deepwoods hunting
 

I hunt near home here surounded by deep woods and cedar swamps. No crops for 100 miles. There's a little logging here and there, but that's where all the hunters concentrate. Vision is limited - a 100yd opening is huge. There's not enough deer to leave major trails, scrapes or rubs. Anybody have any strategies that might help?

RE: deepwoods hunting
 

i would love some info on that to i ave same place as here but there are tons of trails you ould be lucky to get a 50yd shot here . so anyone

RE: deepwoods hunting
 

You mentioned Swamps, I would get areail photo's of the swamps and topo's. Compair the two, look for high ground out in the swamp, find natural funnels and travel roughts in and out of the swamps. If you spend enough time in the swamps and around the swamps I beleive you will find the sign you say you havn't seen. Even a few bucks will leave some sign in concentrated areas.

RE: deepwoods hunting
 

There are deer in there, but you have to adjust your thinking. They have to be feeding on something. Find out what it is. You will find the does on the feed, and the bucks will be looking for does. Buckmastr has it right, you need to identify natural features, even subtle ones, that influence deer travel. You need to get in there right when scrapes are being opened to figure out how the bucks move between those feeding areas. Sometimes it's hard to sit in a spot where you can't see much, compared to what you may be used to, but that's what you have to do. Key in on buck travel, moreso than feeding sign. I like a fast handling rifle with a peepsight or a low power wide angle scope for tight cover. My favorite is a Marlin lever action with a Williams peep.

RE: deepwoods hunting
 

I ran into this situation when I moved back to MT five years ago. I hunt huge tracts of USFS land, with unbroken timber for miles. Okay, there is the occasional clearcut or small opening scattered around. I had some trouble for a couple years, then I changed my tactics.

What turned it around for me was abandoning stand hunting and taking up stillhunting. By moving slowly through the woods, I upped my deer sightings about five-fold. I've found in such environments that finding good stand sites is an exercise in futility. All the classic stuff about funnels really doesn't work so well in this type of country. If you must stand hunt, I'd recommend using a double or triple funnel stategy, find a spot that has two different classes of funnels in the same spot. If you can find an inside corner to a clearcut that also adjoins a saddle, you might have something there.

In still hunting, I think of it as stand hunting on the move, I'll choose my exact footfalls take two slow careful steps and stop, look around for 30 seconds to 5 minutes, then repeat. Again, I went from one or on a great day, two deer sightings per day, up to 5-6 sightings on a normal day. Moving that slowly I'll see most of the deer before they see me, it runs about 60-40 in my favor. Even the 40% that detect me first are usually unsure for a few seconds, so I can still shoot them if I choose.

RE: deepwoods hunting
 

i hunt like that......i find a funnel and when everyone moves around 8 or 9am from the openings to the trails the deer run right by me.....and that are walking all around my area all morning before then......my normal shot is 30yds.....when they realize your there its too late for them....i like hunting close quarters.......

RE: deepwoods hunting
 

What i would also do is try to bring the deer to you by putting up mineral licks in areas that aren't so swampy. I know in Louisiana they put up lots of mineral licks to bring deer in especially those areas without crops around the area.

[Deleted]
 

[Deleted by Admins]