Beast in the Southeast

[DirtyBird]

Fellow Beasts, so far I've watched Dan's "Hunting Marsh Bucks" and "Hill Country Bucks" and read through many threads on this forum, and my hunting mindset has been forever more changed for the better from these resources. Now that some of the pieces of the puzzle are coming together in my mind and actual observations, I was hoping some of you could offer some insight on how you would approach this piece of land I've had access to and hunted for close to 15 years.

A few things to note:
-There are several of us that have access to hunt this place and the surrounding properties have a fair amount of hunting pressure. I personally won't hunt it but a handful of times over the season.

-There are about 30 cattle (and a loud donkey) that have free range of the place.

-North of the fields to the creek is a 3-4 year old cutover.

-South border is a heavily traveled county road.

-Prevailing wind direction for this area is coming out of the Southeast.

-Elevation ranges from about 210' in the fields to 300' on the top of the hills.



Looking forward to and very appreciative for all feedback!

[TNstalker]

Anyone hunt cutover? If not go there.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[DirtyBird]

There is a permanent stand just inside the cutover on the field edge that I view as an observation stand, but no one really goes any deeper into it other than that. It is definitely very "beastly" terrain, and I really do need to go in there and hunt/scout while it is dry. When I say there are other hunters on the place, the others are the typical "weekend" hunters who won't hunt anything hard to access nor do they hunt for long periods of time. I try to use their locations and hunt styles in my favor.

[jwilkstn]

Congratulations on having permission to hunt the one property in America most shaped like the state of Texas lol.

If the cows don't push the deer out of the clearcut, then I would expect some bedding in there. We clearcut a few acres 3 years ago on the family farm, and the deer loved it the first two years. This summer my dad turned the cows in there and even though they mainly pass through it to get from one pasture to another it seems to have pushed the deer out from bedding in it. That could also be affected by food source changes, so it may be too soon for me to write it off for good.

[ Post made via Android ]

[DirtyBird]

Ha! I thought the same thing when I was highlighting the borders.

I've observed young bucks bedding just inside the cutover from the observation stand I referenced earlier that is just inside the cutover along the field edge.

I said the cows have free range...but forgot that they are fenced out of the cutover. From my observations the cows don't have a big impact on the deer on this place. These guys on the other hand do...



They were trapped by a friend a few miles west of this piece of land on the same creek. These jokers have been a huge nuisance in the area for several years now. In fact...a couple of years ago a sounder of them tore the hill between the 2 ponds up. I was coming home from work and saw them from the road and stalked and killed the mother sow of the group.

[Twenty Up]

Hogs are a serious problem and will deplete the resources for deer which force them to leave, or a big boar will harass deer out. If that was my property, eliminating the hogs, like it seems y'all have been doing, would be my number one priority.

Your map just loaded for me*

Just East of the most Eastern pond looks good. - I'd expect the deer to funnel down where the terrain slopes
Between the two ponds where there looks to be a small saddle looks good. I'd expect bedding up top and some trails going N to S
And almost dead center of the Western most pond I'd expect a couple more trails.

Seems the deer will bed towards the South end of the property and travel North to feed. I wouldn't cross those two swampy areas up North off of the list though, I'd give them a walk-through and look for rubs and beds.

[DirtyBird]

Hogs are a serious problem and will deplete the resources for deer which force them to leave, or a big boar will harass deer out. If that was my property, eliminating the hogs, like it seems y'all have been doing, would be my number one priority.

Your map just loaded for me*

Just East of the most Eastern pond looks good. - I'd expect the deer to funnel down where the terrain slopes
Between the two ponds where there looks to be a small saddle looks good. I'd expect bedding up top and some trails going N to S
And almost dead center of the Western most pond I'd expect a couple more trails.

Seems the deer will bed towards the South end of the property and travel North to feed. I wouldn't cross those two swampy areas up North off of the list though, I'd give them a walk-through and look for rubs and beds.

Everyone around this area wants to get rid of hogs...unfortunately most of the time just a few of them get shot/trapped here and there and the sounders are just pushed along the creek towards the next place for a while. My friend who trapped the ones in the pic is a grad student in wildlife and traps them all over the state of Mississippi.

Your analysis of the map pretty much lines up with my observations on this place over the last 15 years. Accidentally jumped up the biggest buck I've ever seen on the place while slow walking just to the NE of the W pond a couple years ago. I was so shocked...I didn't even think to get my bow up and draw on him.

Right now things are so dry around here there are no swampy areas on the place...so it's very easily accessible. But..during most winters that area floods pretty regularly and can even reach out and cover about 1/4 of the north end of the field.

[jbone23]

I like the are between the two sloughs. I wouldn't get too worried if its overrun with hogs it prob will be. Have had good luck finding bucks in that type scenario even with a lot of hog pressure. Do you have a google map image of the place.

[DirtyBird]

I like the are between the two sloughs. I wouldn't get too worried if its overrun with hogs it prob will be. Have had good luck finding bucks in that type scenario even with a lot of hog pressure. Do you have a google map image of the place.

Here is a Google Earth image of the place. Not sure if you can see it, but between the 2 sloughs you mentioned is what we call the "dummy line" which is basically a ditch that the deer and turkey tend to travel.

[jbone23]

Have checked out the edge of that pine plantation on your property line on the North west side of the property? How old are the pines? and above the west pond is that mixed hardwoods or straight pine plantation above it? That spot looks pretty money on the aerial and the topo

[DirtyBird]

Have checked out the edge of that pine plantation on your property line on the North west side of the property? How old are the pines? and above the west pond is that mixed hardwoods or straight pine plantation above it? That spot looks pretty money on the aerial and the topo

My best guess is the pines are 8-10 years old. The timber to north of the west pond is mixed.

For what it is worth, this is no longer my primary place to hunt. I've only hunted this place a couple of times so far this year and probably will only hunt it a couple of more times the rest of the season. But, because it is the place I'm most familiar with since I've killed and observed deer here over the last 15+ years, I chose to post pics of it to get perspectives from other "beastly" minds for educational purposes. And, it's interesting that the 2 areas (to the north of the west pond and between the 2 sloughs) you referenced is where I've observed the best deer activity over the years.

[jbone23]

ha. I started using this site middle of last season I'm now where close to beast status yet. You can apply all the northern tactics to the south successfully. Biggest things learned on here is focus on edges and scout your off.

[DirtyBird]

ha. I started using this site middle of last season I'm now where close to beast status yet. You can apply all the northern tactics to the south successfully. Biggest things learned on here is focus on edges and scout your off.

Don't sell yourself short. Just in my short time here, I've noticed you can't help but be a better hunter just from reading from the knowledge and experiences of others. It's really neat when you can read something new on here and then go see it in action when you are putting boots on the ground. And, you're right...scout, scout, scout and scout some more seems to be a reoccurring theme on here. What state are you located?

[jbone23]

New Orleans. Mostly hunt central bama. Get to hunt LA and MS sometimes

[BowHusker]

ha. I started using this site middle of last season I'm now where close to beast status yet. You can apply all the northern tactics to the south successfully. Biggest things learned on here is focus on edges and scout your off.

Don't sell yourself short. Just in my short time here, I've noticed you can't help but be a better hunter just from reading from the knowledge and experiences of others. It's really neat when you can read something new on here and then go see it in action when you are putting boots on the ground. And, you're right...scout, scout, scout and scout some more seems to be a reoccurring theme on here. What state are you located?

I totally agree with this. Even if we aren't as experienced and well seasoned as some of these long time beasts, just being here and learning from these guys changes how you look at each and every hunt. At least for me it has!

[ Post made via Android ]