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First Scouting Trip on New Land

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:03 pm
by Rich M
This is a 45 acre parcel I'm hunting this year. It is in an area of agriculture and clear cuts with some residences.

I spent about 4 hours perusing the forum and watched a couple of Dan's videos before going up this past weekend to scout some and get a feel for the land. A couple guys had hunted it a little last year and some info slipped out around the camp fire. The wetland head at the southwestern end had larger bucks - they would come uphill and eat corn in a firebreak, then head right back in downhill. The deer were hitting corn between the two centrally located "Cluster"s with the 42" between them.

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My scouting covered most of the property and did find a few small beds, but mostly I found clusters of rubs. One spot has 15+ in an area the size of a car, behind a blow down on the edge of a field. The other spots had 7-10 rubs. One centrally located rub was a good 42 inches high and had tine poke marks above the rubbing.

This is a small parcel without a lot of room to spread out, and 3 neighboring stands - 2 to N and 1 to S. The red circle is where I'm thinking of planting a food plot.

What I found real interesting is how the rubs clusters and northern neighborly stands line up with the topography...

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That long topo finger is a small creek. Has a road on either side of the topo lines. The eastern line has more tracks.

My gut is telling me to put in a food plot and hunt it from the stand located central west, on the edge of a tree line. The ground slopes to the west here, so thermals would be that way. Would have up to a 200 yard shot.

The stand spot to the northeast was put there by another - the deer cross at the red line, approx 150 yards. They saw up to 15-20 does per sit.

No-one can give me a trending wind direction - that bothers me but will do some historical weather research and see if there is a reason to hunt somewhere other than the stand on the west. If there is a west wind, I have an agricultural parcel that hunts best on a west wind.

Does anyone have any comments or concerns with my ideas? I can shoot does but have yet to intentionally shoot a mature buck.

Re: First Scouting Trip on New Land

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:12 pm
by wickedbruiser
I would focus on the inside corners and bottlenecks of the clear cuts. Also, the edge of the parcel marked where it butts up against the swamp transition. That swamp catches my eye

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Re: First Scouting Trip on New Land

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:15 pm
by Buckhunter
Looks like some good land, I'm going scouting all day tomorrow hopefully can get some results like this

Re: First Scouting Trip on New Land

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:15 pm
by DaHunter
Did you scout the far left (west) side of the property that but up to the swampy area? That's where I would focus but you may have found some bedding at the high point where all the rubs are. I know nothing about food plots but if that is a thicker/higher area of potential doe or buck bedding, I wouldnt mess with it. Put the plot somewhere else.

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Re: First Scouting Trip on New Land

Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2016 4:02 pm
by Rich M
Thanks!

I'm restricted to inside the Black triangle.

Was wondering if there were deer bedding in the areas with the clustered rubs, or just staging areas. It is just so thick it would seem "silly" for a buck to stage before going into dog fennel.

The big swamp to the west is off limits. Real wet right now, so the water is about up the the property line. Not much sign crossing into the swamp at this time. It may change once the swamp dries out some...

The clear cut is full of dog fennel and some kind of grass, but no apparent beds that I could find, just some trails (4) crossing through N/S axis.

The obvious beds I found were between the circle just south of the stand and the 210 line. Heavy sapling growth with some old but small beds and 6-8 piles of older droppings. Gonna be hard to hunt the land if no buck at that bedding location - both entrance roads/firebreaks pass on each side - within 25 yards of those beds.

The other area where I found beds was between the "cluster" and "several" on the south side. There is a steep bowl with dense sapling growth on the east side that had some beds on the slope just below the top. This is adjacent to an agricultural field and likely the deer the guy with the southern stand (N) is hunting. I can avoid disturbing these deer by taking the entrance road that runs the swamp edge on the west. I could also possibly hunt them from that same road...would need some shooting lanes tho.

The guy I'm leasing it from says the deer bed in an old clear cut central south to the property. Again, no access but too thick for people to walk thru. They are undisturbed in there with some trails leading out/in from my side. Just not heavy use like the ones in the hardwood bottom/swamp.