For me I have three locations I hunt, two of them are big woods and only hit them occasionaly during deerseason, as the home life permits me leaving the family.
The third is suburban hunting, which is 85-90% Archery,so I'll through a few of my ideas your way ~ for what it's worth...
I spend countless hours finding parcels of land when driving home from work (16 miles).
Note, that I rarely take the same route home and will go, sometimes, 5-10 miles out of my way to find all the backroads thoughout my journey to get home.
I stockpileas many nooks & crannies that look good, like lowland swamps or oak hills, etc. I then research this parcel using topos and aerials.
Once I select a parcel, I then drive around the outskirts too mark my GPS with the boundaries, so when on foot I have a good understanding of the limits to the parcel.
Now keep in mind I live in NH and unless the land is posted you can access it, of course it's common courtesy to check with the land owner.
I also access the town info regarding lot lines, who owns it and if it's in "current use" (tax breaks offered for land over 10 acres).
If it is under "current use" andclassified as "recreation", then it is open to hiking, fishing, hunting etc... Now I don't have to ask for permission.
I try and isolate the main info offered on the maps I researched, like funnels, saddles, swamps, streams, etc to come up with a game plan, so once on foot,
I can maximize my walking.After I have a good lay of the land and a few key features with sign,
I then wait until the snow flies to help fine tune my findingsand help key on bedding areas verses different types of food, etc.
Sometimes if I get excited about a spot I may go in with my climber and cut my shooting lanes, along with marking the tree at the top of my platform with tape.
This way I can get to the same height on thattree for my shooting lanes once the season begins. I don't believe anyone notices this tape 20' up in a tree?..
I'll usually go back to these areas in August to trim any other growth now that the foliage has bloomed and also to see if the areas have dried up do to adifferent season.
In other words, making sure the deer weren't in that parcel to hole up for the winter just to survive.
For suburban hunting, I believe most deer may spendtheir lives in a 50-100 acres range (maybe less) and only roam when they are out of food.
Another key note I like to stress is using other hunters to your advantage once firearms season begins. So knowing escape routes can enhance your chances.
Also Look for the funnels between houses to get from parcel to parcel. I have compiled 11 parcels of land that range about 1 1/2 miles in length.
In the last few years I have managed to take a Doe, two 6-pointers andtwo 8-pointers within a 1/2 mile of a crows fly all off ofdifferent roads.
I have created a map to tie these trails together using the GPS points.It's plain as day once you have created the map and how the deer intertwine throughout the land.
Thelast deerI killedI had literally laser range found one house @ a convenient 101 yards (need to be 100 min away from house)
another @ 202 yards and a third house 150 yards away. I watched this guy sneak between two of these houses less then 80 yards apart while a roofing
crew was nailing down plywood. Yes, they were dropping sheets of plywood on the rafters and nailing them down. The deer cared less!
