I have had access to some semi-public land the last couple years, and have gotten tons of pictures in the off season but don't seem to be having any luck during season. The first couple of years I was trying to cover all of the land and it was just to much(~40,000 Acres). This year I have been focusing on a much smaller portion. I am getting some decent pictures on trail cameras but I am looking for advice on where else I should be looking. The best photos are coming from the circled area around 10-12PM, I also found sheds from 5 different bucks in the circled area this year. Any ideas of where else to look would be appreciated.
most likely where you are getting pics now the deer will not be when season starts. I am hunting a large tract of land as you are. I found that learning small portions at a time prove to be the most productive. it has taken me 15yrs and I still don't know it all. I am on 10,000 acres. so I would have to say trying to cover all of 45,000 acres would be a waste of time. focus on smaller areas. find the thick areas or clearcuts and start there. the bucks will be around those areas later looking for does.
With large tracks like that most of the time it's best to leave it alone until late October when the scrapes start popping up. It looks like there could be in a field over there by where the sheds were that tells me good late season food source. For early season find acorns that are by some thick cover and play the wind and watch your entrances and exits.
The area has seriously restricted access but anyone with access can hunt the land. I don't want to post publicly exactly what the area is. The hunting pressure is pretty minimal, bow opener last year had less than 30 hunters out, Gun opener was right at 100 hunters and the avg weekend day during the runt was 45 hunters. Outside of hunters, at any given time about 10% of the area has large numbers of people in it for other activities. The big down side is large areas are closed at random and you have to call everyday to find out what is open.
