New to the Beast and looking for insights to help speed the learning curve

Post topo’s and Aerial photos for free advice. Food plotting, land manipulation, water holes, ect.
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lottig
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New to the Beast and looking for insights to help speed the learning curve

Unread postby lottig » Fri Dec 08, 2017 3:06 pm

Hi Folks- I'm new to the Beast and looking for some insights from this group on hunting and locating bedding areas on a couple of pieces of land that my brother and I hunt in western Wisconsin. I've been hunting since I was 12, shot a lot of does, a few bucks, and over the last several years taken up bow hunting seriously and have really begun to make a concerted effort to hunt mature deer. My brother and I hunt a couple pieces of land in western Wisconsin. We primarily bow hunt and then do a little bit of muzzle loader hunting at the end of Wisconsin's season. Once my boys get to be old enough to start hunting, we will probably do a bit more gun hunting again. We have been hunting the two properties here for several years and taken a few good deer (3.5-5.5 yr olds) off the property. In the past, we have basically done the classic scouting for pinch points and known travel corridors, which has obviously lead to some success. We know from trail cameras that there are some really big/old deer on the property but many of them we have never seen in daylight. Prior to getting clued into this community, my brother and I both decided to add mobile setups to our for next season and since then I've been reading and listening to as much as I can from this group. I thought that getting some early comments/thoughts on the property we hunt right now might help speed up the learning process and help jump start our post season scouting and plans for next year.

We are really particular about access and for the most part just hunt inside the edges of the wooded areas where we can get in and out pretty easy. Also, because we don't have to bust two miles back in, we can be and are really particular about scent control. From mid-October to mid-November (our typical hunting time periods) we see the majority of winds out of the S and W. Due East winds are rare and about 25% of the time the wind has a north component to it (65% it has either a S or a W component).

Property #1: We've been hunting this property the longest. Its 80 acres with CRP fields on top and two residences. All the land around it is hunted pretty hard (especially during gun season). We are the only people who basically hunt it during bow season but several other folks hunt it during gun season. Property outlines are green, north is up, and some of our existing stand sites are marked although a few have moved since I made these maps.
Image

link to high res version: https://www.dropbox.com/s/y4nk0l5lx3pkt ... 1.png?dl=0

Property #2: We've been hunting this on and off over the last few years, but recently leased it to keep other hunters out (particularly folks that regularly drove it during the gun season). We moved around a bit on this property this year with a climber stand but never laid eyes on anything worth considering although we had trail camera pics of two bucks that were at least 3.5 maybe 4.5 yrs old on the property pretty regularly.
Image

link to high res version: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ljo8ua4u7zr3u ... 2.png?dl=0


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stash59
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Re: New to the Beast and looking for insights to help speed the learning curve

Unread postby stash59 » Fri Dec 08, 2017 4:33 pm

Fastest thing would be to hire Dan to come look at your land and follow his recommendations.

Used to be a Scout with Dan ad on here someplace.
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ScottSpitzley
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Re: New to the Beast and looking for insights to help speed the learning curve

Unread postby ScottSpitzley » Thu Dec 14, 2017 9:16 am

lottig wrote:Hi Folks- I'm new to the Beast and looking for some insights from this group on hunting and locating bedding areas on a couple of pieces of land that my brother and I hunt in western Wisconsin. I've been hunting since I was 12, shot a lot of does, a few bucks, and over the last several years taken up bow hunting seriously and have really begun to make a concerted effort to hunt mature deer. My brother and I hunt a couple pieces of land in western Wisconsin. We primarily bow hunt and then do a little bit of muzzle loader hunting at the end of Wisconsin's season. Once my boys get to be old enough to start hunting, we will probably do a bit more gun hunting again. We have been hunting the two properties here for several years and taken a few good deer (3.5-5.5 yr olds) off the property. In the past, we have basically done the classic scouting for pinch points and known travel corridors, which has obviously lead to some success. We know from trail cameras that there are some really big/old deer on the property but many of them we have never seen in daylight. Prior to getting clued into this community, my brother and I both decided to add mobile setups to our for next season and since then I've been reading and listening to as much as I can from this group. I thought that getting some early comments/thoughts on the property we hunt right now might help speed up the learning process and help jump start our post season scouting and plans for next year.

We are really particular about access and for the most part just hunt inside the edges of the wooded areas where we can get in and out pretty easy. Also, because we don't have to bust two miles back in, we can be and are really particular about scent control. From mid-October to mid-November (our typical hunting time periods) we see the majority of winds out of the S and W. Due East winds are rare and about 25% of the time the wind has a north component to it (65% it has either a S or a W component).

Property #1: We've been hunting this property the longest. Its 80 acres with CRP fields on top and two residences. All the land around it is hunted pretty hard (especially during gun season). We are the only people who basically hunt it during bow season but several other folks hunt it during gun season. Property outlines are green, north is up, and some of our existing stand sites are marked although a few have moved since I made these maps.
Image

link to high res version: https://www.dropbox.com/s/y4nk0l5lx3pkt ... 1.png?dl=0

Property #2: We've been hunting this on and off over the last few years, but recently leased it to keep other hunters out (particularly folks that regularly drove it during the gun season). We moved around a bit on this property this year with a climber stand but never laid eyes on anything worth considering although we had trail camera pics of two bucks that were at least 3.5 maybe 4.5 yrs old on the property pretty regularly.
Image

link to high res version: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ljo8ua4u7zr3u ... 2.png?dl=0


Mind me asking what app, or site you are using for that aerial view? Is that Hunterra by chance?
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Re: New to the Beast and looking for insights to help speed the learning curve

Unread postby SidewayZ » Thu Dec 14, 2017 10:37 am

I thought I would give it a crack. I am not a veteran at this, but this is how I would break it down to start. Not sure of the contour interval but it looks like you have a fair amount of relief on the property. I also believe it would be primarily wind based bedding. Not knowing much else about the property and if it was my first scout I would check for bedding at both the vegetation transitions and along the either the military crest or the upper 1/3rd of the slopes. Key on points and bowls along vegetation and on slopes look for raised elevations or knobs not seen on topo. You can apply same to other map.

Image

Green = South Winds
Blue = North WInds
Purple =East Winds
Orange = West winds

Also there is no fast track I would say to this style of hunting, there are so many variables. But if you want to look for beds this may help you. I would also highly recommend all of Dan's videos at the Hunting Beast store (Hill Country, Marsh Country and Swamp Country) you will find valuable info in all.

Good luck.
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Re: New to the Beast and looking for insights to help speed the learning curve

Unread postby PK_ » Thu Dec 14, 2017 2:28 pm

Have Dan come scout it. For sure. That will shorten the learning curve more than anything.
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lottig
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Re: New to the Beast and looking for insights to help speed the learning curve

Unread postby lottig » Fri Dec 15, 2017 4:43 am

SidewayZ wrote:I thought I would give it a crack. I am not a veteran at this, but this is how I would break it down to start. Not sure of the contour interval but it looks like you have a fair amount of relief on the property. I also believe it would be primarily wind based bedding. Not knowing much else about the property and if it was my first scout I would check for bedding at both the vegetation transitions and along the either the military crest or the upper 1/3rd of the slopes. Key on points and bowls along vegetation and on slopes look for raised elevations or knobs not seen on topo. You can apply same to other map.

Image

Green = South Winds
Blue = North WInds
Purple =East Winds
Orange = West winds

Also there is no fast track I would say to this style of hunting, there are so many variables. But if you want to look for beds this may help you. I would also highly recommend all of Dan's videos at the Hunting Beast store (Hill Country, Marsh Country and Swamp Country) you will find valuable info in all.

Good luck.


Thanks for the insights and it basically confirms the places we are planning on looking at although I was trying to find more distinct points. I just ordered the videos to watch those and yes, we have a lot of relief. Contour interval is 20' for these maps that I made. I also have made some 2' contour interval maps to see if any fine scale stuff sticks out. Benefits of having access to software is that I can pretty much make/incorporate anything I want into a map.
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lottig
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Re: New to the Beast and looking for insights to help speed the learning curve

Unread postby lottig » Mon Dec 18, 2017 9:04 am

ScottSpitzley wrote:
Mind me asking what app, or site you are using for that aerial view? Is that Hunterra by chance?


"ScottSpitzley" the maps are very similar to what you would get with Hunterra but I'm making them myself. I'm pulling lidar data (digital elevation data that is extremely accurate < 1ft), aerial images, and creating my own maps. I can then take my custom maps and load them into Avenza (Android and iOS app) and have access to them in the field using the GPS on my phone.
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Re: New to the Beast and looking for insights to help speed the learning curve

Unread postby Outdoor814 » Mon Dec 18, 2017 10:29 am

lottig wrote:
ScottSpitzley wrote:
Mind me asking what app, or site you are using for that aerial view? Is that Hunterra by chance?


"ScottSpitzley" the maps are very similar to what you would get with Hunterra but I'm making them myself. I'm pulling lidar data (digital elevation data that is extremely accurate < 1ft), aerial images, and creating my own maps. I can then take my custom maps and load them into Avenza (Android and iOS app) and have access to them in the field using the GPS on my phone.



Interesting :think:
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ScottSpitzley
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Re: New to the Beast and looking for insights to help speed the learning curve

Unread postby ScottSpitzley » Tue Dec 19, 2017 8:47 am

lottig wrote:
ScottSpitzley wrote:
Mind me asking what app, or site you are using for that aerial view? Is that Hunterra by chance?


"ScottSpitzley" the maps are very similar to what you would get with Hunterra but I'm making them myself. I'm pulling lidar data (digital elevation data that is extremely accurate < 1ft), aerial images, and creating my own maps. I can then take my custom maps and load them into Avenza (Android and iOS app) and have access to them in the field using the GPS on my phone.



Great idea!


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