Quote:
Originally Posted by Bushleague
I find that the key to hunting big timber, for pretty much anything but especially whitetails, is topography. For a long time I hunted them like farm deer, thinking they related to cutblocks and cut lines. Finally one year while I was chasing rigs I started keeping track of the deer I sighted while driving and which mile markers I saw the most near, at the end of the year I found that all the highest number of deer sightings were clustered around places that had a relatively major topographical feature, either a valley, hill or ridge. I then noticed that a bunch of my best hunting areas also fit this description, from then on my timber hunting has progressively gotten a lot more focused. Even if a timber area has been extensively logged you cant just hunt the cuts like fields, topography still plays a huge roll.
I now prefer to hunt in areas with rugged topography, not because I think they hold more deer necessarily but because I have a more easy time predicting where I will find them. When I start scouting a new area I generally either start at the top or the bottom, on the ridge line or down along a creek. Until about the second week of November I just make miles, looking for areas with high concentrations of deer sign. Usually I hike a ridge, ranging up and down, and then cut back lower across the face or along the bottom. Lots of times I can put together a pattern from this "live scouting", this year for example all my best areas have been on hilltops where live timber meets a big burn that's about 5 years old. Once I found the first few and figured out the pattern I could pretty much use Google earth and a topo map to accurately predict other good areas.
Second week of November rolls around and I quit making miles and slow down, just really still hunting my prime areas, just waiting for a nice buck to roll through looking to get in on my does. Furthermore I really try to unlock the area, stillhunting the deer trails rather than the cutlines will teach you more, you can really figure out how the deer are using the area. The tracks around the clearings are merely a small snapshot of deer activity, when you follow those tracks and trails further off the beaten path you can start to see the big picture. When I have fresh snow I often track, its not a really high percentage way to kill a buck (for me anyways) but following one good buck track for a day can teach me things about an area that I've hunted for years and never learned. And when everything does go right and you find the end of those tracks... its like nothing else.
The most important thing about bush hunting for me, is I find it thoroughly enjoyable. Even on those days when the wind is refusing to co-operate (some seasons this is pretty much every day) and the ground is noisy, and I'm not seeing much, and I start to feel frustration I just ask myself "What would you rather be doing?" For me the answer is always "nothing", theres absolutely nothing I would rather do than wander the timber with my rifle in hand, once I've sorted that out I just relax and enjoy myself until that buck shows up...
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Good stuff right there, thanks for taking the time to properly share that. This is the type of imput that I am hoping to chime in. The animals move through the woods with purpose, albeit seeming sometimes random.
Time spent in the woods is never wasted.
I love to track in fresh snow. It does not always leed to a shot opportunity but it does usually lead to some type of encounter and another peice of the puzzle. I am always surprised how close the animals are even when you are not seeing them visually.
Have tryed rattling for 15 yrs and have yet to have any success at it, it obviously works it just hasent worked for me yet. I force myself to sit but I would really rather make something happen. I have had more success rolling around road hunting but that is not the experience that I am wanting or the caliber of buck. I really want to figure out all the peice of the puzzle and gain the upperhand.