Question for guys who consistently kill bucks.....
#51
ORIGINAL: buckeye
Looks like you have a nice hedge row that transitions into timber that makes an inside corner with your thicket... How is the hunting over in that corner?
I see deer EVERY time I hunt this spot. What's even more awesome, is that I rarely see another hunter back here!! Not that it's some "remote" spot, but it's just an area where most guys don't want to walk back to, because there are a ton of other spots closer to the parking area.It's only about a 20 min walk, but apparently too far for most guys to go, and I LOVE IT!!!Thanks for asking.

#52
1. Do you see does in the places you've killed your bucks?
2. Are you trying to AVOID seeing does.....opting, instead, for more buck-friendly areas?
3. How do you determine said areas (if No. 2's answer is "yes")?
4. How do you determine #3 if you're not hunting "sign"?
5. If you do see does where you're killing your bucks...at what time of the year are you having your best luck seeing bucks?
6. How would you describe the area you're seeing the bucks? (i.e. trail/destination food source/funnel/bedding areas/etc...)
Thanks.
2. Are you trying to AVOID seeing does.....opting, instead, for more buck-friendly areas?
3. How do you determine said areas (if No. 2's answer is "yes")?
4. How do you determine #3 if you're not hunting "sign"?
5. If you do see does where you're killing your bucks...at what time of the year are you having your best luck seeing bucks?
6. How would you describe the area you're seeing the bucks? (i.e. trail/destination food source/funnel/bedding areas/etc...)
Thanks.
Hard Q to answer.. as I've always believed in the constant adaption by the hunter with the timing of the season. Preferred food sources.. natural deer movement.. current wind direction.. limited time (etc etc) all play such a huge role (I know for myself) to give such a short answer.
I always found it interesting that so many hunters can't tell bedding areas. I think they're not understanding how important ones own imagination is while your in the deer woods. Using all the clues that are layed out in front of one.. just using a little imagination is all it often takes to quickly and effectively figure out where the deer are today. I know this is extremely off topic.. but it boggles me that so many have such a tough time with it.
It's like fishing any lake where you don't know the depth. Using a few different lures.. noticing vegetation (below water or above).. water current.. once you have just a few clues you use your imagination and put a plan into effect and can almost picture exactly what the fish are doing. Usually your spot on. Same thing once you are in the woods.
#53
Looks like you have a nice hedge row that transitions into timber that makes an inside corner with your thicket... How is the hunting over in that corner?
Joe Brooks calls these transition areas "Breaklines"....and I've hunted them for two years without even knowing I was doing it. I just knew that's where I saw the most deer.
That spot you mention always catches my eye (inside corner)...and by definition...EVERY inside corner is on a breakline (when the breakline is a tangible entity and not a property boundary).
What I've learned from this thread (among other subtleties) is I hunt about like everyone else does.....and that's good and bad, I guess....lol. It sounds like we have guys who hunt "deer" and wait for the does to draw the bucks to them during that special time of the year. Nothing wrongg with that....and it's worked out for me doing this. I also have never had the habitat/accessibility to do anything different.
Now...I do. So...my quest in this thread was to find out what guys who were hunting bucks, ONLY, during the non-rut times were doing (in a roundabout way....while getting all the information I could). At the very least....I now have properties I can doe hunt on while I wait for the rut in the areas that have already proven themselves in the past. While hunting these other properties....I can now "maybe" put my "gut feelings" to the test on some buck travel areas, too. I'm looking forward to it. I don't see how I can lose with this outlook. I might find that NONE of my hunting areas are buck travel corridors (during non-rut times)....and that'll be OK, too. As many does as I have ......the bucks WILL be there, sometime.
I'm gonna take my longbow into some off the beaten path areas.....take a doe if I get an opportunity.....and then compound up and explore/takesome chances. I've got enough guys that say they'll help with the doe pops. We might have to hunt a little harder for them.....but I think I'll reap the rewards of this approach, later. And...we just might stumble onto a buck while doing so.
Thanks, so much, for all of your inputs. I learned a lot in this thread.
#56
Buckeye....
Joe Brooks calls these transition areas "Breaklines"....and I've hunted them for two years without even knowing I was doing it. I just knew that's where I saw the most deer.
Joe Brooks calls these transition areas "Breaklines"....and I've hunted them for two years without even knowing I was doing it. I just knew that's where I saw the most deer.
I use the term breakline a lot but neverused the termwhere a hedge row meets a wood lot...Or where you referring to where the thicket meets the timber?.... Maybe I read your post wrong...?
Where I live inside breaklines are almost exclusively what I hunt as I do not have much terrain features...... Took my best buck off of an inside breakline. Down south where I hunt though there is plenty of terrain to hunt....
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#57
I use the term breakline a lot but neverused the termwhere a hedge row meets a wood lot...Or where you referring to where the thicket meets the timber?.... Maybe I read your post wrong...?
Whenever I look at an aerial map.....it's the first thing I look for....and it's the first thing that catches your eye....whatever you call it. Two breaklines in close proximity form a funel. My best breakline is a place where there's a thicket on one side.....a pasture fence behind me on two sides.....and "people" on the other side of the hardwoods, in between. It's an outside corner OR an inside corner....however one wants to look at it. However viewed....it's one helluva a funnel.
#58
ORIGINAL: GMMAT
If I'm not mistaken.....Joe uses the term to define ANY place where different types of vegetation meets another. A "breakline" can also be man-made...as in a fence. A river is a natural breakline. A place where evergreens meets hardwoods is a breakline. Etc...etc...etc...
Whenever I look at an aerial map.....it's the first thing I look for....and it's the first thing that catches your eye....whatever you call it. Two breaklines in close proximity form a funel. My best breakline is a place where there's a thicket on one side.....a pasture fence behind me on two sides.....and "people" on the other side of the hardwoods, in between. It's an outside corner OR an inside corner....however one wants to look at it. However viewed....it's one helluva a funnel.
I use the term breakline a lot but neverused the termwhere a hedge row meets a wood lot...Or where you referring to where the thicket meets the timber?.... Maybe I read your post wrong...?
Whenever I look at an aerial map.....it's the first thing I look for....and it's the first thing that catches your eye....whatever you call it. Two breaklines in close proximity form a funel. My best breakline is a place where there's a thicket on one side.....a pasture fence behind me on two sides.....and "people" on the other side of the hardwoods, in between. It's an outside corner OR an inside corner....however one wants to look at it. However viewed....it's one helluva a funnel.
I see.... He uses the term to encompass all forms of transitions... I use the term edgeline when ever timber meets a field or when two types of fields meet, such as corn and beans etc etc and use breakline when two forms of timber meet.
Same sort or terminology just different words describing the same thing.
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#59
Yeah, Scott...he even goes so far as to describe a non-terrain/non-vegetation or even man-made area as a "breakline". It could be so little as a line where hunting is allowed (or you have permission to hunt) v. one where you don't (and where no such "feature(s) determine its' boundaries). He mainly references those type breaklines for baiting....but doesn't discount them.
Simply differing vernacular.
Simply differing vernacular.
#60
ORIGINAL: DropTine249
4. How do you determine #3 if you're not hunting "sign"?
Tracts/Poop. Tracts/Poop. Ive said it time and time again..Tracts and poop are the BEST scouting tools. A buck can enter and area and not rub or scrape, but he cant not walk or answer the call of nature. On the same token, if you're not seeing alot of doe poop, tracts and the forest floor is very green with undergrowth, then this is not an area of high traffic. You'll notice that areas containing and aroundfood (like acorns) are beaten down. Not a ton of green on the ground. So, areas of high deer activity will show little undergrowth while areas of low deer activity will show abundant undergrowth.
Once youve found a few areas like this, scout them hard. Look for some kind of food, water, tracts, poop..any reason that a buck would travel through here and browse. If you knwo where he is bedding, youll figure out which "untouched" area he is using. You wont see many if any doe here.
4. How do you determine #3 if you're not hunting "sign"?
Tracts/Poop. Tracts/Poop. Ive said it time and time again..Tracts and poop are the BEST scouting tools. A buck can enter and area and not rub or scrape, but he cant not walk or answer the call of nature. On the same token, if you're not seeing alot of doe poop, tracts and the forest floor is very green with undergrowth, then this is not an area of high traffic. You'll notice that areas containing and aroundfood (like acorns) are beaten down. Not a ton of green on the ground. So, areas of high deer activity will show little undergrowth while areas of low deer activity will show abundant undergrowth.
Once youve found a few areas like this, scout them hard. Look for some kind of food, water, tracts, poop..any reason that a buck would travel through here and browse. If you knwo where he is bedding, youll figure out which "untouched" area he is using. You wont see many if any doe here.


