On one of my properties (1300 acs) I have hunted 5 pm hunts and seen 5 deer on 2 of those hunts and the other hunts I saw nothing...now, there is not a large abundance of deer in this property, but the buck activity is crazy.. there are scrapes and rubs all over the place...I counted over 50 scrapes 2 weeks ago. now I found a few acorns here and there and the deer are leaving sign there, rubs, droppings, and scrapes. I know that I need to get in between the food and the beds, problem is, they can bed in a lot of places. the land has a river bottom with rubs and scrapes and some acorns with deer droppings around the trees the run along the river... I sit there and no deer..I sit near thickets and swamps that finger through the thickets with sign everywhere, still no deer... for the first time in my life Im stumped...could all this be night activity? I have noticed that the deer I saw move bby my after legal shooting light...Im somewhat addicted to this property, I have better places, with way more deer, but there is something about this place that tells me this is where I will kill a really good mature deer....I won't quit on it, too much buck sign there...help me figure this out...do I need to hunt these swamps that run through the thickets? there is no water in them right now...
VA can you hook us up with a map? I highly doubt that all your activity is at night. How many other people hunt this property? If you're finding just a few acorns, you need to find one spot that has a lot of acorns (or at least a lot more). Not just because it's more inviting for them, but it's going to a longer lasting food source. Show us a map!!!:D
I am having the same problem (except I have no sign). I know with 100% certanity that there are several bucks on my property, but I have only saw on 1.5 year old 6 point in 23 sits... for me it is timing. This seems to be the slowest start to a season on my properties that I have ever saw. Last year I saw a little activity constantly, but it wasn't till Nov. 1st that everything really picked up. I went from seeing a single spike daily before Nov.1 to seeing 7 different bucks the morning of Nov. 1st. It could be something as simple as timing.... as Dustin said... a map would be a big help.
That is alot of land to learn in such a short period. I use to hunt a tract right outside of Atlanta (2000) acres, which was almost unheard of at the time and no longer around. Mrs Wilson would not let anyone else hunt besides my uncle and I, she would always tell us of the deer she would see on her walks. If there was ever a property in the entire country where the sign looked like only big bucks lived there, this was the place. I could show you scrape lines several hundred yards long, with 50 or 60 scrapes, trees as big as my thigh were shredded. You would see alot of the small trees and scrapes like a typical property, but this place had those volkswagon sized scrapes as well. I only saw a couple small racked bucks over the course of a couple years. Killed one nice 7 (first bow kill) on a muscadine vine, early season. During the summer, slammers seamed to run in bunches, but once the season started and the weather cooled, those bucks were hard to find. My unlce scored on a few good ones, but he killed them as he saw them. We met some guys a couple years later that actually admitted to knowing her nephew and getting permission (Mrs Wilson loved my uncle and would let no one else hunt, except his little nephew (me)at the time). They said the same thing, many big deer over the summer, amazing sign but during season nothing. They even gun hunted the gas line (bow only county), and killed 1 6pt that went a little over 120. I know I rambled and did not help you any, but I too have felt your frustration, and all i can tell you is you are way more mature of a hunter now, than I was at that time. I think you will figure it out, as from your post anyone can gather how much you love this sport and that will pay dividends, especially when those kids you teach have to take vacation.:D
Thanks guys, I wish I knew how to post a pic from google earth for ya but I don't.....think of it this way...one side of the property is a river, which is a property line. then the back side and right side is basically a hardwood swamp. the front side is a hard top rd....now mixed in all over is medium grown cutoverpines/with swamps snaking through certain areas...the piece by the front rd is select cut pines...there are some older thick pines as well....Im really having trouble with the whole bedding thing....they can bed almost anywhere here...I really think I need to find the major food like Dubbya said...I just have not found it yet...the thing is, when I do find it it won't be for a while, about 1week, Im going out of town soon for a hunt...and when I get back the rut will be in and so will ML...I share this property with about 6-8 others..I don't think they are willing to hike it in though like me....will the rut change these feeding patterns if I do locate the major source??.the other land I have joined in on is 10K acrs!! Im sooooo lost down there, that's a whole notha thread!!
Va I imagine I am hunting similiar woods to you in the Dinwiddie area. It almost seems like the deer could be bedding in many places with so many thick cutovers, bottoms, and swamp/swamp edges, and they probably are. But don't let this early season warm weather mess psych you out, so far myself and the guys I hunt with have been seeing similiar activity, late. But If there is that much buck sign in there then more than likely there are some good doe groups in the area as well. Our weather has yet to get and stay cold and as much as the young bucks might be acting up right now I don't believe these does are near being ripe just yet. But they will be, and soon, and the closer they get the more buck action you will see and sooner or later the big bucks are gonna make their presence known. I think the big boys know it's not quite time, so they let the young bucks run around acting all horny while they are content to wait til the does start giving off those signals to really get in the game. Hopefully some cold weather will have the does on their feet more as well, feeding earlier and more often. Be patient in that area and try not to overhunt it too early(I know how hard that is). And I know blackpowder comes in halloween but if we get any cold weather next week might be a good time to slip in there on that bottom between what you think might be 2 different bedding areas and see if anything has changed. Are you hunting this area in the a.m. yet or just evening? Next week looks pretty good, I'm hunting Mon, Thurs p.m., Fri, and Sat. So if I see anything interesting I'll be sure to let you know.
