Looking for some advice on hunting in south Louisiana

[denots]

I hunt a small parcel of land directly across the street from my house and I am having a hard time even locating much good deer sign. The east side of the property is bordered by a highway. The west and south side of the property or bordered by Pine Plantation and are hunted mostly by gun Hunters on large hunting leases these areas have been either clear-cut or thin cut in the past 3 years and I believe provide the best bedding habitat in the area. The north side of the property is bordered by private land. The property consists of two small creeks that converge about dead center of the 162 Acres. There are areas that are mostly pine trees with just a few scattered Oaks and large areas of Oaks, white and red. There is also a heavy understory as most of the property has lots of small trees and lots of privet. Most of the Buck sign that I find is either by the creek or next to the cutover but I can never seem to locate any major highways that lots of deer are using. The area is very flat with food sources throughout the property. I found the occasional rub or scrape but I don't really have any funnel or pinch points or concentrated food sources to pulled a deer to one area. They can basically wander anywhere throughout the property and eat with plenty of cover around them. As the properties around me put more pressure as gun season cranks up I have a hard time even locating Doe's during shooting hours. If there's anyone who is used to hunting this type of terrain any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[denots]

Here's a pic of what I have so far.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[swampsnyper]

I hunted most of my life in South Louisiana but far enough south that our dirt was black and there was no pines. Everything was the same, flat mixed hardwoods with briars and palmettos. Only terrain difference was the sloughs. Deer trails? What’s that? Only seen them on tv shows. Your best friend is no pressure and set up a high capacity feeder that you never have to go to. Hunt as far from it as you can but can still shoot to it. Don’t walk by it, don’t put a camera by it that you will want to check unless you are disciplined enough to check it only when you have to fill it once every month or 2. No atv traffic unless you have to fill the feeder are haul a deer out. You will drive yourself crazy trying to pattern a deer. It can be done on feed trees but you will put a lot of pressure on your small piece finding what’s hot that week. With time you will have a few select trees that pay off at certain times and you won’t have to scout so hard. You can just pop in on them and check there status without combing the entire place.
Other than a feeder with no pressure on it, cut an x from corner to corner of the property and sit in the middle. Lol
Long shooting lanes help with deer that walk a different path everyday. Creeks are great travel paths but with low deer numbers, it’s just hit or miss. Un-disturbed bait is your best bet.
You should have some deer to pull from your neighbors thickets. Run those feeders all year long so they get comfortable with them. Feb and March is a great time to have feeders going. Deer are moving more to search for food. If they travel off your neighbors place and find your feeders at that time, you can keep them on your place if you keep them going year round. And no pressure will keep them coming during day light. Can’t concentrate NO Pressure enough!

 

[Ontariofarmer]

I hunted most of my life in South Louisiana but far enough south that our dirt was black and there was no pines. Everything was the same, flat mixed hardwoods with briars and palmettos. Only terrain difference was the sloughs. Deer trails? What’s that? Only seen them on tv shows. Your best friend is no pressure and set up a high capacity feeder that you never have to go to. Hunt as far from it as you can but can still shoot to it. Don’t walk by it, don’t put a camera by it that you will want to check unless you are disciplined enough to check it only when you have to fill it once every month or 2. No atv traffic unless you have to fill the feeder are haul a deer out. You will drive yourself crazy trying to pattern a deer. It can be done on feed trees but you will put a lot of pressure on your small piece finding what’s hot that week. With time you will have a few select trees that pay off at certain times and you won’t have to scout so hard. You can just pop in on them and check there status without combing the entire place.
Other than a feeder with no pressure on it, cut an x from corner to corner of the property and sit in the middle. Lol
Long shooting lanes help with deer that walk a different path everyday. Creeks are great travel paths but with low deer numbers, it’s just hit or miss. Un-disturbed bait is your best bet.

Interesting comments for that terrain and random deer movement.

 

[g2outdoors]

@swampsnyper makes good points. That's how I grew up hunting Northwest Florida. Feeders, feeders, feeders. The deer tended to bed in the creek bottoms near water. We'd set up our feeders on the edges in the pine flats. It was a good strategy. However, like snyper mentioned, as soon as you start pressuring them, you'll only see does and young deer. The mature deer will only visit at night.

Go buy "Hunting Pressured Whitetails" by @John Eberhart
His book is about Michigan and he'll talk a lot about crops, trails, and primary scrape areas. That stuff won't apply as much to you, but his strategy of off season setup is GOLD. Prep as many spots as you can during the off season - at least 10-20.

After the season you should still be able to find rubs and scrapes and locate some rutting areas. That intel will pay dividends in the next season because those areas tend to produce year after year.

I know it doesn't feel like it right now, but this is the best time of hunting a property - figuring it out and learning how the deer use their environment. Enjoy it and don't get sucked into the idea that if you don't kill something, you're a bad hunter. That's not true at all. It takes significant time for the stars to align. HAVE FUN!!!!

 

[brydan]

My experience is much the same as swampsnyper, when there's no topography to speak of and cover/food sources everywhere it's difficult to pattern deer especially if there's any pressure. With no pressure that's different but how many of us are fortunate enough to have that situation? Something that really helped me when I moved down here is to really key in on natural browse and look for "microsign" so to speak as opposed the big obvious sign like worn deer trails, scrapes, rubs, etc. In my area, Greenbriar is a key plant to look for. It's not a large enough food source typically to draw deer in but if there's deer in the area they're gonna graze on it. So if I see Greenbriar with no grazing I assume there's not many deer in the area. There's lots of other important browse too and what deer key in on changes through the year too but the point being, watching for that less obvious sign can help you figure out where deer are at.

I'm not sure how much site improvement you can do if it's not you're property but if you can plant a little micro food plot or add a feeder that can help give you a known area where deer are likely to go and personally I wouldn't hunt anywhere near it. Leave it as undisturbed as possible. Deer will shy away from food plots very quickly during daylight hours when they feel pressure. But I've taken deer well away from food plots that were headed that way before dark so the plot was a big help in providing a direction for animals to go to help predict their movement even if not hunting the plot itself. Also be careful with feeders if there's hogs in the area, they can be like a siren song and bring them in practically overnight from what I've seen. A buddy of mine wrecked some prime woods overdoing it with feeders. Other places I've hunted they run them year round with no problems.

Other easy ways to improve the site if they'll let you is to get more sunlight to the ground and/or create artificial bedding areas. I used to hunt a property where they had groves of "chicken trees" as they call them here or Chinese Tallow tree and also gum trees. They quickly shade out the under story plants and deer stop frequenting the area when there's no browse left. I went through some of those areas in the spring time and did basal treatments with a pump sprayer full of Garlon and just let them die in place. Once the sunlight hits the ground those areas erupt with new growth that attract deer into what was previously a no mans land. I wish I before and after pics but no longer have access to that property.

 

[redsquirrel]

In the end there is no better way to learn a property other than observation. Sometimes you just need to hunt and see what they do and then adapt. hunting now is always scouting for the future.

 

[denots]

Well I feel like I'm on the right track. I have used feeders before, but got frustrated with the damn hogs! I will not even consider rice bran, as they show up instantly. There is not much Greenbrier on the property, but I have cut the Privet low to the ground in years past. As it starts with new growth the deer seem to mow it down. Just didn't get it done last year. I have watched all of Johns video's and am about half way done with the first book. I see young bucks on occasion, but only one mature buck during daylight since 2011. Two of those years I couldn't hunt due to a shoulder injury, and our house flooded last year, so only had time to make a couple of hunts. I think I will be able to make adjustments better when my saddle gets here. I'm going to scout hard after the season ends and put in the work early to be better prepared for next year. I have considered putting out large feeder like swampsniper said in the middle of the property but the problem is the Hogs and the cost of the Corn of course. I also don't hunt over corn anymore. I learned quick that corn 20 yards from my stand gets me busted more than it helps, especially in the morning! I believe I can get permission from the landowner to run to forestry Mulcher through there and open up a large food plot I was hoping around 10 acres. The only problem with that is finding ground that stays dry enough throughout the year. I've also planted some micro food plots but most of them tend to border right on the edge of the property which doesn't help me pull deer More to the middle. Or they stay to wet once we get any regular amount of rain and they die. I've hunted the Midwest and the deer are SO MUCH EASIER to pattern. When I do scout I go as scent free as possible and touch as little as possible. Its a hard property to hunt to say the least, but I always have fun! Thanks for the input guys. Can't wait to meet some of y'all at saddlepalooza!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[swampsnyper]

Hogs huh! Hunt deer else where and hunt hogs year round. Good saddle practice! My 55 gal drums with a funnel in the bottom hold 6 50#sacks. Set for 3 sec and they last around 2 months. Thats not a bad corn bill. I had made a winch and pully system for my feeders when I’d hunt hogs. Tripods they learn to bump the legs and empty them. You can’t win the war on hogs. I’d just hunt deer on public and make that place a hog killing hole. Can’t beat them, join them! Lol. I miss my summer hog hunts. I’d love to have a place like that. I’d change my name to hogsnyper.

 

[denots]

Hogs huh! Hunt deer else where and hunt hogs year round. Good saddle practice! My 55 gal drums with a funnel in the bottom hold 6 50#sacks. Set for 3 sec and they last around 2 months. Thats not a bad corn bill. I had made a winch and pully system for my feeders when I’d hunt hogs. Tripods they learn to bump the legs and empty them. You can’t win the war on hogs. I’d just hunt deer on public and make that place a hog killing hole. Can’t beat them, join them! Lol. I miss my summer hog hunts. I’d love to have a place like that. I’d change my name to hogsnyper.

Yeah the Hogs are definitely a pain. I considered building a large round pen about 3 feet high that the deer can jump but will keep the hogs out. I may still have to take this approach but we will see. Most of our public land if not all of it has Hogs as well. I don't think you can Escape hunting around them. You just have to do the best you can not to attract them to where you're trying to hunt deer. At least that's what I've been trying to do because every time I seem to put some sort of feed out for deer it just brings them damn Hogs. That's why I've been trying to locate better deer sign and Hunt more natural food sources in the area but they're definitely no defined deer trails that I can locate. Brydan made a good point about the microsign such as hunting Greenbrier. I had almost forgotten that several years ago when I cut down a lot of privet around a stand in the summer and hunted in the fall that it was completely mowed down. The deer were eating the ends of the fresh new growth. I believe if I'm going to continue to hunt this piece of property I'm going to have to think outside the box a little bit and figure out a way to create a food source without attracting the Hogs and then try to figure out where they are moving so I can catch them in between. I think some deer are bedding on the property but I have yet to actually bump a deer out of a bedding area. All I can do is keep guessing until I figure it out. And anytime you want to come kill some hogs just let me know.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[Swampfox]

Best of luck with deer hunting in that part of the world. The deer population has been shot out for generations over there. Not to say there's not deer there but definitely not the carrying capacity of what it could hold.

My best suggestion is to not put any pressure on that place and let the deer layup in there and get comfortable while they drop the dogs off on the neighboring lease. Then slide in there late season and make a couple hunts. A couple quality hunts would be better than sitting there wasting time all season.

Also, Trying to out feed those food plots to the east of you is going to be tough as well. Maybe if you planted something that the deer like more than what the neighbor is planting it'll help you to draw them in.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[swampsnyper]

I have a friend that has hogs on his 100 acres. He used cow panels around his feeder. It took a few months for the deer to feel safe jumping in. Does 1st then bucks. Pics of hogs on the outside. It will work and may be your best option. Just gonna take time. Big public land, hogs aren’t much of a problem hurting your deer hunts since you can’t bait. There is more room for you to scout harder with out ruining the place with pressure. You don’t have that luxury on your small piece. You will need to have a few feeders and multi stand sites for each. (Good thing about the saddle) All it takes is for a deer to see you once going up or down a tree and they gonna circle down wind of that stand before coming in. I’ve seen them do it. Makes you wonder how many times they do that to you that you never knew. Those deer that been run by dogs there whole life are a whole other breed! They don’t take chances. I just shake my head at what I see deer do since I moved from La. Even in pressured places of other states. There’s hunting pressure and there’s coonass pressure. 2 totally different things.

 

[denots]

Best of luck with deer hunting in that part of the world. The deer population has been shot out for generations over there. Not to say there's not deer there but definitely not the carrying capacity of what it could hold.

My best suggestion is to not put any pressure on that place and let the deer layup in there and get comfortable while they drop the dogs off on the neighboring lease. Then slide in there late season and make a couple hunts. A couple quality hunts would be better than sitting there wasting time all season.

Also, Trying to out feed those food plots to the east of you is going to be tough as well. Maybe if you planted something that the deer like more than what the neighbor is planting it'll help you to draw them in.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

I definitely agree with you that that area definitely doesn't hold as many deer as it could. There are definitely a lot of people who hunt dogs as a matter of fact I almost all of those clubs in the area are dog hunting clubs. I do my best to not make a bunch of commotion and let the deer feel safe on that piece of property. I only take a four wheeler in to retrieve deer. When I first took over the property in 2011 I hunted hard the entire year and saw maybe three deer during shooting light. Now I see a lot more deer than that each year. It probably helps that I don't shoot everything that steps out in front of me also. I'm pretty sure that I have a decent amount of deer bedding on the property but I just never seem to be able to find actual evidence of where they're bedding. I definitely may have to take a different approach of making a few hunts there early season and then leaving it be until late season. That's a very good suggestion. This is been my only property to hunt in the years past but I'm slowly acquiring a couple of other places to hunt so that should make things easier to only make a few quality hunts each year. I'll probably give it one more year and see what happens maybe try to make fewer hunts and see if that helps if not I'll probably drop that piece of property and spend that $1,000 somewhere else like on a bunch of Saddle hunting equipment. I'm really looking at starting to hunt some public land the problem is I typically have a 45 minute to an hour drive to get the public land which isn't too big of a deal but I guess I need to locate some campgrounds so once I make the drive I can hunt for a few days before I have to come home. I'm located in Denham Springs so if you have any thoughts on public land that you think are worth the trip I would sure welcome any suggestions.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[denots]

I have a friend that has hogs on his 100 acres. He used cow panels around his feeder. It took a few months for the deer to feel safe jumping in. Does 1st then bucks. Pics of hogs on the outside. It will work and may be your best option. Just gonna take time. Big public land, hogs aren’t much of a problem hurting your deer hunts since you can’t bait. There is more room for you to scout harder with out ruining the place with pressure. You don’t have that luxury on your small piece. You will need to have a few feeders and multi stand sites for each. (Good thing about the saddle) All it takes is for a deer to see you once going up or down a tree and they gonna circle down wind of that stand before coming in. I’ve seen them do it. Makes you wonder how many times they do that to you that you never knew. Those deer that been run by dogs there whole life are a whole other breed! They don’t take chances. I just shake my head at what I see deer do since I moved from La. Even in pressured places of other states. There’s hunting pressure and there’s coonass pressure. 2 totally different things.

Most of the guys that I have ever met that Hunt these areas around me are all big time dog hunters and meat Hunters exclusively and I would say 80% of those guys are probably out laws as well. So I agree 100% that coonass hunting pressure is different from regular hunting pressure!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[kyler1945]

if you're allowed to cut trees, i'd hinge cut a few bedding areas along those creeks, especially where they intersect.. Without elevation changes, you're in for tough hunting as it sits. There is no reason for the deer to maintain the same path currently.

If you create small bedding areas that are never disturbed, bucks will use them to stay out of the fray to the south. They'll be able to wind does in the main bedding areas down there too on southerly winds. unfortunately for you, southerly winds in south la means crappy hot weather to hunt in. I'd look to do this setup 100 yards or so from the southern property line. And then I'd hunt it when fronts pass through, and the wind switches from south to north during the morning hours. Just maybe you can catch bucks that got in those beds on the south wind, either relocating or heading out to feed/check for does. And I would only hunt it a handful of times in a season.

All this to say - it's 150 acres. Surrounded by pressure. If you hunt it sparingly, you may get a chance at surprising a mature deer. But there's little reason for one to be on your property versus the surrounding property if you're there in the same trees every week.

 

[denots]

if you're allowed to cut trees, i'd hinge cut a few bedding areas along those creeks, especially where they intersect.. Without elevation changes, you're in for tough hunting as it sits. There is no reason for the deer to maintain the same path currently.

If you create small bedding areas that are never disturbed, bucks will use them to stay out of the fray to the south. They'll be able to wind does in the main bedding areas down there too on southerly winds. unfortunately for you, southerly winds in south la means crappy hot weather to hunt in. I'd look to do this setup 100 yards or so from the southern property line. And then I'd hunt it when fronts pass through, and the wind switches from south to north during the morning hours. Just maybe you can catch bucks that got in those beds on the south wind, either relocating or heading out to feed/check for does. And I would only hunt it a handful of times in a season.

All this to say - it's 150 acres. Surrounded by pressure. If you hunt it sparingly, you may get a chance at surprising a mature deer. But there's little reason for one to be on your property versus the surrounding property if you're there in the same trees every week.

Good advice. When you say "hinge cut a few bedding areas" do you mean to drop trees in an area and leave them so light reaches the ground and let the new growth get thick. I think I could get away with this in certain areas of the property without causing any real damage to any timber value. I would of course I ask landowner for permission first but I do not see where she would have a problem with it. I do believe this would be a very cost-effective way to create some bedding areas on the property that would help it hold dear that otherwise it may not.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[denots]

if you're allowed to cut trees, i'd hinge cut a few bedding areas along those creeks, especially where they intersect.. Without elevation changes, you're in for tough hunting as it sits. There is no reason for the deer to maintain the same path currently.

If you create small bedding areas that are never disturbed, bucks will use them to stay out of the fray to the south. They'll be able to wind does in the main bedding areas down there too on southerly winds. unfortunately for you, southerly winds in south la means crappy hot weather to hunt in. I'd look to do this setup 100 yards or so from the southern property line. And then I'd hunt it when fronts pass through, and the wind switches from south to north during the morning hours. Just maybe you can catch bucks that got in those beds on the south wind, either relocating or heading out to feed/check for does. And I would only hunt it a handful of times in a season.

All this to say - it's 150 acres. Surrounded by pressure. If you hunt it sparingly, you may get a chance at surprising a mature deer. But there's little reason for one to be on your property versus the surrounding property if you're there in the same trees every week.

I apologize for my ignorance but I looked up hinge cutting and this is a really good idea I have some areas that I think I can definitely go in and improve and create some bedding areas. I'm going to do a lot more research before I start cutting because I ran across some guys who went in not knowing what they were doing and didn't improve the area but actually made it a tangled mess that the deer wouldn't use. Thank you again for this advice. I believe if done correctly this could drastically improve this small piece of property!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

 

[GCTerpfan]

I apologize for my ignorance but I looked up hinge cutting and this is a really good idea I have some areas that I think I can definitely go in and improve and create some bedding areas. I'm going to do a lot more research before I start cutting because I ran across some guys who went in not knowing what they were doing and didn't improve the area but actually made it a tangled mess that the deer wouldn't use. Thank you again for this advice. I believe if done correctly this could drastically improve this small piece of property!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

Check out Jeff Sturgis website: https://www.whitetailhabitatsolutions.com

He also has seveal really good books about setting up properties to get predictable deer movement on small properties.

 

[brydan]

I ran across some guys who went in not knowing what they were doing and didn't improve the area but actually made it a tangled mess that the deer wouldn't use

Sounds like a property I hunted a few times. Guys just wanted to fire up the chainsaws and cut. No plan, just made a mess.

 

[GCTerpfan]

Sounds like a property I hunted a few times. Guys just wanted to fire up the chainsaws and cut. No plan, just made a mess.

That's easy to do. I have been studying and reading everything I can about habitat improvement on small properties for 2 years and I still haven't hinge cut a single tree on my 80 acres. I eventually will, after I have a finalized a plan but, it will be a little at a time to enhance existing bedding.