HuntingNet.com Forums - View Single Post - best places to hunt during the early mornings
Old 07-21-2012, 05:26 PM
  #5  
Mojotex
Nontypical Buck
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
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Posts: 2,186
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Get yourself an aerial view of the hunting property. A "Google Map" satellite view should suffice. And a topo map.

Using these start scouting and scout as much as you can between now and hunting season. Look for oak trees, paying attention especially to if (or not) there are remains of last year's acorn caps. Deer down this way love white oaks and chestnut oaks. Try to find these. Ease around along the edges of woods roads, fence lines, thickets looking for the ends of the fresh vines and bush to be snipped off. Deer are a browser, not a grazer. They'll meander along nibbling here and there, filling their cud stomach with fresh forbs.

Also if you have creeks on the place, walk as much of the length of these as you can, looking for crossings. "Traditional" crossings will show up rather vividly as a beaten down path. Also look for last year's rubs .... they'll show up as scars no rather than really stand out. Use the topo map to find natural terrain funnels and ridges. Deer down here like to travel the draws and the hillsides ..... about 1/2 the way down the ridges. Some times they will cruise the finger crowns as they go to-from food and bedding.

As for locating bedding areas ... I don't mess with this so much because there is just too much area where I hunt that is prime for bedding. I stay on the food sources and path ways.

Find out when the does in that area usually come into estrus. Then be hunting as often as you can for about 2 weeks prior to and through that traditional time.

Works pretty good for me down this way.
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