Tough Hunting

[huntemup]

huntemup what you said about patterning deer in acorns might work where you live. But here where I hunt the timber is really thick and when we have a bumper crop like this year acorns are on every tree I have 100 acres by the first of November you will not be able to place your foot on the ground without stepping on acorns. What our deer do in this circumstance is bed down right in the food source. They get up eat a few acorns lay back down and get up eat a few more then bed again at night they will come and hit a wheat field maybe and find them a drink of water. but during daylight hours they are going to be in timber. If your going to kill one around here better have some funnels or pinch point to hunt trying to catch a buck on the move looking for does. before videos I would read about stalking deer in the timber I would think how the hell do you do that then when videos came out and I seen some of their timber back east big trees and you can see 25 to 100 yards. My place you have to crawl through it as much or more then walking through it. And back east there is a lot other trees beside just oak trees so ya if you find a spot where there is good acorns in a certain spot you can hunt it, But when the hole 100 acres is a good acorn spot then the game changes. I been hunting these acorns for 40 years. By the way that's a great buck in your pic.

Well as I said, the high concentration of oaks has never been a problem for me. Even when there are acorns on every inch of ground across 200 acres, deer still have their favorite spots and most will at least up to the rut maintain some degree of routine.

The spot I'm posting pics of looks no different than any other spot you could find in the surrounding 100 acres. There are no accessible crops within 20 miles. These deer live 99% of their life in these woods. There is the occasional clearing of 1/4 of an acre but it's mostly just getting back into the woods and figuring out bedding locations and well used travel corridors.

That said, the forest floor of the woods I hunt in NC is not the unpassable brushy mess you describe and that could indeeef make a huge difference to your approach. But even then, I would think the trails are that much easier to hunt since deer are gonna take that path of least resistance rather than walking through shoulder high briars and brush. But I will defer to you since you're actually the one hunting it.

Something else yall could try is broadcasting corn amongst the acorns. I've had success in the past getting deer to stay longer in areas where both corn and acorns can be had by browsing the same patch of ground - also, your corn will last a lot longer and your deer have to work/concentrate more on get it when it's not conveniently sitting underneath a cleared piece of ground underneath a feeder.

My brother hunted the stand near the camera location yesterday and had 9 different bucks come in on him. These are the pics from the day before... all but one nontypical with a funky drop time have shed their velvet.

One thing sadly missing from the deer on this piece of property, is brow tine genetics.

 

[makeithappen]

Dang, you aren't kidding about the brows. That's a weird trait. Some good prospects though.

 

[DEER 24/7]

huntemup those are some great looking bucks and I will be in the woods this year not out in the open hunting funnels trying to catch a buck cruising looking for does

 

[dennishoddy]

Brow tine length sucks in my area too.

 

[retrieverman]

Brow tine length sucks in my area too.

Overall, it does in my area too, but there have been a few exceptions. My brother killed this buck in 2014.

 

[Shadowrider]

huntemup what you said about patterning deer in acorns might work where you live. But here where I hunt the timber is really thick and when we have a bumper crop like this year acorns are on every tree I have 100 acres by the first of November you will not be able to place your foot on the ground without stepping on acorns. What our deer do in this circumstance is bed down right in the food source. They get up eat a few acorns lay back down and get up eat a few more then bed again at night they will come and hit a wheat field maybe and find them a drink of water. but during daylight hours they are going to be in timber. If your going to kill one around here better have some funnels or pinch point to hunt trying to catch a buck on the move looking for does. before videos I would read about stalking deer in the timber I would think how the hell do you do that then when videos came out and I seen some of their timber back east big trees and you can see 25 to 100 yards. My place you have to crawl through it as much or more then walking through it. And back east there is a lot other trees beside just oak trees so ya if you find a spot where there is good acorns in a certain spot you can hunt it, But when the hole 100 acres is a good acorn spot then the game changes. I been hunting these acorns for 40 years. By the way that's a great buck in your pic.

Try it with 1000's of acres of forest. My land is in the middle of mature SE Oklahoma forest on a mountain. They have food, cover and water literally everywhere. They don't have to be anywhere for anything and are truly nomadic.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[huntemup]

shadow, I hunted in thousands of acres of uninterrupted forest land in the blue ridge mountains of western NC for many years. The deer still had a "home range"

 

[Shadowrider]

shadow, I hunted in thousands of acres of uninterrupted forest land in the blue ridge mountains of western NC for many years. The deer still had a "home range"

This is true and one of my problems is that I rarely am able to get down there before season. The rut is approaching when our season opens so their pattern changes. I think that it affects the bucks far more than the does, I do know a couple of "shelfs" along a ridge that ALWAYS has a doe or two. One year I spent an entire afternoon walking with one and her two fawns. I blew a grunt call when we first saw each other just for kicks. I guess it settled her down because she didn't care about me at all after that but her two fawns didn't trust me at all. I could get with about 35 yards and that as close as she'd let me get before moving away. She spent the entire season and the next in that tiny little area, probably 30 acres, that was loaded with food, cover and had a creek running at the bottom of it.

I suspect the bucks are much the same through the year but get antsy and roam when the rut approaches. I've never found a pattern on those guys.

 

[dennishoddy]

This is true and one of my problems is that I rarely am able to get down there before season. The rut is approaching when our season opens so their pattern changes. I think that it affects the bucks far more than the does, I do know a couple of "shelfs" along a ridge that ALWAYS has a doe or two. One year I spent an entire afternoon walking with one and her two fawns. I blew a grunt call when we first saw each other just for kicks. I guess it settled her down because she didn't care about me at all after that but her two fawns didn't trust me at all. I could get with about 35 yards and that as close as she'd let me get before moving away. She spent the entire season and the next in that tiny little area, probably 30 acres, that was loaded with food, cover and had a creek running at the bottom of it.

I suspect the bucks are much the same through the year but get antsy and roam when the rut approaches. I've never found a pattern on those guys.

There is no pattern during the rut. Bucks that have been radio collared stay in their home areas year around until it comes to rut. Then they wander everywhere in search of love. How far they move depends on the buck to doe ratio. If you have a major doe problem, they don't need to move far. The closer it get to 1-1, the further they move.

 

[Eagle Eye]

There is no pattern during the rut. Bucks that have been radio collared stay in their home areas year around until it comes to rut. Then they wander everywhere in search of love. How far they move depends on the buck to doe ratio. If you have a major doe problem, they don't need to move far. The closer it get to 1-1, the further they move.

Funny that you call it a doe problem. I would think of them as not a problem, but a positive incentive to keep bucks around or to lure bucks in. So whats the problem? They eat too much? give birth to too many bucks? Please feed my ignorant mind.