I can’t believe another year has come and gone already, but once again, it is the shed hunting time of year! This is one of my favorite times of the year to be living in SE Iowa because I’m able to take full advantage of the land I’m able to access at this time of year. I have only walked a couple times, but it’s been enough to energize my shed hunting sole.
One of the major topics I will be discussing over the next couple months are rubs. I don’t know what it is about these things, but when I see a section of woods ripped apart from the previous season; well, it just does something to me! I love big and nasty rubs. Here are a few I’ve found on a recent shed hunting trip.
This season I’ve already accessed several new pieces of property and have begun the process of scouting for the 2009 bowhunting season. People may find it hard to believe that I’m actually walking around scouting for bow season, and also shed hunting at the same time. Generally, I actually consider myself shed hunting secondarily, and mostly scouting, depending on what property I’m walking.
I have people ask me ALL the time how I determine where I hunt on new properties – or if that property is even worth hunting. Well, when walking a new piece I look for several things that I consider to be priorities. First priority here in Iowa is cover. If I walk a piece of property and don’t find any thick and nasty areas that would offer what I consider good bedding areas, often times this is the deciding factor on whether I will even step foot on that property again to shed hunt or hunt in the fall. Over the years, I’ve learned that wasting time on poor properties has more to do with success and failure than anything. You can’t kill what doesn’t live on or near the property you are hunting – period!
With a huge variety and abundance of food being pretty much “everywhere” here in Iowa, I concentrate more on cover than any other factor when looking at and scouting properties. There are two different approaches I take when looking at a piece of property. Is this a property that an abundance of deer, specifically big bucks would live, or simply travel through during the rut. Just because a property doesn’t have a thick nasty bedding area, adjacent properties may, and sometimes I’ll plan on hunting specific properties and stands on those properties only during the rut when I anticipate movement of bucks from adjacent properties.
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Pinch points and funnels are the things I look for, and this time of year is the time to really find those best rut spots where you are hunting deer you may not even know are around until they become vulnerable during the rut when searching for does. I try not to plan on the unknown – so I rarely will hunt in an area where I’m just hoping for a big buck to cruise though. 99% of the time, I need to know there is a big buck living in or near the property, and more specifically in a particular area of a property before I’ll waste my time in a stand “hoping” versus “hunting”.
With a little snow on the ground right now, I’m taking full advantage of this to help aid me in determining exactly what the travel routes and pinch points may be during the upcoming season. While winter travel may differ slightly from what can be expected during the hunting season, in-general, deer trails will give you a quick glimpse into the preferred traveling patterns of whitetails on a particular piece of property. Mentally note these for the summer when you will be hanging stands.
Over the next couple months, I will be discussing the many topics related to spring scouting, and what I’m finding along the way. I will do my best to show you my approach at what I consider to be the most important time of year for the serious whitetail hunter. If you want to kill a giant buck this coming fall, the time to start is right now. This is the time of year that you can make or break your dreams of killing a giant.
To be continued ...
White Knuckle Productions will have a brand new DVD available in the next week. To check out a video trailer from our latest release - “Full-Circle” - check out our website at www.whiteknuckleproductions.com
The new DVD will be available the week of February 16th on our website.
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