ORIGINAL: Jimmy S
You are invitedto hunta new area with close hunting friends for a week.
You are hunting bucks only.
This area is 'Big Woods', no farmland, no crops or fields.
You can literally walk miles before ever hitting a tar road.
Before Opening Day you will have the chance to scout one full day.
You have a topo map that shows relatively flat land with many swamps and old logging roads.
The woods are extremely thick and the deer population is about 10 deer/sq. mile.
The peak of the rut will be about 10 days away.
What have you found during your scouting that makes you decide where to setup the next morning?
You have a self climber or you can hunt from the ground.
I would first look at google earth and try to find any larger groupings of hardwoods.... Looking for the most likely food source....... then look at that relative to the logging roads that would give you relatively easy access, without disturbing the world getting in, and try to place it all in the closest proximity to a " swamp " area. The deer look for good cover that is not abused by every hunter out there, where food is close and water is plentyful....
WHen you can place these areas together, look closely for the main travel corridors through it and use the climbing stand. You will stand less chance of getting winded, and of spoiling the area with scent.... giving more days of possible productivity when the other hunters are driving the deer deeper into the shadows....
Good Luck,
God Bless
MET