Hunt deer where they actually are, not where you imagine them to be.

[DeerCamp]

Also, never leave deer to find deer

 

[Ski]

Also, never leave deer to find deer

I don't know if that was a Bear quote or not but it's worth repeating!

 

[Andy S.]

Also, never leave deer to find deer

Ditto for turkeys too!

 

[knightrider]

Ditto for turkeys too!

Amen brother, if i hear him or see him i stay with him all day! I love when i take people and they say hes not hot enough or killable my reply is always why would i leave a bird that i know is here and is most definitely killable if i play the game right

 

[tellico4x4]

Have one right now that I'm hunting that way.

Have to have a SSE wind to hunt. Had him at 15 yards two weeks ago & couldn't shoot...

Hunted that stand 6 hours day before yesterday & saw nothing. Have a couple opportunities next week it looks like & will be there all day.

IF I could kill him, it would be my personal best in 50+ years.

 

[tellico4x4]

I heard Fred Bear was always an open book, willing and eager to talk hunting with anybody who'd listen. I'd listen as long as he had breath to speak. A true wealth of hunting knowledge and experience.

Met him twice & you are spot on.

 

[Ski]

Have one right now that I'm hunting that way.

Have to have a SSE wind to hunt. Had him at 15 yards two weeks ago & couldn't shoot...

Hunted that stand 6 hours day before yesterday & saw nothing. Have a couple opportunities next week it looks like & will be there all day.

IF I could kill him, it would be my personal best in 50+ years.

Man I hope you get him!

 

[tellico4x4]

From a post in a previous thread:

Met him twice. Once at Anderson Archery in Michigan, the other at his place in FL. Stopped in 1987 on the road trip to Disney World. Walked in about 30 minutes before closing & guy behind counter was not glad to see us & 3 little girls. Mr Bear walked in behind us about 2 minutes later pushing a walker with oxygen. He personally gave us the grand tour & the guy behind counter had to stay about an hour over . One of the highlights of my outdoor career and never will forget his time & generosity. Can still remember the stories he told us!

 

[MUP]

I'm guilty of sitting the same terrain features year after year regardless of sign and not branching out as much as I should. I do it though because it works in these mountains. Sit the right terrain feature long enough and you'll shoot a good one .

True.

 

[th88]

A lot of people like to hunt the "pretty woods" or places where they can see a long way. Around here, the "pretty woods" are open hardwoods. If there is not a thicket around or it is a poor acorn year (like this year) you can sit quite a while in the pretty woods before ever seeing a deer!

I've killed a lot of my better bucks hunting "ugly woods"- places where it can be tough to shoot much past 50-75 yards, and even then you have to "pick your shot". OIder deer (not distracted by does) feel a lot safer traveling in the thicker stuff than they do a lot of the "pretty" stuff!

 

[fairchaser]

A lot of people like to hunt the "pretty woods" or places where they can see a long way. Around here, the "pretty woods" are open hardwoods. If there is not a thicket around or it is a poor acorn year (like this year) you can sit quite a while in the pretty woods before ever seeing a deer!

I've killed a lot of my better bucks hunting "ugly woods"- places where it can be tough to shoot much past 50-75 yards, and even then you have to "pick your shot". OIder deer (not distracted by does) feel a lot safer traveling in the thicker stuff than they do a lot of the "pretty" stuff!

What's funny is I will hunt open areas that others can't imagine a mature buck will cross in daylight and see deer regularly. Fred was right in that you find deer in all sorts of places.

 

[Andy S.]

A lot of people like to hunt the "pretty woods" or places where they can see a long way. Around here, the "pretty woods" are open hardwoods. If there is not a thicket around or it is a poor acorn year (like this year) you can sit quite a while in the pretty woods before ever seeing a deer!

I've killed a lot of my better bucks hunting "ugly woods"- places where it can be tough to shoot much past 50-75 yards, and even then you have to "pick your shot". OIder deer (not distracted by does) feel a lot safer traveling in the thicker stuff than they do a lot of the "pretty" stuff!

Truer words have never been typed. We call open hardwoods "State Park woods" as they are pretty for walking with family, picture taking, maybe squirrel hunting and maybe turkeys, but not where I typically choose to deer hunt. I want thickets and ugly woods (where a rabbit would hide) nearby in some form or fashion.

 

[BSK]

My question is, how do you know where the deer actually are? Most hunters will probably answer "the sign will tell you." But I sure have set-up and hunted some stands that were highly productive for mature bucks where there was no sign at all.

 

[Lost Lake]

One could argue to hunt where they're GOING to be, which requires imagination.

This is where I try to be in the never ending chess match.

 

[MUP]

This is where I try to be in the never ending chess match.

Right. Hunting them where they are requires super stealthy approach techniques, b/c they can see and hear very well, and can smell you from several hundred yards away. I guess I just try to hunt them where I think they will be.

 

[Omega]

My question is, how do you know where the deer actually are? Most hunters will probably answer "the sign will tell you." But I sure have set-up and hunted some stands that were highly productive for mature bucks where there was no sign at all.

That's the rub isn't it, when hunting, specially public land, sometimes you just have to get lucky. Until just after I retired from the military, I hunted public land, mostly military installations, and had to deal with their regulation on no permanent stands, no plots, or bait, and very little opportunity to scout prior to going in. Sometimes areas you did scout were not open, or someone beat to them, other times surrounding areas had training in them pushing game towards or away from you. So while I agree on the premise of hunting them where they are, I also need to add, hunt them when they are there.

 

[Ski]

What's funny is I will hunt open areas that others can't imagine a mature buck will cross in daylight and see deer regularly. Fred was right in that you find deer in all sorts of places.

I often sit days and days on end in mature hardwoods without ever seeing a single deer. But it doesn't deter me. To contrast, I rarely sit in ag country thickets and not see multiple deer per sit. Deer indeed do congregate in thick areas. But it's not an even across the board congregation. It's mostly women and children.

In the past 5yrs I've killed 5 wall hanger P&Y bucks. 3 were in open mature hardwoods. 2 were in ag country thickets. I sat maybe a combined 40 sits for those 3 hardwoods bucks and saw maybe a dozen deer in total, only 4 of which were does. For the 2 in ag country I sat probably 50+ sits each and saw countless deer, mostly does, fawns, and yearling bucks. So while I see way fewer deer, often none at all in hardwoods, I kill more big bucks in fewer sits.

If a guy is confident in his scouting and setup, and can handle the boredom, I believe big open hardwoods provides higher odds of tagging a big buck. That's just an opinion based on personal experience, though, so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[BSK]

I often sit days and days on end in mature hardwoods without ever seeing a single deer. But it doesn't deter me. To contrast, I rarely sit in ag country thickets and not see multiple deer per sit. Deer indeed do congregate in thick areas. But it's not an even across the board congregation. It's mostly women and children.

In the past 5yrs I've killed 5 wall hanger P&Y bucks. 3 were in open mature hardwoods. 2 were in ag country thickets. I sat maybe a combined 40 sits for those 3 hardwoods bucks and saw maybe a dozen deer in total, only 4 of which were does. For the 2 in ag country I sat probably 50+ sits each and saw countless deer, mostly does, fawns, and yearling bucks. So while I see way fewer deer, often none at all in hardwoods, I kill more big bucks in fewer sits.

If a guy is confident in his scouting and setup, and can handle the boredom, I believe big open hardwoods provides higher odds of tagging a big buck. That's just an opinion based on personal experience, though, so take it with a grain of salt.

I sort of have the same dilemma. I have two core philosophies of choosing where to hunt. The problem is, they are polar opposites. So which to follow? They both have proven productive.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

One could argue to hunt where they're GOING to be, which requires imagination.

Agree wholeheartedly. And that doesn't necessarily mean a destination, but a pathway to a destination.

In general, I get his point. Many folks at our place hunt places because they are convenient and the deer should be there. That's much different than hunting high odds locations in more inconvenient locations

 

[BSK]

In general, I get his point. Many folks at our place hunt places because they are convenient and the deer should be there. That's much different than hunting high odds locations in more inconvenient locations

That's a good way of stating it.