My stomping grounds

[mtman71]

This the piece of property I've been hunting for the last ten years or so. I've seen a few bruiser's and passed on 140" last fall at 22 yds (I regret that in hindsight). However, as a neophyte to the Beast on the path to Beast-enlightenment, I've realized I've been hunting this place all wrong and just been getting lucky on the good bucks I have seen. As a former rifle hunter, most of the stands were set up for maximum field of vision on poor areas for deer traffic. The doe population is great but managed and the property holds a reasonable number of 1.5-3.5 yr old bucks. I don't run cameras. Most of the stands are ladder stands; with a ground blind and elevated box blind rounding out the rest. I have a Summit Climber I used last year on public land rigged with Mollee straps and belt so I can I can be relatively mobile.



After "Ice Storm 2009", the property was selectively logged (the more damaged trees were harvested); creating a labyrinth of the secondary succession while still maintaining some mature hardwoods. The property is managed primarily for quail with native grasses typically located on the perimeter of crop fields. There are three fields, approximately 1-3 acres in size that are nothing but native grasses, ~6' tall; one of which can be seen in the creek bottom, east of the southernmost/central bottom stand. The property itself is ~270 acres.

This year, the hills are corn and the bottoms are planted in beans. The wind is usually south westerly.

On the topo, I place blue dots and stand sites I'm going to check into or investigate for beds. Should I wait to seriously scout until after the season? Or will my intrusion by forgotten shortly. Kentucky's archery opener is in about 5 weeks.



Is this a good direction?

Thanks, Joe

* I'm not sure how to get the pictures to work :/

[DEERSLAYER]

This the piece of property I've been hunting for the last ten years or so. I've seen a few bruiser's and passed on 140" last fall at 22 yds (I regret that in hindsight). However, as a neophyte to the Beast on the path to Beast-enlightenment, I've realized I've been hunting this place all wrong and just been getting lucky on the good bucks I have seen. As a former rifle hunter, most of the stands were set up for maximum field of vision on poor areas for deer traffic. The doe population is great but managed and the property holds a reasonable number of 1.5-3.5 yr old bucks. I don't run cameras. Most of the stands are ladder stands; with a ground blind and elevated box blind rounding out the rest. I have a Summit Climber I used last year on public land rigged with Mollee straps and belt so I can I can be relatively mobile.




After "Ice Storm 2009", the property was selectively logged (the more damaged trees were harvested); creating a labyrinth of the secondary succession while still maintaining some mature hardwoods. The property is managed primarily for quail with native grasses typically located on the perimeter of crop fields. There are three fields, approximately 1-3 acres in size that are nothing but native grasses, ~6' tall; one of which can be seen in the creek bottom, east of the southernmost/central bottom stand. The property itself is ~270 acres.

This year, the hills are corn and the bottoms are planted in beans. The wind is usually south westerly.

On the topo, I place blue dots and stand sites I'm going to check into or investigate for beds. Should I wait to seriously scout until after the season? Or will my intrusion by forgotten shortly. Kentucky's archery opener is in about 5 weeks.



Is this a good direction?

Thanks, Joe

* I'm not sure how to get the pictures to work :/

[DEERSLAYER]

I went to your gallery, clicked on the thumb nail, right clicked on the photo and selected properties. Then I copied the address there and pasted it in place of the address you had. I'm not sure why it doesn't work with address shown in your gallery details, but that address might be to show it in the gallery only?

I would go out there right away and follow that 450' contour throughout the entire section of woods top to bottom. Not just in the area you had your blue dots, but all the way to the south west corner. AND I would do it in ONE (long) day. It may not be ideal, but it's a lot better than not scouting and at this point your not going to ruin the place (but do it soon). Don't be afraid of spooking deer. Just go in there and get it done. If you go in there sneaking around worrying about the deer your kicking up they will pick up on that as though they are being hunted. You don't want to appear as a serious threat. You want your body posture and actions to appear as though your some bumbling clueless person that is just passing through. So just go in there relaxed like you don't have a care in the world and do your business. It also looks like you have some small bluffs. I would check those for beds too. When you find the buck beds figure out how close (and high) you can get with out him seeing you and the best way to get in there without him hearing or smelling you for the winds you can hunt that bed. This may be a lot of information to figure out in one day. I would be sure to have topo maps in hand to write on.

I also marked three good spots on your aerial you didn't show stands in that would be especially good for hunting the rut. I marked them in green and put a white circle around them. The upper spot would be good for a W to SW wind. The bottom right would be good for a NW wind, maybe a N to NNE wind and you also might get away with doing a hunt out of it with a SSE wind. The bottom left would be good for a SW or NW wind.

[DEERSLAYER]

I forgot about the tall grass. Which fields have it? I would definitely check out that pond on the west side about half way down. That could be a great spot to hunt on a hot day. The terrain makes it fairly secluded. I didn't notice that spot before I made my last post.

It looks like a great piece of property. Are you the only one that deer hunts it?

[mtman71]

There is one other person that "hunts" for bucks and got lucky once during rifle season; He will pass on 2.5 yr bucks but he has a hard time with the 3.5's. We do have to keep the doe population in check pretty well so there is some pressure during gun season and I smack a few out of the stand northeast of pond#3. Surrounding properties will shoot anything that walks. About 80 acres of the woods are not being actively hunted, although I suspect there is an trespasser during rifle season coming from the North Side.

Note: I misrepresented the property boundary on the southwest side. There is a field of native grasses and a small strip of woods (purple dot). I have a sneaking suspicion a good buck could be bedding in there. On the southern border is a field of native grasses surrounded by a creek and heavy fence row, this area is shown with the orange dot, Bing Birdseye is pretty detailed here. Thanks for your help! I had the same idea about the stand located directly on the creek. Hopefully, I'll have tagged out by then(the rut). Here's an updated map with creek, pond, and grass info.

[dan]

Should I wait to seriously scout until after the season? Or will my intrusion by forgotten shortly. Kentucky's archery opener is in about 5 weeks.

I would suspect the spots you picked to be active bedding areas... Don't think I would go in now. For a S.W. wind, I would suspect the points that are pointing N.E. to be the best bedding areas... I see another good spot right on your north border, and one just across the valley from the ones you marked furthest south.

[DEERSLAYER]

I also suspect (expect) there to be active beds in those areas, but I have been down in that part of KY and seen what it looks like since that ice storm took off all those tops. I have never seen anything like it. Where I have been it has made it pretty much impossible to get into many spots quietly unless you go in first and make sure you have a reasonably clear path. Considering that and your also new to this style of hunting I figured your chances are better for this season by going in now. My experience has been that one day busting around at this point wouldn't ruin the area. So that's my $0.02 worth on that. However, I have never killed a bonafide 4.5+ year old buck and Dan probably has killed more 4.5+'s than I have had a chance at. Plus he also used to be a guide, so you might want to take my advice with a grain of salt.

[dan]

You make a good point Lance... I can read the sign and know right where to set up / look and how everything works for those points based on experience from years of doing this... For someone new, you might be better off going in now and looking at your options. But if you do that rought, get it done as soon as possible.

[DEERSLAYER]

You make a good point Lance... I can read the sign and know right where to set up / look and how everything works for those points based on experience from years of doing this... For someone new, you might be better off going in now and looking at your options. But if you do that rought, get it done as soon as possible.

A Big X2 on that!

[mtman71]

I'll probably go check it out in the next couple of days or so. However, I'm comfortable with staying on the perimeter this year and really scouting the crap out of it in January or February. I have a ladder stand or two to check shooting lanes on. What time of year does everyone perform this kind of maintenance? June? Early July?

[dan]

I'll probably go check it out in the next couple of days or so. However, I'm comfortable with staying on the perimeter this year and really scouting the crap out of it in January or February. I have a ladder stand or two to check shooting lanes on. What time of year does everyone perform this kind of maintenance? June? Early July?

If I cut lanes to shoot, its usually in spring or winter when I find / set up the spot.