The biggest obstacle we face as mature buck hunters?
03-21-2008 | 06:35 AM
#32
Nontypical Buck
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 1,482
Likes: 0
From: IA/WI/IL
RE: The biggest obstacle we face as mature buck hunters?
Interferance from other hunters/people in general. Most of my hunting areas degenerate over the course of the season. By the rut deer have been pretty much run out(through daylight hours anyway) of some(lately 'most') of them. The deer part is the easy part for me[&:]
03-21-2008 | 06:56 AM
#33
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,415
Likes: 0
From: Wisconsin and Canada
RE: The biggest obstacle we face as mature buck hunters?
ORIGINAL: magicman54494
I hunt in the very dense thick woods of northern Wis. I look around and think the deer could bed anywhere of a million places. It took me many years to figure out where those big bucks are bedding. Search for elevated areas that are surronded by dense cover. Look for the beds. I found that those older lazy bucks like to bed in the same spot. They like to bed where they can see well.
ORIGINAL: _Dan
This is the biggest obstacle that I face as well Troy. The woods I hunt is so huge that the deer are very unpredictable during the season. They could bed and feed anywhere.
ORIGINAL: shed33
huge countrythatholdsno defined feeding areas,
huge countrythatholdsno defined feeding areas,
1. High on the edge ofridges. Which side will depend on which way the wind is blowing. Example: If the wind is blowing out of the west they will tend to bed on the east side of the ridge. This way they can smell anything from the west and see what's coming from the east....escape route will be downhill.
2. Dry beaver ponds. Generally the same wind rules apply as hunting ridges, which is true for deer feeding in the dry ponds. They'll almost always be on the same side of the pond that the wind is coming from. Example: East wind the deer will be on the east side of the pond. They'll be able to smell the thick woods to the east and see across the open pond to the west.
3. Thick pines. You can't see very far in them up there. These areas are generally around beaver ponds where the beavers have cut down all the softwood trees for food and the small spruce and balsam grow like mad, because of no competition. They use these areas because they can't be seen, yet they can hear anything thats close.
Magic, I do know where the deer bed in my area, the problem we have by us is knowing which of these areas they'll be in. They'll use one one day and another the next. Sure they have core areas, but there are so many of these types of bedding areas that a lot of the bucks will use one or the other depending on wind and weather conditions.
03-21-2008 | 07:52 AM
#36
Giant Nontypical
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 5,541
Likes: 0
From: Phoenixville, PA USA
RE: The biggest obstacle we face as mature buck hunters?
My biggest obstacle would be a combination of what Buckeye and Schultzy said. I face intense competition and human pressure everywhere I hunt and much of that competition shoots the first legal buck they see. It makes it very difficult to find and see the mature bucks during daylight hours.
03-21-2008 | 08:18 AM
#37
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 346
Likes: 0
From:
RE: The biggest obstacle we face as mature buck hunters?
Last year the guys hunting the big woods were not seeing any bucks. Ona whim I decided to try the hay fields and hedgerows. I found them. Boy did I find them. Everyday.The problemwas that there wasn't a single tree that I could climb in any of the hedgerows soI hunted from the ground. I thought I was pretty well concealed.I called a fewin and others came by on their own. I GOT PICKED OFF EVERY TIME.
I wonder how long it wouldtake an oak tree to grow to climbing size?
I wonder how long it wouldtake an oak tree to grow to climbing size?
03-21-2008 | 08:27 AM
#38
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 3,612
Likes: 0
From: Manassas, VA
RE: The biggest obstacle we face as mature buck hunters?
Human pressure and people invading spots that should be left alone until certain times of the year. Since I hunt public land, I have no choice. So I would say people walking around in the woods in an unorganized manner, potentially spoiling things that I have worked hard to keep pristine until I choose to enter that spot in what I believe is a safe manner so as to not alert bucks on my entrance or exit....I have no control over others.
03-21-2008 | 09:39 AM
#40
Nontypical Buck
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 2,139
Likes: 0
From:
RE: The biggest obstacle we face as mature buck hunters?
ORIGINAL: _Dan
Maybe I was being a little toobroad with my statement about the deer bedding and feeding anywhere. They have 3 major types of bedding areas where I hunt....
1. High on the edge ofridges. Which side will depend on which way the wind is blowing. Example: If the wind is blowing out of the west they will tend to bed on the east side of the ridge. This way they can smell anything from the west and see what's coming from the east....escape route will be downhill.
2. Dry beaver ponds. Generally the same wind rules apply as hunting ridges, which is true for deer feeding in the dry ponds. They'll almost always be on the same side of the pond that the wind is coming from. Example: East wind the deer will be on the east side of the pond. They'll be able to smell the thick woods to the east and see across the open pond to the west.
3. Thick pines. You can't see very far in them up there. These areas are generally around beaver ponds where the beavers have cut down all the softwood trees for food and the small spruce and balsam grow like mad, because of no competition. They use these areas because they can't be seen, yet they can hear anything thats close.
Magic, I do know where the deer bed in my area, the problem we have by us is knowing which of these areas they'll be in. They'll use one one day and another the next. Sure they have core areas, but there are so many of these types of bedding areas that a lot of the bucks will use one or the other depending on wind and weather conditions.
ORIGINAL: magicman54494
I hunt in the very dense thick woods of northern Wis. I look around and think the deer could bed anywhere of a million places. It took me many years to figure out where those big bucks are bedding. Search for elevated areas that are surronded by dense cover. Look for the beds. I found that those older lazy bucks like to bed in the same spot. They like to bed where they can see well.
ORIGINAL: _Dan
This is the biggest obstacle that I face as well Troy. The woods I hunt is so huge that the deer are very unpredictable during the season. They could bed and feed anywhere.
ORIGINAL: shed33
huge countrythatholdsno defined feeding areas,
huge countrythatholdsno defined feeding areas,
1. High on the edge ofridges. Which side will depend on which way the wind is blowing. Example: If the wind is blowing out of the west they will tend to bed on the east side of the ridge. This way they can smell anything from the west and see what's coming from the east....escape route will be downhill.
2. Dry beaver ponds. Generally the same wind rules apply as hunting ridges, which is true for deer feeding in the dry ponds. They'll almost always be on the same side of the pond that the wind is coming from. Example: East wind the deer will be on the east side of the pond. They'll be able to smell the thick woods to the east and see across the open pond to the west.
3. Thick pines. You can't see very far in them up there. These areas are generally around beaver ponds where the beavers have cut down all the softwood trees for food and the small spruce and balsam grow like mad, because of no competition. They use these areas because they can't be seen, yet they can hear anything thats close.
Magic, I do know where the deer bed in my area, the problem we have by us is knowing which of these areas they'll be in. They'll use one one day and another the next. Sure they have core areas, but there are so many of these types of bedding areas that a lot of the bucks will use one or the other depending on wind and weather conditions.