Re: 5 years dry, looking for advice
Sounds like you are seeing deer just not the right ones. You don't need a stand but they do make it a lot easier. I use the Onx app and I really like it. It helps mark sign and spots you want to check out. I've also found public land I didn't know about using it. Sometimes after marking a bunch of rubs you see patterns you didn't expect. You also have all the data to look at the next year. I took a quick look at the SGL's you hunt. I would walk those power lines looking for rubs. Also any transitions. The edges of swamps or where open woods changes to thick cover. Also check maybe 50 yrds off of any of the main roads. So many people walk right past awesome sign just because it's too close to the road. Any public that buts up against private is also something to check. I'm no expert. I've never killed a huge buck but I generally kill something every year or at least get opportunities. My uncle and cousins kill more deer than anyone I know and they probably spend 10x more time scouting than hunting. This year I hiked about 30 miles and set-up 5 cameras in three separate locations over several days. Doing that I only got 4 legal bucks on camera to give you an idea. With the amount of deer you seen I think you'll are on the right track.
Re: 5 years dry, looking for advice
I*m with you buddy, I*m in year four right now I*m at camp right now and I don*t even see any!
Re: 5 years dry, looking for advice
I'm not a hunter but I hike trails through wooded state and local parks in DELCO/CHESCO and I see deer all the time. I guess the deer read the signs and know they're in protected areas!
Re: 5 years dry, looking for advice
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Yoder
Sounds like you are seeing deer just not the right ones. You don't need a stand but they do make it a lot easier. I use the Onx app and I really like it. It helps mark sign and spots you want to check out. I've also found public land I didn't know about using it. Sometimes after marking a bunch of rubs you see patterns you didn't expect. You also have all the data to look at the next year. I took a quick look at the SGL's you hunt. I would walk those power lines looking for rubs. Also any transitions. The edges of swamps or where open woods changes to thick cover. Also check maybe 50 yrds off of any of the main roads. So many people walk right past awesome sign just because it's too close to the road. Any public that buts up against private is also something to check. I'm no expert. I've never killed a huge buck but I generally kill something every year or at least get opportunities. My uncle and cousins kill more deer than anyone I know and they probably spend 10x more time scouting than hunting. This year I hiked about 30 miles and set-up 5 cameras in three separate locations over several days. Doing that I only got 4 legal bucks on camera to give you an idea. With the amount of deer you seen I think you'll are on the right track.
I have onX as well (free version though) & have found it’s only advantage is it’s UI. If you use PGC mapping center it gives you a lot more detail than just mapping out the borders. For me I carry a GPS with me in addition to my phone so I can drop waypoints wherever I see rubs, scat or scrapes or on the off chance I see an actual deer.
Power lines are a good point, but I’m staying away from swamps for a while. I was knee deep in 1 last year and ankle deep in 1 today. Only saw tracks & a bit of scat today, no rubs or anything that stood out asides from bear scat, it’s a berry bear so it would be a tasty bear if I hunted them.
I have to map out would be transition areas but another good point, google earth isn’t half bad for that with their archived sat photos.
I need to get more cams but I don’t have the expendable income at the moment to get them. & I need to take my old android with me as a card reader & viewer rather than buying 1 of them
Re: 5 years dry, looking for advice
I'm in Monroe and the 'bigger' woods have changed, the heavy wooded areas we hunted in my youth have changed and the hunting pressure has really changed, properties adjoining the SF have sub divided and there is less men moving. Opening day we used to post a ridgetop on the SF line. just before 9am a line of men would sreach out along the line and when the whistle blew at 9am they would march down into the private land. 10:15 to 10:30 and here came the deer that circled around the drivers...no longer.
We see much more deer in the developments and have started to stay close to the cabin and focused on the area boardering the houses.
Still a mixed bag but this archery season I saw more deer than I have in the past 5 years.
Got up the Friday of the JR/SR anterless and decided to take the rifle instead of the bow and got to watch a really nice buck walk past where I was sitting [in a chair] and stand broadside 15 yards away eatng acorns...
Come rifle season and it was a ghost town.
You might want to re-think where you hunt
Re: 5 years dry, looking for advice
Always remember that time spent in the field even when you do not bag any game is not wasted.
Re: 5 years dry, looking for advice
Don't let it get you down. I've been told that great Country Music could be made from my deer stories.
Re: 5 years dry, looking for advice
Start squirrel hunting. Start rabbit hunting. Start grouse hunting. Three GREAT reasons to get out and walk. The more you are in the area you plan to deer hunt, the more you see and learn. Write things down. You will be surprised how many times things are repeated. By that, I mean deer moving from one area to the other, deer getting bumped from one area and heading to cover etc...