thomasmgp

Stand 1. Right when you are driving into my farm. Road in is 250ish yards with baby pines and waist high grass on both sides. Stand is in a back corner overlooking the road coming in. Behind me its so thick again would need a dozer to get a deer out. Saw 2 separate rub lines there this year. One on each side of the road so assuming two differnt bucks as they were on the outside closest to the tree lines.

Stand 2. 100 yards from my house. Over looks our 2nd largest field. Two tree lines boarder timber cutdowns. Its a place so thick inside the tree lines if you wanna track a deer you need a bulldozer. Best stand last year saw deer almost every time I sat but only shot one from that stand. Havent seen a single deer there all season.

Stand 3. My accountantss stand. Can pretty much see my entire tract of land minus whats in the woods and can shoot all 4 fields from here. But hes a rediculous shot and drops anything even at 400-500 yards. This stand can basically shoot most of my farm if you have a $3000 scope like he does and 600 yard shots dont bother you.

Stand 4. The one I most recently put up after seeing that field full of deer tracks. Overlooks the field they were all in. Has 2 tree lines one on my left and one on my right Row of pines like 10 feet tall on my right but still thin where that massive buck rubbed all of them raw. Think the deer are bedding down in the treeline to my left. Have seen flattened arease of leaves in there in lots of places but no rut signs like rubs or scrapes.

Stand 5. Overlooks waist high grass and newly planted long leaf pines. Lots of tracks going into the grass and its matted down in many places. Tree line is to my left and has an old logging road that goes back into the swamp. Also lots of tracks coming out of the opening to the logging road but never seen a deer exit from there before. They usually sneak out through the brush further up near my food plot and bait.

Stand 6. In the woods. Plan on thinning out some of the Oaks in there because theres a trail 150 yards in front of the stand that runs parallel to my swamp and have seen lots of deer travel it but cant get off a shot cause no line of sight. Also has another trail coming up out of the swamp by the river. This is where I had my camera pick up so many bucks last year during rut. Deer insterstate. But cant see the raod because off trees to my right so might thin some. Dont wanna move the stand because then it would be right on top of them and its in a good natural clearing thats never been cut before. Also think they are bedding down off that trail because a lot of them walk from right to left across my camera while the ones coming down the trial from the river just walk straight at it.

Other stands were inactivce this year. But there were 3 down in the swamp, which I dont wana use if thats where they are bedding down in case they just cross the river and leave my land for someone elses if I spook them. Not even gonna go in and get them. They have been there for 8-10 years so deer are probably used to them.


I didnt see much chasing this year probably cause I already scared everything off. Only deer I saw was that 8 point I let walk just cause I never watched a deer chase a doe out in the open before. I did have a few really young bucks fighting on my camera was a 2 pointer and a 4 pointer and they went at from 4:30 am until 5:15 am. Also the reason I put up that stand near the tracks was becuase I actually saw that massive buck. He always stood next to a pine sapling that wasnt even knee high and would just watch the does as they ate out of my corn pile I had there.

I did however start seeing lonely fawns right after halloween right up until maybe 2 weeks ago. I only noticed one young buck attempting to chase. Was hutning that stand over looking all the tracks had 6 does come in behind me and just started running around. The buck I guess didnt know what to do but every now and then would run after a doe then go back to eating then a few minutes later run after another doe. The does were part of one of my big families so they were cougars compared to that little guy. All were at least 120-130 pounds and dark grey unlike my younger does which are much lighter colored. I seem to have 2 large doe populations like that on this side of my farm with 6-8 members in it. I say this side becuase a massive drain ditch 10 feet deep divides my farm in half. They all feed at the same time every night and are always together except for rut I assume. Also they arent camera shy and I swear sometimes they pose for pictures.

The thing that gets me is how many bucks I saw coming up that incline from the river and down that trail to get to my land. I mean 19 different bucks in a month's period from a single camera seems like alot especially coming down the same road. I mean God only knows how many I would have seen had I put cameras on the 4 other trails coming up out of the swamp.

Also another strange anomely happens on my farm. Every single one of my stands is ALWAYS downwind from my shooting lane. Either my dad is an engineering genius when he put most of these up over 5 year ago or I really am always down wind. I remember trying to spray doe esterus during rut and hopeing it would drift out in front of me but it always blew back in my face. No matter what stand I hunted I was always downwind. Just seems odd but hey I will take it.

thomasmgp

I think im gonna hang up my rifle until after Christmas. That gives me a full month of no hunting and leaves me with 5 days left before end of season. I havent been hearing anyone shoot, other than at ducks, in a week so obviously no one else is seeing deer either. Im hoping that by not hunting at all the deer feel safe to come out during hours again. Im also hoping that the people close to me get frustrated by not seeing anything and hunt their land harder and cause the deer to move over to my land.

But im wondering if I should contiunue to put bait out once a week like I have been doing all season or dont even do that and just put some out a few days before I plan on hunting again. Between the 50+ turkeys I have and all the deer Im pretty sure my acorns will be all gone by then so I need to feed them something or they will look for it elsewhere. I figure in and out on the 4-wheeler with my rubber boots wont leave too much scent.

PalmettoKid

Scout during postseason, not preseason. Hunt the fringes of your property only. Use the wind. Only hunt in the afternoon.

They will never know what hit them.

Also don't listen to people on forums, read a book.