Sanctuaries

[BigHunt]

Wow long read and lots of people telling the original poster (op) he is doing it wrong, or doing it different then they would. I didn't read where he said his hunting sucks? I didn't read where he asked if he should quit doing a sanctuary? The guy is giving the deer a place to feel safe and reaping the rewards of at least seeing big bucks using said place. While this method is not as aggressive as Beast style, its working for this guy. I believe its a good thing, if you have your own property. I dont know what state the op has this land in, but it sounds like a place with at least moderate pressure. IF your hunting areas of high pressure, you need to provide a place the deer feel safe. If you dont, they will find that place on somebody else's land and I guarantee you are not in the game at that point. This guy might not be batting every time up, but it sounds like he is at least close enough to watch the game. He might not be killing every time out, but he is learning. Sounds like this year he will move some stands to take advantage of what he learned last year. All to often people get a piece and jump in too deep and ruin a property without even knowing it. I like this comment Dan posted, although he is somewhat against the sanctuary concept.

Pounding that area will make it like every other in the area...

Out of all the posts, to "ME" smoked em is the only guy that seems to "get it". Now I read GJS4 has a sanctuary that is working to draw big bucks in a pressured area. Not to upset anybody, but guys have been quick to tell him to go into this sanctuary and set up shop. Guys if he went in there and set up shop, why would that spot be any different then the properties those bucks are running from? The key here is to keep it at sanctuary status in the deers mind and hunt them coming/going. If the deer go in and go nocturnal as Dan suggested, then maybe you throw a hail marry and go for it beast style. Both of these guys seem to like to hunt and if you go in beast style your only going to hunt your land 2-3 sits for the entire season. Sorry but land is too expensive to only enjoy it a few times a year. It can be very enjoyable making habitat changes to your land, and creating sanctuary's is one of them. I hate to say it, but many of you think your hunting pressured areas and you are not. Instead of telling these guys what they are doing wrong(they are both seeing big bucks), you should be wondering how they are going about seeing so many big bucks. Well at least those of us in high pressured areas should be wondering how they are doing it. Where I hunt, its tough to make a sanctuary. The "locals" know when your not there and they do deer drives on EVERYBODYS land. My dad owns land he lives on and I am in the process of setting it up for him. Yes it contains sanctuary. I know where the deer are bedding, as I have scouted it and have created my own bedding. Last weekend I was up there making some more improvements and we walked by 4 bedding areas. Half of them were being used, the other 2 were not. I made some improvements to those beds, but reality is big change needs to happen in the imediate area for them to be taken over. I am not making any big changes this late in the year.

i agree well said

[dan]

Its all dependant on what you want to shoot... Creating a sanctuarie on pressured land should grow bigger deer... And should give you more opertunity at bigger deer than just randomly pounding the pressured land...
However, at some point it will get beyond "bigger deer" and there will be some actual "mature" bucks living in the sanctuarie... Mature bucks in or around pressured areas do not come walking out of sanctuarys in daylight very often. So by choosing to "never" hunt the sanctuary you choose to never try and hunt the biggest bucks on the land... I am not saying you go willy nilly and hunt in the bedding area every day, or evey week... But a well planned invasion on the right day, with the right wind, right moon phase, and a thought out access rought done only a few times a year will make it at least possible to kill "mature" bucks on a regular basis... Im not talking about the occasional 150 inch 3 year old, but an actual mature buck that is 5 y/o or older...

Both of these guys seem to like to hunt and if you go in beast style your only going to hunt your land 2-3 sits for the entire season. Sorry but land is too expensive to only enjoy it a few times a year.

That seems to be a bit of an exaggeration... I say you only hunt each bedding/staging area a few times a season. But really, if your property is small to begin with and you limit all your hunts to a smaller area and close off a section as "santuary" and never enter it while hunting the rest every weekend, a mature buck would have to be retarded to come walking out to the area you always hunt in daylight...

[kenn1320]

a mature buck would have to be retarded to come walking out to the area you always hunt in daylight...

That's the one I'm after.

Maybe that's the best strategy Dan. Create a sanctuary, protect a buck(s) till they are at target age, then slip in and catch em off guard. That works for me.

[dan]

i REALLY THINK THAT SOME PEOPLE GET THE TOTAL WRONG IMAGE OF HOW i HUNT... I don't just run in and pound buck bedding areas like a mad man... They need to be hunted and visited with respect.
I go places and hunt right up against bedding areas where most wouldn't... But its all about timing and doing it only at the right times... These spots that I hunt are more treated like a sanctuary than what most people call a real sanctuary.

[headgear]

I think another point that can be made is that if you don't know the buck exact bed you should probably treat an area like a sanctuary because going in without knowing could do lots of damage. On the other hand if you know where he is bedding and have a pretty good idea of the trail/staging area he will use on a certain wind why not go in there and kill him.

[dan]

I think another point that can be made is that if you don't know the buck exact bed you should probably treat an area like a sanctuary because going in without knowing could do lots of damage. On the other hand if you know where he is bedding and have a pretty good idea of the trail/staging area he will use on a certain wind why not go in there and kill him.

Spot on..

[Stanley]

Great thread. Lot of interesting thoughts on the sanctuary subject. I think most are misunderstanding what a sanctuary really does. It is an area where deer have been and can go back to and feel safe. By no means does it mean just mature bucks. Unmolested does are the key to hanging one on the wall in most areas for most hunters. If you have an area that is holding unharassed does, this would be interpreted as a sanctuary. Sometimes hunting an area smart can mean hunting the edges of that area with no encroachment into that core (sanctuary). You can call it a bedding area, a sanctuary, honey hole, whatever you call it, this is sacred ground and can’t be disturbed for success to happen. I have an area (25 acres) that I don’t go into at all. I don’t even let my wind blow into this area. I do hunt this area though. I know were the deer are and I know were they are headed why would I need to go in and disturb this area and stink it all up? Ok you might ask why not go in and knock one out of its bed. Because it’s like shooting pool the ball you’re shooting at isn’t the one that wins the game, and when you miss it’s game over. I have many more chances of killing a certain buck if I don’t push him out of his bedding area. I bumped a 6.5 year old buck out of a bed in November 2009 on my way to a stand. I arrowed this buck a week and half later coming out of the sanctuary (or whatever you call it) 3/8 of a mile away. You don’t need to know the exact bed a buck is using to get him you do have to know the area (sanctuary) a buck is bedding in to get him.

[dan]

Stanly,
I have seen that work on occasion too... But mature bucks, especially in areas with a fair amount of hunting pressure do not move far from there beds in daylight. I have hunted bedding and staging areas my whole life and watched bucks rise from there beds and go about there buisness in both pressured and managed lands. Some bucks, especially those over 5 years old, never get farther than 200 yards in daylight...

[Hodag Hunter]

Sanctuaries may "work" in un-pressured land allowing your deer to retreat/hole-up in a safe zone. When they "come back out" are you sure they will head onto your property? Last poster indicated he shot a target buck 3/8 of a mile away.....thats over a 40 acre chunk away.....

If you think you know where they will head out to and are in your sanctuary why not go in and kill it?

On a side note I've tried this loose approach on public land.....hunt far from suspected buck bedding in what I call staging areas. All I did was let a buck know he was being hunted the moment he steped into the staging area after dark if I didn't see after my first hunt there. Pretty much game over.

I've shot a few bucks using this method.....(2) on the wall, (2) other close to be mounters.....in 20 plus years of bowhunting this way. Dan has shot tons more than me using his methods.....

Dan came and helped me scout this spring and showed me the light....hunting the beds is the way to go, no doubt on the public property I frequent. We shall see what happens this fall......

Dan's method just makes so much sense now seeing it first hand.

Sanctuaries are created to keep bucks alive and hope your human scent left behind outside it doesn't alert the bucks for future hunts. A crap shoot if you will......I'm finished shooting craps while deer hunting.

[Stanley]

Sanctuaries aren't created they are existing land structures that are already there. Thus you are merely utilizing that structure to your advantage. High pressured areas which is almost every property this day and age. Are where sanctuaries work the best. Hunters (hypothetically) to the North bump a buck he is going to head where he thinks he is safe. So he heads into an area that is holding does. Buck travels in the dark to head for his bedding area runs into a hunter south of you. Where is he more likely to head into parts unknown or someplace he feels safe? I don't feel you can effectively have a sanctuary on public land. For the same reason you can't rely on a buck bedding in the same bed, on public land intrusion. Maybe the public land you hunt doesn't get any pressure but the public land I know of does. Hanging mature bucks on the wall requires one most important ingredient "there must be mature bucks in that area".
There are no guarantees in any hunting situation, putting yourself in the best spot, to give you the best possible chance, the most amount of times determines how successful you will be.

[Stanley]

Sanctuaries may "work" in un-pressured land allowing your deer to retreat/hole-up in a safe zone. When they "come back out" are you sure they will head onto your property? Last poster indicated he shot a target buck 3/8 of a mile away.....thats over a 40 acre chunk away.....

If you think you know where they will head out to and are in your sanctuary why not go in and kill it?
On a side note I've tried this loose approach on public land.....hunt far from suspected buck bedding in what I call staging areas. All I did was let a buck know he was being hunted the moment he steped into the staging area after dark if I didn't see after my first hunt there. Pretty much game over.

I've shot a few bucks using this method.....(2) on the wall, (2) other close to be mounters.....in 20 plus years of bowhunting this way. Dan has shot tons more than me using his methods.....

Dan came and helped me scout this spring and showed me the light....hunting the beds is the way to go, no doubt on the public property I frequent. We shall see what happens this fall......

Dan's method just makes so much sense now seeing it first hand.

Sanctuaries are created to keep bucks alive and hope your human scent left behind outside it doesn't alert the bucks for future hunts. A crap shoot if you will......I'm finished shooting craps while deer hunting.

Am I more likely to get busted if I am on the move or the buck is on the move? Plus I want to give myself multiple chances at this buck so if I go in and stink the place up I'm cutting down my chances.

[Stanley]

Stanly,
I have seen that work on occasion too... But mature bucks, especially in areas with a fair amount of hunting pressure do not move far from there beds in daylight. I have hunted bedding and staging areas my whole life and watched bucks rise from there beds and go about there buisness in both pressured and managed lands. Some bucks, especially those over 5 years old, never get farther than 200 yards in daylight...

During the rut when bucks are most vulnerable this doesn't hold true.

[headgear]

Stanley if that works for you and you are happy hunting that way I think we all say great. However sometimes different tactics are needed to kill mature bucks in different areas of the country or even in areas just a few miles down the road. I tried the "traditional" way of bowhunt for many years, setup sanctuaries and kept the "wind in my face" type stuff and all it got me was a whole lot of nothing outside the rut.

Only when I started to push the limits and the wind and go into the bedding areas or sanctuaries did I start to see and shoot mature bucks. You might think we are crazy for contaminating such an area but when you have 20-30 of these kind of places scouted out and you can hunt a new one every day you start to see there is a method to the madness. I let the other hunters sit back and wait for the buck, I want to go in after him and get him.

[Brandon]

wow... i remember this thread, dug it up out of its grave I see.

If I know where the biggest buck on the property is living, Im going to use my tactics to get as close to his known bed as possible with perfect conditions to kill him.

If it was rut, I wouldnt be hunting his bed.

To each his own.

[Brandon]

I let the other hunters sit back and wait for the buck, I want to go in after him and get him.

I love this quote and agree 100%.

The day last season when I stoppped waiting and hoping was the day I started seeing mature bucks.

Man if I only had a dozen or more beds to hunt.... Id be in HEAVEN!