sanctuary or not

[diamond hunter]

OK,so my farm is 151 acres and I lease an adjoining 135.In the center of the property is a hillside with a little hollow all thick wooded area.On top of the hill is a cedar thicket.This area is about 50 acres best I can tell and its been considered my sanctuary since Ive been on the property,5 years. There is at least another 75 acres of woods being mixed woodlots and the rest is tillable farmland,this year was beans.The past 3 yars Ive hunted my can off,and have seen what I consider a shooter buck twice during season in that 3 years(juvi once no shot and riding atv another time).Cameras,yes see several shooters every early fall and sometimes in person in the beans. This year,between me and my friend we have had 15 different sits. QUESTION???? am I crazy to have a 50 acre sanctuary in the center of my property that I never really enter or hunt? I really can give a flip for little bucks,does and yearlings(have had hunts with 20 plus encounters).Thats all I ever see,period.Ive been trying to see a decent buck while on stand for years.Do the deer just leave my property or are they laying up on that 50 acres and the adjoining woodlots that I never go in and living happily ever after? Would you TNDEER members that kill mature whitetails go n there and set up camp and forget the sanctuary? I mean,heck,my friends son has killed 2 bucks bigger than Ive ever seen on stand and he is 8 yeas old.Advice please

 

[diamond hunter]

Double post Im sorry don't know what happened

 

[DntBrnDPig]

wow.. wish I had your problem. We have thick pines on our property which we just simply cannot get into. If you think they are using it as a 'sanctuary' then I would leave it alone and hunt the edges. I think it will pays off soon since the season is getting hot now.

 

[catman529]

I wish I knew. Do you mostly hunt open areas or do you also hunt thick stuff or near the edge of the sanctuary? A lot of times a mature buck is there but he will hide in the side lines while the younger deer are more exposed.


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[jard]

we hunt 100 acres and have a very thick area of evergreens and pine that we do not enter and we know that they bed here. We hunt the edges and have fields on different exit angles of it and catch them coming out. I do not walk through it until the last day of the season. We all agreed to not push into it and stay out during the season. Makes the deer feel safe and hopefully will keep them on the property.

 

[travle]

If you believe it is a sanctuary, then I wouldn't begin hunting it. If it's not then by not hunting inside that area you can help to make it one. Have you tried walking around the outside of that area too see if there are any noticeable entry and exit points? Maybe a possible funnel into the area. Try hunting the outside to possibly cut the bucks off. Having a sanctuary will help keep them on your property. I use to hunt a property that had a small area that was clear cut and replanted in pines. Once the pines became tall enough for the deer to feel safe it became a large bedding area and super highway. I ventured in to it once as far as i could walk and there were signs of bedding and trails leading every direction. A buck could travel through there from point A to point B and never be seen. I killed one of my bigger bucks that came out of that safe haven trailing a few doe. I had never seen him before that either. So that shows you they could still be there but they didn't get mature by traveling where there is danger. As far as seeing them on camera early fall and then disappearing, i think that comes with a lot of properties. Summer/ early fall several pictures of mature bucks and as the season progresses towards the rut the cameras basically show a lot disappear. That can boil down to their attention is becoming focused on finding a doe and breeding and possibly a change in food source. That doesn't mean they aren't coming back to your property multiple times. If you have them on camera they are in the area and will come back through at some point. I never take these things into account for myself though. I usually just try to find a spot where there seems to be a fair amount of deer traffic not knowing if it is buck or doe. I just feel if i find a spot that a lot of doe use or travel then eventually a buck will come a long to chase her once she becomes hot and the more doe there are the better my odds if i am not out there every day. I have fared ok with this approach since i never expect to see a wall hanger (wall hanger in my mind). I have seen a lot more rut activity in the woods than an open field.

 

[Os2 Outdoors]

I kill big bucks where they live. I hunt the bedding areas at the rite time.

This could be a very negative impact, if this your only property to hunt though. I'm fortunate enough that once I penetrate a known bedding area about twice I move on to another area or property.

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[AllOutdoors]

Keep your sanctuary.

 

[Boll Weevil]

I would also recommend maintaining a sanctuary as older deer are particularly sensitive to intrusion in a place they deem safe. Keep in mind he doesn't need to SEE you in there...human odor, latent boot scent, or brush against clothing will leave more than enough clues to possibly make him hunker down elsewhere. They might indeed be leaving your property during this time of year but in my experience they often come back.

Trying to picture your property as described, sounds like you have a good bit of open ground so the woodlot area you describe might worth quickly scouting/hanging a stand ahead of this rain (to wash your scent out). Maybe a terrain feature that connects the woodlot to the thicket. Not sure exactly when deer rut over there but once they start walking during daylight I'd stick to where does hang out and your ag fields aren't likely the best places for all-day sits. Even if he's holed up in that a thicket, a mature buck will eventually start roaming, cold-trailing, bumping does, and getting them up out of there beds during the day.

 

[Mike Belt]

If it's thick and if it goes unpressured it's a sanctuary. If it's hunted it's not. Sounds like about 1/5 of your property is a sanctuary and it's even a bigger percentage considering you only have another 75 acres that's timbered. I'd at least get into the edges and if I could catch it raining one day I might just have to take a walk through there to see what kind of sign I could find. I don't think a quick look see would do much harm. The deer may or not be in there and in fact crossing onto you off adjoining property.

 

[wobblegobble]

Hunt the edges and use cameras to help you know where to set up.

 

[Winchester]

Having a Sanctuary is a great and effective tool to use on a given property. It does not however need to be 25% of the entire property size? If your giving up 50 acres out of 250 you may simply be not hunting the best area you have for mature deer to spend daylight hours on their feet?

 

[Boll Weevil]

It does not however need to be 25% of the entire property size?

I thought the same thing, sir. On a small to medium sized piece of ground it could cut out some pretty sizeable chunks of the very best areas to hunt.

 

[AT Hiker]

Where are your cameras getting pictures of these "shooters"?

Tell us more about your stand placements and where they are in relation to the "sanctuary" and wind direction.


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[diamond hunter]

Most of the stands hunted are at least 100-300 yards away from the sanctuary,whenever winds are blowing,I never hunt where my scent will blow in,but I do travel on the edge of the safety zone in my atv to get to other parts of the farm.When I plot in my mind where Ive hunter this year,there is only one time I hunter really close to the sanctuary,that was Sunday morning and I saw 2 small bucks looking for love.I have multiple food plots(5 acres total) that are being eaten as I type,but again,that may be a problem because all my resources are spread out.next year,I may build 3 large plots,all adjacent to my so called "safety zone".

 

[Boll Weevil]

Another thing you might think about is ATV use...lots of opinions on this as some folks think it matters and others don't. You mentioned 15 sits so far and don't know if your hunting buddy is riding in with you or on another ATV but a drive in/hunt/drive out is 30 times that old codger has heard you come and go. I'm of the mind that when a buck hits 4, 5, 6+ years he's just a totally different animal when it comes to knowing how to staying alive. Maybe the older deer are reacting to the ATV?

Just a thought...good luck to you, sir.

 

[280longshot]

Not to high jack your original subject but our joining property owner is like a sanctuary. No hunting allowed and we catch many of our deer coming from that property.

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[alwaysoutdoors]

I would be hunting the center.