I picked up this property a few weeks ago and although I've done a bit of scouting on it I'm hesitant to do too much and leave my scent behind. The fields on the right are corn and the yellow dot near the top is a pond. The blue dot is where I did one evening sit two weeks ago and saw a few deer including a bachelor group of small bucks around end of shooting light. The line and arrows in that area are where they came from and where they went. The orange block with the dot is where I've had a camera set up for 3 weeks and only have young deer on camera with my stand in a tree where the dot is. And finally the magenta line is a creek that runs through the area. So, looking at the map, where would you hunt?
I would find the thickest part of the properties, back off 60-100 yards and hunt it. Find trails leading into those bedding areas. When scouting, go on a rainy day. Hides your scent and noise. Be alert, you might walk right up on one. When I’m scouting during the hunting season I always play the wind.
Where can you park? First time o a new property I like an accessible spot were I can see. Sent from my iPad using Bowhunting.com Forums
Top right corner by the word Georgetown. I walk down the train tracks and head west through the brush to get in. Unfortunately there isn't anywhere I can park and glass it. I was hoping the road to the east would give me access but all you can see from there is corn due to the elevation of the land. Sent from my iPad using Bowhunting.com Forums
I would get further South of the creek. Where are your prevalent winds coming from? North-North-west? Its difficult without contour lines, but my guess is the larger bucks will hang back and wind those corn fields and younger bucks. If you're after a shooter, you'll need to try and get further back into the timber. That's my best guess anyway from what you've provided. Best of luck!
From what I can tell usually the wind is coming south, south east. Definitely after a shooter here. The only other person hunting this property got a really nice buck a couple of weeks ago on the south side close to the corn fields. I walked the property yesterday around that area and found a pretty heavily used dirtbike trail leading into the woods. I'm thinking I can use that to get in early mornings and climb a tree off that path to hopefully catch something coming back from the corn. Do you think the bucks would use those man made trails as much as their own? I just hate tromping through thick stuff in the dark in an area I'm not really familiar with.
My advice would be to not hunt mornings until the rut is in full swing! Whitetails and their hormones are in a constant flux of change. What and where a few weeks ago, doesn't help you now. Not in my opinion anyway. Bucks may still have been in bachelor groups back then etc. These behaviors would have changed by now. I would use the dirtbike trail as an enter/exit strategy perhaps, but most deer (especially mature bucks) will merely cross these trails or remain downwind of the trail to scent-check does/younger bucks. The chances of shooting a mature deer on a man-made trail is unlikely. In addition, if the wind is coming from the south and you're on a morning sit at your current stand location, , you'd be educating everything coming out of that ag-field. Be patient, sit afternoons for now when you can slip in quietly and take your time to get set up. Make sure the wind is in your favor and keep your eyes peeled. If you've seen young bucks and does, there's bound to be a shooter nearby. Now you need to figure out how he uses the lay of the land to go undetected and receive information via that nose of his! Welcome to the most exciting game of chess you'll ever play!
Yeah I was planning on leaving this property unhunted for a couple of more weeks until the rut started kicking in. Just wanted to get a plan put together of where I'd plan on hunting it when the time came. I got a nice doe on another property opening week so no real pressure to be out there right now.
look at topo graphs for land changes and check the timbers for the different trees and what's grown on the land. like mentioned above check for those deep thickets and check for deer sign around where they're leaving the Ag field and where the water source is. look for where land pinches and where you think the deer will be naturally funneling through. iI would be hesitant to hunt right near the dirt bike trials as that's where human traffic is and if the dirt bikes come through and you're hunting you can probably kiss that hunt goodbye, use it for walking in and out but i would shy away from hunting right on it. see if you can access it at all where Marietta Ave and Olive Street are in the bottom left of the photo as well! id try that.
Good call! I'll try to connect with the people that live at the end of that road and see if I can park anywhere around there. Thanks for the idea.
Personally I'd try to check out this edge I e always found luck around them(red line on the left) and then the funnel/pinch between the two Ag feild (red circle) could point you in the right direction. Then hit those timbers in the middle and see how they're using it. Hope it's a help. Best of luck
You walkway to and from is very important. On a property like that I would hunt the edges until I saw movement that made me move. You are in residential area, you do not want a deer falling somewhere it should not, I would leave 150 yards from where you do not want it to fall. Sent from my iPad using Bowhunting.com Forums
Urban hunting can be tricky. Definitely want to be sure of your boundaries etc Ohio power may not care but the baptist church may not be receptive. Its a small area hang back play the wind. If you see a pattern develop make your move.
