G2 Hunting Journal

[g2outdoors]

I've been toying around with this idea for a while now. I guess now is as good as any since I'm in a brand new area. I'll be able to chronicle my scouting and planning. I relocated from NY to GA in late Summer and I haven't had hardly any time to get out in the woods.

First scouting trip 2016 - I was able to walk around for several hours on Sunday and Tuesday afternoon. I prepped 2 spots. I'm not super pumped about either setup, but with the time I had, this will have to do.

First Spot - Dunham Swamp - Public Land, 750ish acres

Yellow - Property Boudaries
Red Triangle - My Setup
Blue Line - Creek with lots of water
Purple things - Hunter Access

First off, this is public land not far from a large city (Savannah, GA). There's no doubt it my mind it gets pressured. Hard.

I started off near the far left purple access location. I walked the creek looking for sign. The plan was to check out the islands in the marsh grass in the northern part of the section. I'm not sure if they get hammered from the Northeast from all the neighborhoods. It's possible, but I need to walk them to find out.

When I got to the transition from creek to marsh, there was a LOT of deer sign; several fresh rubs, plenty of tracks and lots of thick cover for bedding. I figured if the property owner to the immediate north would give me access to walk to my site, it could end up being a decent setup.

I found a decent tree and setup my screw in steps with my LW/Aider combo on bottom. I'll carry this in every time to keep my spot hidden. I walked out through the private property and knocked on the owners door. He gave me permission. People usually don't mind helping a Soldier that just got moved across the country

I still plan to check out the islands and all the marsh edge habitat. That's usually how deer move in the swamps.

 

[g2outdoors]

Second Setup - Carver School - 1000ish acres

Yellow - Property Boudaries
Red Triangle - My Setup
Purple things - Hunter Access
Green arrows - Islands
Orange Stars - Spots I want to scout

This property is only a few miles from the first. It gets hunted hard as well.

You can see all the hunter access spots to the south. I'm betting the mature bucks will be living up north in the swamp. That's where I went. I followed an old road on the eastern boundary to start scouting the marsh islands. I walked all 4 marked with little green arrows. I'm not sure if I could access these during high tide. It was ROUGH walking through the marsh grass. The sign wasn't great. However, we did just have a hurricane 2 weeks ago. It's very possible these were flooded and the deer haven't moved back in yet. There were a few tracks and a rub or two, but nothing that really wet my whistle. I assumed there would be beds here - but again, this could have been screwed up by the storm.

It was tough scouting and I had nothing to show for it. I was sweating buckets in the 90 degree temps and the mosquitoes were ripping me a new one. I was losing daylight when I hit the mainland and I was pretty let down. Surprisingly, there were some serious trails following the edge of the marsh. I followed the edge for awhile when I came up on a little funnel - a slight change in elevation - that had 5 or 6 fresh rubs in a 50 yard radius. I picked a tree quickly (the light was pretty much gone) and setup using my screw-in/LW combo. I LOVE the tree. I'm very hidden and only had to get about 16' high.

It's a little closer than I wanted to be - but it was the best I could do with the time I had. I think it's far enough to weed out about 75% of hunters, but I'd still rather be further.

 

[g2outdoors]

Please chime in with questions or suggestions. I'm all ears.

 

[flinginairos]

Good stuff. Will follow along. Always cool to see others thought process on areas and scouting


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[g2outdoors]

HUNT Friday, 10-21-16 - Dunham Swamp

Temp - 85
Time - Afternoon
Wind - ESE
Mosquitoes - Apocalyptic
Deer - 0

I approached my stand from the north through private property (green line). This is the best access possible since I only have to walk about 150 yards through the woods. Any hunters coming from the south should theoretically push the deer to me. I would classify this as 75/100 setup. That's mostly because my access is bulletproof. If I had to come through the woods, it would probably be 50/100.

The wind was good, the mosquitoes were unreal, the deer movement was null.

I setup with my Assault platform and SitDrag. It was sooooo comfortable. I sat trunk to trunk for most of the hunt. This spot feels like deer. There's water, cover, plenty of food and escape routes. It's growing on me. I actually think this will get better once rifle season comes in. I'm the only one able to get that deep into the property undetected.

 

[redsquirrel]

On the Carver school piece, could you use your kayak to get to that section in the upper left corner? If you can I bet you are the only one (legally) entering that spot.

 

[g2outdoors]

That's a good idea. A really good one. I'll try it.

 

[bigcat93]

Good stuff. Will follow along. Always cool to see others thought process on areas and scouting


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I agree, i always like hearing/seeing others go through their scouting routines. It helps me, as this is only my third years into it. Scouting is probably the biggest thing i need to improve on.

 

[boone0]

Absolutely love this thread. Keep it coming! I try to apply the tactics you use so it's great story see why you're making these choices in real time.

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[g2outdoors]

HUNT Sunday, 10-23-16 - Carver School

Temp - 85
Time - Afternoon
Wind - N
Mosquitoes - Apocalyptic
Deer - 0
Hunters - 3

I parked at the far right purple access point. There were 2 trucks parked 1 access point to the west. My preset stand is at the red triangle, due north of the parking location. I wanted to be further North, but I didn't have time on the day I had to scout a week prior.

I settled in at a decent time and waited. From the trails I found, I was expecting the deer to follow the marsh from the the peninsula north of my stand. Around 5 pm I hear people talking NW of me. Awesome. They kept talking and laughing. I'm estimating they were only a few hundred yards away.

Next I hear them start loudly walking through the woods. At first I was bummed, because they were headed in the general direction I thought the deer were. But then I thought - this could be a good thing...they could inadvertently push them to me. So I got ready.

About 40 minutes later I hear them walk back to the same place they started. They didn't push anything my way.

All was quiet for about 45 minutes to an hour and I hoped they left the area.

Alas, right at prime time, around 6:15, I hear them start talking and walking down an old trail just west of my position. I finally see the 3 of them once they get around 80 yards from my tree. I'm hiding behind the trunk and they never see me. Once they get past my spot and look back they see my orange Aider hanging at the bottom of the tree. One of them pipes up, "Hey someone's got a treestand out here, let's go check it out." and they all 3 start moving towards me. At this point I swing out from behind the tree and waive them off. You should have seen their faces. ***???

HA!

After that, they moved out of the area. Surprisingly, I didn't see anything after that.

 

[g2outdoors]

HUNT Saturday, 10-29-16 - Fort Stewart, Canoochie River

Temp - 83
Time - Afternoon
Wind - S
Mosquitoes - Apocalyptic. This is getting old.
Deer - 0
Hunters - 0
Pigs - 1

This was an incredible hunt. I launched my Hobie Pro Angler kayak from the green arrow and setup at the yellow pin marker.

The area north of the river (marked with a red curvy line) is currently closed. The dirt road with a red line across it is blocked by down trees (thanks Hurricane Matthew). This meant access to the area would be pretty limited, unless of course you have a kayak. The road to the south (144) is a fairly heavily traveled road.

I had never before stepped foot in this area. With winds out of the South I was hoping to catch a buck cruising the river scent checking for hot does to the South.

No cruising bucks showed up, but a 90lb pig did. She came to 30 yards and I flat out missed. I was wearing my ScentLok Savannah Coveralls with hood. If you own a pair of these, you'll know that the hood fits pretty tightly to your head. I was wearing a ball cap underneath the hood. Because the hood fits so snug, the hat was pushed far down on my head and didn't have any give. When I drew my bow the string was hitting the brim and I couldn't get a solid anchor. I shot right under the pig.

Silver lining - I'm glad I found out about the hat/hood issue on a pig and not a big ole' rutty swamp donkey!

I climbed with my spurs. For my platform I used my custom LW Assault seat with woopie sling. Then I rappelled down. It was such a fun way to hunt!

I used a Rock Exotica MiniEight with 8 mm Samson Ultratech cord to rappel. In order to remove my platform (I'm glad I read that some on here had issues with this step), I dropped down about 5 feet and locked off my figure 8 like the video below. It worked like a charm.

I was then back on the ground about 30 seconds later. Rappelling down is AWESOME!

Here are a couple other videos that I can't embed for some reason.

https://goo.gl/photos/6HntLFj7Mhd9ECT19

https://goo.gl/photos/7LPqw9vLNu6B5YNfA

 

[g2outdoors]

I'm headed back out this afternoon to a bow only piece of public land. One of the borders is with a fenced off bird sanctuary. I plan to walk the edge of the fence and find a spot where the deer are crossing. I'll take my spurs, platform, and rappelling setup. I've never been to this spot either, so I'm going in blind.

This season is really reminding me of the importance of post season scouting. My favorite way to hunt is to locate my spots right after the season (feb/mar/april). I'll prep everything and only make a quick trip through late in the summer to check on the activity in the area.

Since I'm going in blind almost every hunt, my confidence level isn't where I'd like it to be. Such is life. You better believe I'll be better prepared next season.

 

[g2outdoors]

Here's a setup that I'm waiting to do.

Orange Star - Kayak Launch
Yellow Star - Tree Setup
Green Lines - Rub Lines

I scouted this island during a drizzling rain. It's approximately 30 acres in total. I put in my kayak at the orange star and paddled about 3/4 mile to the island. I went into the center of the island and found almost zero sign. There were some tracks, but with it being so swampy it was tough to tell if they were fresh or even if they were deer tracks. It was very possible they were pig tracks.

Once I moved to the edges, I started finding a lot of fresh rubs. The northern and southern tips had distinct rub lines whereas the other edges had random rubs here and there. Pretty much all the timber within several hundred yards of the river is swampy. Hunting this island without a boat is impossible. The river is 20 to 30 feet deep and moves very fast with the crazy tides we have here in Savannah. I didn't see any evidence of other hunters. No flagging tape, reflective tacks, trash, old stands, etc.

The way I'm interpreting this is the bucks are bedding at the North/South edges based on the wind. I think my best chance is to sneak into the southern edge on a north wind and setup at the yellow star as quietly as possible. I'll only venture in 10-20 yards from the river.

What do you think?

 

[sb220]

I think it looks like fun

 

[flinginairos]

You think they are bedding facing the water, or looking into the island with wind blowing over their back? Be worth a shot for sure. I don't get to hunt around much water so I'm not sure how they bed relating to it. I would guess they bed with the water/wind at their back while watching into the timber.


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[sb220]

I was going to ask if pigs even swim to get on that island but a google search "do pigs swim"

Omg they've even taken dolphin jobs

 

[g2outdoors]

I think they bed with their backs to the water and the wind coming from the land towards the water. They look into the wind towards the land. I think they feel safe with the water at their backs so they focus both senses on the land. No predators come from the water. Except me in my kayak.

 

[redsquirrel]

I think it's a good plan. Morning or evening? I bet if the deer are there that day you could get a lot of movement around the bedding because it's so secure. I'd expect them to be bedding facing in to the woods.

 

[flinginairos]

I think they bed with their backs to the water and the wind coming from the land towards the water. They look into the wind towards the land. I think they feel safe with the water at their backs so they focus both senses on the land. No predators come from the water. Except me in my kayak.

I think you are probably right about that. Be worth a try!


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[John Eberhart]

Interesting thread G2

What I've found over the years is that when a mature buck locates an extremely secure bedding area similar to your island location (I've hunted similar locations quite frequently on public lands), they don't let wind direction affect which way they face as they can hear anything coming well before they could see or smell it. If a 3 1/2 year old or older buck is now bedding there on a consistent basis he's likely been doing it for a year or more and has likely never had any human intrusions to spook him from the location.

I will say this, hunting that type of big timber/swamp with no obvious feeding destination locations is extremely tough and because you're so passionate about bowhunting, I hope it doesn't burn you out as those types of areas can, due to how much effort you put into accessing them for scouting and hunting, versus successful hunts, burn you out. Too much effort without sightings is not a good thing for ones long term commitment to bowhunting.

I would suggest studying up on what types of mast that may be available in the area that deer prefer and if none, what type of foliage (leaves and grasses) is in the area that the deer prefer to browse on. Up here for instance deer in heavy timber (no crops within miles) prefer to browse on those succulent green briar patch leaves, grasses in small openings (they receive more sunlight and grow faster), poplar leaves, cedar bows, etc. and oftentimes there may only be a few areas where these exist, making them, while subtle, feeding destination areas.

I'll never forget a December hunt in Illinois in 2007 on public ground that was all timber/swamp. There was at least 8 inches of recent snow on the ground and at least a mile in from one of the parking areas I found about a 1/2 acre area of briar bushes that were still holding most of their dark green leaves and by the amount of tracks and droppings within it, it was obviously a preferred local feeding are. In a totally different area of this near 16,000 acre piece I came across a locust tree that was tore up underneath. Locusts drop those long dark brown beans and deer don't eat them in the fall as they prefer acorns and other browse, but when there's snow on the ground, they are very accessible to deer with just a swipe of their hoof to dislodge them from beneath the snow. In 2 years I took 2 good bucks from that location on my first hunts there.

When you have a huge area of like style secure bedding ground for mature deer to feel comfortable bedding in, you then have to switch gears and locate some form of preferred destination feeding location. Oftentimes hunters don't consider feeding areas because they may not stand out to us. No matter how subtle it may appear to us, locate whatever preferred food it is that they feed on and as long as it's in a secure area that can also be transitioned to through secure transition cover, and you should start seeing deer.

If your only pursuing mature bucks, you need to leave those small feeding zones alone until the rut phases when a mature buck may come in during daylight to check for does that have been comfortably and regularly feeding there.

Of course you're definitely on the right track concerning going to areas others won't, but try also looking for preferred food within those areas.