I hunt a lot of land. 7k acres to be exact. It's private, I share it with 30 members. It's got deer and big deer, but the actual habitat is difficult to bow hunt. Lots and lots of bedding cutovers and pines with very sparse oaks..very sparse. They are very hard t pattern because they can bed 360 deg around any stand i hunt. so wind direction doesn't always help no matter where I set up.. I could look for another place to hunt, I could pay the same money for land that would be more suitable for bowhunting..Defined bedding, food plots, more oaks, travel corridors and funnels and pinch points...all the things that are textbook bowhunting.. it would be much easier to begin my son out bowhunting this type of terrain vs what I am attempting to do. I have hunted these acres for 10 years and have killed 12 deer in those 10 years on that property. mostly does, a few nice bucks and have passed a few deer. But, that's not a lot of deer killed...it's tough, it's work, it's a lot of sits without seeing.. and when it comes together, even on a doe, it's so rewarding. I have taken up that task of teaching my son about tough hunting and working for every kill/sighting.. I wouldn't give it up. I wouldn't change a thing. Although I would take the occasional invite to a slam dunk property every now then !! So are you satisfied doing it your way? or would love to trade places with someone else? Someone who has it easier? Someone who has is harder?
I’m fortunate enough to have several different types of hunting to experience. I’m a member of a 3,000+ acre camp in the mountains. Lots of clear cuts, hemlocks, laurel, benches with oaks and beech. There are some really good bucks but you have to work for them with a bow. But that’s part of the challenge. At home I have 2 smaller private tracts to hunt, one is 90 acres and the other is 25ish. These places I have a little more control on managing the deer, their food, bedding, etc and it is rewarding in a way that I feel like I was able to work all year long for an opportunity. Finally I also bowhunt public land in a bordering state that I rely on my onX, in season scouting, and figuring out the puzzle that is big woods public land deer. I love the chess match. Probably 50% of my hunting each season is on public land. Would I trade any of this to own 500 acres in Iowa? Probably not. I enjoy having all the different options and hunting opportunities I do now.
I’m content with where and how I hunt. Is it the best place? No. Could I find a better place? Yes, I think so. I could also find much worse. It is what it is. If it where too easy, what’s the point. The grass always looks greener from the other side of the fence. Too often that’s only realized after you hop over the fence and find out it’s not as green as you thought. I say make the best of any scenario and relish the challenge. As my late grandfather said many times “ Hope for the best and accept the rest.” Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I like where I hunt, and it has some solid bucks. But it's a 4 hour drive, and mostly hilly timber with no Ag or open field areas. It's rough country and tough hunting, but every time I sit, I know I have a chance at a dandy. I would like to find an additional spot a little closer, inside 2 hours. Mostly because it would allow me to hunt more often.
I whine and complain about the spots that I have to hunt, but the reality is I have it much better than a lot of people and really shouldn't be complaining. As they say, the grass isn't always greener.....
I can relate to your struggles. I am in East Texas where it is mainly thick southern pines followed by Oaks and other various hardwoods in the creek bottoms around me. I do not have any food plots on the land and it's hard to relate to what a lot of people hunt over further north and may see as many as 10-20 deer in a field each sit. I go many many sits without even seeing a deer due to how thick things really are. Everything in east Tx stays green for the most part during winter and gives the deer plenty of food sources to browse on at any given point. They could move 40 yards outside of my area and chances are you would never even see them. I've yet to take a buck on this property and have only taken 3 does (in 4.5 years) but that hasn't deterred me too much. Our lease has great potential, and I am lucky that it only has a few members on it and I am not confined to "one area". Many leases around me, you are given 100-200 acres and that's your only spot. I would love to trade spots with people sometimes, but I hunt with several of my close friends on this lease and enjoy my time there along with only being an hr away from my house. I've been on meat hunts in west Tx before where you see large amounts of deer and I think if I were see that every time it would take the fun out of it IMO. It's just killing at that point and not hunting.
yep thick as hell and tons of browse here with standing hardwood strips on the creeks where they couldn't cut...pines, pines and more pines and 0-8 year old cutovers/mature pines...it's so hard at times bc there are so many deer here but it's like a needle in a hay stack most days..
