passthru79

Thats true david. To me haging four or five stands in the middle of summer when its 90 is hard physical work, do I mind doing it. Not one bit, because I know come October its all worth it. Do I feel that Im sacrificing something by being outdoors, no. I feel everyone who isnt out there enjoying it are the ones sacrificing something.

Outdoor writer

one and only?????? ........ is that good or bad?

Identifying bedding areas is certainly easier in some areas than others but DESIRE will get it done anywhere ....... and I am not suggesting that anyone take family time to hunt. Youneed to have your priorities in order but most hunters have other interests (fishing, motorcycles, beer, women etc etc etc) where they could find more time for hunting.

hardcorehunter

Just remember everybody; Iowa had a bad tick outbreak this last year and it really desimated the herd. I would try Kansas and Illinois if you want a big boy in the future. It could take years for our state to recover fromthe these darn ticks.

atlasman

Like books for example?

j/k


Actually I was really hoping you were going to go into some good details about identifying these bedding areas and how to attack them along the outskirts without spooking everything within.

That would have made a great chapter as I believe many (including myself) are less POSITIVE about their local bedding areas then they are willing to admit.

TJF

Atlas

The bedding areas won't be the same with all the different terrain thateveryone hunts.Bedding areasare more definedin some areas while not in others.While he sure could have gone into great detail of the bedding areashe hunts, it stillprobably wouldn't help you in your area. I know thatyour areaandhis area has nothing in common with mine. If you like I could go into great detail about my area but it wouldn't help you in the least.

You need to find a hunter orAuthor that huntsin your area or the same type ofterrain to really be of much use to you.If I wrote a book I would not go into detail of my area but stick togeneralized principals/methods of hunting.Hopefully the reader would be able to apply that with his hunting area to benefit from the book. Plus...I would be looking to attracted a biggeraudience for my book then justthe few who hunt ND. You are asking a lot of himwhich might be the reason you didn't like his book and others did.

Tim

Sliverflicker

Don,
Its apparent you did not read the article in the January issue of Big Buck John's outdoor magazine. He said a new strain of Brain Wormpoped up in Kansas and all but wiped out their herd also. The DNR was lucky to stop the spread of this new strain of Brain Worm at the river, and managed to keep it from crossing the river into Missouri. So if it was me looking for a wall hanger, I would hunt Missouri or Illinois.
BBJ

Outdoor writer

Tim is exactly right. I tried to lay out a plan or approach for each phase of the season and left it up to the reader to apply my "philosophies" to their area. For example I could use the term "feeding area" or I could have said "bean field". By saying "feeding area" a person anywhere can relate that to the point I am trying to make even if beans dont grow where they live.With the book I sorta just threw out the pieces of the puzzle as far as what has worked for me. The reader has to take those pieces and combine them with their knowledge of their own hunting area and decide which pieces to keep and use and which ones to kick to the side. About 20-25 years ago Gene Wensel wrote his first book and I devoured it. I was in my early 20s and eager to learn so I took what this veteran had to say and applied what I could to my personal situation even though he was hunting the river bottoms of Montana and I was hunting the woodlots of Illinois. Some things he said didnt make sense to me or didnt apply to my hunting but some of it could be used. More than anything certain things he said got my mind to working as I considered how to apply them to my own situation. I can't say that anything in his book directly made me a better hunter but a LOT of what he said got my mind to working and planted the seed for ideas that I took to the local woods. That made it a great book in my opinion.

Outdoor writer

Oh yeah, Don - I heard all about that outbreak in Iowa and how hard it was on the deer. The crazy thing is though that there are reports of huge herds of mature bucks swimming the Mississippi River from Illinois to get into Iowa. I guess they all heard about the greener pastures and less competition for does. Anyway I will be applying for Iowa this year, think you and Sarah can find a place for me to bunk? ...... in Iowa that is, I know you will probably tell me to stay in Illinois!! :^)

atlasman

I didn't mean EXACTLY Tim...............just some SPECIFICS as to what he looks for and what he sees that makes him want to investigate an area further to confirm his theory.

Where does he start??........on maps, on foot, glassing for deer movement that tells him where to go next??............stuff like that. No one can pick out your bedding areas for you but it would have been nice to get a little help..........especially when everything was about killing a BIG boy...........most guys can find bedding areas.........but are they the bedding area of the brute they are after or just a place deer like to flop down.

As far as getting in to hunt them.........some helpful hints there would have been nice as well.......How close is too close?........what if you bump him??.........what is most important in that setup??.......wind, food, other deer, time of day or season???

Just something SPECIFIC would have been great.

Germ

How is Don or anyone going to know how to sneak in area you hunt and they have not seen?

Have you order Aerial or Topo maps?
Look to see what is next to you?
How the wind currents/thermal effect the area?

There are so many varibles no one is going to know execpt you. It is going to be through trial and error. You will bust some deer, but you will learn and get better.

For the record I do not use

Game Camera's
Scount in the Summer

I hunt the terrain, I scout new area's in Jan, Feb, Mar I get all setup and do not go near a setup until I hunt it. I also carry my lone wolf climber in my boat. I may sneak over on a run & gun attack(Todd Lone Wolf saying) to try and suprise one. I tried this in 2003 at watching a big 8 for 3 hours. He than walk by where I just was

So anybody who tries to tell you or anyone how to sneak into bedding area YOU are hunting without seeing the whole picture is blowing smoke up your arse