I have two permissions that I can hunt through out the season, the problem is they are too small to hunt different stands both places only have two stand sites each and by the time the rut rolls around the deer are onto me. So my question is should I not hunt as much in the early season or just play with the hand I am delt? I hunt just about every weekend since I am a full time college student so I have to hit it hard when I can. Thanks, Paul
I had a similar situation with 5 acres and one stand site. The big bucks stuck around, but stayed completely nocturnal. My remedy was to keep a cam rolling in the area, but hunt elsewhere in the early season. Check the cam(s) only when conditions are right -remember, entering the area to pull a card is pressure too! It's good to branch out anyway. It gives you the opportunity to mix things up... roll the dice a little more. Don't get me wrong; hunt smart, but also use it as a learning opportunity... maybe kill your doe(s) and build your confidence. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Very good advice! I'll add to it in that this is perfect scenario for the wireless cams. Those things are worth their weight in gold IF you are in a good network coverage area Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
I have 2 stands on a 1/4 section, and one in another part of the state at my father-in-law's. I find their bedding areas and avoid them, but vary my route's in and out daily. When I haven't seen ANYTHING for a couple days, I go to the in-laws for a few. Last year was horribly warm in October, but I spent quite a bite of time in both places. Then in November when the rut started I dropped the hammer on a great 9 late on a Friday, took the weekend off to bird hunt, then took down a doe within 20 minutes of first light on that Monday. No matter what you do, things can happen fast.
I don't hunt till halloween, took me a long time to figure that out but once I did the payoff was worth the wait.
By the second or third sit in a row, most mature deer are on to you. Hunt sparingly and don't be afraid to try new areas and hunt your special places carefully and somewhat limited.
On my little woodlot, my best bucks are seen the first 3-4 days, but ONLY if I've stayed out until Halloween AND I've been careful getting in & out each day! I know this now after many painful mistakes.
I think it all depends on what type of land you are hunting. If you are hunting near a bedding area, then you can certainly burn it out and blow your chances. If you are hunting travel routes, you have much more flexibility and can hunt more frequently. If you have good entry and exit routes, you have more flexibility. The easy thing to say is, stay out until after a certain date, or don't hunt a stand more than a couple times a year. The reality is, every situation is different, there's no perfect approach for every piece of land. I hunt my 40 acres quite a bit, way more than most people would recommend. I have 9 stands and 2 blinds on that property. Some stands get hunted more than others, but I hunt the stands for whatever wind I have. Some stands are morning stands, while others are evening stands because of accessibility reason. Some are on food, while others are in travel corridor's. I hunt early season and while I don't typically tag a buck in the early season, I learn a lot about how the deer are using my property throughout the whole season. Trail cameras help, but they don't tell the whole story. Actually seeing how a deer is using the property really helps me when deciding which stands I will be hunting at each point in the season.
I agree a lot with Skywalker. It really depends on the area and land you are hunting. How small is the piece you can hunt, and what is the area around like. If everybody around you is hunting, you holding off probably isn't going to make much of a difference and you might be better off being there and letting the pressure around you hopefully move the deer through your area.
Just the usual scent control and watch the wind and you should be fine. There have been many weekends where I drove 2 hours to our farm to go hunting and didn't set foot in a stand because the wind was all wrong for my stands. Don't let the itch to get in the stand ruin it for the whole year.
Anytime before Halloween if the conditions aren't perfect, STAY OUT!!! Entry and exit routes are very important as well Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
In the summer I check my cams every two weeks, basically to inventory what I have and to pin point a good spot for a single day in the stand for opening week to catch a shooter still in summer pattern before he goes nocturnal. After that I'll transition with their pattern and have at least 3 stands set in the 200 acres I hunt. I only hunt the stand when wind is right and try to never cross paths. I won't hunt the same area for at least 3 days. Trail cameras are great and def help to trend deer but with some bucks they're a crutch. Some deer steer away from cameras even when I spray them with scent killer. Deer can pattern you just as well as you can pattern them. A example I can give you is 2 years ago I would drive my loud diesel to go hunt, every time I hunted a particular stand I never saw a mature deer. The one time I drove my quiet jeep I killed a shooter. Last year I lucked out, I did my homework and knew the buck I was after. I only hunted 2 days the whole season. First sit was early season and wind was right and I walked the creek all the way to my stand to avoid scent and saw several does first sit and let them go. 2nd sit was oct 23 and cold front came in and wind was perfect and killed the big fella. Odds vs opportunity Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I agree with a lot of what has already been said. Every situation is unique to its own, but I would say to hunt it only on "perfect" days. I don't think you have to necessarily wait until the rut if you have a great cold front that comes through in early season. Make sure you've got a perfect wind, entry/exit route, and weather. On weekends when the weather isn't perfect, that's when I would look for other places to hunt. If you don't have any other places to hunt, start door knocking, looking for public, etc. Take what you learn hunting these areas to your good areas.
One last thing...I see a lot of "perfect condition" advice. I'm describing"perfect condition" as being able to get in & set up & hunt without detection--your deer aren't lying in a thicket downwind of your entry or tree stand, etc. "Perfect condition" weather is arguable & NOT what most of the advice refers to (some like blue bird mornings & some like windy nasty snow rain). You'll figure it out CTOutdoorsman & probably with fewer mistakes than we made, because of advice we didn't get to ponder & test. Good luck young hunting buddy!
Good advice on here but most importantly you have to determine what's most important to you. I love everything about trying to play chess with mature bucks, but if I sit around waiting for perfect conditions I go nuts so on those not so perfect days I'll just sit in an observation stand or on a piece of public. In this chaotic world we live in I just need to be in a tree when I get the chance. If the conditions aren't perfect, ya you might reduce the chance at a good buck but it's up to you to determine if sitting at home waiting for those few chances is worth it.
