I have a large tract of public land available to hunt about 30-40 minutes from my home in SE Michigan. I put about 40 miles on the GPS in late winter this year doing my post season scouting and found some good sign from last season. Just looking for input on stand location and entry/exit routes, and timing. I did not locate any buck beds, but am still not quite tuned into what I ought to be looking for in that regard.
The first spot is interesting for several reasons:
- It is almost 1 mile walk from the nearest access.
You have to endure a few 60-80ft elevation changes to access.
It was very swampy in late winter, and with the wet spring/summer we had i'm assuming it will be swampy again this fall.
There was a RIDICULOUS amount rubs isolated to this one area. Some of which appeared to have been made by one or more nice bucks.
Below the yellow line is private land. The area above it is public.
The two yellow pindrops are trees I identified for possible stand locations depending on the wind.
How I *THINK* the deer are moving through this area...
- I think they are bedding in the swamp area to the south of the rub cluster.
I think they move from their bedding area to the CRP field north of the rubline adjacent to the two ponds.
I think they are doing this primarily in the late afternoon/evening. In the morning I bet they are mostly cleared out of the CRP field and well on there way back to bedding by daybreak.
Couple of questions concerning timing:
- What would bet he best time of season to hunt these stands? I know a lot of rubs are made under cover of darkness, but I was thinking an early season sit the first or second day of the season and then visit it again closer to rut?
Is there a better time I should be looking to hunt this spot?
Questions concerning entry/exit routes:
The gray line is the path I came in when I scouted the area in the late winter. I was thinking that the northern most line would be a good entry route since we primarily have westerly winds that time of year. Plus it's a creekbottom and I think I could walk the edge and in it since it's shallow and minimize my scent footprint by doing so. Plus it should help me make a relatively stealthy entrance.
I could take the southern most line on my way back out and skirt the CRP field as to not spook deer feeding it in at dusk/dark, and hope that deer are out of the woods before then.
Thanks for your help!
Regards,
d_rek