VA5326

Ok ladies and gentlemen I'm looking for some recommendations on late season archery tactics for NOVA. The piece of property I hunt is not gun hunted or any of the other surrounding areas for that matter. My deer sightings have been fewer since the end of the rut. I know their feeding patterns have changed. I'm just looking to change it up a bit. The floor is open for suggestions, advice, direction, etc. Thanks all!

virginiashadow

For me, my best deer sightings toward the end of the season occur the last hour before sundown. Morning sightings start dropping of for me. I like to hunt on the downwind side of thick cover, or where two different types of cover come together such as pines and hardwoods. The does seem to float along the inside edges looking for food.

BOWMANN100

I moved a little deeper in the woods, not to far where they bed most of the time but a few hundered yards in. Im hunting a 100 acre piece that has a huge swamp, thickets, big woods and islands in the swamp. the islands are where the deer bed most of the time and i moved closer to them and seeing them on the way to feed. It worked, I have seen atleast 1 deer the last 4 days. Just no shooters[]

VA5326

When you say inside edges did you mean the point where the two pieces of cover meet? Which inside edge do they travel? Pines or hardwoods? Sorry that layout is similar to where I hunt though. Thanks Shadow.

Edited to add: I would also like to hear some recomendations on hunting in the rain seeing how this is the Norm for NOVA this week.

Much appreciated all!

VA

virginiashadow

"When you say inside edges did you mean the point where the two pieces of cover meet? Which inside edge do they travel? Pines or hardwoods? Sorry that layout is similar to where I hunt though. Thanks Shadow"

Yep, where two pieces of cover meet. Usually I see them travelling on the hardwood side of the cover and feeding, or at least using the mix of cover as a runway to get to where they are feeding. If you know where they are bedding, then I would recommend setting up downwind of the thick cover as they exit the beds, no more than 100-150 yards away. If you can tie any of that cover into a ravine or draw leading from the bedding area, then even better as it would narrow their travel patterns down even more. I used this tactic tonight as a set up on agroup of small saplings(real thick area)bordering hardwoods. The does were bedded closer than I thought as I entered, so I bumped 3 of them. But at 3:30 a buck or a bigger doe came right down the inside edge but headed the other way from my stand. Then as I exited I bumped another doe that was sitting on the inside edge as well. I have just noticed this pattern over and over later in the season. Not that I amsome master late season hunter or anything, just some observations. I would like to hear your observations as they would help me as well. Good luck.

crenshaw

Well if your in Fairfax its hard to just switch it around, trust me I know. My best suggestion is not to hunt where you have been shooting deer. Deer in fairfax, believe it ornot tend to be the smartest around, there used to people so much so that they know the difference, people can say im crazy but ive been hunting them for 12yrs and they always manage to impress me, well at least the mature ones. I sometimes just move my stand down a ways, and come at it differently. Sometimes in Fairfax its all about how you enter the woods, if you come in the wrong way you can get screwed.

another thing i do is try to figure out what there eating, this is huge! Deer in nova can go far in wide at night, so your resident deer tend to be less then resident. If you can figure out what there eating you have a huge chance. As virginiashadow said edges are great and evening hunts tend to be better. If your hunting a urban area, remember the worse the weather the better, if its nice out, people are outside, they will push deer and keep deer from moving, if its cold and wet, those deer will move all day, knowing they wont be bothered by the kids, the dogs, the gardener and what ever else. I have shot a lot of great bucks in FFX, and alot of them in the last two weeks!

o2bebowhunting

dont do what i did last evening gun hunting in loudoun. i used my last doe in estrus buck bomb. had deer blowing loud right at prime time. i was just doe hunting--i should of known better. i did get one doe who was not bothered by that smell.

coolbrze0

This time of year you can't go wrong hunting between the bedding spots & food sources. It's probably my #1 setup after the rut and through the winter.

Bone_Collector

Hey guys don't mean to get off subject, but I am originally from Springfield, VA and moved to TN when i was 16. I was always told that you could not hunt in Fairfax county, but knew eventually they would have to get smart and allow at least bow hunting. I knew you could hunt on Ft. Belvoir, but i was unaware that you could hunt anywhere else. However, through this forum and others it appears that there are alot of hunters in the NOVA area. I was just wondering as to what type of land was avaialable to hunt there as it is mostly urban. Did the railroad company finally coperate and allow hunting? I was just curious, because i could remember when i was a kid in the woods with my BB gun i used to see a ton of deer and think i wish i could hunt deer here, but it wasn't allowed.

VA5326

Heading out for a doe hunt this afternoon. Hope I see some. Haven't hunted in NOVA in two weeks.