I hunt in North Alabama, which is mostly scattered hardwoods, pines, mountains, and benches going all the way to the top of the mountain. We have a few green fields throughout the property mostly in the bottoms. Any tips on scouting and hunting these mountainous big woods? I've tried hunting the "hot" food source, but trouble is there are many places that have white oaks dropping all at the same time all over the property, how do I narrow this down with limited time?
White Oaks are the ticket in the fall, the key is finding the easiest way for the deer to get to those oaks from bedding areas. Trail cams are great, but they are expensive, and in Eastern KY they don’t last long in the woods. By looking at a good topo map and scouting you can best figure out the easy travel routes deer will use to get around rough terrain to access oak flats. My go to stand sits in a gap where 4 old logging roads connect, and one of those roads leads to a bench full of white and red oaks. If it’s a bad mast year as will occasionally happen, find that one stand of oaks that is dropping and you will find every deer on the mountain in that spot. Don’t over look water either. Deer drink a lot of water when they are eating acorns. Most of the streams in the mountains I hunt are ephemeral streams, but if you find that one spot that holds water deer will hit that before and after going to the oaks.
Agree with the above trail cameras are a must and also agree with Parker70 pay attention to the water sources. Where I hunt its extremely wet and swampy after it rains but when it dries out a bit the small stream that flows through the area is loaded with tracks.
Thanks guys, what sort of things on a topo do I look for? and are there any areas that hold bedding areas more often, or is just a matter of walking the ground to find the thick stuff?
Here is a picture of a place I hunt. Red X’s are gaps: Low spots in the mountains. Deer tend to follow the contours of the hill and these are a quick way from one side to the other. Blue Circles are Benches: Not the best example, but where the lines space out on the side of a hill it usually indicates a bench may be there. Best way to find benches is boots on the ground. Green circles are points: I find that deer like to bed on the points. There they can see or smell anything coming and they have a quick escape route. Good luck.
Awesome parker 70. Thanks. And I usually look on google maps or mapquest for aerial photos, but will be getting my hands on a large topo.
Tracks and Poop are nature's trail cam. Concentrate on finding the bedding areas near the feeding areas then hunt or trail cam the travel edges between them.
SHED is someone on here who hunts mountains out west very successfully. Might try to contact him also for comments even though it seems like you have already received some really good feedback above. I'm not sure how the mountains out west would translate to your area down south, but it is worth a shot.
sorry for it being so small, hope y'all can read it. The middle is mostly another clubs, but we hunt most of what is on the map. The star is camp and the main trail goes around what is called johnsons top. The green are green fields that I know of, there are about twenty other plots throughout the property.
Looks like you have a lot of low spots, points and benches to hunt. I didn’t know Alabama had mountains like that. Only parts I’ve been to were flat and piney.
Just some thoughts..... yellow lines=forced travel routes flo yellow dots=pinch points flo yellow dots with cirlce=pinch points bringing large expanses of woods together flow yellow dot with black circle=significant pinch point bringing everything together red dots=potential bedding areas
Thanks virginiashadow, helps a ton. and actually had in mind some of those ideas but definitely better than what I was thinking. Awesome incite.
No problem, I hope it helps. I hunt some hill country places so I hope my experiences help you out. I am not some big buck guru or anything, just a bowhunter you know. GOOD LUCK and let us know how it works out. If you can take some pics of those mountains on some of your hunts I would love to see it. Looks like awesome terrain. Brett
