Feedback on new public land

[SonofUlam]

I'm looking at some public land I newly discovered that is close enough for me to hunt. The question is... is it worth it and where should I start? I've done some cyber scouting and tried to use what I've gleaned from this site so far, but would love some feedback.

There's a small trout stream that runs through the SW corner of the land. I marked it in blue. My guess (and I still don't know enough to do more than guess right now) is that might be a probably bedding spot? I'm going off the proximity of water, dense cover, and some nice corn and bean fields nearby. If putting boots on the ground shows there are beds... do I hunt that area and if so, do I want to be on the field side of the woods or just try to set up as close to the bed as possible?

The property also has a nice little ridge-line hill with a narrow valley below (valley is in orange). The valley also contains what looks to me to be a funnel of woods.

So my other question is would you scout for stand locations in that funnel or the top of the hill? Would you do both or maybe neither? I put a small yellow diamond where the funnel meets up with the rest of the woods. There's what looks like a little nook where they meet and some sort of field in that nook. Is that a good spot to set-up?

Any and all suggestions are welcome!

[SonofUlam]

Here's the topo of the same land if that helps. I'm completely new at this, so I'm open to any feedback at all.

[SonofUlam]

hmmm.. that didn't seem to work the way it was supposed to. I'll have to look into why, but not tonight.

[blizzardhunter]

If you find bedding I would set up as close as you can get to the beds without anything knowing you're there. Don't worry about the field edge because if you're wanting to catch a good buck in daylight your best bet is getting close to his bed. The funnel might be worth a look especially during rut time. I would definetly scout the ridge line and any points coming off for bedding. One area that caught my attention was on the south/southeast side of the property. Where your funnel connects to the woods there is an inside corner effect that would be worth checking out. Also on the trout stream I would check for crossings. Depending on depth and bank condition limited crossing spots could funnel the deer movement. Do you know if this area gets much pressure.

[SonofUlam]

I'm not sure about pressure. I drove by it tonight, about 3:30, and didn't see any cars. What's more I didn't really see any signs of recent use either, so I'm thinking (hoping) it's not heavily used.

I suppose it depends on the winds but am I better off starting on the ridge and working my way down toward bedding, or start near the stream and work up?

[ Post made via iPad ]

[blizzardhunter]

Its really hard to say with just the picture. But I will say, I'd probably lean towards the ridge top. Just not sure where that is on the property. Deer as a rule of thumb will be bedded on the down wind side of the ridge around the upper third mark. One thing you may consider is slipping in and hunting an observation stand. Something you can see a lot of ground or maybe just an area you have a hunch about. Here the deer are still in a very predictable summer pattern, so if you saw something promising you could make a move in the next few days and might get lucky. Where you are if this is not the case and acorns are dropping Id look for fresh sign around some oaks and set up right then and there. Don't get discouraged with new ground if it doesn't go well, there is a lot to learn in the off season.

[SonofUlam]

Here's the topo I found from Caltopo... Finally got it to work (i.e. figured out what I was doing wrong).




Here is an aerial from bing. The blue is roughly the land boundries



Any other thoughts? I'm planning on making it out there this next Monday and Tuesday and try to take advantage of the moon days. I need all the help I can get!

[Thermals]

I bet the two pouts to the east of parking there is a bed and he is watching you look around 1000 line

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[SonofUlam]

I Got out yesterday to put some scouting knowledge I've learned from The Beast to use... But I think I might have a lot more to learn than I thought. I would love some feedback on my approach and what I found... And don't worry about hurting my feelings! I want to get good at this.

I started at the parking lot and walked a two track trail up to the Sothern hill. Top is all CRP, no real trees in the middle to speak of, except a 2-3 small groupings of saplings. I walked the edge nearest the CRP and found a major deer run. I followed it through the tall stuff, finding multiple beds along the way, but had no idea if they were buck or doe. Didn't see any scrape activity and there were no trees to rub on. Some where tiny, some rather large(ish). I'm not sure I'm able to distinguish tracks in the dry grassy dirt yet-i'll have to work on that.

Got to south side of CRP which goes into narrow tree grove bordered by a corn field on the opposite side. (edge of public land).

Followed the same run into woods and lost the trail, but on my way out near a point that has woods on one side, CRP on another and corn on a third I found a HUGE bed of some kind, with a large dropping in the middle. (Pic in next post). Didn't see any rub in the immediate area though (I looked in a 20yd radius).

Walked back through the CRP from where I came but on a different run that led to a cluster of saplings and sure enough another bed, but no sign of rubs.

Walked back toward the parking lot but walked the ravine that's just west of the SE point of the land (you can see it pretty prominately on topo). Searches the top ridge of the ravine first, found what looked like another bed but again no rubs or scrapes. Walked all the way down the ravine and then out through the marsh with the creek in the middle. Saw half a dozen beds through there, a beaver dam, plenty of deer imprints, but no definite sign (that I could discern) of buck activity.

Not sure what conclusions to draw here. I really expected to find some fresh scrapes or rubs, but I didn't. Not saying they weren't there, I just didn't see anything that screamed 'hot sign!' like freshly scraped bark/antler gouges or completely cleared scrapes. I'm admittedly very new to this, so I might have just missed it.

If I didn't miss it, I'm more inclined to think the bucks are hiding out on the north (and much higher) hill and the marsh that's below it, but I'm only guessing.

I know that's a lot and if you read it all, THANKS! an if you have any input for me, DOUBLE THANKS!

[SonofUlam]

Here's the huge bed I found, had to be at least 15-20' long by 10' wide! All completely matted down.



And here's the dropping- certainly didn't look like deer, but not sure what it would be. Hope no one thinks this is gross....



Thanks for the input

[dan]

You not going to find hot sign at all buck beds, especially this early in the year... Are there old rubs?

Red dots mark the spots I would expect buck bedding if the pressure is not to bad...

[dan]

You might want to check out my Hill country DVD... It goes into great detail about how deer bed in hilly terrain and how to kill them.

[Lockdown]

Yes if you haven't seen Dan's DVD's you need to. Just being on this site alone won't put all the pieces together for you.

[SonofUlam]

You might want to check out my Hill country DVD... It goes into great detail about how deer bed in hilly terrain and how to kill them.

I absolutely will! I keep hearing from guys on this site how amazingly helpful it is no matter what terrain you're hunting. I'll have them purchased before the end of the night tonight for sure!

Thanks for the insight Dan!

[ Post made via iPad ]

[Thermals]

You not going to find hot sign at all buck beds, especially this early in the year... Are there old rubs?

Red dots mark the spots I would expect buck bedding if the pressure is not to bad...

Dan
Would you not there could be a bed at 1000 mark to the north east of the parking spot

[ Post made via iPhone ]