I'd give it a sit...good travel corridor. Cant tell the width, but if narrow enough id look for a spot just up the hill a bit. The sense crap to the east could be buck bedding. I don't believe they will bed right atop the cliffs (blue) you marked later...
About 30 yards from the point of that hiking trail at the bottom of the big cut, I found this rub line.
omg that is some amazing looking terrain!! I agree/bet that 90% of the people are all around the Ag, and thermal hub because that's where they see sign. Where I hunt I run into the same thing, (No Ag, just hardwoods) not alot of rubs on the military crest/ridge trails, BUT there are still BIG bucks using them. From my understanding, this happens when the buck to doe ratio is out of whack, meaning there is no competition for the bucks because there are so many does. Could this be the case in your area as well?
I'd check the green for tracks...maybe sneaking in morning and evenings when warm for a drink, but likely no action later in the season. Bottom right, there is a shelf. Check for beds. Get in and out. If you find beds you may get action in the funnel.
I haven’t hunted this spot yet. I’d planned on hunting it early and coming in from the hiking trail and camping half way. It’s a two and a half mile hike to the bottom of that valley. Crops didn’t get planted this year bc of flooding, so it may deter pressure, we’ll see!
Big woods plus low deer numbers can make it real hard to catch a buck travelling between doe bedding. Yeah you can set up on buck travel routes but they may be 50 yards away and infrequent. Finding numerous doe bedding areas/thickets may be boom or bust, but from my experience they give me a much better chance at getting close to a buck to kill. If I have 10 plus solid doe bedding areas to hunt near the rut then I feel that is an ample amount to keep pounding day after day. Sure, I may see bucks every day if I hunted travel routes during the rut, but chances are most will be out of range. Now I may see bucks only half as much hunting doe bedding areas, but when I do most will be in range. Just something to think about and maybe mix it into your hunting strategies. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
That’s sort of the strategy I’m going for when mid November gets here. I keep going and scouting new places and my wife doesn’t understand. “You’ve got like 5 places to hunt” and I say “I need like 55”.
Man, comparing the size of that plot with the size of that tiller, you either have some really good soft soil or a whole lot more dedication than I do. If I wanted to do that in the red clay we have around here it would take me a minimum of 40 hours of running the tiller.
I can barely move today. My hips hurt so damn bad it is making me nauseous. I think it was from using a lineman's belt pinching my hips.
Yeah it's definitely time consuming with the walk behind. I started this process 6 years ago and it was mostly clay. I've added my secret ingredient to help condition the soil and it's paid off real well. Now when I turn the dirt it actually looks good and is much smoother. But it's taken me years to get to this point and it's paid off so well. I bowfish alot (well use to)so I decided to start burying the carp I shot over the years. Doesn't bother the deer either after putting them in the dirt. The one picture was taken 48 hours after I dropped over 700lbs of carp in the chicory plot.
Purchased my out of state Illinois license/permits, $487 later, I am ready. The cost hurts until I stick a good sized buck, heck even the doe up there are monsters. Tennessee hooked me up with the $10 lifetime hunt/fish license, only cost me $24 to buy the WMA permits, big savings from the $170 sportsman license. I am ready to go, minus getting my gear clean and prepped.
Mermet Lake, might hit the southern side of Shawnee or even go to Fort Massac. It takes me 1:45hr to get to each of those places from my doorstep. My neighbor is from Metropolis and has a few family farms around there as well but I don't rely on the family farms if I'm traveling by myself. I scored a good buck last year on Mermet lake and quite enjoyed the area, it kind of sucked when they flooded it for duck season and changed all my initial plans. Got my first "big" buck in Illinois last year, I'd like to step it up this year!
That's a good one, I live like 30 minutes from there. I hunt the shawnee as well as the orchard. I was curious how many guys hunt down by me in this forum. There's big boys at Mermet I bowfish it in the fall sometimes and have seen some giants walking around over the years. Good luck bud!
I haven't been to Shawnee yet, I really like the Mermet and only ran into one other hunter the entire time I went out there. The taxidermists said no one is hunting the public areas as much in lieu of private leases. I'll keep going until things get too packed. I haven't had much time to scout though and I've only had time to walk part of it. One weekend I'll get up there and cover some ground.
That's true til gun season hits. I've only met like 3 bowhunters total in the public down here. Most guys wait til gun season cause obviously it's easier to kill a deer with a slug. There is plenty of public down here and I've got spots for days so if you're in a pinch trying to not eat tag soup I'll point you in the right direction. My one spot is over 3 miles to get to which it sucks but it's like the most prime spot in the rut. All day sits if you can manage. I love it down here cause you never know what's gonna walk within bow range. But boots on the ground is a must cause some spots aren't worth the time that's for sure.
The first time I went up there we glassed some fields just to see the quality of deer, I said "I'd shoot that one" about 10 times and my neighbor said "that's small around here", and damn if that wasn't true. I've since taken the "Shoot only if I need TP" mindset, there are some monsters up there and they are actually quite calm deer compared to the deer in TN. The one I posted I sat all day on Friday only seeing does and some little bucks, shot that one within 45min of getting into the stand Saturday morning; it worked out perfectly. I got him dropped off at the taxidermists, de-boned, and I was home unpacked by 4pm the same day. If I get some more boot time on the ground I'll have no issue passing the info along, but based on the past year, I won't have an issue at least killing a doe, they are like squirrels up there.
