With it having been so dry recently, it's difficult to detect fresh sign, does anyone ever set up an observation stand in a good looking area just to see what happens? I found a well used bed in a very thick spot with surrounding oaks but it's hard to tell what the buck is doing and this is the only way I can see to determine what is going on with it.
How often is such a tactic successful for you?
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Ad hoc observation stands
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Ad hoc observation stands
"One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is and can show himself to be." — Theodore Roosevelt, 1893
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Re: Ad hoc observation stands
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"One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is and can show himself to be." — Theodore Roosevelt, 1893
- DaveT1963
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Re: Ad hoc observation stands
I am no expert on Beast Hunting, still learning a lot, but I have used cameras and observation stands for years with some success. Here are my thoughts.
When you hunt in an area where sign is difficult to find (like many of us do) then I think observation stands and cameras are the tools to use. When I hunt Ohio (I do every year) it is relatively easy to walk ag fields and look for big tracks and then determine where a buck would likely bed (there just isn't a lot of options for them). I can walk the field after a rain and quickly determine if the buck is currently using the field. Or, if you know the likely entry trails, you can rake them and then look for tracks. Where I hunt in Texas there is no way to do this as there is no real ag crops until late in the season with winter wheat and that is posted so no access.
So for me, if I am having a hard time determining when and if a buck is using a food source, I set up cameras and use observation stands. I set the cameras far from the bedding areas and I expect night time photos of the bigger bucks - but it tells me if he is using the area. I would rather sacrifice three or four days hunting to scout and locate a huntable buck through observations stands, camera and walking edges. The biggest mistake I made for years was to ruin a spot before the buck was really using it. I took the roll the dice method. Sometimes you still have to do that, but I much prefer to have solid intel that the buck, or at least a few decent bucks, are using an area before I just rush in and set up.
One quick example. I have a two blocks of timber that are major doe bedding areas. There is a great funnel that connects the two wood lots that is about 40 yards wide in one spot and about 300 yards long. There is a fence that runs right through the length of this funnel. It is thick, nasty and overgrown. There is a small irrigation ditch that gives me a great approach to the narrow spot from a downwind side (when wind is out of the South/Southwest - pretty common here in Nov). this location is also relatively open which works well for a trail camera. The main trail is about 20 yards from the fence line so I set the camera on the opposite side of fence so few deer every know I check it. I can get in and out without being exposed or detected. I always have a trail camera set up here and I do not check it until Oct 31 or later. I wait for a day with a South/Southwest wind and the moon says they will be on their feet. When I go in to check it I am carrying my stand so it is a first time in hunt most of the time. Usually when I pull the card, I get a boatload of cruising buck pictures so I set up and hunt right them and there. If I don't have any pictures yet, I pull out and wait a week or so. You could also set up an observation stand several hundred yards downwind but where I have the camera it is easy to get in and out without spooking deer. This spot always offers up at least one decent buck each year when I hunt it.
This place gets hammered by the bucks during the pre rut looking for does. they move through this funnel with intent and thus don't spend a lot of time ambling around in it. I can get a camera/stand in here easily while the bucks are bedded where the does are. Here's a quick concept drawing of this area - sorry not going to post a real pic as it is public and someone might identify it :)
The bottom line is scouting can also kill your chances if the buck you wants detects you doing it. So keep that in mind with observations stands and cameras - but use them to your advantage.
When you hunt in an area where sign is difficult to find (like many of us do) then I think observation stands and cameras are the tools to use. When I hunt Ohio (I do every year) it is relatively easy to walk ag fields and look for big tracks and then determine where a buck would likely bed (there just isn't a lot of options for them). I can walk the field after a rain and quickly determine if the buck is currently using the field. Or, if you know the likely entry trails, you can rake them and then look for tracks. Where I hunt in Texas there is no way to do this as there is no real ag crops until late in the season with winter wheat and that is posted so no access.
So for me, if I am having a hard time determining when and if a buck is using a food source, I set up cameras and use observation stands. I set the cameras far from the bedding areas and I expect night time photos of the bigger bucks - but it tells me if he is using the area. I would rather sacrifice three or four days hunting to scout and locate a huntable buck through observations stands, camera and walking edges. The biggest mistake I made for years was to ruin a spot before the buck was really using it. I took the roll the dice method. Sometimes you still have to do that, but I much prefer to have solid intel that the buck, or at least a few decent bucks, are using an area before I just rush in and set up.
One quick example. I have a two blocks of timber that are major doe bedding areas. There is a great funnel that connects the two wood lots that is about 40 yards wide in one spot and about 300 yards long. There is a fence that runs right through the length of this funnel. It is thick, nasty and overgrown. There is a small irrigation ditch that gives me a great approach to the narrow spot from a downwind side (when wind is out of the South/Southwest - pretty common here in Nov). this location is also relatively open which works well for a trail camera. The main trail is about 20 yards from the fence line so I set the camera on the opposite side of fence so few deer every know I check it. I can get in and out without being exposed or detected. I always have a trail camera set up here and I do not check it until Oct 31 or later. I wait for a day with a South/Southwest wind and the moon says they will be on their feet. When I go in to check it I am carrying my stand so it is a first time in hunt most of the time. Usually when I pull the card, I get a boatload of cruising buck pictures so I set up and hunt right them and there. If I don't have any pictures yet, I pull out and wait a week or so. You could also set up an observation stand several hundred yards downwind but where I have the camera it is easy to get in and out without spooking deer. This spot always offers up at least one decent buck each year when I hunt it.
This place gets hammered by the bucks during the pre rut looking for does. they move through this funnel with intent and thus don't spend a lot of time ambling around in it. I can get a camera/stand in here easily while the bucks are bedded where the does are. Here's a quick concept drawing of this area - sorry not going to post a real pic as it is public and someone might identify it :)
The bottom line is scouting can also kill your chances if the buck you wants detects you doing it. So keep that in mind with observations stands and cameras - but use them to your advantage.
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Re: Ad hoc observation stands
Interesting analysis, I hunt a spot not too dissimilar from what you just outlined.
[ Post made via iPhone ]
[ Post made via iPhone ]
"One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is and can show himself to be." — Theodore Roosevelt, 1893
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