Archery opens Sept 22 here. The last buck I took with my bow was in this same spot, and he was also a 6x6. There aren't any trees, so it will be a spot an stalk type game. I have been tossing around the idea of buying myself a few cheaper groundblinds and setting them up a week before season and just leaving them out in the elements. My brother is really big into photography and he has some very impressive digital equipment, so I don't have to get too close to get good pics of the deer.

Thats great that you have that equipment. Be sure to post some pics here. I just picked up a Matrix for this season. I am hoping to do some recording early of my doe hunts. Send them to Matt in FL so he at least can see me get one or two. I like the idea of leaving it out. I would be being 75 miles away I am just afraid it would probably end up stolen.

Here are some pictures of some scouting from last year. I have about 200 more pictures of bucks somewhere that I need to sort thru some more.

http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y74/ramboss429/Deer%20Photos/

This is the same spot that this buck is hanging out in here. As you can see there aren't any trees but that bottom runs for about 2 miles and it holds lots of deer and is very friendly for stalking.

Wiihunter, I bet you're having the same problem as I was with the avatar...


When you go in and upload it, don't forget to go to the very bottom of the screen and hit "OK" or "Apply"

Rammer, looks like we're hunting similar terrain (I'm in ND). Do you use a lot of groundblinds? I've been fortunate enough to get bucks the past 2 years out of treestands, but in the 3,000+ acres I have available to hunt, there's only about 4 spots for treestands (shelterbelts in a good area). I've got a cheapy (Ameristep) groundblind and plan on using it more this year. Any tips for using a groundblind in wide open spaces? Put it near a cattail slough or just get it out there early so they're used to it?

deadstick - Last year was my first time ever hunting out of a groundblind. What we did last year was put it in a small lil cluster of spruce trees, and then cut a few lanes out for shooting. It worked well, we harvested 2 does out of it in 2 evenings of hunting then we pulled it. You can't see in those pictures, but down in that big draw there are some clusters of willows that I will more than likely blend the blind into. I'm planning on going to Cabelas here shortly and buying at least one of the cheaper (80-100 dollar) blinds and putting it out a good week before season. I guess if it gets wrecked and I get a crack at the big boy it will be worth it to me anyway. I'm 24 now and I've been archery hunting since I was 12 and I have only take 1 buck from a tree, the rest were all spot an stalk in CRP fields or creek bottoms.

Putting it on the edge of a cattail slough would be good as well. I actually have a pretty serious deer trail (where those 5x5 sheds came from I'm holding on the first link) within 150 yards of my house that will see some blind use as well.

Out of the 6,000 acres we farm I only have one spot that will hold a treestand, and this is a single tree. I do have access to all my neighbors land deer hunting, but they are in the same boat as us when it comes to trees, few an far between! lol

Last year I didn't get aggressive enough on the ground, and this year I plan on making up for it.

I'm wondering do most of us hunt on private or public land here. I have a 100 acre farm that we are currently changing completely from a cattle pasture land that is covered with fescue to a complete wildlife farm. We are currently signed up for the WHIP and CP 22 program here in Missouri. Have to plant 4000 trees by the spring of next year. We plan on spraying in late November while the trees we've already planted are dormant and to start killing the fescue. We plan on planting little and big bluestem, indian grass, and swithgrass next Spring. Hopefully the quail and pheasants will come back in the future. Last year was the first year our farm wasn't occupied and that buck I think is a result. Good Luck Team 36!!

Our farm is about 2,500 acres but is not great deer hunting. My father-in-law's farm is about 3,000 acres and is great hunting (70 miles away). So, that's about 5,500 acres of private land (but I only hunt the in-laws usually). That being said, with a 3-month old (as well as a 3-year old) and $3 gas, I spent a lot of time scouting locally and found 3 nice bucks about 6 miles from my house that I patterned the past 6 weeks, got permission to hunt about 200 acres there (private land) and will be hunting September and early October there, then moving to my in-laws as the rut approaches. So, I hunt only private land (for deer), I hunt a lot of public (and private) land for waterfowl, and hunt mostly public land for pheasants and grouse.

I hunt all private land for archery deer hunting. Where I live there isn't much for public land at all. I do most of my archery hunting on one of my neighbors land. Its a prime spot, but he also gives out permission to other archery hunters so it gets to be tough come rut time. I do hunt public ground for rifle out West for mule deer.

Sorry it took me awhile to sign in, first time at this but bucks have been spotted and stands are hung just waiting for the sept 15 opener