here is where i am hunting Nodaway lake, Missouri here is a link to the conservation page so you can see what the borders for the property are. http://mdc4.mdc.mo.gov/Applications/MOATLAS/AreaSummaryPage.aspx?txtAreaID=6107 just click on the area map tab. if you guys want to take a look at the place on google satelite, and tell me where you would hunt that would be great. i know its hard to tell from an aerial view, but maybe you will give me some better ideas, because so far i havent gotten anything. take into account the east side is easily accesible by everyone, the west side rarely gets traveled. so far i have hunted on the west side of the lake, right against the water. straight across from the second parking lot.
that map is terrible, but i pulled it up on google earth, if you dont have it, download it! How much activity do the hiking trails get this time of year? people running with their dogs could really interfere with a chilly morning sit! so you may want to stay from any close proximity. What are you seeing for deer sign on this property? is it too populated and deer just arent on it? on google earth i noticed a nice wood line south of the lake which looks to be the southern boarder of the public land? check this out for a morning and evening stand, it appears as though there is some sort of crop field to the east and green fields to the west, this could be a staging area for night time feeding, catch them going in, catch them coming out kind of thing, but simply walking this property is going to be your best bet for figuring it out.
Split the land in half north south east west, id hunt the north west portion. Put the boat in and mozy on over to the other side. Next conservation land Id look at it is Bilby Ranch. Also the MDC has a Google Earth KMC add in. http://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/places-go/google-earth
Ive tried Bilby ranch, but it is not my cup of tea. i am used to thicker woods, and bilby only has a few thin strips. i will have to get used to it some day, but so far i havent liked it at all. at nodaway the trails only get a little bit of walkers, and they are all on the east side. isee where your talking about on the south side. the corn field is on private land, but the wood line close to the corn field should be good?
Just some thoughts. I love to hunt areas that pinch deer movement down, yet allows my scent to get pushed out into dead terrain(water, negative terrain, or areas I don't think deer will want to walk). BEST OF LUCK Foster.
Best spot on that land from a map would be the NW corner, otherwise, you may need to start looking for other areas to hunt.
wow thank you very much, this is perfect, just fyi the wind here almost always, 99% of the time comes from the north or west. once again thank you for taking the time to do this.
Ok cool. In some of the spots I marked with an East or South wind, you can just readjust your stand site to an area within that spot that would allow you to hunt it effectively.(meaning you can still hunt those spots, but you just have to move your stand so your scent blows into dead terrain). Foster, think spots that bring the terrain and cover together, yet also allows your scent to blow away from the deer. Best of luck, I hope you get a chance to arrow a deer.
Nice spots VAshadow! Good advice and way to help out a fellow hunter. Its always good to see where and how others would set up and hunt.
so if you were me would you go hunting in the morning? its going to be 19 mph winds NNW. But it is almost always windy up here. i really want to go but i know that typically deer dont move when it is windy (i could be wrong im not a very experienced hunter) so basically would you go hunting at this land, with 10-20 mph NNW winds, when it is almost always that windy up here. i will have to start out at my usual spot that i describe in the original post, because it is the only tree i have prepared for my climber. but after day light i can move to some of the better spots you marked for a nw wind
Exactly what he said haha which reiterated what I said! i still like that wood line to the south, and or one of the stand locations to the north that VA pointed out depending on wind.
Ok, no problem. Here is something that can help you. If you have a printer, print off the topo map I gave you. Take it into the woods with you tomorrow and after you leave your stand and start looking for new locations, start seeing how what you are seeing in the woods links up to the contour lines/ravines/eetc on the topo map. Once you start training your brain it will open up a whole new experience for you. I know it did for me over the last few years. In fact, print off the aerial maps if you get a chance as well.
ok i see what your saying. so the spots you marked on the topo map are based solely off the lay of the land? and once i recognize what the topo map looks like in the wilderness i will know in the future what type of land terrain to hunt?
Thats why I love the terrain feature in Google Earth. Im hunting in the morning I have a gun tag still to fill. If I was going to scout tomorrow Id be looking in the good thick patch on the south side of the dam. The wind is going to be a NNW wind. Perfect for walking that south fence line. The width of the land is exactly half a mile and the length exactly a mile. Or if your up for walking...sorry for the smallness of the lines. The white line from the parking lot came to .45 of a mile. This one... Comes to .47 of a mile. If you could get away with parking a little father up on the side of the road it would be that much less walking to do. Then you could do some scouting in that northern area as well.
sorry to revive this thread from the dead, but maybe you guys will have some deer killin tips for me. 1st- i sat at the spot that Virginiashadow labeled as 3, on the south border. i sat there this evening, there was barely any wind at all. and the temp was around 20. i thought it was a perfect evening. i saw absolutely nothing, even sat after dark for awhile and didnt hear anything moving around. the south east corner is very thick, and has a lot of evergreens which makes me think it would be prime for bedding. any tips? what should i do with this area? 2nd i went to my original location on the west side of the lake. straight across from the north parking lot. i was walking and scared two or three does out of bedding, the area didnt have many trees, and was thick on the ground with ground cover and thorny bushes. my question is would i have any success if i sat down wind from this area? would the deer bed there often or could it just be a random thing? sorry if my questions are general and seem dumb, but im not the most experienced hunter, and i need some deer meat this year, and only have a small doe so far.
