Where do I start?!?

[BuckHunter511]

I am hunting Catoosa again this year and I am determined to kill a deer there this year. How do I find which out of the 200 plus food plots do I look for feeding sign on? And how do you find the "perfect" thick areas for bigger chances of good deer?

 

[redblood]

get as far from the foodplots as possible

 

[catman529]

yeah I wouldn't be focused on food plots personally, I would find travel areas through woods.

 

[MattR]

I'm with catman on this one. Having hunted catoosa in the past, I would look for a few good saddles or benches on the map, then I would go and cover as much ground as possible and see which ones are being used the most. Catoosa can be a little bit tricky for sure. There are some nice deer that come out of that area every year.

 

[MattR]

I'm with catman on this one. Having hunted catoosa in the past, I would look for a few good saddles or benches on the map, then I would go and cover as much ground as possible and see which ones are being used the most. Catoosa can be a little bit tricky for sure. There are some nice deer that come out of that area every year.

 

[TENN.BOY]

Everybody thinks they want to hunt the food plots there until you find a spot you like and climb a tree and get settled in and there is somebody setting above you in the same tree LOLOLOL.You have to get off the beaten path and find your own sign instead of hunting the sign that everybody else is.

 

[BuckHunter511]

Thanks guys

 

[Diehard Hunter]

A little tip on catoosa.......look at the food plots on the map. Then, draw a red line from the food plots to the closest parking spot. That WILL BE the line of travel for more than one hunter every morning. Now, look for the gaps, benches, and thickets that are farthest from those red lines. If you can find an area off the beaten path, and hard to get to with no red lines crossing them, you have a place to start. Do not overlook natural obstacles like bluffs to funnel deer through certain areas, and treat clear cuts the same as food plots. For some reason, there are hordes of hunters there that think the deer will be strolling through those open areas all day long, and they will surround them waiting!

 

[PinchPoint]

I hunt Catoosa quite a bit, and I found a food plot. way back in the woods that most don't know is there, and saw 5-12 deer each night that I hunted it. And I killed two of of it. Tha being said, most fields attract loads of hunters, and need to be avoided. Make it your goal to go where others cant, or wont.

 

[BuckHunter511]

Thanks, is a bench like a flat area on a slope? Why do deer use benches, I have never heard the term.

A little tip on catoosa.......look at the food plots on the map. Then, draw a red line from the food plots to the closest parking spot. That WILL BE the line of travel for more than one hunter every morning. Now, look for the gaps, benches, and thickets that are farthest from those red lines. If you can find an area off the beaten path, and hard to get to with no red lines crossing them, you have a place to start. Do not overlook natural obstacles like bluffs to funnel deer through certain areas, and treat clear cuts the same as food plots. For some reason, there are hordes of hunters there that think the deer will be strolling through those open areas all day long, and they will surround them waiting!

 

[348Winchester]

Obtain a quality contour map of the quadrangle you would like to hunt and locate a terrain funnel that forces game to use it. If it's away from the orange-clad horde, it's most likely a good spot.

 

[348Winchester]

Also, don't overlook some spots that are so obvious that no one hunts them. Many a buck has been taken in such an area by a clever hunter.

 

[BuckHunter511]

Thanks guys. But what exactly is a '' bench''?

 

[BuckHunter511]

?

 

[Backstrapcrazy]

Other than something you sit on. Just thought i better get that answer out of the way

 

[348Winchester]

A bench is a long flat spot on the side of a ridge. They are an excellent terrain feature to hunt. If you follow a bench and hunt the area where deer sign is apparent, you will most assuredly see deer.

 

[MattR]

Yea sorry about that I would of answered sooner but I haven't been on here. Here is something that may be helpful for studying terrain. It doesn't have the best pictures but you'll get the point.

http://bowsite.com/bowsite/features/pra ... ter/topos/

 

[MattR]

One of my favorite places to hunt in east Tn is a ridge that is pretty steep and has several benches from old logging roads. The benches are pretty thick with bushes and such but there is a path straight through almost every one of them. Just one example of how a bench works and maybe why they use them.

It is an easier route for them of course, and it still provides good cover.

They travel it pretty hard, I believe they come down for food and they come up to bed. It is an easy route for them that is between two of places they travel. That is why they use it I guess, pretty simple I suppose.