Define "Overlooked"
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- jlh42581
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Re: Define "Overlooked"
I have a spot that every time I hunt it I have killed deer. Not necessarily bucks but its 100% overlooked and it takes rifle season pressure to stack it up. Ill watch guys ignore this chunk every year only to pop into it and kill one. Its a hill between two beautiful parking areas that lead into massive food plots the state puts in. Youll see the sign in those plots but seeing a deer in daylight is almost impossible. The spot is no more than an acre, it takes me 5 mins to walk in max but its stupid thick. You cant even consider hunting it from the ground.
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Re: Define "Overlooked"
Well I’m scouting out a new area myself, and I am looking for the Overlooked spot as well. Specifically because it’s a great place to hunt, apples, oaks, beeches, surrounded by Agricultural Posted Property on the Borders on 1/2 and Household lots on the other. It’s a 1.5 mile Hike on the top and a 1.2 mile hike on the bottom, pretty much a rectangular shape. With Parking access on both ends. It contains Swamps Cattails, CRP, softwoods, Hardwoods, dogwood wetland, and some sections that were cleared and are now small tree whips that have to be pushed apart to get through. I have covered about 1/2 of the area and I have seen 13 Stands and other ground sitting spots like milk Crates and chairs. I’m trying to figure out how to get into the property in the center by and through the Swamp or around the Swamp edge. I have a app that I use with Topo and have been making markings of my findings. I have a suspected area that I need to look at and I don’t think that it will have a Hunter on it. Looks like Swamp bedding off a point. I’m going too have to put my time in this property and figure it out. It’s 5 minutes from my house.
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Re: Define "Overlooked"
My limited experience has taught me that overlooked spots can come in many forms like mentioned in all of the responses above.I have had the most luck finding these in areas of high hunting pressure which is consistant , and predictable year to year.
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- adelle26
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Re: Define "Overlooked"
Really enjoying this thread and the examples of overlooked spots, so i’ll add one that has produced for me a lot recently.
For years I would hunt this private farm further back in the woods and absolutely burn it out. Everyone else that has permission there does the same thing.
One year my fiancé and I decided to switch things up a bit and hunt what we thought was an overlooked spot - the strip of powerline bordering the road in the bottom right of this pic.
We have taken most of our bucks off this powerline and plenty of does as well. You can bet that something is always bedded in the thick brush on the edges especially after the pressure of gun season.
Everyone else that hunts the place walks the field and drops down into the woods at the back, totally missing the powerline.
For years I would hunt this private farm further back in the woods and absolutely burn it out. Everyone else that has permission there does the same thing.
One year my fiancé and I decided to switch things up a bit and hunt what we thought was an overlooked spot - the strip of powerline bordering the road in the bottom right of this pic.
We have taken most of our bucks off this powerline and plenty of does as well. You can bet that something is always bedded in the thick brush on the edges especially after the pressure of gun season.
Everyone else that hunts the place walks the field and drops down into the woods at the back, totally missing the powerline.
wild and wonderful
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- DaveT1963
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Re: Define "Overlooked"
Down this way two often overlooked spots that I frequently find better bucks in are:
1) Wild plum thickets - 6-8 foot tall, nasty thick you aren't getting in there without prep work - sometimes I wonder how the heck a buck with large head gear even gets into these spots. Bad news is that hogs also prefer these and can run deer out. I have NEVER seen another hunter hunting these.
2) Johnson grass fields - once again often 6-8 foot tall and so thick just walking threw them is a total pain in the rear. Almost always there is terrain features (water, openings, trees) within them that deer bed off.
Most folks will not hunt these because they cannot hang a tree stand, they are extremely hard to scout, much less hunt, and you will not see a bunch of deer on any one hunt. 99% of the folks walk around these to get to "easier" terrain.
1) Wild plum thickets - 6-8 foot tall, nasty thick you aren't getting in there without prep work - sometimes I wonder how the heck a buck with large head gear even gets into these spots. Bad news is that hogs also prefer these and can run deer out. I have NEVER seen another hunter hunting these.
2) Johnson grass fields - once again often 6-8 foot tall and so thick just walking threw them is a total pain in the rear. Almost always there is terrain features (water, openings, trees) within them that deer bed off.
Most folks will not hunt these because they cannot hang a tree stand, they are extremely hard to scout, much less hunt, and you will not see a bunch of deer on any one hunt. 99% of the folks walk around these to get to "easier" terrain.
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- hunting_dad
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Re: Define "Overlooked"
I arrived at the parking lot today at the public area I hunt. I stood outside my truck for 10 minutes getting my things together and as soon as I set 1 foot in the woods a buck exploded from a brush pile no more than 20 yards away. He was watching me the entire time and didn’t do anything until I set foot in the woods. You hear about it all the time, but when it happens to you it really sinks in. It wasn’t a small buck either. Not huge but definitely not a 1 1/2 year old. Kind of humbling but really cool at the same time.
An interesting note...I entered the woods on the opposite side of the parking lot from where most people enter the woods. I would bet that if I went in the direction of everyone else and used the logging road, he would have stayed put and watched me walk away. That’s so awesome.
An interesting note...I entered the woods on the opposite side of the parking lot from where most people enter the woods. I would bet that if I went in the direction of everyone else and used the logging road, he would have stayed put and watched me walk away. That’s so awesome.
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Re: Define "Overlooked"
oldrank wrote:Humans are creatures of habit too. I have hunted the same public land for over 20 years. Every year the hunters do the same thing.
If you scouted the ground for the first time, most hunters are going to go to the traditional stuff. You find a sweet funnel between 2 crop fields. Well guess what? So has 50 other guys. You find a nice trail crossing the road with huge rubs....so did 50 other guys.
My point is you have to dig deeper. Not necessarily go deeper.
Overlooked is that little patch of brush just pass the gate that everyone walks by, including you. Stuff you seriously have to think in another dimension to notice.
A little piece of land just off the road. A corner beween two roads. A hidden buck trail just off the human trail.
Alot of times they can be just something that is tucked away just right where human access diverts people away.
Also I look at overlooked as a certain spot people may just be missing the right details. Hunters can be right on the money with there spots alot of times but hunt it wrong. They are not paying attention to thermals. Not paying attention to access. Not watching wind n so on. These guys will hunt a spot with no luck. A good hunter can pattern them and swing in and kill a buck out of the same spot.
When you hunt public you have to be a chameleon.
This is really helpful and something I didn't consider before when searching for overlooked spots. I have seen many instances where I'll get into great sign that could be left during daylight and there will be a hang on or a blind in there already.
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Re: Define "Overlooked"
Great thread...my question is do you go into these overlooked spots without specific knowledge of an existing buck or will you not hunt an area unless you know a mature buck is in the area?
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- <DK>
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Re: Define "Overlooked"
Overlooked... the word has a strong meaning.
Basically some guys got it right away when looking at maps and some guys it takes a looking at the same map over and over to see them. I am the second example... Its not a bad thing I just look at maps all the time and one night ill be laying there and realize I "Overlooked" this certain spot and alot of times it turns out to be what I want. BUT sometimes it takes exp with a property or seeing hunters to take a guess.
Overlooked spots are great bc it should be easy to poke in and take a look. What you seek will either be there or it wont be. I have scouted multiple parking lot spots for a full day spot checking to come up empty, only for the next day to be one of best days ever.
I suppose one of the biggest factors to finding them is just thinking about them in the first place. I see spots instantly that jump out as overlooked but then I see better spots deeper in. I tend to lean towards looking for them for 3 reasons - early season heat, looking for new beds in the same area, pressure rises.
SO to me "Overlooked" means other hunters are passing by a spot and so have I. I have more of the mentality to out walk others instead so my initial mapping of a property is the same way. I am getting alot better at opening my eyes these past few seasons.
I posted all this in another overlooked thread so Ill just paste here as well. I did not kill at these spots but hands down some of the best and biggest sign ive ever found;
Basically some guys got it right away when looking at maps and some guys it takes a looking at the same map over and over to see them. I am the second example... Its not a bad thing I just look at maps all the time and one night ill be laying there and realize I "Overlooked" this certain spot and alot of times it turns out to be what I want. BUT sometimes it takes exp with a property or seeing hunters to take a guess.
Overlooked spots are great bc it should be easy to poke in and take a look. What you seek will either be there or it wont be. I have scouted multiple parking lot spots for a full day spot checking to come up empty, only for the next day to be one of best days ever.
I suppose one of the biggest factors to finding them is just thinking about them in the first place. I see spots instantly that jump out as overlooked but then I see better spots deeper in. I tend to lean towards looking for them for 3 reasons - early season heat, looking for new beds in the same area, pressure rises.
SO to me "Overlooked" means other hunters are passing by a spot and so have I. I have more of the mentality to out walk others instead so my initial mapping of a property is the same way. I am getting alot better at opening my eyes these past few seasons.
I posted all this in another overlooked thread so Ill just paste here as well. I did not kill at these spots but hands down some of the best and biggest sign ive ever found;
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Re: Define "Overlooked"
Out of both spots - there was x1 tree to get a climber into. Maybe x2 for HO's.
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Re: Define "Overlooked"
I hope I found a few of these spots, when I was able to hunt compound I used to think most these areas would be laughable to sit in. I'm hoping Dan is right and something nice is hiding in at least one of the spots or I'm gonna look dumb wasting my time lol. Some of these areas are just some thick stuff next to access trails and one is a road crossing next to a parking lot. The road crossing spot is the most encouraging because I seen massive tracks in the mud a few time in the spring.
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- The_Real_Jmill
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Re: Define "Overlooked"
Some of my best overlooked spots are within 200 yards or better of parking areas that have a trail system leading deeper into the public, with a bit of public extending up to the road. Not always but often I see a lot of these areas overlooked and they hold deer.
When I first started out I implored the go deeper than everyone else tactic (and still do when I can get away from the masses) so one evening I pulled into a particular area. Wind was SW that evening so I head off early trying to get deep. I quickly started to recognize I was seeing more human sign (stands etc.) than deer sign so I headed back to the truck to check out another area. While walking and almost back to the truck I noticed quite a thicket along the parking areas north side maybe 50 yards wide that lead downhill from the parking lot into a swampy bottom and I decided to walk it coming from the east. No more was I parallel with the parking area just up the hill from me (I could see the truck) then two eight points busted up out of the thicket and took off. That was my aha moment watching those deer run off realizing exactly why they were bedded there. They could hear me pull in, they could smell me while getting ready, and they knew most everyone walked deep into the public land never paying attention to the thicket right next to the parking area so they would lay there undetected.
We are such creatures of habit It pays to think outside the box and take chances to try and outsmart them.
When I first started out I implored the go deeper than everyone else tactic (and still do when I can get away from the masses) so one evening I pulled into a particular area. Wind was SW that evening so I head off early trying to get deep. I quickly started to recognize I was seeing more human sign (stands etc.) than deer sign so I headed back to the truck to check out another area. While walking and almost back to the truck I noticed quite a thicket along the parking areas north side maybe 50 yards wide that lead downhill from the parking lot into a swampy bottom and I decided to walk it coming from the east. No more was I parallel with the parking area just up the hill from me (I could see the truck) then two eight points busted up out of the thicket and took off. That was my aha moment watching those deer run off realizing exactly why they were bedded there. They could hear me pull in, they could smell me while getting ready, and they knew most everyone walked deep into the public land never paying attention to the thicket right next to the parking area so they would lay there undetected.
We are such creatures of habit It pays to think outside the box and take chances to try and outsmart them.
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Re: Define "Overlooked"
I learned years ago after bumping numerous deer right close to the truck on my way back to where I was sure “bucks had to be” that the hunt should actually begin from the moment I close the truck door. This was way before I knew there was such a thing as mobile hunting. Can literally face palm at all the opportunities I probably missed. Even on private land that doesn’t get hunted a whopper may very likely be stupid close to where you park or walk in. The Farmland Bedding video proves that point.
In the last few years I’ve concentrated on suburban/semi rural hunting in the large metropolitan area where I live. Suburbs present a whole nuther set of unique situations. The weirdest I’ve seen was a buck that tucked himself up underneath a highway overpass that went over a railroad. A steep, weedy and grassy slope paralleled the highway. Ag fields on one side, Light industrial park on the other. There was a narrow shelf on both sides right under the bridge. You could barely hear yourself think because of the loud road noise but it was shaded all day, cool, and nothing could come close without that buck seeing or smelling it. Tracks in dirt at the base of the rail bed showed how the deer would get from one side to other by going under the bridge rather than crossing the dangerous highway.
In the last few years I’ve concentrated on suburban/semi rural hunting in the large metropolitan area where I live. Suburbs present a whole nuther set of unique situations. The weirdest I’ve seen was a buck that tucked himself up underneath a highway overpass that went over a railroad. A steep, weedy and grassy slope paralleled the highway. Ag fields on one side, Light industrial park on the other. There was a narrow shelf on both sides right under the bridge. You could barely hear yourself think because of the loud road noise but it was shaded all day, cool, and nothing could come close without that buck seeing or smelling it. Tracks in dirt at the base of the rail bed showed how the deer would get from one side to other by going under the bridge rather than crossing the dangerous highway.
“Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.” -- H. L. Mencken
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