Public Land- Help pick a spot(Map)

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dkoy85
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Public Land- Help pick a spot(Map)

Unread postby dkoy85 » Wed Sep 25, 2013 4:54 am

First let me start out by saying hello and introducing myself. My name is Sam and I am from PA. I'm an avid archery hunter who FINALLY found the perfect forum dedicated to hardcore hunters. So thank you Dan for creating such an awesome site! I've watched Dan's videos and really enjoy the do it yourself on highly pressured land mentality, as it's the only type of hunting I've known until recent years when I ventured out to Ohio.

The point of this post is to enlist in the public help in narrowing down my search into where I think a mature bucks home range is. I recently moved a county over and found a few county parks near my new place in PA that I am pretty excited to hunt. I've never really hunted public land before so I know I am up for a tough task to take what I consider a mature buck in my part of the country (3.5 years old). I've come to notice how important it is to find a mature bucks bedding area- and I will admit I have very little knowledge in finding one. I find bedding but I'm not sure how to pinpoint whether or not its an old buck.

From the scouting I've done on this property, I believe I narrowed down this particular bucks home range to a roughly 100 acre chunk, simply because I found quite a few absolutely torn up rubs on 2" to 6" trees and fresh and old(last years) scrapes littering the woods- mainly on a small concentration of trails.

I've included a topo map and an aerial photo of this particular chunk. The white dots labeled tree stands are not my tree stands. All the rubs are on the NW side of the trees indicating the buck is traveling towards the corn fields. This is the first time I can pretty much determine one buck made the rubs on this travel corridor(I'll also attach a pic of one of the rubs that indicate the average size of these rubs). He's stuck to just about the thickest cover he can find. The northern most thicket is where I believe he is bedded as I followed the rub line from the corn field thicket(didnt penetrate) past the last rub just SE of the Northern thicket. Keep in mind I scouted the whole 100 acre chunk and did not find any other sign this large and conclusive of a single bucks main travel. There aren't any rubs on the northern side of the northern bedding that would indicate he's making it past that thicket. And why would he right? He can see the whole bottom for any predators and catch any scent above him and disappear into the pines behind him, plus slip down for a quick drink and never leave cover- a perfect thermal setup for him- at least I think.

What do you guys think? Is this indicative of a mature bucks travel and bedding? Where would you set up and what wind would you try to kill him? Sorry for the maps- I edited them on paint. THANKS!!






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Milk Weed Seed
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Re: Public Land- Help pick a spot(Map)

Unread postby Milk Weed Seed » Thu Sep 26, 2013 3:24 am

Welcome to the Beast! Rubs higher off the ground most likely indicate an older age class buck. Younger bucks have not developed thier skeletal frame and are obviously shorter and make rubs lower on trees. Hopefully that will help you get an idea of the age of the buck making the rubs.
My mapping skills are nowhere as good other members here, so I'll leave that to someone else to chime in on. The lower bedding/thicket looks good to me, going to the oaks. I would walk the entire hiking trail and see if I could cut any large tracks crossing it and start from there. Depending on how often the trails are used this might be your best chance at a low imact scout. Good Luck!

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Redman232
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Re: Public Land- Help pick a spot(Map)

Unread postby Redman232 » Fri Sep 27, 2013 3:04 am

It looks to me like you've got a cluster of bucks sign in an area where scent would pool due to thermals rising or falling. If it were a rut hunt I would hunt that valley where all your sign appears to be located, just a slightly higher elevation in the morning or on the north wall(south facing) in the evening, with any wind from the the west (NW, SW or W). If the property is close to your home, I would hunt my way in and cross off each bedding area one a time. It also looks like this would be an area of high deer traffic. Do you have access to any of the land to the west? What is your prodominant wind direction? If it is out of the west, I would scout the opposite side of the valley, any NE, E or SE facing slopes. The "mound" with 745 elevation to the NW of the thick pine bedding area looks interesting to me. With the hiking trail thru this area and the tree stands on top of the ridge line, I wouldn't be surprised if your buck was coming from a little further away. It looks like his travel elevation, direction of travel and food source destination indicate this would be evening travel route. If He/they are traveling the lower 1/3 of the valley, they would have thermals falling to them, wind swirling or blowing directly to them. The "mound" with 745 elevation to the NW of the thick pine bedding area looks interesting to me. Looks like a swirling wind nightmare, which would obviously be tough for you and good for the buck. Looks like an area with a lot of potential, I don't know if this helps you at all, but that's how I would hunt/approach this area. Good luck.
woody-san
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Re: Public Land- Help pick a spot(Map)

Unread postby woody-san » Fri Sep 27, 2013 4:02 am

dkoy,

I'm not an expert in these parts, but I recently scouted a similar situation to what you are showing here. All the fingers that descended from a hill top ag field showed evidence of bedding. I marked spots I'd look for bedding, with red dots. I marked these spots because they are roughly 1/3 from the top of the ridge and they are on transitions/edges. I'm envisioning a buck bedding in these locations with the thick stuff, or a tree, and wind to their back and using their vision and elevated vantage point to the front. I also wouldn't rule out the bedding being in the thick stuff a little bit. The pink line I drew on there; I would bet money that deer are accessing the corn in that manner. The falling thermal would give them lots of scent data from that field before they go out to eat at night. I saw something very similar on my last scouting trip, I hit a low spot near a wood/field edge, where the thermals will fall out of the field, and there was a well worn path heading into a bean field, at that location. Like I said, I'm no expert, but were I going to scout this, the red points are where I would expect bedding. Walking the 720/730 ft. elevation line would be a good step, I think, towards finding the bedding. I think Easterly, or varations thereof, would be good for this location. There southern most spot I marked, if a bed were to be there, would be great with a North or NE wind, assuming the hiker/horse trail isn't causing deer to stay away.

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