• Help Support TNDeer:

Reinventing the wheel

N

Nsghunter

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2014
Messages
1,138
Location
Blount co tn
How is everyone's pre-season?

I hunt a family deer property that gets little to no pressure. I have hunted it two-three times per year for the last five years but I need some advice. I harvest deer and I am happy but I still don't think I optimize how I hunt the farm. Meaning, I hunt a saddle that gets a little deer traffic, I take a meat deer then I go home. I have seen one decent buck, spooked a few more bucks but never had a chance to shoot them. I have moved stands a few times but it seems this year I feel silly because I want to develop a new strategy but I really don't know what to do. I have hunted this one way the entire time and now I would like to change something. I have tried a few different areas but they are hard to access due to geography and my fitness level.. I know this is all vague but I would like some general input on how to look at this picture differently. I hunt this property how I typically hunt any property but I would like to have different strategies.

The reason for the desire to change is that :
1. I didn't see many deer last year.
2. the adjoining properties have started getting hunted and have possibly changed the pattern? IDK
3. The property is roughly 100 acres and I usually only hunt this one little portion but want to do more with it.
4. My children and wife enjoy hunting more now so the one prime stand location isn't enough to fill our needs.
5. I can't help but believe this property has more to offer but I can't seem to develop a better strategy. This is the only way I know to hunt and would like to possibly try something different.
6. I have only hunted for 7 years and I would like to hear new strategies.
 
Do lots of scouting. Find the trails and the sign. Look for oak trees and you'll have acorns in Oct. Spend some time hunting on the ground and moving around and getting a feel for the property. You don't have to go put a bunch of stands up if you don't want to.
 
Nsghunter,

I've been hunting the same family property for 37 years. It's a bit larger than yours, but we have 5-7 hunters hunting it each year. We also pressure our place quite a bit more than you pressure yours. Over the years, we've found traditional hot spots eventually go dead due to changes in habitat and excessive hunting pressure. To find "new" hot spots, all I can recommend is experimentation. We constantly move our stands around to try new areas. In addition, I HIGHLY recommend trail-cameras for investigating new areas. I only run trail-cameras during the season to produce a census of the deer using my property. I've never had a trail-camera put me on a specific buck. HOWEVER, while trying to inventory all the bucks using the property, I have learned a great deal about deer movement from trail-cameras. They have also helped me "discover" new deer hot spots that certainly have helped me kill bucks.

When using trail-cameras, you have to realize you're only monitoring the area directly in front of the camera, and depending on brand, out only 20-30 yards in front of the camera. But for identifying new and unique pinch points or high traffic areas, they can be a Godsend. Although many hunters prefer using cellular cams put in one spot and left for the season, I prefer moving my cameras constantly. In fact, traditionally I was using 7-8 cameras, but over the course of a deer season, I might use 60+ different locations for those cameras, moving some of them weekly. This constant experimentation with camera set-ups has helped me identify many hot spots I would have never wasted valuable hunting time on. They have also helped me eliminate many, many potential spots, increasing the value of the time I do spend on stand.
 
As bsk said above. We have moved to trail cameras doing our work for us more then back in the day. We do use cell cameras but also regular cameras. Also keeping notes we keep notes on ever sit we sit. We have a few stands that have never been moved the rest get tweaked because deer can and will start picking them out.

You said you spooked some deer? How? Hunting wrong wind? Thermals? Being seen? Access? All of those things are also pressure. And pressure will shut down a property fast very fast.

Our main and best farm is bigger then yours but we have been hunting it for 30 years. And we are constantly changing things around even after 30 years. Deer change yearly with crop rotation, browse, acorn crop, and a lot of other factors.

You could be 50 or 60 yards away from the x and that 50 yards could easily be the difference from a good hunt or a great hunt.

Start with cameras and you can start that now. While putting them up put boots on the ground.

Also with a 100 acres you need stands or spots for more then one wind.
 
This may sound silly but you need think like a deer . Where is your food sources ? Where is your bedding areas ? Are they bedding on your place or adjoining property ? Look for trails ....even the faint trails. Look for the easiest access from bedding to feeding areas . You will have to scout this property very good to get these answers. A deer will travel just like a human will travel until they are pressured then they will avoid the pressured area somewhat . Hunting and observing how the deer move and putting up cameras will help quicker but scouting will pay dividends. Once you find and area you like then you'll have to set up according to how the wind blows prevently. Allow for different stand sites according to the direction of the wind . You say you hunt a saddle? My favorite stand on a lease I had in Glies was in a saddle hoping for a northerly wind but could hunt with other wind directions unless I had a south wind then I didn't hunt it . But I had a secondary stand near that one but more on the west side of the property that I could hunt with a south wind. The lay of the land has alot to do with stand selections as well as deer movement .
 
Last edited:
deerhunter10 said:
As bsk said above. We have moved to trail cameras doing our work for us more then back in the day. We do use cell cameras but also regular cameras. Also keeping notes we keep notes on ever sit we sit. We have a few stands that have never been moved the rest get tweaked because deer can and will start picking them out.

You said you spooked some deer? How? Hunting wrong wind? Thermals? Being seen? Access? All of those things are also pressure. And pressure will shut down a property fast very fast.

Our main and best farm is bigger then yours but we have been hunting it for 30 years. And we are constantly changing things around even after 30 years. Deer change yearly with crop rotation, browse, acorn crop, and a lot of other factors.

You could be 50 or 60 yards away from the x and that 50 yards could easily be the difference from a good hunt or a great hunt.

Start with cameras and you can start that now. While putting them up put boots on the ground.

Also with a 100 acres you need stands or spots for more then one wind.
Click to expand...
Spooked deer while walking on the property during hunting season.
 
Snake said:
This may sound silly but you need think like a deer . Where is your food sources ? Where is your bedding areas ? Are they bedding on your place or adjoining property ? Look for trails ....even the faint trails. Look for the easiest access from bedding to feeding areas . You will have to scout this property very good to get these answers. A deer will travel just like a human will travel until they are pressured then they will avoid the pressured area somewhat . Hunting and observing how the deer move and putting up cameras will help quicker but scouting will pay dividends. Once you find and area you like then you'll have to set up according to how the wind blows prevently. Allow for different stand sites according to the direction of the wind . You say you hunt a saddle? My favorite stand on a lease I had in Glies was in a saddle hoping for a northerly wind but could hunt with other wind directions unless I had a south wind then I didn't hunt it . But I had a secondary stand near that one but more on the west side of the property that I could hunt with a south wind. The lay of the land has alot to do with stand selections as well as deer movement .
Click to expand...
Thanks for you input! The lay of this land is where I struggle some. Its relatively steep and its almost all on the same hillside.
 
Nsghunter said:
Thanks for you input! The lay of this land is where I struggle some. Its relatively steep and its almost all on the same hillside.
Click to expand...
Is there a bench on the hillside? How about the end of the points? Hunting saddles never really produced for me but benches and points are FANTASTIC spots.
 
Huntaholic said:
Post pics of the property via google earth, onx, huntstand, whatever. Then we can give you a better idea of spots to check out.
Click to expand...
Sorry, I am not the best at this, the red tree stand icon is where we usually put our stands. I can try to do better later. Also, I don't know how to delete all my waypoints temporarily. and I didn't want to clear them.
 

Attachments

  • onx pic.webp
    onx pic.webp
    279.3 KB · Views: 2
  • onx picture 1.webp
    onx picture 1.webp
    121.7 KB · Views: 1
Huntaholic said:
Is there a bench on the hillside? How about the end of the points? Hunting saddles never really produced for me but benches and points are FANTASTIC spots.
Click to expand...
I believe it is "Benchy" but I struggle to identify them. Saddles are MEH at best but they will yield meat deer along the way.
 
Just as @Huntaholic mentioned hunting benches on steep property is the thing , bucks tend to travel those. If it's a flat top ridge bucks will travel those laying down sign . The properties I've hunted bucks travel the ridge tops . Where is most of the buck sign from previous years ? I've had early success hunting wore out trails as bucks will be following does as they come into estorus. Try and get a better map but to be honest I'm not much on maps...I like scouting the real thing .
 
Youre gonna have to clean that up some! I see 3 potential stand sites, but I cant give you directions or locations with all those markers everywhere! The 3 spots I see DO NOT have any icons on them btw.
 
I see a KILLER spot for rifle hunting, not sure of distance across the head of that draw so it may be too far with a bow or MZ.
 
Huntaholic said:
Youre gonna have to clean that up some! I see 3 potential stand sites, but I cant give you directions or locations with all those markers everywhere! The 3 spots I see DO NOT have any icons on them btw.
Click to expand...
Wonderful! I'll work on a better map picture. Thanks for you're input.
 
I say if you know how to hunt, you don't need cameras. Kind of like forward facing sonar for fishing, that is for people who don't know how to fish. IMO, the cameras are doing the work and leave much of what it is actually hunting behind. I have a couple I will set when needed for trespassers, luckily that rarely happens, but I have never used cameras for seeing what deer are where I hunt or trying to determine a place to hunt. So glad the guy that controls where I hunt in KY agrees with that. Those cameras are pretty good at hunting but also they miss more deer than most realize.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top