Entrance and exit in public deep timber
- Ognennyy
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Entrance and exit in public deep timber
Clueless bow hunter not from a hunting family. No friends hunt, no mentors, trying to figure this out on my own. Available is deep timber on public land. After my first season (last year) I realized I needed to put in some serious time in the woods pre-season. Then I moved out of state in January and didn't come back until September, so the pre-season scouting went out the window.
I'm a bit overwhelmed with the deep timber. Every time I get in there I see a high canopy, long rolling hills, crunchy leaves, snappy twigs, and all I can think is "ok.... now everything within 200 yards knows I'm here, so I better keep moving until I find something more ideal." So I keep moving, but the situation never changes. I constantly decide not to set up because I feel like all the deer in the area (approximately 3 deer per square mile) already know I'm there. All I want to do is shoot, even just see, any deer at all in the woods.
How do people approach and set up in deep timber? If you don't know exactly where the deer are (which I feel is impossible in deep timber unless you're hunting bedded bucks) I'm failing at coming up with a strategy for an approach where the hunt isn't over before it ever begins.
Do people just do the best the can to guess, via cyber scouting, where the deer are, and approach as if they knew for a fact the deer are where they guessed? I tried that twice and neither time worked very well. I got deflated because in the back of my mind was a voice saying "Well, you don't actually know the deer are there..."
Maybe this is half vent, but truly I am looking for advice on deep timber blind hunting. Thanks for reading guys. Without the Beast I'm not sure I'd have it in me to keep hunting.
I'm a bit overwhelmed with the deep timber. Every time I get in there I see a high canopy, long rolling hills, crunchy leaves, snappy twigs, and all I can think is "ok.... now everything within 200 yards knows I'm here, so I better keep moving until I find something more ideal." So I keep moving, but the situation never changes. I constantly decide not to set up because I feel like all the deer in the area (approximately 3 deer per square mile) already know I'm there. All I want to do is shoot, even just see, any deer at all in the woods.
How do people approach and set up in deep timber? If you don't know exactly where the deer are (which I feel is impossible in deep timber unless you're hunting bedded bucks) I'm failing at coming up with a strategy for an approach where the hunt isn't over before it ever begins.
Do people just do the best the can to guess, via cyber scouting, where the deer are, and approach as if they knew for a fact the deer are where they guessed? I tried that twice and neither time worked very well. I got deflated because in the back of my mind was a voice saying "Well, you don't actually know the deer are there..."
Maybe this is half vent, but truly I am looking for advice on deep timber blind hunting. Thanks for reading guys. Without the Beast I'm not sure I'd have it in me to keep hunting.
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Re: Entrance and exit in public deep timber
my opinion you never know the deer are 100 percent there. that's hunting if the deer weren't there you gave it a shot and pick another spot the next day. the more spots u pick the more chances of seeing deer. over time when u get better at map reading ur confidence will go up but don't get bummed if a deer does not walk pass. this year I sat only 5 times and seen deer 3 out of the 5 sits and the deer were out of range for a shot. I learned from it and I planned to move closr for the next sit if the opportunity comes. the joy of hunting is the chase. having a plan and when that plan finally comes through is what makes it all worth it. so don't give up keep at it and things will fall into place.
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- Ognennyy
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Re: Entrance and exit in public deep timber
Thanks for the kind words davey.
You never question if you've spooked all the "local" deer on your way in? Often I spend a lot of time and energy trying to be quiet - even though I'm certainly still visible - on my way in, but I can't help feeling that I've still been detected. Is there anything you do in particular to reduce chances of being seen on the way in, even if you have no choice but to approach through an area where you're visible forever in all directions? Or is that just the nature of deep timber hunting, and there's nothing for it so forget about it?
You never question if you've spooked all the "local" deer on your way in? Often I spend a lot of time and energy trying to be quiet - even though I'm certainly still visible - on my way in, but I can't help feeling that I've still been detected. Is there anything you do in particular to reduce chances of being seen on the way in, even if you have no choice but to approach through an area where you're visible forever in all directions? Or is that just the nature of deep timber hunting, and there's nothing for it so forget about it?
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Re: Entrance and exit in public deep timber
I only hunt big timber, high elevation. Tough to go in quiet, but can be done. I have walked in making more noise than I wanted to and two hours later had deer within 20 yards. Just depends on what you are trying to get at. I have learned not to be in a hurry to get to my spot, just to see how quiet I can be. I also try and use the laurel as much as possible where I hunt to hide my movements as I go to a specific spot.
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Re: Entrance and exit in public deep timber
Is there any ridges in that timber? I hunt southern NH and there's blocks of timber I hunt that are many thousand acres. You're best bet is to figure out the terrain first off.
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Re: Entrance and exit in public deep timber
Are there any ravines that u can hike up to get to 1/3 from the top of a ridge?
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- headgear
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Re: Entrance and exit in public deep timber
Get Dan's hill country dvd if you don't have one already, then pick a spot on a map and walk to the general area and stop about 200 yards out and just let everything calm down for 5-10 minutes. Then slow down that last 200 yards, take a few slow steps and pause, couple more pause, and on and on. It won't matter as much if you make some noise (aside from a loud crack) but slow it down so you don't sound like a human walking the ridge. The deer hear stuff all day long, you will be surprised how close you can get sometimes.
- Ognennyy
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Re: Entrance and exit in public deep timber
I do have some ridges in the property, as well as ravines. This is the general area I'm hunting (not everything in this image is public access, I just wanted to demonstrate an overview of the terrain). I have identified three buck beds in the red circled area, and I think bucks are bedded somewhere near the red "?" as well (I found a scrape there, 100 yards west of the bedding, 100 yards east of a rub line I found last year). The buck beds themselves I found were all within 40-50 yards of one another, but the entire general bedding area (thick, nasty, impenetrable) is about 3-4 acres.
Maybe I'm approaching this wrong... trying to figure out how to approach quietly through an area that is not quiet and where I'm in plain sight. Maybe if I'm going to go in blind I should base all my blind sits off coming up a ravine then cutting straight in, or doing the same with a stream bed. Go where I know the quiet approaches are?
Been talking to a friend tonight too and I think really at the root of all my problems is that I plain don't know where the deer are, just need to spend more time in the woods observing. But anyway, that's my hunting property. It's not quite all cat-tail marsh, it's not quite hill country, sure as not farm land!
Maybe I'm approaching this wrong... trying to figure out how to approach quietly through an area that is not quiet and where I'm in plain sight. Maybe if I'm going to go in blind I should base all my blind sits off coming up a ravine then cutting straight in, or doing the same with a stream bed. Go where I know the quiet approaches are?
Been talking to a friend tonight too and I think really at the root of all my problems is that I plain don't know where the deer are, just need to spend more time in the woods observing. But anyway, that's my hunting property. It's not quite all cat-tail marsh, it's not quite hill country, sure as not farm land!
- Singing Bridge
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Re: Entrance and exit in public deep timber
Here's a great post that may give you some ideas:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17410&hilit=always+on+edge
You can also search my posts for "big woods" and "wilderness"
Lots of great big woods hunters on here, you caught me on a good day- the others are probably off hunting.
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17410&hilit=always+on+edge
You can also search my posts for "big woods" and "wilderness"
Lots of great big woods hunters on here, you caught me on a good day- the others are probably off hunting.
- Ognennyy
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Re: Entrance and exit in public deep timber
I guess it would be relevant to add... my goal is literally just to see a deer from my stand location! I don't care what sex, how old, antlers or not... I just want to even see one, just need the reassurance of knowing that I'm doing something right.
, if one with the umbilical cord still attached gets within range I'm taking a shot.
, if one with the umbilical cord still attached gets within range I'm taking a shot.
- Ognennyy
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Re: Entrance and exit in public deep timber
Singing Bridge wrote:Here's a great post that may give you some ideas:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17410&hilit=always+on+edge
You can also search my posts for "big woods" and "wilderness"
Lots of great big woods hunters on here, you caught me on a good day- the others are probably off hunting.
Thanks Bridge, that's a great post.
And for anyone reading this dude has great customer service. Went the extra mile with me when I contacted him about stealth strips, even though I applied them to my steps backward and it was all my fault.
- jwilkstn
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Re: Entrance and exit in public deep timber
headgear wrote:Get Dan's hill country dvd if you don't have one already, then pick a spot on a map and walk to the general area and stop about 200 yards out and just let everything calm down for 5-10 minutes. Then slow down that last 200 yards, take a few slow steps and pause, couple more pause, and on and on. It won't matter as much if you make some noise (aside from a loud crack) but slow it down so you don't sound like a human walking the ridge. The deer hear stuff all day long, you will be surprised how close you can get sometimes.
Great advice from headgear ^^^
Be as quiet as you can, but mostly focus on eliminating unnatural noises and break up the cadence of your footsteps when it's dry.
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- john1984
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Re: Entrance and exit in public deep timber
I struggle with similar situations. Go in early if you can. Use windy or wet conditions to your advantage. Like Dan just said recently, " If your not occasionally bumping deer and swearing at yourself, your NOT getting close enough".
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- Ognennyy
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Re: Entrance and exit in public deep timber
Ha John funny thing is last week I actually did bump a buck out of his bed in the red circle in the map above. I had no clue his bed was there. I was headed up to the red "?", traveling along the streambed just to the north of there. I'd like to hunt those beds, I think I need more intel on the area; where do they exit? Then this last Sunday I went directly into that bedroom still hunting with my shotgun on a windy (20mph+ gusts) day because I felt I could move during the gusts without deer hearing me. No dice. I had a West wind; the only wind I now think they're not bedded there on.
Since I just meandered right into their bedrooms, I think I'll give that a week or so to rest then try it again if my tag is still unfilled in the second week of November. Is that long enough for them to "unspook" and come back I wonder.
Since I just meandered right into their bedrooms, I think I'll give that a week or so to rest then try it again if my tag is still unfilled in the second week of November. Is that long enough for them to "unspook" and come back I wonder.
- oldrank
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Re: Entrance and exit in public deep timber
It looks like you have some marsh/swamp bedding areas. I would put money they hold deer. It also gives you transition lines to scout. Your map look solid to me. Maybe start thinking of it as alot of small areas to hunt instead of one large area. Break it down. Look for classic hill bedding areas. Look for saddles and rut funnels. Look for marsh bedding and look for leeward cruising ridges. Treat each area as an individual spot and start hunting a rotation. Watch for any transition lines no matter how slight they may seem. Deer loce moving along the edges. It may just be the difference of open hard woods to a old clear cut or slightly thicker tangle. Dont worry about making noise just pay attention to your wind, be as stealthy as you can be and hunt. Dont second guess yourself. Have faith in your setups and pay attention to details. You will learn as you go. Good luck.
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