gjs4
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Post by gjs4 on Jan 6, 2024 18:33:46 GMT -6
Here is one that has been burning with me as I have found myself in the situation. Everyone knows you hunt bed to food for non-rut movement. Almost all of the habitat books, videos, etc have a large destination field, whether an enormous plot or the more likely ag/farm field, where the deer will ultimately end up, stopping and munching on browse or food plots along the way. Nothing new- and what we always hear. For the folks in the big woods where there are no destination food fields.....what's your plan for habitat layout when you have the only planted food options around?
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Post by smsmith on Jan 7, 2024 8:12:40 GMT -6
I'm not a big woods owner/hunter, but wanted to say welcome to the forum
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Post by Sandbur on Jan 7, 2024 10:39:13 GMT -6
Welcome!
Without a food or ag destination source, you need to look at terrain to focus movement. Edges of swamps, low areas where hills are crossed, and don’t forget conifers. Browse or acorn drop areas might be a destination.
Conifers can focus movement after leaf fall. Pockets of them can be bedding areas.
Dropping a tree or two can narrow down a travel path, but you can over do that as well.
I also feel each property can have a better or best hunting time. Maybe pre or post leaf fall, or during the rut, or depending on acorn drop. Perhaps affected by hunting pressure on adjacent lands.
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Post by Bwoods11 on Jan 7, 2024 10:54:00 GMT -6
I used to hunt a big 480 acre parcel up by Long Prairie MN.. close to where Stu is. The owner was team doctor for the GB Packers. I found a funnel where two big wetlands almost touched.
This funnel was a rut hot spot! Unfortunately I was a football coach so I could only hunt one day a week max… I saw a legit 160 inch buck that had to weigh 300 lbs cross that spot … while I was sitting in another stand !
I was young and dumb and if I knew what I knew now.. find those pinch points!
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Post by daydreamer on Jan 7, 2024 11:59:00 GMT -6
Edges of swampland like Art said above has always been the first thing I look for in big woods country.
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Post by Bwoods11 on Jan 7, 2024 12:29:11 GMT -6
In the early season, I would hunt near any oaks that are dropping! I like to clear out below the best trees and put a stand nearby.
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Post by nhmountains on Jan 7, 2024 13:37:12 GMT -6
Boots on the ground and find their travel lanes and pinch points. See if there are rub lines and scrapes. Find if there are any food sources. How big is your parcel? Any chance of having it logged and a spot cleared for a plot? That’s what’s been going on my land for the past two months. I have hunted big woods the past 35 years. I’ve had many many days without seeing a deer. I usually get one chance a season. You have to stay mentally positive every time out that today is the day. I think adding a plot or two if possible could be your best bet to improve your chances. If you have plots then find their travel lanes to the plots and set up. Be mindful of the wind for stand locations. If you have really big woods the does may be comfortable eating your plots during daylight. The bucks will be there during the rut.
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Post by nhmountains on Jan 7, 2024 13:38:53 GMT -6
In the early season, I would hunt near any oaks that are dropping! I like to clear out below the best trees and put a stand nearby. A very successful hunter in my state used to rake all of the leaves away from the oak trees near his stand sight. It made the deer go to those trees because the nuts were easier to find.
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Post by benmnwi on Jan 7, 2024 16:39:26 GMT -6
Do you have any food plots or fruit trees planted?
It doesn’t need to be perfect, but you just need to be better than the neighboring properties. Do the neighboring properties have thick cover? There seems to be a lot of variance in bedding cover in wooded areas based on logging activity. If you can put in a couple small plots or clear around mast producing trees, you should have better food than most. Maybe spend some time with the chain saw to make a few thick bedded areas, hopefully getting the bucks in the rut to cruise all over your lace checking bedding areas and feeding locations.
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gjs4
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Post by gjs4 on Jan 7, 2024 18:34:08 GMT -6
So it is 75ac in southern OH, all high ground, no swamps, 50 is thicker than the sasquatch's back hair composed primarily of early successional brose and shrubs (though there is a lot of BH, privet, spice bush, MF ROse and invasives) with some conifer pockets and random trees mixed in.
The northern 25, and basically everything in the area, is closed canopy with the vast majority composure being oaks. Hunting acorns here is futile, they're everywhere. This cessation year literally has it troublesome to walk slopes.
My place is far thicker than most but there is a neighboring overgrown Christmas tree farm.
Currently i have two bigger plots (a 2.5 and a 1.75) that made this summers drought and a couple of failed other little ones.
Native soft mast is perismmon and pawpaw. I ordered some chestnut, hazlenut, apple, crabs and pears to add.
Oh is a bait state. Corn feeders and piles everywhere. No plots around for a mile...the same for premier fruit.
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Post by benmnwi on Jan 7, 2024 19:32:09 GMT -6
Well if you want to kill deer, I’d recommend Skipping the food plots and just bait in thick areas you can access easily.
I tried to plant food plots and apple trees to compete with neighboring bait piles on my Wisconsin place and it was a waste of time. Bait in thick cover wins every time. It isn’t even close.
Baiting isn’t my cup of tea, but if your neighbors bait in thick cover and you don’t, they will likely have better luck than you.
I still recommend planting apple trees for a long term food source if baiting is banned though
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Post by Sandbur on Jan 8, 2024 5:28:36 GMT -6
If it is so thick that it is difficult to walk through, cut deer sidewalks. I keep them too narrow for trespassing 4 wheelers. These need to be cut with a plan for your stand access and various wind directions.
I find does and young bucks use these sidewalks. Mature bucks only use them in certain spots, probably where they would have traveled anyway.
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Post by Reagan on Jan 8, 2024 9:16:27 GMT -6
New guy from the Buckeye state!!!!
Welcome. My old place in Vinton county was big woods and no agg. I had one plot that helped steer some travel. I focused on pinch points and travel contours. Hunting can be tough
I now have a place in Jackson county with neighboring agg. It does make movement more predictable but I still see deer moving the opposite direction of what I expect. I currently have 2 small plots. I have thickened up areas near them so I can try to get independent spots of bedding close to a plot.
Hills and swirling winds still cost me opportunities every year.
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gjs4
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Post by gjs4 on Jan 8, 2024 16:45:00 GMT -6
New guy from the Buckeye state!!!! Welcome. My old place in Vinton county was big woods and no agg. I had one plot that helped steer some travel. I focused on pinch points and travel contours. Hunting can be tough I now have a place in Jackson county with neighboring agg. It does make movement more predictable but I still see deer moving the opposite direction of what I expect. I currently have 2 small plots. I have thickened up areas near them so I can try to get independent spots of bedding close to a plot. Hills and swirling winds still cost me opportunities every year. I am actually from the sticks of western NY but we bought what I thought would be an amazing place just outside of Athens (just around the corner from Vinton). We've only had it a year and I feel like someone whos tried to fight Tyson, despite being quite layout/hunting savvy at home and all over the midwest. At this point I am just trying to attract bucks of interest; will figure out the hunting traps after. We had EHD last yr, drought this year and I have no idea if this place is even worth keeping. I sure do miss mixed ag areas. We almost bought a place up your way (Toronto) and another sw in Lawrence co (Ottawa; ironically another Canadian city). As with some of the other posters, I was/am new to baiting as well. I ran gravity feeders with corn (as most folks running spin feeders and apparently they scare the chit out of Ohio deer). It bumped my doe numbers up and honestly feel that social displacement made buck numbers drop. The sidewalks mentioned are needed; Its a jungle and the current openings (gasline ROWs, old road and my perimeter access paths) arent helping my hunting or even the deers' travel. Trying to make sense of it all has been hard
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Post by Reagan on Jan 9, 2024 2:44:45 GMT -6
I’m way south of Toronto Ohio.
Closest town of size is Jackson. Closest tiny town is Rio Grande. I’m about an hour south of Athens.
I used to hunt a property near Athens 25 ish years ago. It had a big woods feel and I don’t remember if there was agg nearby. That was back in the days of shoot anything so strategy was way different then. There are good deer killed in that county every year.
Drought has been bad the last 2 summers. I didn’t have ehd problems this year but have in the past.
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