My number 1 from last year showed up right where I expected him to. except this time im one step ahead. I created a watering hole on the ridge where I hunted him last year. Boy has it paid off. I have about 20 different bucks visiting it regularly. My question now is how?, what time of year do you guys hunt watering holes? It is in the middle of a big stand of oaks that are loaded with acorns.middle pic is my target buck.
I think I might switch some rutcation for opening week. I always wondered about watering holes. this one we made was just an old logging road that had water in it. this water source cuts the deers' travel for water from 1.5mi down to a minimum. they can now eat and drink on the ridge top without going down hill. just wanted to see how other guys hunt water sources. this is new and exciting to say the least. I hunted the second buck all of last year so hopefully alzheimers will be setting in from old age. I'm guessing him to be 5-6 yrs old now.
If the deer you want is coming to the watering hole i can't think of a reason not to focus on that area opening day given the wind and other conditions are right. particularly being public land.
Public land and you "put in" a waterhole? I guess you don't live in Penna. Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk
That's exactly what i was thinking. But then saw tc racing was from Pa. I could understand if it was in the middle of some state forest land then maybe i'd think about it.
it was an old log road that had a section where the skidder got stuck which left a big depression that gathered water. it was the only place that had a bit of water in it on the logging road. so I decided to clear out the leaves and brush from it. once I did that it made the area about 4" deeper with water which created a pool of water. I by no means went out and started digging a hole with a shovel if that's what you thought. I merely took advantage of the destruction that a log skidder created. I don't think moving leaves is a crime. cutting live vegetation on public ground is illegal. how I created this watering hole was no different than brushing the leaves away from the base of a tree to sit down. this spot is about 2.5miles from any road. but I still abide by the laws written even way back in no mans land. in the last pic I posted you can see the water hole on the logging road on the right side of the pic.
Two things...first, I'm not the water hole police. Just was pointing out that in PA, you cannot pick mushrooms on SGL, let alone build a waterhole. Second, create and put in, are the same....wasn't there, now it is.....no accusations made.....no foul intended. Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk
