I live in Eastern NC in an area of intense gun/dog/poaching pressure. Agricultural crops are abundant in the area - although the corn is always picked before September bow season. Mature bucks will simply not eat in crop fields before or after dark. Despite these obstacles, I have permission to hunt on a piece of secluded land that contains at least two good bucks. Their antler growth shows excellent mass and I believe they are well nourished. There a couple of other guys hunting the property but they are "˜recreational"™ hunters that probably do not pose a big threat to "˜my"™ bucks. I have found (what I believe to be) every scrape/funnel on the extended property and prepared trees accordingly. I had a nearly successful encounter with one of the big boys from one of these stands last fall.
But these big boys have to eat too.
So, this has led me to a strategy of identifying every single, flippin"™ oak tree in cover on the property (which is spread out over a couple of miles of intermittent woods) and preparing trees to hunt the oaks. Most of these oaks are surrounded by rubs but not a lot of scrapes. I have put a lot of off-season effort into preparing these 5 stands (some are within bow range of multiple oaks). I am wondering what you guys think:
Will these bucks show up at the covered oak trees in daylight assuming they produce acorns?
Or, are they eating acorns at night?
Or, are they eating some other food (honeysuckle etc)?
Find the oak trees where they are feeding, just because it is an oak tree doesnt mean it will have acorns, some trees dont produce every year. I always have some oaks located but when the acorns start dropping it when I scout and hunt where the feeding is taking place. There will be some oaks dropping acorns and wont be anything but squirrels eating them. Find acorns then find deer sign. Or if you can find a trail between where they are feeding andthe bedding areas that would better. Find a hot trail and chances areyou will get your deer...
I live in Southeast Va and understand completely, however, you have a whole month of bow season before we do, use this to your advantage. Those big bucks will eat during daylight hrs, they just won't travel far too do it. Find where they bed and get as close to it as possible without spooking them. They will move just before dark if it's located near where they bed.
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The ability to get close to game remains the essence of all bowhunting today.
I grew up in Gates County, just west of you, my mom lives in Elizabeth City...First, learn to recognize white oaks, they are the preferred oak in eastern NC, followed by Chestnut oaks, they are dropping by mid-September...Also, look for Beech trees, many hunters don't know this but deer love the meat from them...The meat is a small (about 3/8 inch long) and triangular shaped it's also brown, so it is hard to find when on the ground that's why many don't know about them...
Now...Where are the deer bedded??? On our farms it's usually a island back in the swamp or a cutover, now just find the oaks and beech trees close to where the trails come out of the bedding area...Yes, the bucks will feed during daylight times, just make sure you don't hunt the area unless the wind is right...
It's my experience that in that area the honeysuckles will be hit later in the season, after the oaks and beech nuts are gone...One advantage you have is that most of the dog hunters and many still hunters are so used to sitting over a soybean field during the early season that they don't know how to scout and hunt the natural food sources that are in the woods...They go and don't see deer in the fields, it's because they are in the woods eating acorns and don't hit the fields until it's dark...So you may not have much competition...
Droptine-
Unfortunately, water (and hence honeysuckle) is everywhere here. It is very swampy. To give you an idea, the topo maps are created with a countor interval of 1 foot and there are still not a lot contour lines on the maps. I have addeda persimmon grove to next year's stands so you have boosted my hopes for that set-up
Nchawkeye-
Thanks for the local advice. I have a stand of beech trees that I will add to my 'to do' list.
Oak Trees - evaluate my stratagy...
