Hunting/scouting the percentages...

[Southern Man]

Here are the reasons I think big woods are the toughest to hunt.
1. There are sooooo many bedding options that even finding one is tough.
2. The woods is often so dense that it is impossible to sight pattern deer.
3. Lack of high quality food keeps them somewhat nomadic which means they could be here today and gone tomorrow.
4. Deer tend to relocate at different times of the year. This was proven in northern Wis. by the use of radio collars in the 1970's. This means if your hunting sign your buck may be long gone.
5. low quality food means rack development (to trophy potential) is delayed a year or 2 as compared to deer in high quality feed areas. This means that in an already tough situation you have to hope your buck lives long enough to grow a big rack and by then he is old a will be going down hill in a few years. So your window of opertunity on a given buck is much smaller.
6. In the north- winters are very tough on the deer.
7. low doe populations means the bucks travel longer distances. This may appear as a plus but what can happen is many bucks can get hung up on one hot doe so unless you pick the winning lottery ticket it can mean a lot of lonely days on stand.
8. big wood usually = public land. A lot of good scouting can be ruined by a bear, deer, partridge, small game hunters.

I agree for the most part. I don't have the severe winters to deal with here but my experience with big woods shows deer travel much longer distances in their day to day travels. In farm country hunting, travel patterns are much shorter and more defined by available cover, even with the mature bucks. Being used to hunting farm country and trying to crossover to big timber, although the basics are the same, big timber calls for a different way of thinking and makes for a tough hunt.

I have a friend in northeast TN that hunts big hill country, all timber. He says when you find them get on them, coz in a day or two, they'll be gone. They'll be back but it may be several days later, or a week, etc.

I would be more impressed by the hunter that can consistantly bowkill an ear width 8 pointer in big woods than the guy that kills a 140 class buck in farm country.

[magicman54494]

2 years ago I had the opportunity to hunt an area that would fit the hill country category. This type of hunting is very tough simply because of the thermals. The deer that live in this type of area are masters at using the wind for survival. Their beds are located for using scent and sight to be almost impossible too hunt. In order to be successful you almost have to know exactly where they are bedding and where they will go to eat or drink once they get moving. I found one nice buck bedding in the low land in a "bowl" and it was easy to understand why. The milkweeds were flying around that bottom so I could easily watch the air currents. There was no way of getting close to this buck without him winding you. He was safe and he had food and water within a few feet so he didn't have to move unless he wanted to. The one thing I learned was (unlesss you are on top) Thermals always beat wind direction. Success can be had by doing your homework and having a detailed gameplan to setup and pick them off.
I've been following Virginia shadows' posts and he might have the toughest hunting of all. Big woods and hills.

[headgear]

Good info Magic, like you said it is a very challenging place. On top of that your bigwoods and my bigwoods can be very very different. The bigwood I hunt in central MN are 100% different the bigwoods I hunt in northern MN. Heck just in the little area I hunt in northern MN I have big hills with hardwoods, hills and flat land with miles of pine, miles of cedar swamps, flat popple forests, giant black spruce/bog swamps, various stages of logging regrowth, rivers, lakes, beaver ponds and everything in between. Not to mention I usually can't see much further then 20-30 yards in any of it because of all the thick underbrush.

It's just about makes a guy want to throw his hands up in the air and give up. The only good news I see is most of us here are bat-sh*t-crazy about deer hunting so just maybe this bigwoods challenge suits us well.

[magicman54494]

On top of that your bigwoods and my bigwoods can be very very different. The bigwood I hunt in central MN are 100% different the bigwoods I hunt in northern MN.

I'm glad you pointed that out. How true.
One of the things I love about whitetails is their ability to survive and thrive in almost any setting. Each one poses unique challenges to us hunters. Hunters have to be just as adaptable as the wiley whitetail to be successful in hunting them.

[Autumn Ninja]

Here are the reasons I think big woods are the toughest to hunt.
1. There are sooooo many bedding options that even finding one is tough.
2. The woods is often so dense that it is impossible to sight pattern deer.
3. Lack of high quality food keeps them somewhat nomadic which means they could be here today and gone tomorrow.
4. Deer tend to relocate at different times of the year. This was proven in northern Wis. by the use of radio collars in the 1970's. This means if your hunting sign your buck may be long gone.
5. low quality food means rack development (to trophy potential) is delayed a year or 2 as compared to deer in high quality feed areas. This means that in an already tough situation you have to hope your buck lives long enough to grow a big rack and by then he is old a will be going down hill in a few years. So your window of opertunity on a given buck is much smaller.
6. In the north- winters are very tough on the deer.
7. low doe populations means the bucks travel longer distances. This may appear as a plus but what can happen is many bucks can get hung up on one hot doe so unless you pick the winning lottery ticket it can mean a lot of lonely days on stand.
8. big wood usually = public land. A lot of good scouting can be ruined by a bear, deer, partridge, small game hunters.

Every thing magic said is spot on where I hunt (minus #6)....Though I hunt 1,000 of acres of unbroken forest, it is still hill country and I find it pretty easy to scout/hunt. Just about any ground with edges can be figured out rather quikly....be it fields, water, transition, structure, terrain, ect.......edges.

Any piece land that lacks edges, now thats when things start to get tough.

[dan]

Any piece land that lacks edges, now thats when things start to get tough.

Exactly!

[gjs4]

The hardest ground for me to break down is my own
The easiest is anyone-else's.

Would agree and say big woods, or huge areas of brush (non ag areas)

[dan]

BUMP

[Stanley]

Here are the reasons I think big woods are the toughest to hunt.
1. There are sooooo many bedding options that even finding one is tough.
2. The woods is often so dense that it is impossible to sight pattern deer.
3. Lack of high quality food keeps them somewhat nomadic which means they could be here today and gone tomorrow.
4. Deer tend to relocate at different times of the year. This was proven in northern Wis. by the use of radio collars in the 1970's. This means if your hunting sign your buck may be long gone.
5. low quality food means rack development (to trophy potential) is delayed a year or 2 as compared to deer in high quality feed areas. This means that in an already tough situation you have to hope your buck lives long enough to grow a big rack and by then he is old a will be going down hill in a few years. So your window of opertunity on a given buck is much smaller.
6. In the north- winters are very tough on the deer.
7. low doe populations means the bucks travel longer distances. This may appear as a plus but what can happen is many bucks can get hung up on one hot doe so unless you pick the winning lottery ticket it can mean a lot of lonely days on stand.
8. big wood usually = public land. A lot of good scouting can be ruined by a bear, deer, partridge, small game hunters.

Every thing magic said is spot on where I hunt (minus #6)....Though I hunt 1,000 of acres of unbroken forest, it is still hill country and I find it pretty easy to scout/hunt. Just about any ground with edges can be figured out rather quikly....be it fields, water, transition, structure, terrain, ect.......edges.

Any piece land that lacks edges, now thats when things start to get tough.

Most all pieces have edges. Finding these very subtle edges is the key to success. It may be a berm, a single tree, a patch of undergrowth, and old downfall. Not all edges are visible some you have to hunt to put the pieces together. I could take you into some of the places I hunt and I guarantee you wont see an edge but they are there. This is the difference in just sitting in the woods and sitting in the best place in the woods.

[spring creek]

I sure wish I didn't live so far away from all of you guys. I would love to get your perspective on my area(s). I could describe it or post pictures but to truly get the picture; you would need to be there. I do enjoy reading all the threads and posts. Never know when an innocent remark might trigger an idea I never considered. Keep them coming guys!

[dan]

bump

[checkerfred]

So how do you put the pieces together on what the deer are doing? I know how to find the easy to spot edges like timber meeting field or clearcut or pines meeting hardwoods or thickets. But the ones Stanley mentioned that you won't see but they are there, what kind of edges could those be? I also have a hard time figuring out what the trails mean, especially if you only have a smaller piece of land to hunt. I look at the trails and think why are they going there, what's on the other end, and I can't answer that, especially not being able to walk them out on someone else's land...so the best I can do is guess but I'm not advanced enough to make assumptions like that. I've actually drawn out trails...not perfect drawings but just rough sketches on the general direction and vicinity and it still doesn't really tell me much. Some go out into fields....a few seem like they might be going to bedding.

[dan]

So how do you put the pieces together on what the deer are doing? I know how to find the easy to spot edges like timber meeting field or clearcut or pines meeting hardwoods or thickets. But the ones Stanley mentioned that you won't see but they are there, what kind of edges could those be? I also have a hard time figuring out what the trails mean, especially if you only have a smaller piece of land to hunt. I look at the trails and think why are they going there, what's on the other end, and I can't answer that, especially not being able to walk them out on someone else's land...so the best I can do is guess but I'm not advanced enough to make assumptions like that. I've actually drawn out trails...not perfect drawings but just rough sketches on the general direction and vicinity and it still doesn't really tell me much. Some go out into fields....a few seem like they might be going to bedding.

Start at the bedding... After this season is over scout the land and find the bedding. Trails, scrapes, rubs, etc. don't matter much if they are not where deer move in daylight. The closer to bedding the more daylight movement. Find the bedding and scout back from there.

[Stanley]

So how do you put the pieces together on what the deer are doing? I know how to find the easy to spot edges like timber meeting field or clearcut or pines meeting hardwoods or thickets. But the ones Stanley mentioned that you won't see but they are there, what kind of edges could those be? I also have a hard time figuring out what the trails mean, especially if you only have a smaller piece of land to hunt. I look at the trails and think why are they going there, what's on the other end, and I can't answer that, especially not being able to walk them out on someone else's land...so the best I can do is guess but I'm not advanced enough to make assumptions like that. I've actually drawn out trails...not perfect drawings but just rough sketches on the general direction and vicinity and it still doesn't really tell me much. Some go out into fields....a few seem like they might be going to bedding.

There might be a 2 feet difference in terrain level. There might be a sand stretch in the middle of black soil. There might be single tree/bush deer relate to. There might be a low spot in the terrain only a few feet. There might be tall grass in a mostly barren area. Most all areas have some kind of structure for deer to relate to. Finding these subtle pieces of structure can help you become a better hunter in the area you hunt.

[blackwolf]

On the positive side of "Big Woods" if you find a good bedding area it may payoff multiple years if unmolested. I have one "killer" spot on an oak ridge but need to have a good acorn year. I have another spot bordering a refuge that is goof almost every year. Biggest downfall with my "Big Woods" spots has been 1. Spot logged over 2. Wolves cleaned house 3 Hard winter