Jimmy S

For those hunters that hunt states/provinces with high deer numbers, how would you adjust your hunting style if you spent a week hunting in big woods with deer numbers less than 10 deer/sq mile? Woods that are measured in square miles, not acres.

These woods have no fields or agricultural areas, just big woods and the deer rely on all natural feed. These woods have nasty swamps, thick alders and open hardwoods.

Would you change your style or depend on past proven strategies? Also, saying that you would find the feeding and bedding areas and set up in between may be more difficult than it is in other places. The deer do not have to move far from a food source to a bedding area. Plus a large number of thick, nasty areas offer all the security the deer require.

Your thoughts?

teedub31

I figure that most hunters are not going to make the adaptation to hunting ground that is different then what they are use to very quickly. In your scenario, are we hunting for a few weeks, or did the hunter move/relocate to this area permanately. If only for a short stint, the increased effort and lack of sightings/success will mentally wear down guys that are use to "highly productive" outings.

I see this when guys from southern Indiana come up to northern/central Indiana. They are used to having deer in their laps at close range. They visit us for hunting and struggle with seeing deer and shooting at longer distances 100+ yards. Not saying that they could not get better with practice, but it is not something they ever do based on their normal routine/experiences.

Jimmy S

teedub...My scenerio was hunting that new area for a week. I realize that if a hunter moved, then time would be on their side to make all neccessary adjustments.

I do agree that hunters that see deer every day would be in for a culture shock when hunting big woods. My post was to determine if other hunters would hunt the same, based on deer in general, or move away from proven methods and make adjustments. Would they rely on the fact that deer everywhere act basically the same.

It has been my opinion, based on family and friends from elsewhere, that disappointment sets in quickly. What they though was fairly easy in shooting a decent buck, now takes on challenges they never expected. I truly feel if you can shoot a deer in big woods as described above, you can shoot a deer anywhere. I understand that may be a brash statement, but history has taught me it to be true.

teedub31

I totally agree with the harvesting deer in the big woods comment and the culture shock of actually having to hunt deer as opposed to just having them show up at your stand, which lets be honest, is how a big majority of deer hunting goes throughout much of the US.

Now hunting a particular deer in the "easy to hunt" areas adds to the challenge. Not sure you can do that in "the big woods" since you are most likely not intimately familiar with the deer in the big woods as you are in the great wide open.

RonPenner

Hey Jimmy S, good question. Here in Manitoba we hunt both ways, lots of ag land that we can sit and we have a ton of BIG bush, totally different expectations and mentality. My first 10 years of deer hunting was big bush hunting, learned a lot about patience and deer movement, we would sit for a week solid and see maybe 3 or 4 deer some years. Since there was no food source they were traveling to, you had to be prepared to sit on travel corridors, or search out bedding areas and sneak into the perimeter of those areas and be patient, rattling and grunting improved your odds if you knew there was a buck in the area, if you could locate an old logging cut it also improved your odds, gained some distance you could see...for those who are patient there can also be a big reward!!

nchawkeye

I won't matter, a good hunter is a good hunter, no matter where you put them...

Any of you guys know the history of BassMasters...Ray Scott started this in the 60s...He called around to marinas and asked who was the best bass fisherman around...Here are some of the names he got...
Tom Mann
Bill Jordan
Bobby Murray

After a few years he would put the anglers on a plane and announce where they were going for the Classic in the air...These guys still caught fish, didn't matter where because they knew the habits of a bass...A bass is a bass, no matter where you put him...

And a deer is a deer...

bigcountry

IMO, it would be a shock to a lot of hunters. I would definately change my habits. and tatics. Coming from tough hunting in Ky, to MD was a shock to me. Its extremely easy to kill an immature deer here. Mature deer is tough no matter where.

Father Forkhorn

This is a good question. I'm from Kansas, so we have lower densities in terms of actual square miles, though the deer will be more concentrated into the smaller patches of timber and cover. I'm used to only seeing a few deer a season, so I would not be concerned if I wasn't seeing them immediately or went several days without one coming by.

Here's what I'd do if I was in the big woods: I'd stillhunt, quite fast at first, as much as anything to cover ground to locate sign and/or deer. Once I got an idea of where the deer move through, I'd either set up downwind or stillhunt at the usual superslow, creeping pace that successful stillhunters employ.

rybohunter

It's going to take me more than a week to be comfortable hunting any type of large unbroken woods. I'd prefer several months to getting able to scout. A lot of which tactics to use would also depend on time of year.

If going in blind and having to make the best of it in a short amount of time, I am still going to look to hunt the edges (or in) the thickest stuff I can find. If it's the rut, that would still work, or maybe some travel routes would pay off.

Jimmy S

IMBO, comparing bass fishing to deer hunting makes little sense. I don't doubt that true elite bass fisherman can catch bass anywhere. The same cannot be said of hunting whitetails. Here's my logic and please tell me where I'm wrong.

Over the years I have had a handful of family members and friends hunt with us in northern NH and Maine. They were from Wisc, Maryland, Florida and Texas. They were veteran hunters that never failed to tag their deer every year. Most were fortunate to even see a deer after hunting for a week. They all were given our knowledge of the areas and where deer were seen and shot in years past. A few did mange to successfully tag their deer and all said it was nothing like they ever experiences. One buddy from FL shot a beautiful 8 pointer last year on his last day of hunting. It was the first deer he had seen during the entire week.

Why is it that veteran hunters from other states, friends that I truly respect as hunters, have such difficulty in being successful in remote, big woods that hold very few deer? I wish I had that answer. Yes, a deer is a deer but finding/seeing and shooting them in areas that you can hunt days without ever seeing a deer, is the biggest challenge of all. This is noted in NH where the total deer population is only 80,000 deer in the entire state. The success rate for all methods (Archery/ML and Firearm) is only about 15%. That's 1 in 8 hunters that brings home the venison. Now when you bring friends from out of state that hunt under these conditions, most may not be up to the challenge.