On Property #1 - I am going to hunt it hard in the early season. The deer seem to disappear after the end of October. Any good buck that shows up I am going to shoot. I have had a lot of nice bucks show up there early to never be seen again. So letting a nice 2.5-3.5 year old deer walk is not going to happen. On Property #2 - I have two bucks there that score from the mid 150s to the mid 180s. Over the past two years of getting trail cam pics, I have noticed some things that I will use to hunt them specifically on certain days and times. I WON'T hunt there unless the wind is right and I am dedicating the Rut to hunting this property alone. A lot of All Day sits!!
I've acquired permission on some property in Ohio, so that will definitely be a new experience. I also want to try a strategy on some nearby public ground that requires the use of a small boat to gain access. Blessings........Pastorjim
I currently moved from the place I've been hunting for the last 20 years of my life. I'm now forced to hunt new stomping grounds if I want to spend a decent amount of time in the woods this fall or I have to take a 2 hour trip to hunt on what would most likely only be on the weekends on my old stomping grounds (I chose to hunt the new stomping grounds this fall). I'm using the same approach for the most part when it comes finding the areas I'll be hunting due to the sign I'm seeing and the lay out of the land. Of course I have to change a few things because it's different land, but still looking for pinch points, food source, transition areas, wind direction ect.. I always try to find their bedding areas and where they're most likely to feed early morning and evening, both buck and doe... I try to take a lot of different things into consideration when choosing spots to sit, different areas you have to take different approaches.. Even though deer can be very predictable, they can become very unpredictable at the same time on the flick of a switch, so you always have to be on your toes and make the proper adjustments accordingly.
I disagree, although it does take a different approach to hunt in late Sept. early Oct. than it does late Oct. early Nov. I think it's a good practice to simply get out as much as possible. If hunting was only about seeing a ton of buck running around in search of a hot doe I'd agree, but those same deer are in the woods late Sept. early Oct. as well.. I also don't care what anyone says, not any one deer is completely nocturnal, they still feed during the day time but more than likely they're going stick to the thickets and the bush and do more of their field grazing at night, but if you find a nice ridge to set up on or set up on the edge of a thicket you have a good chance of seeing deer in the early part of archery... You might not see as many deer, but you might just catch that big bruiser you've been after off guard coming out of his hiding spot to get a early afternoon snack on some acorns or catching him coming out of his hiding spot to get a drink of water. These are things you will never know if you're simply not in the woods. You could also take the early part of the season to key in on some doe. But I don't agree with the mentality to wait out the early season and put all your time in during the short time span when the doe are in heat and the buck are rutting.
Yup let the real hunters hunt the early part of the season and get those bruisers you're holding out on to start rutting.
