nosfedgta

A friend of mine said I could hunt his land. He has a 35 acre tract of land right off a highway. The area across the street is known for big deer as well as the surounding area. I went to take a look at it and could not believe what I found.

I pulled up and saw a small field about 1/2 acre and it had 30 large crab apple trees and all of them were loaded!!!!!! on theleft side was a 2 acres pathc of 5 year old pines that were thick and it butted up to the highway. I walked to the property line and went down the side of a ridge that was very thick but had a deer trail along the fence all the way to the bottom. I get down there and there is a 3/4 acre pond, 4 very large oak trees, about 7 -10 more apple trees and a permison tree that was loaded. On the other side off the pond was ridge that was also very thick.

The property basicaly has three steep ridges that all lead down to the pond. It ahs oaks, apple trees, pecan trees, and thickets everywhere. Here is the part I dont understand though. I did nto see one scrape, rub or large track anywhere!!!!!!! I could not believe it. I walked everywhere and found no buck sign at all.
I just dont understand this at all. With all that food, water, etc there should have been something.

Here is an idea of what the property looks like

brushbuster07

Is it a place that the guy/gal lets anyone and everyone hunt? Lots of human disturbances? These could contribute to the absense of sign.

kswild

Looks great! Set up and watch the trails leading in and out of the field with the apple trees in it. If you found deer trails that you think are being used regularly you'll find out in a couple of days where the deer are. With rut starting in a couple weeks, Bucks will start moving. Where there is no sign today might be full of sigh in a week. Remember where there are does the bucks will be too. Best of luck! KSwild

bigbucks98

let it get a little bit colder first. get in set your stand up and get the hell out till you hunt lol once it gets colder and the rut kicks in those bucks will be right in there chasing does. i wuldnt rlly worry about it to be honest if its the way you describe it then th0se bucks will be right in there for sure

cardeeer

could be shot out. I know great lookin spots , but people got greedy and killed all the deer

Father Forkhorn

That sounds like a great property that won't be empty for long. Rut will start moving everything and present deer movements will be vastly altered.

Do you know what's going on in other properties? I went out last week looking for rubs and scrapes and didn't see anything and that was a larger tract of land. I think its on the early side for us still and you're even farther south. There may not be much activity yet at all

A trail camera could help you. Perhaps some mock scrapes along that trail would be useful. It might also pay to check the area. You have good food there, but there may be something else like an unharvested crop field that the deer are using instead. If its harvested, they'll have to switch. That place could be crawling with deer before you know it. It sounds like deer are very close by ("across the street") and its good habitat. That will bring deer eventually.

I think this situation might even help you: the does are going to start getting pushed by bucks and are going to want to avoid them till they're ready to breed. That piece of property sounds like a good one for them to head toward when the pressure hits. The bucks won't be far behind.

nosfedgta

Well i went there this morning to just sit and maybe see something. If you look the pic I attached I sat on on side of the pond and looked accross it at the oaks and apple trees. Well at 8:45am I heard grunting and chasing. I saw a small spike chasing a doe. The 5 miutes later I heard louder grunts and chasing and saw a small 8 or 6 pointer. I couldnt tell cause they were moving pretty good. I then saw 2 more deer run by but could not tell what they were.

I have not seen chasing this early before, but was happy see some deer movement on this property.

The surounding property is know for having deer and nobody has hunted this tract in over 5 years. Now the property around it gets hunted but its not hunted super hard from from i have heard from other people who hunt in the area. I hope that some bigger bucks will move in soon.!

halfbakedi420

in that case i would not show up opening day, or even that weekend...go on Monday or Tuesday..after all the hunters start shooting the deer will go where there is less pressure and where they never seen anyone at..your place..so be ready and be quiet they will show up...

jepcho

Yeah if there are deer there, the bucks will show up here in a couple weeks

Team Catfish

This theroy has worked well for me during the pre rut........

If you are hunting deer, kill um where they eat.
If you are hunting big bucks, kill um where they travel.

Any day now those larger bucks will start to hit the trails the does travel on. They will be looking for the first estros doe sign of the year. The bigger more dominant bucks get to breed first and will be on the prowl making sure a lesser deer does not score first.

Its just a matter of getting the to the stand without scaring the he77 out of everything and smelling like a runnin back after a football game while you are setting there.

Find a quiet way to get on the ridge that has the best trials......Look for intersection(s). Set up with the wind. Hunt! If you are gonna hunt multpile days make sure your exit is as clean and quiet as your entry.

Good Luck, it looks like a great place........

Just my 2 cents.........