I am a bit confused looking for help...? I went to Ohio yesterday and put 10+ miles on my feet on public land trying to find some decent spots to hunt next week. I did not jump a single deer the whole time, and there was little sign? The question I have though is, will deer make a "home" bedding area in the open woods? I may have covered 2000acres of the 10000acre plot but I found no sign of bedding areas? I stumbled upon one deer bed that was in about a 50yrd circumference of 1ft high green briars but there really is not any thick areas in the whole public land? I know I only covered so much of the area but from looking at the Topos and Google Earth of the rest that I was unable to get too, it all looks the same?? So in turn I dont know how far these deer would travel to get to a "good bedding area"? I may have wasted a whole day looking in the Wrong area, but I cant believe it the area looked good just no sign?? Im talking no Scrapes, Rubs, Deer, and hardly many trails??
Kind of looks like you've answered your own question. I've hunted a large area before that I didn't get a chance to scout ahead of time. There was absolutely no sign to be found, (except for some very old, cold tracks) and I found no deer. In your case, I hope I'm wrong. Ask my wife, it happens ALL the time.
You try Google Earth? Deer can bed in weird areas. You might have scouted a winter area but if your looking for right now CRP in the area or corn or do what somebody with 20 pope & youg said is keep looking until you find the sign you want then set up on it. If you were coming to Wisconsin I could hook you up but Ohio I only know 1 person :D
Yeah I hope I am wrong as well! I am not looking forward too much to my trip that I have been waiting for the past couple months!! I will be staring at Google Earth and Mytopo for the next week trying to figure something out that I may have missed?
Yes "ideally" that is a bedding area to me as well. I found nothing that even looked remotely close to a bedding area, hence the reasoning asking about deer bedding up in the open.
Deerslayer~~ I was on the Hocking/Athens county lines near Murray City. It is SE of Columbus. Where are you at?
That is the approach I am taking, I will be set-up on a bench above where basically 5-6 ridges come into one, they all funnel into an old pond that leads to an old strip mine field. I can see forever on all of these ridges, I will sit it for a day or two in hopes to get a better idea of how they are traveling!!
The first day we are planning on getting set-up at camp and being on stand around 12-1pm? I imagine if I am understanding what you are saying I would bump everything out that afternoon getting set up? I planned on hunting the following morning as well to see whats up, possibly all day sits if they are coming through. I guess that first evening I could set-up along the bottom of everyhting near the strip mines, and if everything goes "as planned" I should start to see the deer funnel down all the way into the bottoms?? I will ponder on that thought for a bit!!
On public land it's where they are not bothered. Eberhart writes in his books about crawling to his spots on public land.
Gmmat~~ I am setting up where the red dots are, I cant remember which one but its in the vacinity of them two. If this gives you any idea of what I am talking about...... OOOps it is supposed to be zoomed in better, let me see what I can do?
Yeah Germ I understand what you mean. In the areas I hunt here at home, I know exactly when I run into a bedding area here. I was saying that on the land that I walked the other day, There was NO areas that i would have had to even think about walking around let alone crawl through? Trust me I love bowhunting transition areas between a nice thick bedding area and a feeding area, most times probably too close to the bedding areas, but I couldnt find nothing like that on the land in Ohio? I was/am dumbfounded?
If you are hunting hill country GMMAT nailed it, they will be bedding on points or ridges to take advantage of the thermal and increased visibility. I jumped a big cage last weekend on small point that you would never think held a deer. There was a tree top on it. I went over to investigate and the buck had a well worn bed right in the center of the top. Also, most of the buck beds I have found on my hill property are not the thickest areas around. Most are what I would consider wide open. However, he as excellent visibility and with a couple hops can be gone over the ridgetop or down the bottom. In flat areas I agree they seek out the nastiest cover around, but not necessarily in hill country.
This doesn't sound natural. I hunt both big woods and farmland, here in OH. Imagine your a deer, would run around in the open on public land? Look for the heavy stuff. If you cannot locate any, consider visiting Bluerock State Forrest in Muskingum county. It's a shorter drive and I know that what you're looking for, lives there
Thanks for the tips Josh. This trip was thrown together a couple months ago by a few buddies and they asked me if I wanted to go. They basically already had everything planned out. I will keep that in mind for the next time possibly?!? Ohh by the way I believe the cabin I will be staying at is located approximately 50minutes from your home town?