Anyone Getting Out There Yet?

HuntingBry · 05-27-2008, 11:46 AM

Anyone else getting out there yet? Now that turkey season is over in PA and NJ I'm switching gears back to deer and getting ready for archery. Sure the summer will have some groundhog hunts and maybe a coyote hunt or two, but it's the time I start getting ready for the fall bow season.

I just hung my first trail cam over a heavily used trail that I have a mineral lick off of. They have been hammering the lick for about 2 months so I got the camera in there to see what kind of bucks are visiting. This trail is definitely primarily a doe trail, but the bucks travel on the other side of the pines about 75 yards away. There is a less defined trail and some HUGE rubs in there from last year. I put the lick further down because there are 2 treestands built in that area and I don't want to attract attention to the area I'm planning on hanging in. I don't think the other hunters venture up where I found the rubs because it is a seemingly unlikely area for deer to travel (probably why the bucks like it).

I also put some fertilizer spikes in around a couple of oak trees that I plan on hanging a stand near. I put some more out in September to try to keep the acorns plentiful and dropping longer than the other trees around. I'll also get a trail cam in over there as well to try to catch what is using the area.

I checked another spot about a month ago and it is a huge oak ridge and there were still acorns littering the ground from the fall. I saw a pile of deer while I was over there, but they were all does. There is always a number of good bucks in that area, so I'm not too worried about it.

I'll be checking in on some other spots here soon and should be knocking on doors in the next month or so to try to access some new areas.

So, what have you all been doing to get ready? It's never too early to start.

MGH_PA · 05-27-2008, 11:50 AM

I've been shooting since the season ended off and on. We limed and planted a .75acre clover/rye plot which seems to be coming in nicely. We've been putting out minerals in 4 locations since the beginning of April, and they're getting hit hard. I did some stand clearing a few weeks back and plan to hang a few in the coming weeks. No trail cams out yet, battery issue with it right now.

Siman08/OH · 05-27-2008, 11:53 AM

I have my mineral lick spruced up and im starting to watch the fields at night to see where the big boys are eating.

formula1 · 05-27-2008, 11:55 AM

Went to Illinois lease and hung 2 stands 3 weeks ago and put out trail camera, but that's it for me so far. Shooting the bow regularly now getting ready for GA opener Sept. 13th, but I already got my GA stands in place.

130woodman · 05-27-2008, 11:56 AM

I put in 3 acres of food plots, refreshed the mineral licks, and hung some stands already. I am ready to go.

TexasBowHunter · 05-27-2008, 12:00 PM

I started in Feb., I put up stands where I was seeing good action last year and put up camera's on the protein feeders. Once the deer are in velevet good I will start moving camera's to trails about Sept... I don't guess I ever did stop....

HuntingBry · 05-27-2008, 12:11 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: TexasBowHunter

I started in Feb., I put up stands where I was seeing good action last year and put up camera's on the protein feeders. Once the deer are in velevet good I will start moving camera's to trails about Sept... I don't guess I ever did stop....

LOL, I know how you feel. It was like turkey season was a break from getting things ready for bow season. I wish I could leave my stands up all year. I'd love to have them hung and ready now so I didn't have to disturb my areas too much later, but I know if I did that I'd come back to at least a few empty trees. So, I gotta wait until later in the summer.

Deleted User · 05-27-2008, 12:39 PM

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HuntingBry · 05-27-2008, 01:04 PM

Quote:

ORIGINAL: DropTine249

I've been hanging stands for a few months now.

Set up the off season feeders. Locked some cameras to trees. Cut a few trails for deer and more stand access. Created a few funnels and posted the heck out our land.

I'll be knocking on doors as well..I have a few places in mind that I want to hunt. 1 is actually part of a land trust, no hunting permits issued for this comming season and my nieghbors house/land borders this piece. So, I figure I can slip in there on the property line. There are some MONSTER bucks there because no one bowhunts them..and by the time shotgun season rolls in, this area is a SWAMP...You cant even walk it...The water rises and creates like a land bridge about 100yards wide in the center of the woods..It would be a great funnel to hunt...but there is NO WAY to get to it..

Thought about a canoe, though...But still dont think it will work. Bry, you've gotta see this place..It blows away any land I have ever hunted.

You literally have until about the end of October before its swamped up....My friend found the biggest shed he has ever found, in any state thathe hunts,in these woods. It was only one side but it measured out at 93" !!!!!!!!!!!!....6 points. g2 was heavily split and he had a monster droptine between his g2 and g3.

That sounds like a honeyhole there. Especially after the flooding. A single funnel like that surrounded by water would just have to have tons of travel during the rut. You're a former HALO rat why don't you just drop in. LOL There has to be a way in there.

buckeye · 05-27-2008, 02:51 PM

Lots of walking during shed season.

I have either started or replenished 4 mineral sites this spring with any where between 150-300 pounds of minerals per site.

One small food plot of no till.

A good bit of glassing.

I havethree cams out and soon to be a fourth.

I have mostly been busy with yard work so far this spring.... I am almost finished up with everything I can do until some other areas dry up. I have maybe 2 more acres to get cut and into shape.... Just to wet.