved in and out of everywhere. I found 1 bed..but it wasn't a worn bed at all. Just noticed the belly hair.










Couldn't confirm or deny he's bedding out there. But there was no sign of humans out there....thick. a couple different escapes despite basically being cornered.



I think I will try to drop a couple cameras early. Then throw a dark to dark in the funnel near Halloween...right when they really start rolling...I think that's my best bet to stick one without knowing the bedding. If you walk through the funnel and into the 20 area piece, they probably have you pegged. If you come in via water, I think it'll be the same problem. Even if the target deer doesn't, I think other deer will.


I could be way off base and that's not bedding either. But as far as public goes, I've about turned every stone. One place I do wanna look is right near the parking lot. There could be good bedding right near it...



Productive day. I just need a season of Intel I think. I really feel like the funnel tactic could pay off. There's only 2 ways for them to pass through. I will give up the 1 being a wide open strip of grass. I should be able to see it though. And I can hunt/access from the east or west side of the main trails...trees are limited but there are 2 areas in can cover all of it.