Tell me about your hunting strategies for the next 10 days. Are you still hunting bed to food patterns? Or are you starting to hone in on buck sign now? If so, what type of sign are you seeing and where are you seeing it? Have you had any luck seeing or harvesting any bucks in these locations? How about trail camera photos? Are you seeing buck activity increase? If so, is all movement at night or has there been any increase in daytime movement yet? I want to gather up some intel as to what people are doing/seeing right now so we can help each other formulate some plans for the upcoming weekend, which should be good. Personally, I've been hunting bed to food/food to bed patterns the last two weekends. This past weekend in particular I didn't see a lot of buck sign on my hunting spots, but then again I didn't wander around looking for it either. However, I didn't see any scrapes and few rubs. I've seen nothing but does, who are still on their normal bed>food patterns. I think it's still a bit early for the bucks to be checking/pushing does yet except possibly right at dawn and just before dark. I think my best bet for this weekend is going to be getting right in on top of some bucks which is what I plan on doing. Most likely I will hang and hunt a brand new stand in a good buck bedding area on Saturday morning. I have nothing to lose now as this is my last weekend at home for the next 3 weekends. If I score, go me. If I bust something out, there's always next year. It's do or die time.
Personally, I think they are still on feeding patterns, if you want to call them that. I pretty much hunt funnels exclusively, and I'm not seeing the buck sign in them just yet. I'm finding buck sign, just not in areas that would indicate to me that they are up and cruising much. Having said that, I do feel like the young bucks are up and cruising. I saw a yearling 6 point Sunday morning at 9:15 am, and I'm sure that's what he was doing. So the urge is beginning to build in the bucks, and the youngsters just don't know how to respond to these feelings they are suddenly having. I am seeing sign of increased buck movement though. The young buck I just spoke of is one, and I've been seeing them in the mornings on my way to work. Also, I'm beginning to see deer/car collisions pick up a bit. My strategy will remain the same, for the next week anyway. Hunt funnels near food sources. Though I'll admit, that may not be the right plan. While I've seen a few young bucks, I've not seen anything older than yearling yet.
Well, my strategies for the next 10 days depend on where I am hunting, and where I hunt depends on how much time I have to get there. After work hunts will be split between hunting the last (and only) spot I have with any acorns left, and tucking tight to bedding areas trying to catch the deer moving before dark. My main strategy for places where I can put time into, is going to be hunting areas of recent buck sign, and edges of bedding areas. From what I’ve seen these are one in the same right now. I’m seeing good numbers of fresh rubs popping up, but only some scattered scraping. I think the bucks are getting a little antsy, but nothing crazy yet. I’m hoping that being tight to bedding areas, even during off-peak hours, I may catch a buck pestering some does. Once next Friday(Halloween) hits, I’ll be all about sitting in travel corridors for long periods of time with a few field edges tossed in as well.
I'll bite. I'm hunting sign in the evening. Sign thats right next to where I think a good buck is bedded (like within 100 yards or less). More sign.. the better. Sign I think a buck will feel comfortable with when moving during daylight hours thats nearby his food and/or drink and bed. Sign thats right dang next to a solid food source like acorns. Not a field edge.. unless its the right field edge thats totally secluded. In the mornings I've been right on top of bedding areas. I mean within 50 yards or closer. But only if the bedding area allows me easy access without bumping deer. Even then I've been in stand a solid 1.5 hours before shooting light. This has been my strategy since October hit. I've been even more agressive this year than ever before and even more mobile with the LW. It really has contributed GREATLY for me over the past few years. All this.. and a positive attitude.:d My hours in stand are WAY down this year.. but it's been a real good time in stand this season so far. p.s. i don't think funnels are where you want to be right now. another week or two til those get hot imo.
As I most often do, I'll continue on the food sources until I lose the does. After that, I'll pull back to travel routes and just hope to catch a buck running a doe until gun season around teh 20th of November. I'll usually break Nov. 20 - Dec 15th, to allow the deer to catch their breath. This is typically a lull on my property. In Kentucky the younger bucks are pushing hard, just can't stand the hormones. The older bucks are moving a little bit more and within the next 10 days I'll likely see a shooter, if I'm in the woods at the right time. By far, the next three weeks are the highlight of my year. I'm heading to KS, which we primarily will be hunting food sources or bait piles. Typically, the rut activity there isn't quite as strong and it can still reach 80 in the day, so food sources are still highly utilized.
Like you said it is probably still early, but it is getting near, no doubt. This weekend does look excellent to me:d. I will start slowy drifting away from the field edges that I hunt during the early season, and start sinking into the timber. Getting closer to bedding areas and thick stuff with sign nearby. I think that is where I will see the most action on my properties. I do have one glimmer of hope though. Our rifle season doesn't start until Nov. 22nd this year, it usually starts around the 15th-17th..ish area. The next 3 or 4 weeks are going to be full throttle hunting
I am seeing a few scrapes around the edges of my fields but that's about it for sign so far. I am still trying to find the deer in the mornings on my place. Very few AM sightings. But in the evenings they flock to my food plots. Both bucks and does. Even had a 160" 10 point come out at last light a couple weeks ago. Just haven't closed the deal on the big guy yet. I try to backtrail them to the bedding area and they use a different ridge that night. It's gonna take a little time to get them figured out on the new hunting grounds. Looking forward to the chasing in a couple weeks tho.
I have to admit, I haven't been able to hunt much this season. I'm hunting new property this year and I've been doing some scouting and observing more than hunting. Two weekends ago was a youth hunt and last weekend was an antlerless season both of which required blaze orange. However, this weekend I'm heading out to begin hunting from dawn til dusk. After a few weeks of scouting and observing I have a few travel corridors and funnels I plan on hunting from now through the end of November. The new property is not undulating so I'll be hunting a couple breaks, inside corners, fence lines, two nice double inside corners and one true funnel that I'm really excited about. In the past, I have noticed the same buck patterns this time of year as others seem to be noticing; small bucks are cruising, does are on normal patterns, and there are occasional sightings of a nice buck. This weekend specifically, depending on the wind, I plan on hunting the true funnel (about a 150 yard long and 50 yard wide patch of woods connecting two large wooded sections.) It provides the best opportunity of taking a nice buck. There are pasture fields on either side with a corn field nearby also. There are does in the area and hopefully a mature buck will be on the move (while not yet chasing) through the funnel just checking things out. The funnel is about 150-200 yards from two thickets where the deer bed. Hopefully that's close enough. I don't want to get too close to the bedding area for fear of spooking does prior to the chase phase and because I haven't figured out the entire area yet. There are doe trails heading from the bedding area to the fields in all directions, but I'm set up on a slight trail that runs perpendicular, for the most part, across these trails. I'll sit all day in this stand and if I have no luck I'll still have plenty of time in the stand to look at the map and plan a better point of attack on one of the other funnels. For some reason I also have a good feeling about this weekend. Good luck Justin and everybody else!
I've seen a lot of buck sign this weekend. And a lot of bucks. Like Duke said, close to beds in the am and food sources like acorns in the pm. I saw a lot of bucks this past weekend, but you already know that Justin.
I agree that Funnels aren't productive at this point in the season. I hunt a spot that is a major funnel and is always slow until the last week of October, which is also when the local farmer harvests the corn fields. Once the fields are bare the deer tend to stay in the woods more and move occasionally to feed throughout the day, they also move a little later in the morning. The sub-dominant bucks are starting to make rub lines through my area and I found sign of a huge buck last Saturday so things are looking up. As of Thursday I am off until the 16th of November and will start hunting my spot hard knowing the deer will start changing their food pattern and bedding patterns. I have one specific stand I will hunt every morning until 12-1PM even though it isn't the most traveled area, MECHDOC will also hunt another stand 60 yards from me on another travel corridor. Many would think it's crazy for us to hunt the same stands every day but it is the highest point in the area on a fence line funnel where a specific 10 pointer hangs and waits for does, they will either go by him or go by me. this spot also works well in any wind pattern in the mornings and I have never been busted in either stand due to scent. One thing I can say for sure is that every morning will be like the movie Groundhog Day until I get my buck. Boring but I know one of them will come through eventually.
J, Right now im still hunting bedding to feeding patterns. We still have alot of standing corn to contend with, and im convinced some of the bedding IS in the feeding area. Rubs are starting to show up all over the place in my area right now and some fresh scrapes are finally showing up. I have been seeing some very big tracks but think its from night time movement until the rut gets nearer. Right now i have no cams out but will be putting one out this weekend over a scrape to see whos all hitting it. Im seeing bucks almost everytime out but they are all Dinks. The best i have seen was around 13" wide. The does are eluding me this season Im usually covered in them I have a couple stands that i save for Nov and cant wait to get in them. I have one more week and im off for 21 days for some prime hunting We finally got a good frost the other day and have three days of steady rain comming to knock the leaves off the trees not to mention tame the crunchy forest floor that i have been walking on. good luck, let us know your plan.
At my "home stand" I've started handing a scent dripper over a scrape I found. This scrape has a trail leading directly through my shooting lanes. Same trail the bucks were using last year. This weekend I'll start laying down some scent trails, with estrous. Hopefulle I can coax a buck out during daylight hours. I've only seen does from this stand no bucks, I think they're moving at night. This is suburbia after all.
same as most, feeding/bedding. I have at least seen one rub so far this yr. I'm hoping w/the cold weather finally moving in, we might see a little more action.
