size of your hunting area.

[ihookem]

I now have 49.4 miles on one piece piece of public land that is about 5,000 acres. I scouted most of it . One area is so hard to get to that I just didn't go there but hope to sometime . My question is , after scouting 5,000 acres. I find much of the land does not have a whole lot of deer sign, but always some. I also find much of it has a lot of trails , but very little for beds. I also find a small fraction of the land that has pockets of many beds and rubs with trails going everywhere. This is actually a very small area, about 7 acres according to Caltopo. Is this common in your hunting area ? I know of two areas like this and are very small but there are so many beds i can't believe there are that many deer in there to make all those beds. Even stranger, there are almost no deer there right now. They are not way back in the marsh, they are near the food. Is this common in your area? Also, I have never found a dead head in any of these areas. Most likely cause they are not there in the winter time. I'm just wondering if I hunt an unusual area , and is 5,000 ac. too small and I should be expanding my scouting?
One more thing, I have only found one shed in 49.4 miles, and it was not even from this year cause it was all green.This seems very low to me. How about the rest of you ? Should I be looking somewhere else? I hunt there with limited success ( one doe in 2 full seasons and a little in 2015. The reason I hunt there is cause it is at most a 5 mile drive from home.

[JAK]

I've found the same on most pieces I scout. I would say where you find the pockets with all the bedding and rubs that's where I would key in on.

[Jonny]

The piece I hunt is over 200,000 acres and butts up to another 50,000 I also hunt.

I really hope there is more than 7 acres of good stuff to hunt. Might take me 30 years to find it

[Hawthorne]

I see it about the same in my areas. I’d say you should expand. Keep scouting new areas

[ihookem]

Thanks guys! Honestly I scout and bow hunt alone. Noone is nearly as interested in the level of scouting as we are on " The Beast. Noone, I dont know anyone who scouts more than a mile per year so I have no other comparisons except where I deer hunted in northern WIs. for 30 yrs. There, you can hardly find a buck rub or bed. Here, I can find one in no time. I am thinking of scouting some public west of Portage Wis. It is 6,000 ac. Pine Island just for comparisons. Jonny, you scout 200,000 ac? Im quite sure I am only 10 miles form there.

[oldrank]

Most of my public hunting areas are smaller then 2000 acres. Some are less then 100 acres. 90% of that land is not worth wasting my time hunting. I was focusing on getting as many spots as I could when I first started bed hunting. I feel that spread me to thin. I started to tighten it up and try to kill the bucks that I knew were in the woods I know best.

I couldn't imagine hunting 200,000 acres!!
We are all dealt a different hand.

[Tufrthnails]

The WMA I spend the most amount of time in is 50k acres, which a bunch of others when I draw permits that can be anywhere from a thousand acres to 50k. The only thing I know is the more boot leather you wear out the more intel you have to base decisions off. You hear it all the time on here you can't kill what isn't there so maybe start throwing some scout sessions at other places and see how it stacks up against what you've already pounded. Where I feel I have gained the most is watching how Dan and the rest of the guys eliminate areas before they set foot in a piece. When I started applying their tactics I really up'd the effectiveness for my scout days.

[tgreeno]

I concentrate on maybe 20% total land area that I could hunt. I'm looking for specific features, terrain & foliage. Then I put boots on the ground in that 20%, and if I don't see what I want, I move-on. The rest of it, I don't even bother with!

I cull thru my spots every season. Adding new spot with good looking potential. Dropping spots that have not produced, or lack the sign I want to see. Every season, I want to put myself in the best spots I can find, every sit! I've been finding some great new spots this year, I'm probably gonna drop 8-10 spots from last season, just because I can only handle so many spots per season. It doesn't mean I may not check them out again later, to see if the sign has picked-up.

[mike perry]

30 years ago I would of scouted every inch of that 5K acres also, I’m a slow learner I guess so it took a lot of boot leather for me to start to recognize what areas I could blow past and what ones I needed to spend more time in. Today with Ariel photos it’s alot easier to pick the spots I want to scout and bypass the rest. What you’ve found is common in many public areas I’ve hunted over the years. Since you already put the leg work in I’d consentrate on the good areas you’ve already found and move on to find some more properties. I’m a big believer in having many properties to hunt and it’s one of the biggest reasons for my success over the years. So much in the deer woods changes from year to year like food sources cover pressure that I feel like you really limit yourself if your not hunting several properties. Just think how much great sign you could have found if you’d of walked that 49 miles over several properties instead of all of it on one. Get out your topo and Ariel photos of some new properties look for the areas that are the most similar to the areas you’ve found your best sign in on other scouting missions in the past and go straight to those areas and scout, don’t worry about walking every square inch of a new property it’s not necessary.

As for your question about is it normal for the deer to not be in the marsh this time of year that is exactly what I’ve seen in NE Ohio and NW PA, once the hunting pressure is off and the swamps freeze the deer around here move closer to food sources like agg fields. Probably several reasons besides more variety of food including it is now more open and they are more valuable to predators because the water is frozen.

[Divergent]

The piece I hunt covers about 100k acres. I’ve hiked about 300 miles(maybe more) in three years. I’ve found the most sign approximately 1/2 mile from private in most situations. The small private pieces of land(usually 5-10ac) tend to have some type of food and is typically pressured from the side closest to the road or house. The deer are bedding just far enough out(1/2 mile). I also find higher concentrations near areas with a variety of cover(pines, hardwoods, cedar, cutover) converge in a small area. I once thought that the deeper I go, the more deer I’d find. This is just not the case. They’re in tight pockets closer to roads, highways, houses.

[flinginairos]

I hunt/scout several thousand acres and I seem to find exactly what you describe. I'd say less than 10% of each piece is worth hunting. I can usually narrow down an area by cyber scouting and then narrow it down a bunch more with boots on the ground. If I cyber scout and then look at it in person and don't see what I want I move on.

[Jonny]

Thanks guys! Honestly I scout and bow hunt alone. Noone is nearly as interested in the level of scouting as we are on " The Beast. Noone, I dont know anyone who scouts more than a mile per year so I have no other comparisons except where I deer hunted in northern WIs. for 30 yrs. There, you can hardly find a buck rub or bed. Here, I can find one in no time. I am thinking of scouting some public west of Portage Wis. It is 6,000 ac. Pine Island just for comparisons. Jonny, you scout 200,000 ac? Im quite sure I am only 10 miles form there.

I'm in the Central Forest. More public land than a guy could ever ask for. I have cyber scouted a lot of it since I'm a computer geek and can fit it into my schedule better. I have lots of areas I want to check out but since I live 4 hours away, I don't have time on my side for it. Plus I also live by somebody elses schedule who doesn't believe in offseason scouting, and isn't a beast. I'm 2 counties south of your place I believe.

I see what most others see, lots of woods to hunt, most of it isn't worth the effort. Problem is that the "good spots" don't jump up and slap you in the face. What I would do to have 2 weeks of cold weather and zero snow on the ground up there.

I see a fair amount of cars by pine island when I drive by it going up to the cabin on 94. But like most areas, I bet most hunters don't get into the good stuff.

[P&YBuck1]

iHookem that Pine area is good but as Jonny said a lot of people, but find secluded areas separated by water and nasty stuff.

Even public closer to bigger towns have same issue, lots of people but always pockets but takes time to find since it takes lots of walking/time...

But, don't forget some 'secluded' areas can be overlooked areas right next to parking lots since everyone sees the grass greener on the other side of the fence :)

Good luck, but stay confident.

[Evanszach7]

I concentrate on maybe 20% total land area that I could hunt. I'm looking for specific features, terrain & foliage. Then I put boots on the ground in that 20%, and if I don't see what I want, I move-on. The rest of it, I don't even bother with!

I cull thru my spots every season. Adding new spot with good looking potential. Dropping spots that have not produced, or lack the sign I want to see. Every season, I want to put myself in the best spots I can find, every sit! I've been finding some great new spots this year, I'm probably gonna drop 8-10 spots from last season, just because I can only handle so many spots per season. It doesn't mean I may not check them out again later, to see if the sign has picked-up.

Same percentage of huntable ground and strategy for me. The last line above has proven to be valuable. Sometimes these are rut phase specific spots that I’d found too early or late with cold sign (old tracks, old rubs, barely visible beds). Some years pressure or the ag rotation makes them cold or hot. I’ll monitor areas like this for 2-3 seasons to better understand them.

[strutnrut716]

The piece I hunt covers about 100k acres. I’ve hiked about 300 miles(maybe more) in three years. I’ve found the most sign approximately 1/2 mile from private in most situations. The small private pieces of land(usually 5-10ac) tend to have some type of food and is typically pressured from the side closest to the road or house. The deer are bedding just far enough out(1/2 mile). I also find higher concentrations near areas with a variety of cover(pines, hardwoods, cedar, cutover) converge in a small area. I once thought that the deeper I go, the more deer I’d find. This is just not the case. They’re in tight pockets closer to roads, highways, houses.

x2 divergent.

I havent put on as many miles as you (only 55 so far this year). Ironically, as you say the "1/2 mile out" that sure matches what I have found already this year (the best ones anyway). I sometimes wonder if over the years of people purchasing land they try to buy the best chunks of land they know of. Especially some of these "hunting clubs" who buy land/swamps. Once that happens those deer just move that 1/2 mile away. Tough part to worry about tho is hunting in that 1/2 mile out and sticking one and having it run onto the private....but I will take my chances..