Help in MA

[Bigbuck28]

My problem is that down here its all woods with no fields. The bucks are on a browse pattern and everything is thick and nasty. So bucks can bed anywhere they feel. The browse patterns suck because they wander threw the woods eating whatever they feel like. There no set food and theres an Oak every other tree. Ive hunted since i could walk and have killed some great deer with a gun on deer drives but yet to connect on a great deer in MA with my bow. I get plenty of nice bucks on my cams at night so i know there their. I used to take my cams and keep moving them farther back down the runs to try to get them earlier to figure out where they bed, but feel all that did was educated them more and more.

Up until about 2 years ago I used to scout my a$$ off until i found buck sign and then hunt it. I would leave pieces that didnt have buck sign and dismess them in my head...Only to find out someone did a deer drive and shot a giant out of there. I found my self lost with and not being able to leave that bad info i had grown up reading about(buck sign and scrapes) Lately ive been just looking for large tracks and the freshiest droppings i can find and hunting that when the winds right. Also choosing stand sites i can get in and out of undetected that were in some type of funnel. That seems to be working for smaller bucks and does but nothgin over 100"s. I have the shed and cam pics to prove there their!!

I did however kill a 151" main frame 8 in Iowa at 1155 on a DIY hunt 2 years ago but thats iowa and def isnt anything like MA. LOL

My scouting question is what do you do if your bucks are just on a simple browse pattern and really bed any where the want? How do i go about setting up where theres no buck sign? What am i looking for really? A place to start ? Im really at a point were im just plain frustrated and almost burned out from scouting so much with so little to show for it.

I joined this forum to leave behind my old way of doing things and finding something new/ a new way of thinking.

[blizzardhunter]

Welcome to the forum, their are some really good guys on here with great advice. I'm probably not the best to answer this question but I'll give it a shot. What you have is similar to the public ground I hunt in West KY. Is this ridge land or bottom ground? That makes a difference on where to start. Basically you need to find buck beds. To make it easier I would say forget about buck sign, at first. You need to find where they bed to get on them in daylight.

[Schubox1265]

1) Purchase both of Dan's videos: Marsh and Hill. Watch them, be them.

2) Get to know how to use the search service on this site. A search of Subject titles for 'big woods' will get you some great advice, like...

http://www.thehuntingbeast.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=13068&hilit & http://www.thehuntingbeast.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10710&hilit

Don't forget to try some searches on your own state, for area-type advice.

3) For all deer hunting, anywhere, you need to understand transitions:

http://www.thehuntingbeast.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=14721&hilit

4) Great article on Clearcuts:

http://www.thehuntingbeast.com/viewtopic.php?f=159&t=1550

Now get reading!

And good luck...

[Bigbuck28]

Thanks for the replys, I own both of dans videos.

There arnt any clear cuts where im at its about 200 acre pieces of pure scrub oak. Pretty much the hardest area in the world to bow hunt.

Oh and its mainly all flat... Im headed out to scout some more ill take some pics of my "lovely woods"

[dan]

So bucks can bed anywhere they feel.

Might seem that way... But once you start to understand the exact reasons bucks choose beds you will find there is nothing random about it, and it can be quite predictable in any terrain.

Your going to find big bucks repeating using the same beds once you find them. Those beds will likely be on transitions (edge) and/or on the highest spots. Sometimes those high spots are hard to see on very flat land, usually topo's pick them up, but if they don't, look for a different type of tree from a high vantage point. Different trees grow at different heights.
If you post an aerial and a topo, I will try and point some stuff out for you.

[Bigbuck28]

Dan thanks for replying..its an honor and privilege to have you replying to my posts. Funny you talk about the hightest points. While scouting this afternoon i found a few larger than normal beds right above a giant funnel ....a sand pit thats overgrown and cut way back into a ridge that borders extremely private land that dosent ever get hunted. I found the trail that drops into the pit and leaded up into the saddle there using to run the tops of the ridges....Im super excited about this spot... Bummer problem is that the deer cross back and forth, For the most part i suspect there bedding on the off limit property.

Thanks again for making an awesome forum!!
Im headed to a cattail marsh tomw that gets alot of pressure but if i can find that one bed it'll be game on!

[dan]

Me and Carol just got back from one of the forum members property. I went over and took a look around, and could see how someone could get confused about buck bedding. The area was really thick and there was literally beds every where... However, that was because of a large population... The big buck beds were still exactly where I would of predicted.

Im headed to a cattail marsh tomw that gets alot of pressure but if i can find that one bed it'll be game on!

Good luck! Cattail marshes are easy to scout and hunt. Pressure is irrelevant the bucks will be where the hunters rarely go.

[Bigbuck28]

Thanks Dan, ill post some pics with results tomw.

[PK_]

Any water on the property?

I hunt a lot of expansive, thick monoculture, all the buck beds I have found that I can recall are near water.