I got to scout a place yesterday. Very little deer sign. Most was congregated around the boundary with private where I located a feeder
.This is the first year it’s legal to hunt over bait in Bama but you have to buy a special permit. Even with the bait, the deer sign was low there so that piece of public is low on the list.
I did find this track. It’s either a huge dog or a very large bobcat or the elusive “Alabama cougar”
. I’m leaning towards large bobcat because there were no nail marks. Whatever it was, it was heavy. It was sunk deep in the mud.
View attachment 17321
I did also figure out a new way to access a small private parcel I have permission. It’s a buddies duck hunting hole. The yellow is standing corn he floods. The whole place is pretty swampy, hence the duck hunting hole, but I have killed several deer there and helped several new hunters kill deer there. The gate is in the SE corner and morning access was always pretty dicey.
View attachment 17322
I got a kayak this year for some public land access but never thought about private land hunting and then looking at a map one night I saw where I could slip into a small creek on the NE corner and backdoor the North side of this property where all the bedding is located. Should be a cool morning strategy. Although the technical boundaries are more ridgid, the functional property boundary with the neighbor is the creek.
View attachment 17324
Key:
Purple tents - actual beds I have found
Purple lines - bedding areas
Yellow - standing corn
White - shot deer
Red trail - blood trail
Black - deer recovery location (if no white, dropped in its tracks)
Blue lines - deer travel