A question on late season strategy....
11-23-2005, 11:02 AM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 3,406
A question on late season strategy....
Here's the situation.We hunt some (kinda) big woods (2 miles X 3 miles). No fields, no farmland etc and early in the season we were seeing deer. Mostly does but still a few bucks. Of the 4 of us in our camp, 3 have tagged (all bucks, during M/L and rifle season) and they were the only bucks we saw. Hunter #4 is still trying to fill his rifle tag.
It seem like not much has changed in these woods. The old srapes have not been touched and no new rubs either. The food source (acorns) seem to be mostly everywhere in the woods, the sign of a good mast crop.
Sooo, we now have 3 bow hunters and 1 rifle hunter still hunting these woods. The deer population is about 10-12 deer per square miles and the hunting pressure is very light. To us, typical NH hunting.
Based on previous years, we know the deer shouldstill be in that same piece of woods but seeing them is now the concern. We have abandoned our favorite spots somewhat, hoping to find the deer innew areas within these woods. All to no avail. It seems the deer are no where to be found...The weather has been unseasonably warm and windy but now looks like colder weather is here. Even when the weather was warm/wet and windy, we still tagged 3 deer.
One last thing...we have been hunting this piece of woods for years and we know these woods like the back of our hands. Deer sign is the same as usual (light) and we usually shoot deer where there is little sign. Knowing where they like to travel has been our "trump card".
What are we doing wrong? Is weather the big factor? Should we go back to basics? Have you had similar eperiences? Any suggestions?
It seem like not much has changed in these woods. The old srapes have not been touched and no new rubs either. The food source (acorns) seem to be mostly everywhere in the woods, the sign of a good mast crop.
Sooo, we now have 3 bow hunters and 1 rifle hunter still hunting these woods. The deer population is about 10-12 deer per square miles and the hunting pressure is very light. To us, typical NH hunting.
Based on previous years, we know the deer shouldstill be in that same piece of woods but seeing them is now the concern. We have abandoned our favorite spots somewhat, hoping to find the deer innew areas within these woods. All to no avail. It seems the deer are no where to be found...The weather has been unseasonably warm and windy but now looks like colder weather is here. Even when the weather was warm/wet and windy, we still tagged 3 deer.
One last thing...we have been hunting this piece of woods for years and we know these woods like the back of our hands. Deer sign is the same as usual (light) and we usually shoot deer where there is little sign. Knowing where they like to travel has been our "trump card".
What are we doing wrong? Is weather the big factor? Should we go back to basics? Have you had similar eperiences? Any suggestions?
11-23-2005, 11:59 AM
#2
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location:
Posts: 11,472
RE: A question on late season strategy....
Jimmy-
This season has been the worst by far for deer sightings here in NY. The weather has been warm and windy all season. Just the last few days we finally got a real Central NY cold snap with some snow.
I have also hunted the same chunk of land for years and know it like the back of my hand. My "honey holes" have been long abandoned in search of where the critters are. Very unusual season. I can't speak for your area, but what's happened here is the deer have gone nocturnal due to the horrible weather. I can't remember a day during bowseason when the wind wasn't below 20 mph (sometimes as high as 60!!). Another problem around my land is the farmers couldn't even harvest the corn due to the wetness in October and November. There is a ton of standing corn around my land that they seem to not be coming out of. The only couple of halfway decent hunting days weatherwise we had there was a full moon.
My only success has been getting as close as I dare to their bedding areas and catching one moving towards crop in the last half hour. Now we are in the opening week of shotgun that is heavily pressured and I feel I have a better chance of seeing Moses than I do a mature buck during daylight hours.
Good luck to you
This season has been the worst by far for deer sightings here in NY. The weather has been warm and windy all season. Just the last few days we finally got a real Central NY cold snap with some snow.
I have also hunted the same chunk of land for years and know it like the back of my hand. My "honey holes" have been long abandoned in search of where the critters are. Very unusual season. I can't speak for your area, but what's happened here is the deer have gone nocturnal due to the horrible weather. I can't remember a day during bowseason when the wind wasn't below 20 mph (sometimes as high as 60!!). Another problem around my land is the farmers couldn't even harvest the corn due to the wetness in October and November. There is a ton of standing corn around my land that they seem to not be coming out of. The only couple of halfway decent hunting days weatherwise we had there was a full moon.
My only success has been getting as close as I dare to their bedding areas and catching one moving towards crop in the last half hour. Now we are in the opening week of shotgun that is heavily pressured and I feel I have a better chance of seeing Moses than I do a mature buck during daylight hours.
Good luck to you
11-24-2005, 09:34 AM
#3
Typical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Livonia,new york
Posts: 564
RE: A question on late season strategy....
weather here in new york was the same. now it's cold so they'll be feeding more in order to stay warm. i'd go back to the basics. hunt those avenuesof thicketsthat lead tofeeding grounds of oaks. my guess is they'll feed from acorns that are next to cover or depressions or some type of cover.if you guys cleaned out the bucks, try this, have a couple of you seperate a little and start doing dominate grunts, then rattle long and hard while hitting the ground and breaking limbs and such. see if you can bring in another buck on the prowl. most of the does should be either bread by now or past there estrus cycle, but theres always a couple that come into heat late. try mimicing them with bleats, short in duration, and scent. i love hunting with budies. if you guys work as a team i know you'll help your partner tag one with the rifle.good luck and let use know how your hunts are going these next few weeks.
11-28-2005, 09:34 AM
#4
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 3,406
RE: A question on late season strategy....
jimmy...This is Jimmy 
....On Thanksgiving we received 3-4 inches of snow. Since then a lot of questions have been answered. The deer are still in the same area and we are again seeing deer, but all does and out of bow range. We also saw fresh rubs...6 of them....which really confuses me. The rubs are fresh because the small pieces of bark etc, is laying on top of fresh snow...
Sooo, we'll continus hunting the same piece. Hopefully, some big old bruiser will make a fatal mistake to hunter #4, before our rifle season ends this Sunday.
ThanksNY and jimmy for your input. It was reassuring....Good luck guys!
....On Thanksgiving we received 3-4 inches of snow. Since then a lot of questions have been answered. The deer are still in the same area and we are again seeing deer, but all does and out of bow range. We also saw fresh rubs...6 of them....which really confuses me. The rubs are fresh because the small pieces of bark etc, is laying on top of fresh snow...Sooo, we'll continus hunting the same piece. Hopefully, some big old bruiser will make a fatal mistake to hunter #4, before our rifle season ends this Sunday.
ThanksNY and jimmy for your input. It was reassuring....Good luck guys!
