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What worked?

W

woods89

Member
Joined
Nov 13, 2014
Messages
76
One thing I really enjoy about this site is the diversity. We have guys that do extreme scent control, all public land, hunt with trad equipment, sleep in the woods to access remote places, and many other interesting tactics. One can learn a lot in this sort of environment.

At this point many of us are still hunting,but the bulk of the season is behind us. So I have a burning question in my mind for you guys. I would like to know what tactic or skill you credit with your success or lack thereof this past season. For many of us it's probably a combination, but I would like to know if you have anything that stands out from this year or the past few years that has really worked for you.

If I were to identify one skill that has made a huge difference to me it would be when I quit pre setting stands 3 years ago. Maybe it was coincidence but it seems like I started seeing way more deer once I was 100% mobile. Seems like I am a lot closer to the ideal tree in an area now when I set up because the particular day's conditions affect my stand tree.

Accessing remote areas with my backpacking setup looks to have a lot of promise also. I'm a lucky guy to have areas that allow me to do this.

So let's hear it from you guys! I'm going to sit back and soak it up! :)
 
For me, I hunt a very small property (my backyard) and have permission to stray onto several neighbor's properties (up to around fifty acres or a little more).
It's very difficult to see, let alone shoot, deer for an entire season here.
I usually only hunt outside of my property one or two times a season and that seems to be easy for me. Of course it depends on the property. But in the last two seasons, I have bow shot and eaten six deer. Two short sits on other properties gave me two of those. The other four probably took me three to five sits a piece. Maybe mOre
I have a neighbor who moved here from another state last year and he saw me skinning my first deer this year and decide to try to hunt his property next to mine. He had hunted in his former state every year for a while. He hasn't even seen a deer this year even though in my mind he has better natural terrain than I do.
I think it takes a while to develop skills that allow success. And even though some deer are less wary than others, it's still hard.
Reading sign, and choosing the correct ambush locations are the two things I see that make a huge difference. Of course you still need to be still, be quiet, and prevent the quarry from smelling you. That's my two cents

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essdub said:
Reading sign, and choosing the correct ambush locations are the two things I see that make a huge difference.
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+1--This is a big one for me too. I'm a newer hunter and learning how to read and interpret sign has helped me tremendously.

I'm re-reading Eberhart's books and plan to do more post-season scouting for mature buck beds. I have a feeling that this will help as well.
 
Being mobile for sure. Deer pattern permanent stands if it's used often. Always keep them guessing. No sense wasting days counting on a new deer to the area strolling through. Plus I like to hunt more active than sit in the same spot looking at the same terrain hoping they make a mistake.
 
Post season scouting. All of my hard work over the past 8 years is starting to pay off. I have enough spots where I never need to hunt the same spot twice if I don't want to. This year I was very limited in any time I could get in the woods until the season started but I've been relying on all of my previous years scouting experience and I've been very fortunate to take 2 bucks and 2 does this year.
 
That's the kind of stuff I was hoping for. Thanks guys!

I am sold on post season scouting as well. So much easier to see what's going on and you don't have to worry about over pressuring the area.

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Post season scouting and stand preparation last spring had me locating my best stand on arguably my best hunting property this year. Once mid-season hit that stand was on fire and I often saw at a minimum 1/2 dozen deer per sit. I had some amazing sits at the beginning of november with a handful of small bucks chasing does around.

Unfortunately I also discovered that I setup my stand on the wrong side of the funnel. By the time I realized this it was already in the middle of the rut and I didn't have a chance to prep a new stand to maximize the position - about 40 yards away - because I was afraid I would disturb the environment too much. Still I had deer pass through as close as 5 yards to this stand - but had I been on the opposite side of the funnel I would have easily had 30+ deer in bow range. I was able to take a nice doe from this stand from my evolution during our firearms season.

Next year i'll be sure to prep a new stand on the right side of the funnel - as it will require a lot of trimming to make proper shooting lanes. I'll also have to carefully pick a tree because most of them were dead widowmaker ash trees :x

Definitely a big believer in post season scouting now.
 
I have hunted this bottleneck for the following 5 seasons. I have a very steep hill that leads up to the rock quarry behind me. In front of me the Flint River runs directly northwest from the powerline. It continues along the base of the quarry and past a suburban development. With the standard Northwest wind direction, this place is worthless even though at all times there are loads of deer to the Northwest. The cover along the river is very dense and offers a huge variety of deer forage. The river has very steep banks and although the deer cross it regularly, the section that I am adjacent to is lined with thick privet. When the wind shifts and comes from the east or the southeast this place catches on fire. Especially during the seeking and chasing phase. The funnel that is created by the river and quarry is about 60 yards wide and it literally looks like cattle stroll through it. The trail that they walk has become a permanent impression in the ground for hundreds of yards. I have had dozens of hunts in the last 5 years that I've seen upwards of 10 different bucks per hunt. I have put an archery buck on the wall every season since discovering the spot. So I would say that "what worked for me" was knowing that given certain terrain circumstances and and conditions then a deer will inherently move in predictable ways.
 

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And for everyone that plans to come hunt my honeyhole, the search bar in the picture "Wilkerson Mill Rd" isn't the location described in my post. :lol:
 
Bummer. Here I thought I had a great spot only 15 hours from home. ;)

Regardless, nice looking spot
 
The whole terrain and conditions thing rings a lot of bells for me. For quite a few years I hunted bottoms quite a bit because I found all these rubs and scrapes. I would set a stand down there, have fits with access, fits with the wind, and occasionally see deer. But all this sign was there!

Then one summer I decided to spend my summer reading some good material on deer habits. I wound up with Brad Herndon's book Mapping Trophy Bucks and Dan Infalt's Hill Country Bucks DVD.

I quickly realized that I was mostly just frustrating myself hunting low. I started hunting ridges ( even tho it didn't "look" as good) and started seeing more deer. The big thing was when the light bulb went on that deer travel based on what they can smell not what they can see.

I used to try to set up with the wind just perfect a lot. Now I find that often times the wind needs to be almost wrong for deer to be comfortable traveling there. My secret weapon is often a little cut in a ridge that forces the deer up to the top and lets my scent go over top of him.

So now a lot of times I wind up in a tree without a rub or scrape in sight and an almost wrong wind!

I hope I don't come off as the expert here because I'm not very far removed from being the guy who was really happy to kill one young deer a year. It's just fascinating to me to discuss the stuff that gives a guy an edge.

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huck72412 said:
And for everyone that plans to come hunt my honeyhole, the search bar in the picture "Wilkerson Mill Rd" isn't the location described in my post. :lol:
Click to expand...

Ok good. I was going to pm you to change that! :D (After I wrote it down of course :lol: )
 
woods89 said:
I hope I don't come off as the expert here because I'm not very far removed from being the guy who was really happy to kill one young deer a year. It's just fascinating to me to discuss the stuff that gives a guy an edge.

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Absolutely. I'm not the best hunter in the world, but I am always striving to learn and get better :D
 
Re: RE: Re: What worked?

BassBoysLLP said:
Bummer. Here I thought I had a great spot only 15 hours from home. ;)

Regardless, nice looking spot
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He would be a little chagrined if he showed up on his beloved east wind to coincidentally find about three guys in saddles in that bottleneck!

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Hilarious, I'm not even from the state and I tried to find the location.

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Anyone is welcome Red. I don't mind anyone hunting with me. Yeah there's always plenty to be learned. When I first found the area I wouldn't hunt it without a west wind. My theory was that this wind would blow my scent toward the cliff leading up to the quarry rim. Well success was minimal at best until I discovered that when the wind hits that wall then it has to go somewhere and that somewhere was left and right. Ultimately sending quite an unmistakable signal to the deer up the bottleneck. And sending me back to the truck without a story to tell.
 
Mcwtoyz,

I would have done the same thing. I'll let ya hunt it if your ever in town look me up.
 
Woods89

Those are God's woods. I wouldn't be too terribly upset. I am however envisioning myself sneaking in there on that east wind and finding a bunch of saddle brothers hanging everywhere. That is hilarious man.
 
huck72412 said:
Anyone is welcome Red. I don't mind anyone hunting with me. Yeah there's always plenty to be learned. When I first found the area I wouldn't hunt it without a west wind. My theory was that this wind would blow my scent toward the cliff leading up to the quarry rim. Well success was minimal at best until I discovered that when the wind hits that wall then it has to go somewhere and that somewhere was left and right. Ultimately sending quite an unmistakable signal to the deer up the bottleneck. And sending me back to the truck without a story to tell.
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Before i get too confused, is that picture orientated with North being up? So your saying if your wind is blowing out over the quarry or down to the lower right from a west or NW wind, the deer dont use that pinch? If the wind comes from SE blowing your scent up into the big woods the deer use it? This is all based on them "thinking" they can scent check for danger as they cruise it?
 
huck72412 said:
Woods89

Those are God's woods. I wouldn't be too terribly upset. I am however envisioning myself sneaking in there on that east wind and finding a bunch of saddle brothers hanging everywhere. That is hilarious man.
Click to expand...

OK, Red as we agreed I get the tall Oak and you get hickory. Essdub will take Huck's preset tree since he has the climbing spurs. Looks like Saturday evening is the best wind... see you guys there.
 
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