Many of you may wonder why I tend to hunt mornings only? Well, for one, I have a girlfriend that requires more time than the deer, so I try to be accommodating and hunt only the mornings (historically, where I hunt in CT I have never shot a buck in the evening, only in mornings and typically during the rut; outside of the rut I tend to see mostly yearling and two year old bucks). Although she's not a hunter, she does love the outdoors, so we go hiking most weekends on public land in NY (where I plan to deer hunt). In CT where I hunt there are 20 acres for us to set up on. There's not much you can do when the deer are not in the area. However, in NY, I'm hunting on 14,000 acres, so there's a lot you can do when the deer are not in a particular location.
On today's scouting adventure, I wanted to check out a saddle that was away from hiking tails. We followed a seldom used multiple use trail that was unmarked (the hiking trails are all marked and maintained) and circled around a lake. All along the trail were buck rubs, they were everywhere, which was very pleasing for me to see. I found a few deer trails and one that led into a swamp. However, for me, these were spots that although they could hold deer, I'm sure everyone would hunt. The saddle was up a steep mountain and was covered in huckleberry and mountain laurel. It was a lot thicker than I imagined a saddle to be, but nonetheless there were more deer trails and a few more buck rubs.
Another promising aspect of the area was the abundance of acorns, giving the deer yet another reason to travel through this area. Although I did not see any deer (I'm sure they heard me and smelled me way before I got there) it was very encouraging to be able to pick out a spot on a topo map and then go out in the field and actually find deer sign - good deer sign - and find a spot to hang a stand on opening day. I'm really looking forward to hunting this place and will probably give up on CT for a few weekends while the brief NY season is open. I'm sure there are plenty of bucks here by the number of rubs I found in a short distance and abundance of food. Being an archery only spot also means the deer probably do better than in most areas during the hunting season. Let's hope I can show you a picture of a bruiser in October!
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5 hours ago
4 Comments:
I hunt a lot on public land and the majority of my seminars deal with public land hunting. What you describe here “The saddle was up a steep mountain and was covered in huckleberry…” sound to me like the perfect escape route. I definitely would give this area a closer look ones the hunting pressure is on the deer. Could get interesting. Let me know what you found out.
-Othmar Vohringer-
Hi Marc; Sounds like you may have found yourself a honey hole. If you play your cards right I'm sure you'll find that bruiser up there just waiting on you. Most folks looking for the perfect hunting spot would have taken the swamp as access is limited to that area. Alot of the bucks you'll be seeing will probably be the same ones being hunted down below you but the big ones will most likely stay up top at least till the rut hits full swing.Most bucks travel a five mile radious till the rut kicks in then it's anybodies guess where they will travel.Give this area time and you should come out with a few nice bucks.
Best of luck, Marc. Have you considered using the Guillotine broadhead for turkey?z
DeerPhD,
I have never considered using the Guillotine broadhead for turkey's for a few reasons. First of all you need to use a different arrow - it has to be longer so the head doesn't come back past the riser like a typical broadhead would. Second, if you've ever watched a turkey you know how their head is - always bobbing around! Try hitting that with a bow - it is possible - but with a bow I want every advantage I can get, and shooting at a the birds body right above the legs is a much easier target to hit than trying to slice the head off of a turkey with a bow.
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