Describe your hunting area
 

I just thought this would be interesting to hear what everyone's primary hunting area is like.

Mine is atop a small hill just before it starts breaking over to the slope. It's just inside the edge of an area that was selectively logged about 6-7 years ago. It is very thick and shots are tight. I am 10 yds off an old logging road where several trails intersect. THe woods are a mix of hardwoods, a few oaks but mostly cherries. There really isn't much close in the way of corn fields. I see deer in both the evenings and mornings and they have come from every direction 360 degrees.

The general area is a mix of farmland and old strip mines that have grown in. It is hunted pretty hard, but not as much as in the past. We have pretty large numbers of deer but few large bucks.

Some things are true whether you believe them or not.

RE: Describe your hunting area
 

Hey Wimp.

It sounds like we have similiar settings. I am in a funnel between two large sphagnum swamps and a small brook. The deer pretty much have to use this unless they're spooked. They can feed all the way through the hardwood funnel, picking up white acorns and beech nuts.

I see a majority of deer here in the mornings but afternoons has proven successfull as well. I have another spot up in the hardwoods on the other side of these swamps for the afternoons. I take my climber to hunt this stand when the wind is right and pressure is low.

Good idea.
Jack

RE: Describe your hunting area
 

My hunting area is THICK and I mean THICK woods, I can't get any kind of treestand in them because there are few opening and the ones I have are very small, I go and find a place to sit, I rarely get a kill because they catch me drawing my bow/rifle.
But I'm still tryin!

RE: Describe your hunting area
 

Well camp is located at 10,300 ft. on a shelf in front of about a 75 acre meadow. I am surounded by dark timber with springs running through. The timber opens to meadows every few hundred yards at the level I am camped. Above camp the dark timber opens up a bit so it's not so thick, and eventually gets up above timber line with some amazing views of the surrounding mountains. ELk trails are running through the timber and meadows like you wouldn't believe. So far this season, on the weekends, I have called in ten bulls 5x5 or larger, with one being a 7x7, and one 4x4, but havn't been able to get a shot because I am trying to do this by myself and the elk have quite a nack of stopping directly behind a tree or just won't get out of the THICK stuff for a shot. I've got to find a fellow bowhunter here so we can team up on these elk. Like Deerhunter131 though, I'm still trying and wouldn't trade it for the world!

RE: Describe your hunting area
 

Okay, my honey hole it is then.

My stand is a loc on about 25 ft up into a hemlock tree. This stand overlooks the edge of a golden rod field littered with saplings. The tree is within a hedgerow that connects the main old hardwoods with a new sapling/small tree woodlot that is thicker than thick. I consider this area a bedding area. On the other side of the golden rod field is about 100 acres of corn, which I'm in the corner of, the edge about 25 yards from me. The deer travel the corn, into the golden rod and back and forth from woodlot to woodlot. It's a natural funnel and causes all deer that don't enter the corn to walk within 25 yards of my stand. If I didn't have rack standards, this tree is a gaurantee every year. Many times I don't even hunt the stand until the last week. The golden rod/sapling field also acts as a bedding area. Many times I'll have deer bedded within bow range of my stand and I sit and watch them chew their cudd. I narrowed down to this stand several years ago while watching the deer activity and travel patterns in this area. Few have shared the tree with me, but all who have said I found a mecca. <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>

<font color=blue>Good Luck and Good Shooting</font id=blue>

<font color=red>Rob</font id=red>


My other area is a oak hardwoods atop a mountain. We've narrowed down our stand placements to a oak flat that acts again, as a natural funnel/browse line. We catch the deer coming from adjacent land field crops to the dense areas of this particular wooded area. I along with my partner, brother and many friends have taken probably more than 20 some buck within a 100 yard diameter of one tree.

Edited by - Rob/PA Bowyer on 09/17/2002 21:50:15

RE: Describe your hunting area
 

Well i hunt 800 acres and its a big tree farm. mostly pines, there are some areas where the skidders couldnt get to becuz of it being so low which lies some old hardwoods. theres some plots that have 30 yr old pines and some with 5 yr plots and some freshly cutover plots. if you can picture that. my hot spot is thick. im in one of those older plots that has alot of under growth. what i did is found a nice used area and hung a stand and did a lil clearing, and every year i take a lil more out so im creating a nice clear area in the mix of this woods. ive killed 3 deer out of this spot including a nice 8pt. but theres alot of nice spots on this property and i have a few hunting spots. i look for the transition spots mostly from the younger trees to the older these spots hold alot of activity. cant wait till this weekend to get back in there

RE: Describe your hunting area
 

Where i am going to set up for the first part of the season is in the thick stuff.
To the right of my stand there is a draw that the deer have been using as a travel corridor.
There is a small clearing in front of the stand which will give me a max of a 25yd shot.
There are 5 or 6 trails leading into the clearing and they all merge into 1 and go past the stand to my left.
I am set up between a bedding area and a corn field.

My second spot is back in the timber about 25 yds from the corner of another field that also has a lot of trails merging into 1 to go into the field.

If I get my deer from the first spot I will set Matt/Pa up in the second spot when he gets down here.

RE: Describe your hunting area
 

I hunt deer in the desert and have fallen down a hill into a nest of cholla cactus before. Need to find heavy trails or water. I hunt elk in tall timber, easy walking but straight up and down. Some elk taken on water holes but I mostly stalk and set up in oak thickets. Elk altitide is 7500 to 8700 feet. Love to deer hunt but something about hearing that &quot;thunk&quot; as the arrow hits the ribs of a big elk gets me all excited.

RE: Describe your hunting area
 

Im 50 yards in from the edge of a large swamp, for the first 15 yards in from the swamp is field(no trees). 40 yards behind me is a large beaver pond. To my right about 100 yards is a beaver damn that is a deer highway. My stand is in a large cedar tree that sits on the edge of where the cedars change to a acre of oak trees. Incredible funnel. This is my primary stand.

My second favorite stand is where this same swamp comes within 40 yards of the lake. Its the only spot where you can actually see both the swamp and lake from the same spot. Another fantastic funnel!

RE: Describe your hunting area
 

Well my place stinks. The only place I could find.No one lets you hunt up here. More land posted this year then ever. Anyway i see the same 3 deer everytime I go and sit. A mother and 2 stupid as a door knob buttons. Think I will become a vegetarian.Aint no venison in my future. The owner says the fields fill up with deer every night. I think he smokes to much waky weed. Anyway here are the pics
http://community.webshots.com/user/midnight250
Click on nancy my Love Pics 321 tru 325

RE: Describe your hunting area
 

I have a few different hunting sites. One is about a 5 acre timber surrounded by agriculture. The deer mainly use this timber as a pass through to bedding and feeding areas. The big bucks have eluded it so far though. I also have a 3 acre timber that is their bedding area. They tend to stay in it and the big bucks come in as well. It is surrounded by agriculture and grass land. I have newly acquired a 40 acre timber that is surrounded by pasture on East and West, and more timber on the North and South. The timber goes across a hillside for as far as the eye can see. It has big ravines and a lot of deer sign.

RE: Describe your hunting area
 

60 acres of hardwoods with alot of mature white oaks , 80 acres of canary grass as high as your shoulders and tagalders(sp?) that provide an excellent bedding area , 40 acres of corn and 40 acres of soybean(new this year). Theres a crick that runs right thru the middle of the property and thru the bedding area and a bayou off the wolf river that seperates our property from the neighbors.

&quot;Nocked,cocked & ready to rock&quot;


Edited by - bowfanatic on 09/18/2002 05:03:24

RE: Describe your hunting area
 

One spot is right out my back door. 83 acres of woods behind my pond. There's a thick 2nd growth, briar patch on the corner of my property. There are trails leading in & out of there. It's small so I won't go in, I'll just wait in the woods. A corn field is at one end of the woods. The deer cross a ravine with a creek in it to get there. I saw 3 nice bucks together this spring, and have seen does with fawns all summer. This morning a doe with 2 fawns was checking out my 3D deer target.

Phil.

RE: Describe your hunting area
 

My favorite spot is a funnel that leads to a field that the deer browse in. The deer bed on top of the hill then make there way down between the houses to a fairly open oak flat. There is a stream that concentrates the deer movement in one direction. Although they sometimes cross it, I have my stand positioned so I can still have a shot opportunity. The deer use this area as a little staging area before heading out to the field.

About 100 yards away is another excellent stand site where there is a fence that pushes deer movement to one corner and there is a number of trails beat into the ground.

The only problem is this year all of the bucks, but a smallish 7 point have been coming out to the field from the opposite side. I'm working on them though.

RE: Describe your hunting area
 

I have a couple good places to go.

Behind my house I have 33 acres of very thick overgrown apple orchard. Very few good trees for treestands. There is a large creek running along the south border. (Great for big trout and salmon BTW) I really don't see many deer out there however, this is where I killed my first deer.

My father-in-laws farm is 120 acres. I'd say roughly 15 - 20% is woods. Fairly open with good treestand trees. On interesting feature of the farm is a long strip of woods seperating two of the fields. This strip runs from the southern end of the farm, around the field that sits on the southern left corner of the farm, and connects to a large patch of woods. This strip narrows to around 50 yards wide at a key location. Great funnel! Seen many deer in that spot.

My brother-in-laws farm is over 150 acres. Several hedgrows run between fields. Deer seem to love these rows. The eastern most portion of the farm is a large hill that is all hardwoods. This eastern section makes up the southern end of a huge patch of woods that runs for several miles to the north. Unfortunately the deer really seem to hang up off our section and more to the north. I don't have any confirmed permission to hunt up there. We had some logging done a few years ago so now there are some great logging roads and some clear sections on our land. Some of you may recall the photo's I posted of this piece of propery.

I just joined a hunting club last year. They have nearly 1000 acres of land to hunt. Almost all of it is hardwoods with a few swampy sections and a few real thick areas. I haven't even begun to see every section yet although I did hang one stand in a very promising spot.

-Mike

RE: Describe your hunting area
 

If you know just where to park and enter the wood, you can walk back into the bush about 50 yards and you will find my trail. It took me two days to cut the trail down into the draw that I hunt, but I'm sure my time was well spent. This place is so thick I'm not sure when the last human has been down there. I did find a soda can the other day, put it had one of those old pull tab tops so I don't think it was from anyone lately LOL! In this draw is a natural spring that runs year around, and in TX water is a great place to hunt. The good thing about this water hole is that it is in thick cover, and nobody else knows about it due to it's small size, and thick cover. I have several trees down this draw that I have prepaired for this season. I have taken some nice pictures of some good bucks with my game camera this year, including a nice looking 10 pointer that i want. Shooting lanes have been cut, bow has been tuned, just waiting on opening day.

RE: Describe your hunting area
 

My prime hunting spot is located on top of a ridge with two small valleys to the left and right of me. Stand location is about 12 yards from a hay field, 100 yards from a stream, with corn and bean fields very close by. We hunt on 100+ acres of timber on a nearby farm with plenty of food plots, water and cover. The area produces some nice bucks and we're pretty fortunate we get to hunt it every year. Bow season is less than two weeks away in IL!!!!

RE: Describe your hunting area
 

I had to find a new spot to hunt this year & I found what looks to be very good. It's in the middle of a funnel. I have three trees picked for my stand. It's along side of a creek & I have 3 trails that go right by my tree the farthest trail being under 20 yards. The tree I will be in has hemlocks tight on my backside to break-up my outline perfectly. The trails come from a small overgrown field into a small thicket where I will be waiting & go into a thick stand of hemlocks. The trails are so worn down you would think they were cattle trails! The land has never really been hunted so I stand a good chance. On the side of the creek it is on the swampy side & goes out about 100 yards where it parallel a road. On the other side of the road is a mountain that is not hunted due to to much building. Anyway that's where I'll be in 2 weeks!!

RE: Describe your hunting area
 

Here's mine....This is a 1/3 of my property. I got my doe between 1 and 4.

RE: Describe your hunting area
 

I have two areas. My deer stand is located 60 yards off a dirt road on a wildlife management area. Straight across the road to the south is a food plot. There is a hole in the barbwire fence that the deer funnel through. To the west is tall grass and shrubs used as a bedding area. East is wooded timber slopping down with a creek at the bottom. North is thick timber of mainly oaks and hickory. My stand is in a tree that has 3 trees growing out of one base. My stand is on the middle tree and I have 3 lanes to shoot from. I took a buck from here last year while sitting on the ground up against that same tree.

My other area is on another part of the management area. It is a field planted with clover. The edges of the field is abutted with heavy timber and thick undergrowth on all sides. I have went in and cleared out 4 different sitting areas depending on the wind. I chose big trees about 5 yards off the field and cut multiple shooting lanes out for each one. While scouting a few weeks ago my dog and I ran across 6 does feeding on the clover about 7 in the evening. 13 more days!!!!

RE: Describe your hunting area
 

My primary area is mostly private land surrounded by thousands of acres of public land. Northern Arkansas, rolling hills, pines/hardwoods/cedars. Not many big deer, not a lot of deer, but I hunt with my Dad up there and it makes for a good season.

My #1 stand is a funnel coming off a big hill choked with short knarly cedars and a clearcut. The deer have to cross a dirt road here or cross open fields. The strip of woods is about 75 yards to 100 yards wide, narrowing down to where I have my stand in a big old oak tree. My shots this fall will be about 10-15 yards.
Stealthycat's Photo's

RE: Describe your hunting area
 

Well I count myself lucky this year, I have one place that is 61 acres that only two other people will bow hunt on and then only on weekends. This property has three large fields, with two beautiful treelines dividing the fields and backs up to a river that the deer can and do ford.

Spot #1 I have already designated as my afternoon stand and have cut myself out a sweet blind with 4 great shooting lanes, this is in the end of one of the tree lines where every time I have been there I have seen at least 3 deer feeding right next to where I cut out the blind. I also picked this out because I will be able to take one of my twins at a time to sit with me in the afternoon.

Spot #2 is right inbetween an old ford and where a stream(dry for the first time in 93 years)enters the river. The banks to the river a steep every where except there and there are a ton of tracks in bot the ford and the stream bed. The whole area funnels into this spot.

As I scout more I will add stands to this property.

Property #2 is only 12 acres, but is a sweet spot also, there is a monster 6 point(no brow tines) that made it through last season.

spot #1 is a bottom that funnels out of a huge stand of oaks down to a small pond which is the only water source for about 3 miles, I have a permanent stand which covers every trail entering the bottom going to the pond.

spot #2 is within 20 yards of the pond just inside of a thick area of pine that they bed in. There is one major trail leading to the pond that is heavily used and several smaller trails enter the small clearing around the pond.

It should be a good year for me if the drought continues, especially bow season and the water sources I have covered by 3 out of my 4 present stands.

The Tazman aka Martin Price
Founder and President of
Virginia Disabled Outdoorsmen Club