I'm looking for input from others on this type of hunting.
Don't forget edges. In the "big woods" here in Wisconsin, funnels can be hard to come by, or notice. But edges are valueable and easy to see. Edges are clear cuts, two different generations or types of trees, meadows, transition from swamp to woods, etc.
Too often I think we forget that deer habituate the margins or edges.
Good luck.
when no food around and it is legal, Bait if You don't mind it.
I see You left out a great spot to hunt... WATER everything needs water to live. Sit on trails/funnels all day is a great way to do it, but so is Spot & Stalk. If your not in the thick deep stuff. Edge's are also a great place to be.
When your out hunting in a tree or blind or even stalking You should be scouting. I have done some scouting when sitting in my tree stand, looking where deer are coming from and going to. I'll be in tree 1 on one day, then move 50 yards to be in tree 2 the next... Both days taking a deer.
I like to hunt corners, where two or more vegetative types come together. It's edge hunting, with more edges. One of my best stands is about 100 yards from me, right now as I type this. I'll be in it in an hour. My house sits in the corner of my 50 acres, and there is a corner of extremely thick cutover right behind the house. The deer cut the corner on my neighbor's property (I have permission to hunt it) going from one patch of big hardwoods into my big hardwoods, so it's a funnel, too. They bed in the cutover, so I hunt it most often in the late afternoon, to catch them either cutting the corner or coming out of their bedroom to the acorns.
These are not semi-tame subdivision deer. They're hunted by me and my neighbors, and they know it. They're spookier than any deer I've ever hunted, so it's a real challenge. There are no feeders or anything else to attract them, just natural food sources. When I'm in my backyard stand, it's the same as being in any of my other stands, except that I can look over my shoulder and see my house.
At 10:30 this morning a yearling walked through my front yard, which has a deer trail cutting across it. I see three or four deer a year that way. Normally they only use that trail after dark, for obvious reasons! I was working, talking to my boss on the phone, when my wife spotted the deer. Told the boss I had to go. First time I ever hunted in a white t-shirt and house shoes! :)
No, I didn't get a shot.
Greg,are you hunting in "big woods" or in urban areas?I've only rifle hunted big woods deer(Maine and NH),I've bowhunted urban deer as well.
Non agricultural deer are just plain hard to hunt. Lot of stands, lots of trail camera photos, lots of time in stands seeing no deer at all. Even legal baiting is hard once they have you figured out. It requires lots of patience. Laura and I have bought 23 acres of riverbottom land. This year we are going to put in a food plot just so we can actually see deer during daylight. The chain saw is ready to go and we found a nice couple of acres in there that should serve us well. In addition, one of my favorite tricks is to hunt apple trees. However, this year the deer numbers seem to be down, lots of early season mast and the deer are just now starting to use my favorite apple tree. So with 3 weeks left I set out a camera at that tree today (there is already a stand in place). I need one of the deer coming in to be antlered so I am crossing fingers, toes, and whatever else I can and hope the pics have some horn in them during day light.
Rich, not so much deep woods like your ME & NH haunts, but any situation that your hunting woods with no crop fields for the deer to rely on.
Everything I have is hardwoods, no grass except my yard . When the hard mast fails it is very hard hunting . I have done exceptionally well this year but that is the exception.
Normally I hunt fence crossings , low gaps and any other type funnels during the rut.
I have houses and housing developments everywhere around me. Some stands most of you would never hunt- thank goodness :)
I like hunting strips of timber between 2 woodlots, always see bucks there .
On the positive side ,when you learn to hunt deer in the big hardwoods you can kill them anywhere .
Good luck
Jack
My experience is areas in Western Nebraska that have both WT and mulies AND Oregon for Columbian blacktails......both have similarities to the style of hunting you are asking about.
Funnels in the morning, funnels in the daytime, funnels in the afternoon!!!!!
Creek crossings are good. Sometimes there are very few good crossing points and the deer will funnel there.
QuoteOriginally posted by VTer:
Rich, not so much deep woods like your ME & NH haunts, but any situation that your hunting woods with no crop fields for the deer to rely on.
Other than the obvious(Rut hunting,baiting which obviously you can't do in our state)Find a beat down trail and scout out where it comes from and where it goes.
My best bow stand is setup in my property,where the deer seem to have found a "staging" area.There is a brushy buffer zone between the open woods and my part of the hayfield.Sometimes they bed in it,near it,or they will bed in another area and funnel from everywhere to that area,mill around there for a few minutes,then head in the field.
Edges of clearcuts,saddles in the hills are good too.There is one area across the hollow where a slow flowing,swampy creek flows,The deer seem to love sticking to the edge of the creek most of the time.
I'd say travel routes would be your best bet for hunting non ag deer.Even in the vast big woods deer have some regular travel routes they use.
Bill hit this on the head.Lots of time SCOUTING.Keep a journal and figuring any type of hunting can be shorten by years.I will add,that when preseason scouting,I use smokebombs and record wind dirstion and time and movement of thremals.
I just love the woods and would take a "maybe" trail in the woods over a "sure thing farm feild any day. Thats not to say I havent had some rich experiences hunting farm land. I once had a hawk land on a fence post 4 feet from me and eat his dinner(mouse) and then fly away without seeing me. that was incredible! that being said- I find a well used trail or trails in the woods, find a good stand upwind of it and sit Quiete and STILL usually have at least a 40% chance of seeing a deer
Hunting non agriculture deer and sometimes deer with too much agriculture to choose from with no houses or areas that force them into funnels is pretty similar in terms of being hard to pattern deer. Movement seems mostly random or on patterns of several days. I generally cannot hunt 17 days in a row for one deer like guys like Chuck Adams can. I think if I could I would see some really good deer in places that I seldom see does or young bucks on any kind of regular basis, but where I see tracks and other sign. Rain, then fresh tracks, no new tracks on that trail for 10 days or more. Its pretty hard hunting. In the spring put plant food spikes or fertilizer on a specific oak tree or two or other food source near stand sites or on trails where you want to hunt. I doubt that would violate the letter of any baiting laws. Hunt funnels. I just spooked a deer the other day from a hillside where I have always thought deer should bed but have never seen any in the 20 or so times I went by that spot. Next year I am going to come in a different way and set up to watch that area a few times to see if it is used more than I realize. Look for really fresh sign not sign that is several days old. I broadcast some turnip seeds and red clover in a grassy spot this year, about 3 pounds of each. It rained right and it is coming up, deer are using it but still not frequently or at least not a lot in the daytime. But they are in the area. I plan to do it every year and I bet my deer sightings will increase a great deal. You can find areas with lots of sign and if you hunt those spots for several days you may see deer. If you can legally do something to cause the deer to go to specific spots it greatly increases your chances as movement will be less random.
ttt
find em - sneak up on em and stick em with an arrow!
Probably 90% of my whitetail hunting has been in the "big woods" of Northern WI. One thing I have learned over the years is how deer relate to water. Rivers, streams, ponds, marshes, etc. They all create edge and/or funnels and the deer relate to them in a big way.
Nathan
Here in Michigan's UP we hunt where the cedars meet the hardwoods, especially at the base of a hardwood ridge. At the right time of the year it is hard to walk this transition zone without finding scrapes and rubs.
" Rich, not so much deep woods like your ME & NH haunts, but any situation that your hunting woods with no crop fields for the deer to rely on. "
Sounds like you are mainly just talking about woodlots or decently large pieces of timbered land.
Two things come to mind.
First, there is ALWAYS a food source.
Second, it may be farther away than you think.
I've never hunted in Vermont but I grew up hunting in PA where it was about an 80/20 ratio of timber to farmland. We always had lots of oaks around and there was always some sort of crop land within a reasonable distance. However, up in north central PA where we had our hunting camp (Lycoming county) it was probably a lot like your Vermont area. Lots of mountains, all timbered with only here and there an opening for a cabin or something. LOTS of mountain laurel, hemlocks etc. But, there was almost always some area around where there had been recent logging and the brush was starting to grow in various stages. These logged areas created edges, plant/food diversity and areas of different light. All things that are important. If you are limiting your thinking to what deer do in say a 50 acre patch of woods, you are only seeing a small part of the DEERS picture. Try to think of it from their point of view. They can't read no trespassing signs and don't recognize borders. Try to find out what is surrounding your hunting area and imagine travel routes. Aerial photo's are great.
I'm certainly no expert but it seems to me that deer in an area like yours can and do rely almost entirely on browsing for their food. There is no corn around, no soy beans or any other man made crop. Of course, most years, acorns are found all over the place and so are the deer. I think a year with an abundant acorn crop is actually harder to hunt than one with a poor mast crop. If acorns are abundant, the deer can just sort of wander around, munch a bit, bed down, get up munch some more and never really cover much ground. If they don't have to move, the use of funnels becomes less effective. Fertilizing a couple oak trees on your property is a great way to increase deer traffic in that sort of situation.
I would just suggest to simply make an effort to look at the big picture. Try to learn what browse the deer in your area prefer and more importantly, WHEN during the year they prefer each particular type. For instance, here in my part of MO, the deer seem to really like to nip the tips of of silver maple shoots at times. You can walk the river banks during October and where the maples are growing like weeds about 2 to 3 ft tall and it looks just like the edge of a bean field in August with all the tips mowed off.
To get an idea of what they are eating, simply observe deer from your stand or even from your car if you see them every chance you get. Once they leave, walk over and see if you can tell what they were eating.
There is no pat answer on the best way to hunt deer in any terrain. Only, learn all you can about all times of the year and use it to hunt the best way at any given time. It's a never ending education...
The deer referred to here are tough, secretive whitetails and a breed of their own. As has been mentioned prior, water is a haven for this elusive ghost and if a dense thicket of hemlock exists on an island of vegetation in the middle of a marshy area, swamp or lake, that is the area to hunt - better still the beaver dam, for example that might lead to that location. The deer will start out from there and end their day there. This type of deer is not human friendly and not as used to the comings and goings of humans in more agricultural areas.
HUNT EDGES OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF TERRIAN,DOWN WIND SIDES OF THICKETS TO OPEN WOODS.PINCH POINTS,ANY TERRAIN THATS WILL PUSH DEER TO THAT AREA.RECENTLY HUNTED STATE PARK BY HOUSE FOR A WEEK.LAKE IS REALLY HIGH,ALL DRY LAKE BEDS ARE FLOODED.IT PUSHED DEER UP INTO WOODS FOR THEM TO CROSS OVER TO NEXT PATCH OF WOODS.THEY NORMALLY WOULD HAVE GONE THROUGH DRY LAKE BED.PLACES WHERE 2 OR MORE RAVINES COME TOGETHER ALWAYS FUNNELS THEM TO ONE SPOT.TREE LINES ALONG CRP FIELDS ESPECIALLY IF THEY MEET OTHER TREE LINES OR WOODS.YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO FIND SOME KIND OF AREA THAT MAKES DEER GO A CERTAIN WAY...GOOD LUCK,CHRIS
Bing.com gets you up close and personal with those thick travel corridors.
Google earth is an awesome tool!! you can see "the big picture"
I am with Dave, I think the hardest years to hunt are the bumber mast years. Spavinaw GMA here in Oklahoma is the perfect example of a place like you discribed. I have only hunted it once but I looked for funnels and converging ridge lines and saddles and found a good spot. I have found that on smaller properties fencelines can be most helpfull in the deep woods. I have even used felled trees to funnel deer past my stand with alot of success. I always put some brush around the bottom of my stand to avoid steep angle shots.
Approach can really make the difference.