Southern Beasts Tactical Thread

Discuss deer hunting tactics, Deer behavior. Post your Hunting Stories, Pictures, and Questions/Answers.
  • Advertisement

HB Store


User avatar
Boogieman1
500 Club
Posts: 6589
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 11:18 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Southern Beasts Tactical Thread

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Fri Oct 16, 2020 10:37 am

I’ve got out 7 times so far. Wouldn’t say I’ve been setting the woods on fire but I’ve had fun and seen some deer. Tough sledding in my area in the early season with food everywhere. After a couple good hard frosts the odds start to swing in my favor. Currently just been hunting less desirable places. But I did see a biggen yesterday so you never know! Had to go back to work today and a front blew in dropping temps nearly 40 degrees. Doah! I tell ya this workin stuff is for the birds


Life is hard; It’s even harder if you are stupid.
-John Wayne-
Ahawk116
Posts: 227
Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2018 3:16 am
Status: Offline

Re: Southern Beasts Tactical Thread

Unread postby Ahawk116 » Fri Oct 16, 2020 10:59 am

5 sits for me thus far which is slower than normal, but I took a trip out west elk hunting so my obligations around the house have kept me out of the woods alot more than normal. Killed a doe and passed on some younger bucks. The best of which was a two year old 6pt. The public by my house opened up today so I should be able to start stacking up some sits here soon, and actually have something to contribute.
User avatar
Ghost Hunter
Posts: 4891
Joined: Fri Nov 02, 2012 10:00 am
Location: South Arkansas
Status: Offline

Re: Southern Beasts Tactical Thread

Unread postby Ghost Hunter » Fri Oct 16, 2020 12:00 pm

I have been two times. Not off to a good start. But. I'm packed and loaded for 9 days at farm starting tomorrow night.
I'm reason they call it hunting and not shooting.
Bowhunter68
Posts: 16
Joined: Thu May 14, 2020 1:50 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Southern Beasts Tactical Thread

Unread postby Bowhunter68 » Fri Oct 16, 2020 3:01 pm

I’ve been bouncing between my hunting club lease and nearby public areas. So far only young bucks and even some lone spotted fawns. Seems like the does know I’d be more than happy to put an arrow in them. Have 10 days off starting the 25th so hopefully I can make something happen then
AlwaysWhitetail
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 9:53 am
Status: Offline

Re: Southern Beasts Tactical Thread

Unread postby AlwaysWhitetail » Fri Oct 16, 2020 3:24 pm

dannyboy wrote:
AlwaysWhitetail wrote:Any updates from the Southern Beasts? Anybody gettin on em!?

I'm from Alabama and our season just started today. Went this morning but it was slow. I try to look at it as a marathon, not a sprint. Down here I think you have to hunt more mornings because of the heat but even then, the warm winds swirl badly and you sweat up easily which makes it tough until the cooler , more predictable November weather gets here


Taking my first trip to bama late January/early February this year to close the season out and hunt the late rut. Any suggestions on when/where/how to get it done on one of the southern WMAs?
GeneralLee
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2020 6:39 am
Status: Offline

Re: Southern Beasts Tactical Thread

Unread postby GeneralLee » Sat Oct 17, 2020 2:31 am

I wouldn't say my hunting at this point is anything "beastly", but i'm doing all I can to learn and apply these tactics. I must say, I didn't consider beast style hunting as a tactic that could work here in the south. But here lately I've really questioned everything that I've been taught about deer hunting previously. During the past offseason I did not get back on to my lease. Being unfamiliar with the public lands in my area, I decided I wanted to try my hand at hunting mobile and what better way to make myself commit to it than 100% public land hunting for a season or maybe more? Unfortunately, due to time constraints, moving houses, a young family and being a shift worker, I allowed myself very limited time to scout. I'm curious as to how you guys would approach this scenario. If you could only do in season scouting, how would you do it? Tear out into the woods and scout until you find sign and set up? I feel like ill surely blow out the areas that I scout, but I would rather do that and have some kind of information to go off of for future endeavors than throwing up a blind sit somewhere on any old creek bottom. I committed myself to this change to learn, not to kill. Hopefully the kills come later after the learning. So if I spend every day I get in the woods all season scouting, and only sit 5-6 times, so be it. I'd love to hear the Southern Beasts input on this topic.
User avatar
fenderbender62
Posts: 60
Joined: Sat Sep 28, 2019 3:41 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Southern Beasts Tactical Thread

Unread postby fenderbender62 » Sat Oct 17, 2020 2:43 am

GeneralLee I can relate to your question.

I only scout post season and never hit the woods after March. Where i have found success is use google maps to narrow down areas of interest. When you get what you feel is a favorable wind for an area head in mid-morning and very patiently and deliberately scout your way in. Dont go in tromping everywhere, youre hunting while scouting your way in. If/when you find hot sign like a food source with droppings in the feeding zone combined with fresh buck sign in that area pick a tree and setup. Dont setup until you feel confident in the spot. If you never find that fresh sign that screams at you to hunt it, then keep it moving until you do. Even if you never setup and scout the entire afternoon then you have eliminated that area of interest, narrowing down the property, and increasing your chances. Dont waste a day sitting in a stand if the sign isnt there.

Good luck
what one man can do another can do
User avatar
Bonecrusher101
500 Club
Posts: 3079
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2015 3:09 am
Location: West TN
Status: Offline

Re: Southern Beasts Tactical Thread

Unread postby Bonecrusher101 » Sat Oct 17, 2020 2:52 am

GeneralLee wrote:I wouldn't say my hunting at this point is anything "beastly", but i'm doing all I can to learn and apply these tactics. I must say, I didn't consider beast style hunting as a tactic that could work here in the south. But here lately I've really questioned everything that I've been taught about deer hunting previously. During the past offseason I did not get back on to my lease. Being unfamiliar with the public lands in my area, I decided I wanted to try my hand at hunting mobile and what better way to make myself commit to it than 100% public land hunting for a season or maybe more? Unfortunately, due to time constraints, moving houses, a young family and being a shift worker, I allowed myself very limited time to scout. I'm curious as to how you guys would approach this scenario. If you could only do in season scouting, how would you do it? Tear out into the woods and scout until you find sign and set up? I feel like ill surely blow out the areas that I scout, but I would rather do that and have some kind of information to go off of for future endeavors than throwing up a blind sit somewhere on any old creek bottom. I committed myself to this change to learn, not to kill. Hopefully the kills come later after the learning. So if I spend every day I get in the woods all season scouting, and only sit 5-6 times, so be it. I'd love to hear the Southern Beasts input on this topic.


Bucks are tough to pinpoint for me during October. I really don’t think they spend much time on public till after gun season opens. If I were you I’d ditch the stand and scout scout scout scout with a bow or gun in hand till you found somewhere you absolutely knew you had to setup. Yes you will lose the element of surprise if you have to come back later with your stand but at least you will be where you need to be.

Instead of bow hunting this year I opted to try a different route and simply scout as much as possible. I’m trying to eat up as much land as I can and have lot of acres under me by the end of the month. I’m also going into old areas I had previous success and looking for fresh sign and then moving on.

That way Halloween week and the first week of November I can really focus on hunting.
Be original and Enjoy every step along the adventure.
GeneralLee
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2020 6:39 am
Status: Offline

Re: Southern Beasts Tactical Thread

Unread postby GeneralLee » Sat Oct 17, 2020 4:25 pm

fenderbender62 wrote:GeneralLee I can relate to your question.

I only scout post season and never hit the woods after March. Where i have found success is use google maps to narrow down areas of interest. When you get what you feel is a favorable wind for an area head in mid-morning and very patiently and deliberately scout your way in. Dont go in tromping everywhere, youre hunting while scouting your way in. If/when you find hot sign like a food source with droppings in the feeding zone combined with fresh buck sign in that area pick a tree and setup. Dont setup until you feel confident in the spot. If you never find that fresh sign that screams at you to hunt it, then keep it moving until you do. Even if you never setup and scout the entire afternoon then you have eliminated that area of interest, narrowing down the property, and increasing your chances. Dont waste a day sitting in a stand if the sign isnt there.

Good luck


That's just what I needed to hear. I've got my stand and sticks in the truck ready to roll in the morning. I'll be hitting a WMA nearby around daylight. Plan is to run through and mark waypoints of any vehicles parked along side the roads running through the WMA. From then, that should hopefully narrow down the availability of the land that is not being hunted that day. Then I will try to find desirable topography, wind direction, etc from e scouting in the truck and then hopefully will move in to an area from there. I appreciate that bit of info. Tomorrow will be about making a game plan, and executing it. I'm almost certain it will be a failure. But as long as I learn from it, that's all that matters.
dannyboy
Posts: 66
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2015 1:09 am
Status: Offline

Re: Southern Beasts Tactical Thread

Unread postby dannyboy » Sun Oct 18, 2020 12:52 am

AlwaysWhitetail wrote:
dannyboy wrote:
AlwaysWhitetail wrote:Any updates from the Southern Beasts? Anybody gettin on em!?

I'm from Alabama and our season just started today. Went this morning but it was slow. I try to look at it as a marathon, not a sprint. Down here I think you have to hunt more mornings because of the heat but even then, the warm winds swirl badly and you sweat up easily which makes it tough until the cooler , more predictable November weather gets here


Taking my first trip to bama late January/early February this year to close the season out and hunt the late rut. Any suggestions on when/where/how to get it done on one of the southern WMAs?

Take a day or two to find the edges between thickets of 5 to 10 year old pines bumping up to some more open woods. After finding the best sign you can, camp out in there & put in the time as they are roaming at any time. I would go between the scheduled gun hunts with my bow. I don't like crowded woods. Then you just need a little luck on your side
Ahawk116
Posts: 227
Joined: Fri Jun 08, 2018 3:16 am
Status: Offline

Re: Southern Beasts Tactical Thread

Unread postby Ahawk116 » Sun Oct 18, 2020 10:31 am

They are hitting the white oaks hard here in South Carolina. Passed this 2 yr old this morning. Munching away. Setup was in the closest white oaks to bedding that I could hunt with the wind this morning.
140FC80D-BDF0-4587-84A5-27C7E9F51D17.jpeg
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
AlwaysWhitetail
Posts: 7
Joined: Tue Jun 30, 2020 9:53 am
Status: Offline

Re: Southern Beasts Tactical Thread

Unread postby AlwaysWhitetail » Tue Oct 20, 2020 2:42 pm

Southern Beasts. By no means did I kill a giant or even wall hanger. This forum has got me appreciating the process so much more than the result. I've killed bigger deer, but something about studying the map, stalking my way into suspected bedding, watching him stand up at 130pm, and letting it rip gets me so much more excited than sitting a ladder stand with scrim wrap hoping, begging and praying a deer makes a mistake. I suppose its the feeling of making it happen on your own that gets me going.

Season can change anytime, don't be afraid to do what the other guys are not. You only have to.be right once.
GeneralLee
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2020 6:39 am
Status: Offline

Re: Southern Beasts Tactical Thread

Unread postby GeneralLee » Wed Oct 21, 2020 5:09 am

Ahawk116 wrote:They are hitting the white oaks hard here in South Carolina. Passed this 2 yr old this morning. Munching away. Setup was in the closest white oaks to bedding that I could hunt with the wind this morning. 140FC80D-BDF0-4587-84A5-27C7E9F51D17.jpeg


Y'all are going to have to bare with me here. Is that a white oak on the left that you have in that picture? I've been trying to get better at oak ID and they aren't super prevalent in my area from all the hurricanes wiping them out supposedly. I've looked online in multiple places but haven't found anything that shows me a good solid pic of the bark and leaves to go off of.
GeneralLee
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat Oct 10, 2020 6:39 am
Status: Offline

Re: Southern Beasts Tactical Thread

Unread postby GeneralLee » Wed Oct 21, 2020 5:11 am

Ahawk116 wrote:They are hitting the white oaks hard here in South Carolina. Passed this 2 yr old this morning. Munching away. Setup was in the closest white oaks to bedding that I could hunt with the wind this morning. 140FC80D-BDF0-4587-84A5-27C7E9F51D17.jpeg


I know what the acorns look like, but have found very little of them on the ground and not enough for me to be able to say, "yeah they're coming from that one right there."
Trail
Posts: 260
Joined: Sat Feb 22, 2020 12:33 pm
Location: Roaming the South East
Status: Offline

Re: Southern Beasts Tactical Thread

Unread postby Trail » Wed Oct 21, 2020 6:50 am

This warm weather is making it tough for me. Ran across a water moccasin this morning and I'm sure I'll continue doing so. I'm hunting a large creek bottom thats been flooded for a few years that butts up against a large pine tract. This is my first year really taking deer hunting seriously and I'm having fun just learning the woods and the deer.


  • Advertisement

Return to “Deer Hunting”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 74 guests