No man is an island..but he'll hunt one!

[Fins & Tines]

Working on scouting a "new" piece of Public. I've been fishing this lake for 20+ years, duck hunted on it, turkey hunted around it, and now I'm going to deer hunt on it.

I found a large island on the lake that looks promising, or at least I hope it does. I'm not exactly sure what to make of it. It's about 200 acres, hardwoods and a few cedars. When the lake drops to winter pool, you can easily walk from the island to the main land, otherwise it's about 3'-5' deep for the closest/shortest crossing. I've seen deer swim in this lake on the other end over 40' of water in the late summer, so I know this shallow cove isn't an issue for them.

Is it worth putting boots on the ground? This land used to be a farming community before the lake was impounded. In some of the photos below, you can see the fence lines on the North end. These are important because they create funnels/crossings, IF this island has deer on it. I haven't stepped foot on it yet, so your guess is as good as mine. I'm betting it does, though.

I have a boat, so walking distance is not an issue in this case.

First, let's start with the Topo overlaid on satellite imagery.




Next up is the satellite imagery, starting on the North end first. Notice the dates of the photos.













The South end. Here you can also see the land connection in the SW corner during winter pool.












I feel like it's worth the effort to check it out. It could be hunted on all winds, since I can access from any direction. Pressure should be low, if none.

[Bonecrusher101]

Yeah man put boots on it asap. If I were you I'd be looking for human/hunter sign mostly. Secondly I'd be looking for tracks trails beds and droppings, third I would make notes on available browse and preferred food sources namely oaks and acorns. Deer may prefer the ag fields during spring summer and may opt to bed near the fields. Even if you don't see much deer sign or activity on it during spring and summer, it could be a dynamite late season spot after pressure starts pushing them!

[nor' easter]

I'd definitely scout it. I occasionally hunt a 50 acre island in a shallow lake that holds deer. Similar terrain to yours. A few oaks, some cedar, and a good swampy bedding area. Be as stealthy as possible scouting and hunting it. If other people see you poking around out there they may follow you and blow the deer out of your spot. I'd pay attention to what the wind is doing while scouting. It sometimes flows in odd directions on the islands.

[1bhtr]

I hunt on lakes most all fall and have for many years. We go in by boat, and a great tip Dan told me was that in the evenings the deer see you come in because they bed watching the lake with wind over their backs. So once I changed my evening strategy it really upped my odds. I would save the island for rut and with out even scouting it I would hunt the saddle in the middle of the island, there is a transition line that comes down the middle of it as well, if you are bowhunting they may be out of range but you would have a good visual to see if anything moves around. Looks to be doe bedding on both the north and south end, which makes the saddle even better, if there is surrounding pressure on the ag fields then the island becomes even better. I would park the boat right were the ditch goes up to the saddle. In my experience the boat doesn't bother the deer if they are used to seeing fisherman, if you are worried about it you can always park just a little out of view in either direction. I would hunt the saddle in the rut for an all day sit if you can. As I said earlier would be hard to access in the evening if you didn't know exactly where the beds are. I like the fact there are so many transitions on the island too. If it were me I would plan a rut hunt and then maybe scout in season. Looks like there is a small pond just to the north of the saddle, that could be dynamite as well. One other trick is to leave the cart or whatever you use to get the deer out in the truck or hidden in the boat, then leave a fishing pole or too where other hunters/fisherman can see them in the boat, people think you are just pulled over to answer natures call. I've done that in popular fishing spots that I don't won't people seeing me coming in and out of. My avatar picture is actually taken from my climber in one of my favorites spots on a Lake I used to hunt...