Hey guys newbie here looking for input.
I have a large piece of public land that I’ve been hunting for the past 2 years. Both years I have captured an absolute stud on trail camera. This is a 160’s class deer that looks to be 20+ inches inside. The first year he was 20 yards in front of my poorly placed tree stand at 12 noon on Nov 5th. I had climbed down from that very stand at 10:15! He came back through heading back the way he came, around 11:30 pm. That was the only pics I got. Never finding any sign that would indicate a deer like this was around I assumed he was just passing through during the rut. However this year I captured pics of him about 3am on Oct 18th within 200 yards of the location of last year. I had a renewed hope that his home area was closer that I had first thought. Unfortunately the season has come and gone and I never saw him again. To my knowledge he is still walking. The Yellow dot is where I got pics of him last year and the red was from this year. I would love to get some ideas and opinions on locating where he may be spending his time. Once November arrives this land gets heavily used and by late Nov dogs are allowed to be used to run deer in this area also. Looking forward to hearing what you guys have to say!
Newbie here. Loking for some advice.
- gman335
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- Zona
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Re: Newbie here. Loking for some advice.
Couple questions to get your online scouting going.
What is the prevailing wind direction?
Where are the hunter access points?
Where are the food sources?
What is the prevailing wind direction?
Where are the hunter access points?
Where are the food sources?
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Re: Newbie here. Loking for some advice.
The property looks very nice please let us know the prevailing wind direction.
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- justdirtyfun
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Re: Newbie here. Loking for some advice.
Just south of your yellow dot is a creek. The points that meet the vally floor will give a bed option for any wind . Just a guess but seems logical.
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- gman335
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Re: Newbie here. Loking for some advice.
As far as the wind, most are from the south with north winds before and during cold fronts. Not realy sure on what the main prevailing wind is.
I have several options for access. The field to the north west is a private farm I can hunt and access the public from. There are 2 different gas lines that I can reach that would allow me to access different places without stomping all through the woods. Also the white lines on the Aerial map are road beds on the public. That's what the majority of hunters use.
The main food in my opinion is red and white oaks and browse. There are no crop fields for miles. There is however a couple small clover fields on private land just off the south east of the map. They are right along the game lands access rd so if they are getting used I am sure its very late. The fields to the north are cattle fields.
I have several options for access. The field to the north west is a private farm I can hunt and access the public from. There are 2 different gas lines that I can reach that would allow me to access different places without stomping all through the woods. Also the white lines on the Aerial map are road beds on the public. That's what the majority of hunters use.
The main food in my opinion is red and white oaks and browse. There are no crop fields for miles. There is however a couple small clover fields on private land just off the south east of the map. They are right along the game lands access rd so if they are getting used I am sure its very late. The fields to the north are cattle fields.
- Zona
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Re: Newbie here. Loking for some advice.
gman,
I marked up your map as if I was going to scout it. I would start by checking out all my marks and document everything I find. Rubs, scrapes, tree stands, everything relevant. Just my opinion.
I marked up your map as if I was going to scout it. I would start by checking out all my marks and document everything I find. Rubs, scrapes, tree stands, everything relevant. Just my opinion.
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Re: Newbie here. Loking for some advice.
1st place I would look is the spots I marked in purple... I think he would be bedding here when he is on the public. Once dogs are running in there, he is off somewhere with no dogs.
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Re: Newbie here. Loking for some advice.
Thanks for the info guys! pretty much what I was thinking.
Justdirtyfun, That little area is one of the first places I went to when I started hunting this place. The ridge to the east of that small feeder creek had the best sign I have found on that entire place. A lot of feeding sign under the white oaks, a few good rubs and there's an awesome bench that runs around the top third. After finding this site I am sure I hunted it completely wrong and never truly got in the game. This year that area was completely void of sign.
Zona, I have walked some of this area the past 2 years and have found a few scrapes and a few rubs. Main problem is there are several bucks in this area. At least there are until late Nov. Of course mostly smaller 80-100 inch or so. I have not covered all the area that I need to but so far I have yet to find any rubs to tell me that the deer I'm looking for has made them. On the other hand, I don't think bucks put down the sign here as much as they seem to in the north and mid-west. Don't get me wrong I find rubs 4 to 8 inches in diameter here and I know that it was made by a good one but I may only find one or two on a 200 acre property. So to me that makes it tough.
Dan, I agree, once the pressure is on he is outa there. I've also wandered that since both times I have captured pics of him he was in the creek bottom, that maybe he just travels that bottom from time to time but actually doesn't spend a lot of time in the areas I've been looking at. But then again I've only ran 1 camera on that property and both years I have got pics of him so maybe he uses it more than I think. As I said above I just cant seem to find any sign to tell me a deer like that is around. If I had never gotten the pics I would have never believed a deer like this would be in this area. I will take the info you both have offered and see what I can come up with. I will post what I do or do not find and go from there.
Any other opinions are more than welcome.
Thanks!
Justdirtyfun, That little area is one of the first places I went to when I started hunting this place. The ridge to the east of that small feeder creek had the best sign I have found on that entire place. A lot of feeding sign under the white oaks, a few good rubs and there's an awesome bench that runs around the top third. After finding this site I am sure I hunted it completely wrong and never truly got in the game. This year that area was completely void of sign.
Zona, I have walked some of this area the past 2 years and have found a few scrapes and a few rubs. Main problem is there are several bucks in this area. At least there are until late Nov. Of course mostly smaller 80-100 inch or so. I have not covered all the area that I need to but so far I have yet to find any rubs to tell me that the deer I'm looking for has made them. On the other hand, I don't think bucks put down the sign here as much as they seem to in the north and mid-west. Don't get me wrong I find rubs 4 to 8 inches in diameter here and I know that it was made by a good one but I may only find one or two on a 200 acre property. So to me that makes it tough.
Dan, I agree, once the pressure is on he is outa there. I've also wandered that since both times I have captured pics of him he was in the creek bottom, that maybe he just travels that bottom from time to time but actually doesn't spend a lot of time in the areas I've been looking at. But then again I've only ran 1 camera on that property and both years I have got pics of him so maybe he uses it more than I think. As I said above I just cant seem to find any sign to tell me a deer like that is around. If I had never gotten the pics I would have never believed a deer like this would be in this area. I will take the info you both have offered and see what I can come up with. I will post what I do or do not find and go from there.
Any other opinions are more than welcome.
Thanks!
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