The low water probably isn't helping. Over the weekend I hiked for hours into a bunch of areas I've never been before because the swamps were bone dry.
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Deep South early season
- Thread starter mschultz373
- Start date
The_Fit_Ness_Monster
Well-Known Member
Eh depends. I’ve always heard they do yet I’ve seen them together in the woods multiple times, hell 3 times I’ve shot a hog or a deer and then killed a hog or a deer opposite right after. I shot a hog once and as I’m watching him run and fold I notice my luminock get kicked, glance at it and a doe literally kicked the arrow in the ground that just went through the hog as she was walking by. I don’t know for sure if they push them bc of the hog itself but possibly bc hogs tear so much up and eat so much the lack of browse may cause deer to move a little. On the flip side I’ve had deer get jumped to me by hogs. But if I had to bet money I’d say if there enough food in the area both species live together fine but if food is short the hogs will drive deer out bc they tear it all up.
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I have a bit of a hiatus here as I'll be out of the country until thanksgiving, but man, my season so far has been a blank. No deer sighted while on stand.
I attribute this to a failure to scout more than anything, and that I've been reading too much into terrain and not 'hot' sign like scat and fresh tracks. Also I've wasted hunts on areas that I simply don't know how to hunt well, like coastal marshes - I've hunted trails and beds with scat in/around them and not seen deer, which tells me they must be further out/use the area differently than I anticipated.
I don't know how much our extreme/exceptional drought conditions are altering deer patterns, but I have been struggling to find that fresh sign or hot feed trees we all talk about. I've found stands of cow oaks, water oaks, willow oaks raining acorns with little or no ground disturbance nor deer droppings - which has only made me wonder, could the drought be making it so the ground disturbance can't be 'read' as easily? or could it really be that the deer simply aren't in that area?
When I get home, I intend to get in the rhythm of arriving around 12 and scouting for 3 hours until I find a setup I like, and then start hunting terrain/perceived travel routes as the rut kicks off before Christmas and into New Years.
I've criss-crossed and spent a good bit of time + 4 separate sits in a ~500 acre block of one NWR and just not seen sign that I am confident in. I never gridded it off or anything. But I am wondering if that's just not an area that holds deer. I had success and encounters there last year, around Thanksgiving and Christmas, and maybe it will be a decent area again. At least so far, though, I've been wondering if I've just been spinning my wheels there, looking for something that's not there.
I hope y'all are knocking 'em down though. I appreciate all the help and insight y'all give. This is a super fun puzzle to try to piece together.
I attribute this to a failure to scout more than anything, and that I've been reading too much into terrain and not 'hot' sign like scat and fresh tracks. Also I've wasted hunts on areas that I simply don't know how to hunt well, like coastal marshes - I've hunted trails and beds with scat in/around them and not seen deer, which tells me they must be further out/use the area differently than I anticipated.
I don't know how much our extreme/exceptional drought conditions are altering deer patterns, but I have been struggling to find that fresh sign or hot feed trees we all talk about. I've found stands of cow oaks, water oaks, willow oaks raining acorns with little or no ground disturbance nor deer droppings - which has only made me wonder, could the drought be making it so the ground disturbance can't be 'read' as easily? or could it really be that the deer simply aren't in that area?
When I get home, I intend to get in the rhythm of arriving around 12 and scouting for 3 hours until I find a setup I like, and then start hunting terrain/perceived travel routes as the rut kicks off before Christmas and into New Years.
I've criss-crossed and spent a good bit of time + 4 separate sits in a ~500 acre block of one NWR and just not seen sign that I am confident in. I never gridded it off or anything. But I am wondering if that's just not an area that holds deer. I had success and encounters there last year, around Thanksgiving and Christmas, and maybe it will be a decent area again. At least so far, though, I've been wondering if I've just been spinning my wheels there, looking for something that's not there.
I hope y'all are knocking 'em down though. I appreciate all the help and insight y'all give. This is a super fun puzzle to try to piece together.
Dmathews87
Well-Known Member
good feed trees have been hard to find me for as well so far this season, how much of that is the drought we had...who knows...ill try to break down my last kill on public, its not coastal marsh but i can offer a little bit of my strategy none the less
I really like transitions. always seems to be some sort of sign in these areas and deer travel along them. Where i shot that recent doe is in an area thats probably 80-85% pine (theres alot of pine trees is what im saying) This particular spot is a transition from these pines to some hardwood, and even better, an oak flat of white oaks. Its also a dried out creek bed with ridges on both sides. These oaks this year didnt have much of a drop but none the less i know deer travel along this creek bed and theres a thick area off the back of it that i believe is bedding (havent mucked around it too much) Checked the weather day before and knew the wind was going to be perfect for this spot. when i got setup i was checking with my wind checker and confirmed wind was good. Deer started moving around 7:30ish and right before 8, that doe came in and gave me what i needed.
now this spot if you walked it today wouldnt impress you much as far as sign...theres a couple old rubs and some sporadic tracks here and there. Ive scouted this area a ton so i know whats around it and ive done observation sits in the vicinity and saw deer (that also saw me) and made my adjustments.
im terrible at breaking down my hunts but hopefully that gives you something...scouting really is the key for public land. I know alot about this particular WMA because in the off season and even during season at times, i just walk all over it putting pieces together. its taken several seasons to be as comfortable as i am now out there. divide and conquer...pick a large section, scout the crap out of it and learn a new section..eventually you have the whole pie.
I really like transitions. always seems to be some sort of sign in these areas and deer travel along them. Where i shot that recent doe is in an area thats probably 80-85% pine (theres alot of pine trees is what im saying) This particular spot is a transition from these pines to some hardwood, and even better, an oak flat of white oaks. Its also a dried out creek bed with ridges on both sides. These oaks this year didnt have much of a drop but none the less i know deer travel along this creek bed and theres a thick area off the back of it that i believe is bedding (havent mucked around it too much) Checked the weather day before and knew the wind was going to be perfect for this spot. when i got setup i was checking with my wind checker and confirmed wind was good. Deer started moving around 7:30ish and right before 8, that doe came in and gave me what i needed.
now this spot if you walked it today wouldnt impress you much as far as sign...theres a couple old rubs and some sporadic tracks here and there. Ive scouted this area a ton so i know whats around it and ive done observation sits in the vicinity and saw deer (that also saw me) and made my adjustments.
im terrible at breaking down my hunts but hopefully that gives you something...scouting really is the key for public land. I know alot about this particular WMA because in the off season and even during season at times, i just walk all over it putting pieces together. its taken several seasons to be as comfortable as i am now out there. divide and conquer...pick a large section, scout the crap out of it and learn a new section..eventually you have the whole pie.