ShieldsOutdoors
Active Member
- Joined
- Dec 20, 2018
- Messages
- 25
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- 5
Long post, but I think I need to give all the details in order to get a helpful response. A buddy of mine that I used to work with was given access to 66 acres in the southern part of Hawkins county. He is allowing me and no one else to hunt with him. The property hasn't ever been hunted except for maybe many, many years ago. However it is surrounded by over 400 acres by a company that does logging but it appears they also hunt it because of an old tripod stand we could see off of the property line. We went to it to scout a week before opening day (he had just been given permission a week earlier). The east and west side of the property is pretty steep with the west side huntable but not really the east side. It was so overgrown we couldnt walk through the middle where we guess used to be a field. There is a wet creek that runs on the east side of the property before you get to the real steep part. We found an old road bed off from the middle where the field used to be. We found a few deer tracks on the edge of the creek and that was about it. No other sign of deer besides some game trails and some plants that looked like they had been eaten. We also found 2 piles of bear crap on the old road bed. I hunted the road bed opening day and heard something behind me in a thicker area but that was where the wind was blowing and nothing came out. After I hunted, we cut a trail through the middle of the property to the road bed so we could have easier access to the rest of the property. I then put out 2 cell cameras and 2 regular cameras. I put one cell camera at the creek crossing where we found tracks and a trail, and the other on the west side of the property near the ridge where it opens up ane there are a lot of oaks dropping. I havent been back to the property in a week and since then have no pictures of deer on either cell camera but have 3 different pics of the bear on 3 different days at 3 different times at the creek crossing. All that to say, we're pretty concerned about the deer population there and not sure how much time we want to spend. It's an hour and 15 minute drive for both of us, but it is the only private land we have access to. Should we go after the bear and then hope the deer will move on in, is a week with just 2 cell cameras and no deer pics something we shouldn't be too concerned about, or should we be very concerned and not waste too much of our time? Any input or thoughts are very welcome. Thanks