Mentallist vs Method Hunting

[BigSatt]

How do you hunt? What I mean is do you meticulously look for every detailed fact that you can find about feeding locations, transition zones, and bedding areas BEFORE you hang a stand and hunt? Or, do you seek out the most likely avenues of travel (pinch points), hang your stand(s), and stay out of the area until time to hunt?

I've done both and had decent success with both. However, since I mainly hunt during November anymore, I find that I lean more to hunting pinch points. Especially since the evolution of modern trail cameras. I do enjoy seeing those pics, and generally the cameras are not very close to my stands, as I don't want that much pressure close to them. Thanks for looking. Anxiously awaiting responses.

 

[Redfred16]

I use a combination of both, when hunting somewhere new.

I will look over topo maps and if its got a decent one, the bird's eye Bing map to pin point locations that I want to scout closer on foot. Then I'll get out and look, put out my cameras and probably pick some trees for stands and mark them.

I'll check for sign and the cameras periodically, until late July or early August. I then take all I've seen and found and get stands up. In the past I'd have 1-2 stands per 20 arces and 1 ground blind(atleast that was my average in Wisconsin, it would depend on the terrian as to how many I'd put up).

If it's a area I'm regularly hunting I will have all the above information and take my years sightings and maybe adjust my stands maybe they stay up. I'd also have to take into consideration what improvements I've made to the property. Did I try to create a bedding area, a new food plot, did part of the property get logged that year, did the surrounding farmers rotate crops, ect. I will take a stand down right after the season is over if it was unproductive and I know it has to be changed(even if it's just 20 or 30 yards), but I put them up the same time each year.

It's a fine line between giving the deer time to settle back into thier comfort zone and gathering information on them to make the choice of which tree. I guess, as I'm getting older I am starting to think more and more about the hunt. I know I want venison in the freezer every year, but the one thing I'm lacking as a deer hunter is that trophy on the wall.

 

[Mr.Bro]

All the farms i hunt are crop land.Fence rows and small parcels of woods 2acres to 50 acres.So all my hunting is pinch points.Most all have set ups for a north or south wind. Hunt the right spots when the winds dictate.Climb up and wait em out.Either the rut or hunting pressure moves em around.

I will also hunt the watering holes when its hot and dry.

 

[bowriter]

I just put stands where I think I can kill deer. If I am buck hunting, I put them where I think I can kill a buck. If I am trophy buck hunting, I narrow that down.

I have always tried to avoid overthinking something so simple.

 

[catman529]

I just look for an area that looks good, preferably close to bedding, funnels etc... Basically if it "looks good" ill try and hunt it.

 

[String Music]

Very detailed and meticulous.

 

[BSK]

...do you seek out the most likely avenues of travel (pinch points), hang your stand(s), and stay out of the area until time to hunt?

However, since I mainly hunt during November anymore, I find that I lean more to hunting pinch points.

The above, for the reason you stated; I'm primarily hunting rut-driven (buck seeking) patterns in November, hence I'm hunting travel patterns bucks use to move from area to area seeking estrus does. However, we have few "pinch-points" or bottlenecks. We are primarily covering "higher odds" travel routes driven by terrain and habitat features (especially habitat edges) that act as travel routes between patches of sanctuary cover.

In addition, I'm hunting with family members. Pre-season, we try to set up as many ladder stands as possible so we have many, many hunting locations to switch between, in an attempt to reduce hunting pressure on any given location. We are often trying to cover 25+ "higher odds" travel locations. We never know which will be "hot" that year and which will not, but if we cover enough locations, we'll eventually hit some good ones for that year.

 

[BigSatt]

BSk, if I'm not mistaken, you are primarily hunting big timber?

My use of the phrase "pinch points" most definitely relates to the type of habitat that I'm hunting in Western Ky and Southern Illinois. My primary farm in Ky is CRP and woodlots. That farm is surrounded on 3 sides with agriculture. In Illinois, 3 of our 5 farms are in timbered river bottoms that connect with major agriculture. I'm a believer in hunting the river systems and waterways in that flat land. The majority of the cover will be along the water systems, which provides ample pinch point locations.

 

[BowGuy84]

I'd say I'm meticulous about the method. I believe pressure does more than anything to deer...especially mature deer. The farms I hunt in NW Indiana are crop ground. I can pretty well know where other hunters hunt, and focus in the void areas with thick cover around the rut and find deer and good bucks.

Here in KY I hunt terrain/cover funnels but wait until things are right. Even my best stands might get hunted 2-3 times a year...if that.

Early season and late I find (or put out) the food and monitor closely with trail cameras to determine where bucks I am interested in are, and how they are using the area.

 

[Winchester]

Depends on time of year, pre rut and post rut i hunt the food and cover, during November I try to hunt the terrain and travel routes, pinch points, etc.

 

[BSK]

BSk, if I'm not mistaken, you are primarily hunting big timber?

Ridge-and-hollow timber, except for the small blocks of timber we have thinned/cut to produce early stage regrowth. We primarily hunt terrain features and the habitat edges created by the timber thinnings, which were designed to lay along favored terrain features for deer movement, increasing their use as travel corridors.

 

[bbuck14]

Pinch points and thick cover.

 

[plinker22]

I just wish I could answer this question. I have been a deer hunter for 8 years. I have studied TnDeer (the good and the bad ), studied several deer books (Bobby Worthington's books, Mapping Trophy Whitetails, some of the Eberhart's books and several by Greg Miller), and logged many many hours in the woods.

This past year, I killed 4 deer. 4 1/2, 2 1/2, 1 1/2 y/o bucks and a doe. I had a great season. I have taken numerous Coyote's with my bow/gun. Other seasons I have killed 6 deer... but...

I am never CONFIDENT when I am scouting through the woods. I find sign, make decisions and kill deer. But still, I do not have confidence that I am seeing things as I should. Maybe I am an amazing hunter and just don't have confidence. I just feel like so many others can "see" things that I cannot.

What I would really like to do is study a piece of land. Make my decisions for how to hunt it and then... invite two or three true woodsmen to walk the land. Me just follow them where ever they go and "talk" what they are seeing. See how they access the land and what decisions they make for hunting the land.

Maybe that would help me. For sure, I would either know I am reading the sign correct or that I truly am the dweeb of the woods.

I guess I should just be like bowriter and

...avoid overthinking something so simple.

Yea, right!

ps: I hope this was not a hijack!!!