Thanks. Hadn't had a chance to check the lot by the highway but hopefully soon! Will report back on results.
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Buck potential????
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Re: Buck potential????
"One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is and can show himself to be." — Theodore Roosevelt, 1893
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Re: Buck potential????
Even if it doesn't hold a Monster Buck it still looks like a good property with lots of potential to put meat in the freezer.
You could also challenge yourself to kill the biggest buck that is living there
You could also challenge yourself to kill the biggest buck that is living there
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Re: Buck potential????
Looks like a great place to hunt! As for a food plot, I say plant COVER and draw the bucks in to you. They will travel 5 miles a night to eat if needed, but if you plant some switchgrass you could make some excellent bedding in a small area.
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Re: Buck potential????
Twenty Up wrote:Looks like a great place to hunt! As for a food plot, I say plant COVER and draw the bucks in to you. They will travel 5 miles a night to eat if needed, but if you plant some switchgrass you could make some excellent bedding in a small area.
I agree with that. I find the modern hype over food plots a little amusing and a little sad all at the same time. If you don't have good bedding then you don't have deer routinely there in the day yet for every 10 hunters that grub out food plots only one of them probably does work to improve bedding.
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Re: Buck potential????
i am not sure if I could do any hinge cutting to create woodland bedding. how is switchgrass normally used for bedding...around the edges? That would seem to be counterintuitive.
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Re: Buck potential????
So I checked out wood lot by the highway today. Extremely thick! Can't walk through most of it without crouching. There are a few areas in the interior that are open and these are the only spots you could get a stand except on the edges. Definitely plenty thick for lots of bedding. May try to get some clover in the bigger interior open areas but also may just be able to hunt the edges until leaf drop. Be hard to get into without busting something out. Did find a couple well used buck beds. One was on the edge, one was about 50 yards in. Also found an old barn....wondering if they might bed in it during a snowstorm??? Anyone ever heard of that??? It's pretty isolated. Very swampy in most areas with nice well defined trails.
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"One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is and can show himself to be." — Theodore Roosevelt, 1893
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Re: Buck potential????
This bed is on an inside corner edge, a pond then the highway directly behind, catches the predominant wind to the side and can see the fields from the front. This is one of the best examples of a buck doing strategic bedding I have ever seen on flat ground.
A broader view.
This was the interior bed. No idea what strategy the buck had in mind here...can see the rubs around it.
Not sure how big the buck or bucks are. Landowner doesn't know of any big ones. Property did not get hunted last year. I didn't see any fresh large rubs but did see a few old ones. That doesn't mean too much as other areas I hunt hold large mature bucks but very few big rubs. I did find some nice tracks but nothing as big as my glove...did find a set that were as long as my glove. It certainly seems to have everything a buck would need...especially the wood lot by the highway. Both are very dense in cover...except for 4 or 5 spots in the interior, would have to use a ground blind.
Still have a lot more work to do with this property.
"One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is and can show himself to be." — Theodore Roosevelt, 1893
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Re: Buck potential????
As far as switch grass, I am no expert but for what its worth I would try to create as much "edge" as possible, not big blocks of cover. Lots of clumps around areas you want to encourage bedding. Deer will bed on the edge of swichgrass but not so much in the middle of it just because it can be tough to move through. The way you describe it you may not need more bedding cover though.
While you are investigating keep in mind the time of year we have now, everything looks thicker than it will in the fall. I was out the other day and it always amazes me how thick areas are now that seemed relatively open in the fall/winter. Getting a grasp of how deer will move in the fall from scouting right now is a challenge. Good luck!
While you are investigating keep in mind the time of year we have now, everything looks thicker than it will in the fall. I was out the other day and it always amazes me how thick areas are now that seemed relatively open in the fall/winter. Getting a grasp of how deer will move in the fall from scouting right now is a challenge. Good luck!
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Re: Buck potential????
JoeRE wrote:As far as switch grass, I am no expert but for what its worth I would try to create as much "edge" as possible, not big blocks of cover. Lots of clumps around areas you want to encourage bedding. Deer will bed on the edge of swichgrass but not so much in the middle of it just because it can be tough to move through. The way you describe it you may not need more bedding cover though.
While you are investigating keep in mind the time of year we have now, everything looks thicker than it will in the fall. I was out the other day and it always amazes me how thick areas are now that seemed relatively open in the fall/winter. Getting a grasp of how deer will move in the fall from scouting right now is a challenge. Good luck!
You are dead on about thick areas opening up. This particular area has a lot of young timber but some oaks. The odd thing about it are these open areas within the block...that is also where the heaviest trails were.
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"One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is and can show himself to be." — Theodore Roosevelt, 1893
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