Jimmy S

I spend all of my time hunting Maine and NH and do not have the luxury of glassing many fields for deer activity or planting certain food for the deer to feed. I do not use feeders and must rely on scouting at the basic level. By that I mean it can take a long time to determine where feeding and bedding areas may be while hunting deep woods.

For those folks that have hunted both types of areas, which is easier or harder (as the case may be) to scout, come up with a game plan and successfully hunt deer? Also, let's assume the rut is exactly the same, the weather is not a factor, we are hunting bucks only and the deer numbers are relatively (not extremely high or low) the same. Does it make a difference or is experience a key factor in either one?

silentassassin

IMO Big woods are much harder to hunt. I hunt both regularly and the big woods are much more difficult to hunt at least in my area. You just have have the bottle necks and funnels and other distinguishing characteristics in the big woods in my area. Also, you don't have congregated food sources nor do you have thick areas that serve as bedding areas. No question for me which is tougher.

rybohunter

Big woods are tougher. Give me farmland any day. The hardest (for me) is actually suburban small woodlot hunting. So many outside influences that you have to deal with. plus, unless you have an absolute honey hole, the deer could only hit your particular woodlot every few days. Can make for a lot of empty days in a tree.

GSPsnFORDs

I wood say big woods is harder. I hunt farmland ground but I also hunt some really big blocks of timber in farmland areas which is harder to hunt than the smaller chunks of timber. I realize these larger blocks I hunt don't compare to actual "big woods" but if it's any indication to what that might be like, I would say big woods are harder to hunt.

James B

I have a different cup of tea than most. I hunt the prairie farmland for mule deer. During the day the deer hang out in the river breaks which are very deep and rough. Hunting them is next to impossible without large drives as the cedar trees are so thick that you could walk by a hundred deer and never see one. However the deer come up on the hay and winter wheat fields to feed in the evenings. You can find high spots of land and see for miles with good glasses. You can then make notes of where and what is comming up on the fields and set up your ambush spots. It is far easier hunting than the big woods. I have hunted the Black Hills for whitetails so I am a bit familar with some woods hunting.

Liv4Rut

The big woods are definitely harder to hunt, small ditches and draws are much easier to hunt in my opinon

adams

Jimmy,

I have to agree that big woods are tougher but if you find a good set up they can be very productive. Where I hunt in the southern part of the state it's all small wood lots but the der are very predictable. If you can find 5ac to hunt you have a good chance to score.

Up North (Coos Co) where I hunt there are hundreds of thousands of acres, if you haven't done your home work before picking a stand you almost might as well not. I've found the deer have very specific travel patterns and if you're not on them you could go months without seeing a deer.

Zoomer

At the risk of sounding silly, we hunt the woods between a series of fields. Hardcore unbroken forest is very difficult to hunt effectively IMO, but woodlots BETWEEN fields that serve as cover for moving deer have been highly productive for my hunting group for over 20 years. The main trails deer use have been consistent too. While patterning a specific buck is hard to do (there are rubs and scrapes EVERYWHERE) bagging a buck is usually not a problem. Thickets, fringes and edges are most productive at dawn and dusk.

max the dog

Big woods hunting is much harder to scout and hunt. The ranges are much shorter and because of the reduced amount of forage the deer population won't be nearly as high. The best hunting I've ever experienced is small to medium farm fields with 40 acre blocks of woods mixed in. You have lots of good nutrition, fewer places to hide, and much easier scouting.

trailer

I would also have to say that big woods are definitely harder to hunt and you have to be alert at all times just in case compared to hunting in the fields where the sight of view has more of an advantage.