What would you do? Early Season Scenario

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

HB Store


User avatar
Stingray713
500 Club
Posts: 956
Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2019 10:14 am
Status: Offline

What would you do? Early Season Scenario

Unread postby Stingray713 » Fri Jul 01, 2022 1:56 am

You’ve located a big old buck this Summer. You decide he deserves some early season attention and start breaking down his area.

His likely bedding area for the fall is a 7 year old cutover that is 500 yards long, 100 yards wide, and runs South to North from the edge of a bean field down to a creek bottom. Bordering the cutover to the East is a 20 year old cutover which is mainly immature hardwoods. To the West is an oak flat that drops off into a drainage that feeds the creek bottom at the Northern tip of the young cutover.

By October 1st the beans will likely have turned yellow and acorns will be hitting the ground. The cutover he calls home is ultra thick, but there are a couple sections in the middle with trees left standing, even a couple oaks. Back in early February you found one of his sheds on the Western edge of the cutover about halfway between the bean field and creek.

Season begins October 1st.

What would you do from now until then, and then how would go about getting an arrow in him?


Strategically Inefficient
User avatar
Trout
500 Club
Posts: 1493
Joined: Wed Aug 08, 2018 1:59 pm
Location: Big Woods MI
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: What would you do? Early Season Scenario

Unread postby Trout » Fri Jul 01, 2022 4:18 am

I'll play. Assuming he doesnt leave the area in mid-september, the first thing I would focus on is trying to figure out how he uses the landscape to travel through the area. This time of year I'm doing that with trail/cell cams, scouting for tracks or buck runways while setting or checking trail cams (looking for historical and fresh sign), and using past observations if I've hunted the area before. I'm checking those oaks to see if they're gonna produce in the fall, but probably going to focus on those cutovers, especially the transitions. Hopefully I was able to walk em all in the spring, but if not, I'm doing it now anyways.

As far as trail camera strategy goes, I would be batch setting multiple cams in small areas and moving the batches around through the summer until I've got a good idea of which terrain features the deer prefer to travel through on their way from bed to food and back again, and then I'm going back to the map and seeing how those all relate to bedding, and figuring out where I need to be to intercept a deer coming out of bedding or going into it.

Then I'm figuring out access/exit routes, how do I get in and out without stinking up the places deer travel through.

After moving the camera batches through the whole area during the summer, I'm spreading them out in late September to see who's still around and who moved in, and then I'm waiting for opening day.

Somewhere in there, I'm also finding all water sources and figuring out how the deer go from bedding to water. I have almost no water where I hunt despite being super close to Lake Michigan and the majority of the water sources are mud puddles that hold water all year long, and great places for summer and early season trail cameras.
User avatar
G-Patt
500 Club
Posts: 543
Joined: Mon Oct 08, 2018 12:45 pm
Location: Ohio
Status: Offline

Re: What would you do? Early Season Scenario

Unread postby G-Patt » Sat Jul 02, 2022 4:58 am

My first play is the oak flat-after checking to make sure they are going to drop this year. I'd do some scouting now and check out the access via the creek and the ditch on the west of the young cut over. I'm going to look for a staging area (clustered rubs and such) somewhere north of the oak flat assuming a predominate southerly wind in early season. Then I'd look for a tree within binocular distance of the staging area and do a few evening observational sits prior to the season opener. Adjust based on sightings or no sightings.

If the oaks are not going to drop, I'll be paying close attention to the bean field to see if they are all going to turn yellow or if there's going to be part of the field that will stay green past October 1st. If so, same scenario of looking for that staging area and observational sits. Set up trail cams if doing observational sits is not realistic.
On my deathbed, I will receive total consciousness. So I have that going for me, which is nice!
User avatar
Coalcracker
Posts: 134
Joined: Mon May 11, 2020 1:41 am
Location: Pennsylvania
Status: Offline

Re: What would you do? Early Season Scenario

Unread postby Coalcracker » Mon Jul 04, 2022 12:18 am

Since I thoroughly scouted this area in February when I found the shed, I know where the biggest buck sign is located, I found preferred bedding, historical cluster rubbing locations, scraping locations and rub lines. I should also know something about other hunter pressure, access, preferred stand locations etc. regardless if its private or public.

If I'm on private land with little to no pressure, I check the oaks for acorns and leave the place alone. I come back and watch the bean field right up to the day before the season. If he's coming out, I game plan my approach and hunt. If he's not hitting the field, I take the information from scouting to put myself in position to intercept him coming to the acorns from bedding. Figuring out access, wind direction, thermals etc..

If I'm hunting public land, check acorns and leave the place alone. Watch the bean field and for other hunters "scouting", carrying stands in, where they park etc. just prior to season. Game plan accordingly. On the first day, I may consider watching the area in the morning for other hunter pressure. Game plan for an afternoon hunt. If high hunting pressure situation, I would consider hunting oaks in the cut close as possible to where I believe he is bedding that day. Or somewhere in the creek bottom, oak flat, drainage area closer to the young cut edge with dropping thermals if the sign I previously found indicated him swinging in from below the oak flat. All relative to where other hunters are concentrating their efforts and the sign I found in February.

I'm hedging much of my decision on the sign I found in February. When I enter the area for that first hunt, I'll be looking in certain places(found in Feb.) for fresh sign and if to the best of my knowledge its undisturbed by other hunters, hunt accordingly.
Shoot Straight
User avatar
1STRANGEWILDERNESS
500 Club
Posts: 1159
Joined: Thu Sep 12, 2019 4:01 am
Location: upper MI
Status: Offline

Re: What would you do? Early Season Scenario

Unread postby 1STRANGEWILDERNESS » Mon Jul 04, 2022 3:02 am

Some good ideas listed


If I didn’t have a real clear picture from spring scouting. I would be watching the soybeans a lot, trying to see if he’s using them and where he comes out. ESP close to season. If you see where he comes out pick a good day to set a cam on that trail.

Would surely be looking for rub lines to either oaks or soybeans past or present. Checking for acorns. Watching for soybean harvest. If you see scrapes early like before season or right at the start I’d say it’s most likely him.

If I hadn’t the best idea where he bedded and couldn’t deploy a ton of cameras I might consider running a couple mineral stations and make some assumptions based on what direction and when he comes to them. If at all.

If I started to feel helpless I’d go in and deliberately try to jump him in every suspected bedding location.
don’t be broadcasting when you should be tuning in
User avatar
Stingray713
500 Club
Posts: 956
Joined: Fri Sep 13, 2019 10:14 am
Status: Offline

Re: What would you do? Early Season Scenario

Unread postby Stingray713 » Mon Jul 04, 2022 6:06 am

You guys got it pretty well covered. Describing everything I know about this buck and this area would take too long, but y’all handled the what ifs great.

Going in this afternoon to hang some cameras on the backside of the young cutover probably on a creek crossing. Also going to walk the western edge where it meets the oaks and check them out, maybe another camera there.

The bean field gets a lot of pressure. They got planted pretty early but either way it’s a no go. The area as a whole gets hunted hard, but early season isn’t too crazy.

When I went looking for his sheds I covered every piece of bedding cover that made sense to me with no luck. Then in early February I got lucky and it snowed a couple inches and I was able to follow his tracks to the young cutover next to the bean field. Once I learned how he moved through there it all made sense.

The walk to access the creeks to then sneak through the water to get close to him is daunting to say the least, and once I did it, I knew nobody else was even considering that option. I also don’t know if he even needs to leave the cutover before dark. My gut says he just stages in there until it’s safe time, because there is so much to munch on in there, but I can’t rule out him coming to those oaks because I know nobody has ever set up on them.

Definitely gonna be fun playing the game! Thanks for the input guys.
Strategically Inefficient


  • Advertisement

Return to “Deer Hunting”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: naternate, Spruce Cat and 81 guests