Prioritizing your hunts/spots

[BackWoodsHunter]

I am newer to public land hunting and getting in beast style. Last spring I did homework and am continuing to do my homework in prep for the upcoming season. I am trying to prioritize where I want to hunt first and I keep ending up back at square one not sure where to start.

I thought I had it figured out but have since been shining nice bucks in an area I had planned to NOT hunt and did little scouting in. Also seeing LOTS of others guys out shining the area who are likely seeing the same bucks. The bucks bed on the public and feed on a private field surrounded on all sides by public land. I won't be the only one hunting these deer. Do I hit this spot first or not even bother? Maybe wait til there is some snow and try to decide where they are hiding and if any survived? I think the hunter pressure will be insane if I don't get out there opening weekend of bowseason it may be burnt up!

I have other spots that may be better during the rut. And others that I am confident are so far off the beaten path I can hunt them whenever because I don't think another hunter will get in there. Is that the sort of spot to leave sit until pressure pushes deer into deeper hiding? I

If you are not after a specific buck my fellow beasts and are confident in the areas you scouted and believe they all hold bucks of a caliber which you would release an arrow, how do you decide which ones to hunt first?

and don't say wind direction because obviously that is important

[headgear]

Sometimes you just have to go with that gut feeling, maybe get there early so if you don't find fresh sign in the area you can go to plan B.

As far as what you are seeing out shining I think you should give your best guess at bedding and go after those deer you have been seeing on opening day. Of course shining just before opener will give you the best chance at locating those deer, a lot can change between now and then. Sometimes those bucks just vanish once they lose their velvet.

A lot of my best bedding areas don't get hot until the leaves are down and the pressure is up. There probably isn't much sense going a mile back in the sh** early season so I would save those for later in the year.

I have a lot more trouble getting on nice bucks early season, it could be that they just aren't using the public land as much (bedding) this time of year or it could be that my scouting wasn't up to par in the past. One thing I know for sure is I will be working hard the week before opener to locate a buck or two.

[BackWoodsHunter]

Good tip on working the weeks before opener to find a buck that's a better plan than focusing on one now i suppose. Based off topo maps I think these deer bed on a clump of islands that are fairly hard to get at. TO the south east they are feeding in alfalfa and then east of where they bed (north of the alfalfa) is a chunk of private woods and then a cornfield they will probably switch to feeding in.


I am just thinking since I didn't scout this spot to not spend much time hunting it because of all the pressure I have seen lately from shining and the amount of guys that hunted there last yr.

How does everyone else decide where to hunt first?

[gjs4]

consistency in pattern or the amount of "data" lead the pack...my worst moves come from the indecisive days

[dan]

In areas that receive a good deal of pressure but still have mature deer to hunt, you can bet those bucks have learned all about the hunters who hunt there or they would not of made it so long. My bet is that the hunters your seeing shining will be in picking stand spots, scouting and walking scarring the deer before the season even opens... The key is to know where they are bedding and catch them close to the bedding where they move in daylight. Some may now be using summer beds, and you might want to hit those spots 1st just in case, but my gut feeling is that the deer your after will already have moved to the beds that most hunters over look come opening day.

[PLB]

Hey Backwoods, can u at all possibly hunt there during the week? I have a spot like this I tried three seasons ago on opening morning of bow season. I was the first one at the parking area and thought, this is gonna be great. Next thing I knew the cars started rolling in and the woods lit up with flashlights and noisy hunters!! I said screw this and started hunting the area on evenings during the week and there was nobody around!!

[RaisedByWolves]

I have a few new public areas I'm looking forward to trying out come the opener, I won't probably get out til the following thursday tho....I should add that i don't have the areas scouted in-depth, just an overveiw from aerial, glassing and shining....I'm keeping tabs on a few good bachelor groups working some fields and hope to slip in with the lone wolf and find fresh buck sign, and set-up....this area doesn't seem to get hit very hard by shiners/hunters thusfar but i will soon find out. Most of my other public spots are better after they see a little pressure and start getting in the good beds. that is why I'm choosing to hunt this area first, lots of beans

[BackWoodsHunter]

I have a few new public areas I'm looking forward to trying out come the opener, I won't probably get out til the following thursday tho....I should add that i don't have the areas scouted in-depth, just an overveiw from aerial, glassing and shining....I'm keeping tabs on a few good bachelor groups working some fields and hope to slip in with the lone wolf and find fresh buck sign, and set-up....this area doesn't seem to get hit very hard by shiners/hunters thusfar but i will soon find out. Most of my other public spots are better after they see a little pressure and start getting in the good beds. that is why I'm choosing to hunt this area first, lots of beans

Reading this post I thought that I typed it and forgot we are in an extremely similar situation for sure minus shining/hunter pressure.

The deer get harassed here so much the minute you light up a field all the bedded deer stand up and they all walk and sometimes run for the woods.


Thanks for all the tips from the rest. I'm trying to prioritize my spots. Unfortunately the spots I am looking into hunting are all really close to the city or in the city where I'm at school and get a lot of pressure. I found a spot yesterday I rode my bike in with my waders, waded across a river and scouted an island. The entire island is tag alder brush and some large trees and the rest is marsh grass, chest high wild flowers and stinging plants of some sort. At the north tip I found an area probably 20' by 20' the grass was matted down completely flat. Good trails in and out and deer scat as big as my size 12 foot. This is a spot I am confident I can leave to hunt til whenever its convenient because no one is going to do the work to hunt this spot that I did just to scout it.


My biggest concern is beating other hunters to these other spots I have that tend to be more obvious but thanks to Dan for pointing out and opening my eyes that its close to season and the deer are probably already being pushed around. So really my fresh hunt on them heading to these fields won't be too fresh because others will have alerted them. Luckily, by solely looking at a topo I can narrow down about 4-6 islands I guarantee these deer are bedding on. Should help me out a little bit when season rolls around. I have yet to shine some of the other spots I scouted in spring but they all hold deer of some sort. Thanks for the tips guys.

PLB- I am on my last semester of college and its pretty much smooth sailing. I have 3 free days a week to hunt as long as I'm not working. (which is something I try to avoid anyways LOL) SO yes I plan to hit these spots more during the week than on the weekends.

[Stanley]

One thing I learned along time ago, sitting in garbage spots is next to a waste of time.

[BackWoodsHunter]

One thing I learned along time ago, sitting in garbage spots is next to a waste of time.

I try not to spend too much time doing that

[76chevy]

I would stick to the not so obvious spots where they bed. you need to catch them close to their bed as Dan mentioned. Find the overlooked spots and you will likely find the big bucks during daylight hours

[76chevy]

as far as prioritizing, I find my gut feeling is most often right.

Obviously look at the wind, etc, but listen to your gut instinct, and more often than not you pick the best spot