Ill describe the tacks from top to bottom. the land i can hunt is outlined in green. from the bucks tack to my property line is around 1000 feet. DO you think deer will funnel through the strip of woods to my property from the alfalfa? the Bucks/ Alfalfa is where i saw three bucks tonight, sparring/ eating alfalfa (i am pretty sure it is alfalfa) Obviously the satellite image is out of date Cam 1 is where i plan to hunt from, it has had a trail camera all season, and gets a variety of small bucks, does, and one nice buck one night. Cam 2 only gets pics of a doe and twin fawns, nothing more but gets their picture just about every day. the pasture tack is just to show that all of the west boundary has pasture, until the corn tack. my future plan is to put cam 2 over in the southwest corner in either patch of woods that is close by, hoping that the deer go to and from the corn and wood patches. Any thoughts, comments, suggestions, are welcome and appreciated. Anything i have either overlooked, or maybe ideas that you think are good just let me know.
What's in that little hole I see on google maps near your cam 1? it looks almost blue on the current satellite images at google maps.
Yeah, doesn't look like a pond. Looks like there might be some type of equipment there. Maybe a building or something. I'd be willing to bet that the finger of woods gets used. I'd walk up that road that goes right up to the top left corner of the area, where it splits the forest. Looks like there's a small clearing at the end of that road. I'd scout around it and see which direction they hit harder. Otherwise, what times are you getting pictures of the deer you're seeing?
the pictures have been majority 2 in the morning, but also a lot of them in the evening. and a few in around 6-7 in the morning.
They would certainly travel the wood line coming in from the left of camera 1..what type of forest is it?...have you found any bedding areas? If you have I'd set up on a route to/from the bedding area...have you scouted the area to the left of the lake?
Is that a small creek in Bucks/Alfalfa area? If it is do they cross it in a particular spot? It could be a good spot to put a camera.
i havent really found a for sure bedding area... and yes they usually come from the left of camera 1, but i dont get a whole lot of pictures of them coming back right. as for scouting the left side of the lake, there is a lot of dense woods over there, and i dont really know how to scout it, a lot of it you cant even walk through. the stuff i can walk through has some trails going through it but nothing special. my main problem is finding their bedding areas.
That's probably your bedding area. I personally would look at the top left corner. You can see that trail that runs up to the corner to a small open area about an inch to the left of your cam 1. I'd bet that they use the left side of that woods to get down to the dense woods. Also it looks like a creek runs straight down into the lake. Have you walked the creek looking for a crossing? It looks like your within 100 yards of the creek at cam 1.. is that about right? I'd walk straight up to that corner, where the finger of woods comes from the other property and walk from end to end on the property line and see where they're heading. Trails will probably be pretty obvious. If they're taking that route, you're far enough away from bedding and food for it to be a good AM and Evening spot. I'd definitely post a camera up there and see if you get anything. It does sound like your cam 1 spot is pretty decent if you're getting am and evening pics though. It's all a crap shoot anyway, as deer will adjust at a whim (or scent in most cases). Plan on a couple places based on the wind. Go out and have a tree decided. Maybe even mark it with some tape so you don't get mistaken in the morning. GPS markers help also. Can you cut lanes, or do the regs prohibit it?
Unfortunately, we could stare at the maps and tell you our opinions, but it is going to come down to the use of your trail cams. Here in PA even though you may get the "pattern" down early, when season starts and things get later into the season, all bets are off and the deer movement/activities change. I would place cameras in the above mentioned locations, and see what you capture, go from there.
