GMMAT

MY "deal".

I hunt VEY small acreages up against a man-made breakline. It's an old farm that doesn't allow hunting. It's 200+ acres of woods that belong to the county. NO HUNTING. I just happen to have access to the acreage that fronts one side of it. The parcels are 24 acres; 15 acres; 1.7 acres; 1.5 acres; I skip one parcel then have access to a 10 acre woodlot RIGHT IN FRONT of the county land. In reality.....I hunt about 15 acres, total. My ENTIRE hunting strategy is based on pinch points and funnels....and I didn't know what those terms meant, until this year. I was hunting them....I just didn't know what they were. The deer have NO REASON to leave their sanctuary during most of the year. By the time the mast crops start dropping, though.....they venture further and further away from "home", each night.....and further and further away as the season progresses and their food sources change. Right now....they're after leftover mast and opportunistic items in people's yards. They're getting bolder....close to home. I know.....my land is attached to the 24 acre parcel.

Here's my theory.....for where "I" hunt. I follow the does....ALL THE TIME. When the deer are together.....perfect. When the bucks split off.....they STILL have to eat.....and they still pretty much travel the same funnels and pinch points. When the rut kicks in.....I don't change a thing. I still hunt the does. Late season??? Hunt the does. The bucks will be back with them.....or, in this year's instance.....the rut ran all the way through our closer.

My pinch points are fence lines.....a horse pasture.....someone's yard......an old logging road with a fence on one side.....etc...

I KNOW.....from visual....where they're coming out....and going back in.....almost every day. they might vary a LITTLE.....but that's what makes it interesting. The biggest buck in my woods (weight and age-wise)....I saw 3 times, from stand. I saw a LOT....I mean a LOT of deer........but realistically....I know I'm seeing the same deer over and over, again. I just know where to look for them. I didn't learn that from sitting on my couch, though. I watch them ALL YEAR LONG. I'll be scouting this weekend.....as I have the last 2.....and my season went out on 12/16. I keep a feeder up to inventory deer via trail cam....and I keep my mineral site replenished for obvious reasons.

I have a wonderful situation......and I never make light of that fact.

Lefty26

I hunt 100% public land and have to not only "outsmart" the deer but also the million other hunters that enter the woods. Maps are my best friend, I have a map of every piece of public land I hunt and I study them religiously.I am always looking for something I missed the last time I looked.

One thing you often hear about public land is toget as far in as possible to get away from the people. I think this approach works and I often will trek in pretty far to get away from the other hunters. However the last few years I have been looking at areas that other hunters are passing up, and the maps have helped me do this. One area I hunt I had been trekking1-2 milesinto the woods to get away from the people. I did a routine study of my maps and noticed a little ridge that was very thick that was not more than 300 yards from the parking area. I realized the trails that the majority of other hunters took went past this area but eventually led them away from it. In order to get to this ridge you had to climb a steep bank and all of the other hunters were just following the trail to more accessible spots. Long story short I found a spot that I had walked by many times and never checked out because it was close to the parking area, and I discovered this spot without ever stepping foot into it, I had used my aerial and topo maps. This little area 300 yards from the parking lot has produced over 10 deer for me in the last 2 seasons, including some solid bucks.

I used to think I had to hunt harder and further than everyone else, I realize now I need to hunt smarter than everyone else. I continue to find areas that hunters are walking right past that hold a lot of deer.

Windwalker7

This is similar on how it works for me.

hardcorehunter

You can tell that MTH has spent a little time in the stands in the midwest. Sounds like our scenario here in IA too. You can see a buck walking out in the middle of section with no tree around trailing a doe or laying by a doe in a little piece of grass or weeds out in a section with no way to get upon them. This is why I have always liked the prerut instead of the peak of the rut. So many huntersonly hunt the peak of the rut and are missing out. The peak of the rut here in IA is around the 2nd week in November.The typical peak of therut buck tends to her and is laying out in some fence row with her or some patchy little grassy area in the middle of nowhere with no tree around and the deer activity and sightings go down in the timber. During this time of the year you are better off to go sit out in a ghuilly suit in a fencerow than in a treestand in the timber.I like to be in the woods around halloween time through the 1st week in Novemberwhen they are on the prowl looking for a receptive doe and working on establishing their scrapes and breeding territory. I hunt funnels at this time and ALWAYS have the wind in my favor as to how deer travel through the area. I do not set up necessarily near a scrape but usually there is a scrape near or in a funnel.You will hear find the does and you will find the bucks. This works to a certain degree but by hunting funnels during the prerut, you will see alot of deer and a lot of big bucks. It works in IA anyway. I also stay away from using any deer lures and deer urines. Simply keep your hunting clothing as odor free as possible, ALWAYS wear knee high rubber boots, and position your stand downwind 15-20 yds of the expected travel route of deer when they travel through the area.

BowHntrRick

I spend a great deal of time planning my hunting spots AND how to reach them prior to the hunt. For example, I hunt a ridge top where I face west (usually the prevailing wind) toward a staging area and then several fields. Behind me is a steep wooded hillside down to another field. I know that the deer may approach from behind (downwind), but the steep ridge seems to help keep my scent above them. Other deer approach from the left or right field edges in front of me.

The trick is to get into my stand before daylight without disturbing the deer that may be bedded in the field below the ridge. I have to choose the road where I will drive into the area, where I will park and get dressed, and then which route I will take to get to my stand. This is all part of the planning that takes place long before I leave for the day's hunt.

One mistake that I made this year was in assuming I could thread my way through the woods in the dark to my stand without any markings. There was far too much unnecessary stumbling and crashing through the woods: next year I plan to carefully mark a clear path.

I also plan to stand as soon as I see a deer approach the area: I failed to get a shot one early morning hunt because I tried to awkwardly draw on a doe approximately 15 feet in front of the stand from a sitting position: she heard or saw just enough to cause her to scamper a few yards away, but that was enough to ruin any shot.

The planning and strategy is one of the things I love about bowhunting: while a certain amount may be necessary for those 100 - 200 yard rifle shots, getting within 25 yards is a lot trickier.

AR Bowhunter

I have been hunting where I hunt for about 15 years. I started out walking creeks looking for trails or any old rubs. I have since then through deer sightings have learned in a since to follow the deer an see where they frequent. I now 10 years later after my first years on the lease have come to use a camera in the off season . I now know where the deer leave scrapes year after year. I also can drive down a trail on my four wheeler an if I see scrapes on the road I know that they aretraveling through the bottom wherehang my stand sometimes. I don't even have to go in there I just know they are in that area. I like to hunt in the nearest thick area a couple hundred yards off a field give or take depends on acorns an cover in the area . I lke ridges that form into bottle necks orthe inside corners off 4 and 5 year old cutovers that have mature redoaks or white oaks. I could keep going but I hope you get the picture.

buckeye

I think this same thing hinders many peoples setups. The more low key you are the more successful your hunts will be.

Although for some marking entry exit routes to their stands can tip off other hunters to their locations. Sometimes you are hiding from other hunters as much as you are bowhunting whitetails.

ash2042

Isn't that the truth. I use alot of hang on stands nd take them with me leaving only the strap to hang it in the tree. I don't want other hunters to know where I hunt.

buckeye

Sometimes the most successful in their high pressure area are the ones best at hiding from others

Germ

Leave the some up for decoys, LOL

Cover up the black straps they almost become invisible