My Playground

[cbay]

Wanted to start a thread that i could share of the public land where i live and hunt. As time and experiences permit i will try to update here and hopefully we can all learn something.
Background:
No crop ground close
Mostly oak, cedar and thicket/regrowth from old fields
Hunting pressure is very heavy during rifle. Outside of that it is mostly just me that i'm aware of. One neighbor squirrel hunts quite a bit.
Approx. 500 acres shown
The ir(?) images show where the cedars are very well and also show other details
Had an excellent acorn crop this year. Lots of chinkapins and reds.
Deer numbers are very good. Back in 04-06 had a bad case of ehd here. Since then numbers have come back well - despite the repeated droughts the last few years.
This rifle season so far we know of no deer being taken despite having way too many out there hunting. We stayed at the property for that week!
The wind has always been my demise here. The terrain i suppose is what makes the wind do all the crazy things it does.
That is what i could use the most learning on for the area.
During the rut is the only time i have had encounters with mature bucks. The cover they have available is very good.

Hope to add to this as time goes. We just had a major cold front come in and i got a couple hunts planned in a few days so maybe i can zoom in on the plan and post it here shortly.

Good Luck out there everyone and be safe!
Chris

[Stanley]

Looks like a very interesting piece of ground. Thanks for sharing.

[cbay]

It is very hard to stay motivated here this time of year. Post rifle, public, and no ag land to funnel activity. Plus there are lots of acorns scattered about which make travel routes spread around.
So at this point i'm thinking of taking the bow another time on the below spot; and after that just do scouting and prepping for next year. Would probably serve me better to wait until early spring pre greenup to do all this - as i'm likely to educate the mature bucks using the area. Without knowing precisely where the mature bucks bed makes it hard to get confident at this point in the season.
But since it is still season and there are good deer in the area, i'm going to make a trip through this area from the far west and slowly work my way to the east in the next couple days. Hoping to mark some beds after this trip. Any thoughts are welcome.

[dan]

Can you post the topo full size?

[cbay]

I'll get this figured out. Thanks

[dan]

I marked where I expect buck bedding based on wind direction. I color coded the beds to match the wind.

[cbay]

Very informative and to the "point" Dan. Thank You very much.

[dan]

Very informative and to the "point" Dan. Thank You very much.

If you walk the area after hunting it would be cool to see how accurate I was.

[cbay]

Very informative and to the "point" Dan. Thank You very much.

If you walk the area after hunting it would be cool to see how accurate I was.

Plan on it.

Most all of the spots i agree on or have already seen action but not the actual bed of the buck.
One thing i have assumed that you had not mentioned nor have i seen a post on is the idea of the buck keeping the wind at his back, but using the south facing hill with a s-sw wind --- facing uphill. Reason being i know they spend a lot of time below the house, but with the s.sw wind i figured they used the large thickets between them and the area they can't smell and stayed closer to the lake. You had not marked anything close to the area and wasn't sure if this may have been more because of pressure (right below subdivision).

[dan]

Yes, I did not mark that area because of the houses. If they do bed on a slope with wind coming from below, yes, they will be facing up hill. Wind to back. Bedding would become more scattered, and more in thick areas. Out of the wind, on transitions.

[cbay]

Well it was a frustrating hunt this evening. I wanted to try and slip in to the area where the blue star is, but got busted early in the trip to the area. Figured since we had a n-nw wind today i may get a good hunt in. Wind was great on the way down (yellow); as the thermals and wind were both working the same direction. Once i got to the bottom it was game over. The wind started going up that hill in a hurry. Horns, tails, deer sneaking around it was crazy with deer in the red boxed area. Those mature cedars also give them plenty of lower visibility. They weren't bedding - as i went to the spot to check. They were feeding on some acorns.
It has always been a problem with the wind in that valley. I've had some decent encounters over the years, but always during the rut.
I don't see how a fellow can hunt some of these valleys with much success in terms of the wind. Now with a south wind i could see coming in from the back side when you got the thermals and wind direction working the same way, but otherwise a cross wind is all i can see and have had a little luck with that in different areas; but that didn't work today (i tried and it blew everywhere).
If i'm missing something that can work to my benefit in terms of wind i'd love to know what it is. I always enjoyed that valley but can't get the wind to cooperate. Seems like the deer got it made in some of these valleys. Have found that to be the case at our property as well.

By the way Dan, i verified that bed for you and i today. It was right on the money (blue star) The only actual bed i saw today.

[dan]

it can be a long frustrating season hunting valleys... Get em up high.

[cbay]

it can be a long frustrating season hunting valleys... Get em up high.

You are definitely right about that. Figured i would try to get a cross wind and go along the ridge but they were right above me.

[cbay]

Well it's getting tough to hunt now. No isolated food sources; lots of scattered acorns. Easy for deer to see with leaves gone. Pressure has been fairly steady. Still getting out and trying. Decided to go in on a suspected buck bed and check it out yesterday. Tried to sneak in with a north wind but the cover and noise getting there was not working out. When i got to the spot i was in awe; and as soon as it got good i found a dead buck. Just a 2.5 yo, most likely shot during gun season a couple weeks ago. But my attention soon got diverted to all the beds!! For a big buck hunter looking for the motherload bedding spot it was like hitting the lottery. Large beds everywhere. Spots worn down all along the break of this sort of "island". I had always suspected the spot but skirted since it was thick and didn't want to get them up. Squirrels were carrying on like crazy once i got up on the island. The place was so good it made my hair stand up.
Now the problem with the spot is the same reason the bucks like it; excellent wind coverage in most all scenarios. The "island" has enough rise that it gets thermals on all sides and provides excellent viewing. The whole area is down in a valley for the most part and with a light general wind i suspect the thermals may continue up the valley as it goes around the island - regardless of general wind direction.
I don't know how i'm going to be able to hunt close to this without being whiffed but i will spend time observing the wind over the course of the year.
I'm learning that at this time of year it would be helpful to have refined spots set up ahead of time. With all the brush and lack of tactful entry its almost impossible to slip around this time of year. It's going to take time to figure out the few good set ups around the house that can be hunted without getting smelled. And having some stands put up well ahead of season. Just picked up a couple extra for next season.
Well if there is a scenario that sticks out to someone who has found a set up similar that works i could definitely use a learning curve!!!!

[cbay]

Thought i would share a wind model image that shows thermals with light south at some of the areas posted earlier. So far i have only run a south / slight west model, but thus far most of the ideal bedding locations thought (especially the ones marked by Dan) are showing the reasons why.