I’ve been doing a lot of hiking/scouting on state land here in Michigan as for the upcoming hunting season my month of October is open for my job schedule which is has not happen in several years and I will be home for it so that is why I’ve been out checking public land. I have access to private parcels (3) however they are all rifle hunters only and free range once they have harvested their buck or season is over which has always worked as my work/race season is over. Anyways is a 6 square mile section of state land I’ve now have found 3 ladder stands and 2 hang on in the last couple weeks. What was crazy is at one of the stands must have been visited earlier has there was a fresh used tampon and beer cans around the stand and it was a good 3/4 mile in from the nearest road. Give whomever credit for lugging that darn thing back there however the trash that is left behind is appalling.
I am still in a holding pattern mostly. I usually scout/shed hunt at the same time to try to minimize my impacts of bulling my way into bedding areas, etc. One and done sort of thing. But right now, we have a vast majority of our bucks still holding their headgear...
I think this guy made it through the season and I'm hoping to find his sheds. That right side is goofy.
OK here I go I don't care that some of you guys are still in snow like us, put on tick protection, spray those clothes and boots. 2 weeks ago SIL came home from a southerntier(Elmira area)dog hike, dogs with ticks and he had 2 attached . He had to get antibiotics.. FEBUARY IN NYS, snow on the ground! Stay safe
As a several time veteran of lymes disease, I can't stress this enough. Cold and snow does not mean no ticks. Spray down and shower when you get home. Check the spots they like to bury themselves. Yes boys, this means standing in front of a mirror, one leg on the bathroom sink, lift your bag and check... lol. I freakin hate ticks with a passion.
I thought I had tick spray (permethrin) when I left today to go do my 'walkaround', shed hunting/scouting/etc., covering 4-5 miles ... couldnt find the can .. .. ticks were on my mind the whole time I was out.. did the tick check thing when I got back ... wont go out again without the spray .. did find a nice shed however .. looked like crazy for the other side ... no luck
I hate ticks with a passion! Definitely have my clothes treated and check after every trip into the field. Never got lymes, had a pile of ticks bored in throughout the years. Got check for it numerous times.
Wanted to reinvigorate this post as I think its a really valuable one. I finally got a chance to shed hunt yesterday for the first time this year. I had a few cameras across from my house where I"d been monitoring the big 10 I got on camera over the winter. I purposefully stayed out of this area all winter, only checking a couple cameras near the fields, hoping I wouldn't pressure him out of there and he'd drop those horns. I walked about a mile and half, focusing on what I think was the general corridor down off the mountain he likes to use based on the pics of I got of him and directions of travel. I ended up about 3/4 of the way up the mountain and then stuck to that elevation line across the side, thinking that the 1/3 rule probably applies here and if he's bedded on that side, its most likely up there. No horns were found, but I did learn some valuable things. You know, I read about it, listen to podcasts, but to find and actually learn in person, it really is amazing what deer do. Let me paint the picture quick. The side of this mountain is relatively steep, not ridiculous, but decently sloped. The other thing about this property is that its entirely choked thick. In the fall, with leaves on everything, most of the time, visibility is less than 50 yards if youre in a tree. Remember that because I think I learned something. What I found as I made my way along this 1/3ish line, was that any place you found a flat spot, on the downhill side of a big tree, brush pile, etc, check them. I found 8 different lone, isolated flat spots like this and 6 had hair in them. Looking around these isolated beds, I couldn't locate any other beds, which leads me to believe these beds most likely were buck beds. I make it a point to get down in these beds and try to visualize what a deer would be doing there and what he sees, etc. A lot of these beds were in small openings. As I mentioned, this place is so thick, that any visual advantage a buck likes to have when he beds is limited to spots like this I believe. One bed in particular grabbed my attention as it was accompanied by a handful of rubs, one being a giant rub. Interestingly, even in my travels below this in the thick stuff as I traversed up the mountain, the deer in general seem to stick with easier paths and trails through the stuff. Imagine a buck with a big rack trying to get through this stuff. They will of course, but when they're not pressured and have no reasons to be hiding... they're taking the easier paths through the landscape. I'm going to keep beating the brush over there for another month until things get too green to effectively search it. Its so thick and very difficult to travel and see antlers in. Was a good walk, even though I did get torn up by thorns pretty good... lol.
if thorns are a problem, Multiflora, blackberry, brambles, etc. I will wear a pair of upland brush pants faced in heavy nylon or such ... its the boots that worry me if I go into those places as I am usually wearing a knee high neoprene boot because of all the water I go thru and I tuck my pants into em and spray myself heavily with permethrin .. .. 'hiking boots/upland boots' are not high enough for some of the water areas .... Ive often thought about using a waterproof gortex 'high calf snake boot' for my scouting walkabouts and trimming escapade's ... just not sure on the true waterproof capabilities of those 'snake boots' plus durability as I aint easy on my boots .. the neoprene ones I wear/use now for this have a half tube of shoo goo on 'em to cover all the holes, tears/cuts .. lol ...
Nothing to scout the deer come out of one patch of woods and work their way over to the other patch of woods while they browse in the field. If the crops are out 80% of the cover in the area is eliminated. Not very technical sit in a box blind and wait, might get lucky with a cruising buck.
Scored some early morels here while out scouting. Can't complain. Supposed to freeze tonight and I left probably 20 little ones.
yeah... see... I'm not that smart. lol. I view all the scratches as battle scars well earned from miles in the mountains... lol. Usually, my scouting is done in carharts. That stuff goes through thorns easily. But its been pretty warm here recently and a sweatshirt is about all thats needed.
Took the boys for their morning run and as I got down hill followed some freshish tracks in the snow. Well they lead into the wood lot I did my first cutting of dead saplings. I counted 7 good sized completely melted to leaf cover. They were well spaced and scattered over a large area.. got two different trails in and out. Also the deer are eating the growing rye in a few plots. They were digging through the snow.
