Gordos off season deer hunting thread

[Gordo]

Just wanted to start a thread of the off season work I'll be putting in gearing up for the fall, and be able to ask questions and gain knowledge, as I have been for a couple years from you folks.

At this same time last year there where a lot of things I wanted to change at my main property, most in regards to changing my stands around, that my slacker ass never did!

This property is a real gold mine in terms of heavy cover/bedding areas. There's almost TOO much.

There is thick/gnarly shit every direction which gives the deer tons of options.

This property is just over 200 acres.

The front end of the property consists of the only field for miles which leads to my first question that I'll ask in a minute.

I would guesstimate it's size to be about 10 acres all together, and it really seems to be the hub of all activity due to the amount of bedding area on every side. I'll try to figure out how to post an aerial photo so you guys can see what I'm a talking about.

This field used to be bailed for hay, but has not been in about 5 years, which leads to my first question.

I have full access to the land owners tractor w/bush hog and am trying to figure out if it would be worth cutting that field, or at least parts of it a couple times a year in hopes of greening it up to offer the deer more browse early in the year.

Like I said, it's the only field of it's size for miles and I think it would help.

Just wanted to run this idea past you guys. I think the answer is yes but would like to hear if anyone has done something similar and achieved great results.

I could food plot the hole damn thing, but for all I know once cut it could be loaded with already desirable browse.

 

[JOHNROHIO]

Gordo, this is something that I do every year. I have a few fields that I cut about august and the deer will hit them till about November. Along with this I brush hog the overgrowth around the outside edge of the planted fields, under the trees where the big tractors can't get. This allows for the deer to have easy brows able trails to the standing crops. This practice has worked well for me in the past.

 

[hickslawns]

When we took possession of the main property I hunt, it had not been maintained for years. We basically cut paths around the perimeters. I am in flat country and everything is square so this might not be an option for you. We left the fields open and just mowed down paths along the edges of fields/fence rows. We found the deer loved the green which popped in the areas we mowed. They started to use these paths more frequently as well. If nothing else, I think I would suggest trying to bush hog some paths from bedding areas toward your stands to provide nice shooting lanes. If nothing else, I would think they would use these paths more frequently and offer some more shot opportunities. You could also mow down patches say 30x30yds or 40x40yds in front of your stands to offer more green. Just a thought.

 

[Gordo]

I already have trails like hicks suggested and the deer definitely use them like he said. I also have one 40 by 40 block which gets cut once or twice a year when the trsils get maintained. Should have mentioned that in my op.

Just debating whether to take the next step and try to have the whole thing nice and lush.

I have a field right by my house that keeps mowed and maintained. Summer through the early season at dusk ill always take a peak out my window and its no big deal to see 20+ deer out there grazing. They absolutely love it.

Im hoping if i do the same thing at my main hunting property it will yield the same results

 

[jagermeister]

Gordo, this is the exact situation I deal with down at the property I hunt in Carroll County. There is a 15 acre field surrounded by hardwoods and thickets that used to be cut for hay on a regular basis. Last season was the first season it had not been maintained. The 5 years prior to last season, this field was a hub of activity, much like you described. In October or early November, it'd be nothing to count 15-30 deer in this field at one time. This past season, the entire field was overgrown to about 2-3 feet tall. Activity in this area was nowhere near what it had been in years past. In fact, it seemed like activity on the entire property decreased significantly. I have no doubt in my mind that the deer that used to frequent this field had moved on to "greener pasturers"... literally. This coming season, you bet your ass it's going to get cut... probably more than once.

If I were you, I would ABSOLUTELY cut that field... at least once in late summer, if not twice before hunting season. That new growth is extrememly desirable for the deer. Now, here's what I would do if I were you... Cut it, but don't just cut the entire thing... Lay out a strategy and only cut certain areas of it. Essentially, whatever you cut will become a food plot. The more area you cut, the more options the deer will have for feeding, and the more difficult it will be to consistently get within bow range. If you have an inside corner or two adjacent to this field, cut a patch out against those. If you have a fencerow out in the middle of it, cut a swath around that, too. Keep the deer's typical travel patterns in mind, and cut the field accordingly, in a way that works to your advantage.

Sure you could plant some things out there, too, but IMO that hay draws them in so well it's almost not really worth the money and effort to plant sometimes. It all depends on what the surrounding properties are made up of, though.

 

[Gordo]

Great advice buddy! Thanks.

The wheels are turning!

 

[Milo]

I personally would not touch it. Less is more most of the time. hay sucks most of the time. what other food sources are you competing against? Killing deer in a food plot is difficult to do regardless of what they show on TV.

 

[Gordo]

I personally would not touch it. Less is more most of the time. hay sucks most of the time. what other food sources are you competing against? Killing deer in a food plot is difficult to do regardless of what they show on TV.[/

I have never been into hunting shows. I'm more of a reader and like to hear knowledge first hand from everyday people who are successful year in and year out. That's why I read just about everything on here in regards to deer hunting, and apply it to myself.

The area I'm hunting is the hills of south eastern Ohio. The competing food source is all that can be found in the hard woods.

There is absolutely no farming going on in the area. This 'hay field' I'm talking about is the only 'field' in the area.

When i hunt this property it is buck only. The orange army does a good enough job of keeping the deer herd in check in this area that I havent had to.

It's about a 30 minute drive To this property, and although I'll bitch about it, it holds mature deer with great genetics and is well worth the drive.

If I want to simply 'shoot' a deer I hunt a lot closer to home and always do so from areas thar are over loaded to hopefully strengthen the herd in the long run.

I've ate my buck tag for the last two years after getting pretty damn lucky the year before. I have a shit ton to learn.

Not livin in a dream world... But do need my bow tuned







G

 

[Milo]

i can tell you this much, we bough a property and had all these dillusional dreams of how we could do this and that and for sure we would have mature deer on the property and we would be killing them. 10K per year later, its no better that it was when we bought the place. the turkeys have exploded there for sure but the deer not so much. i have dam near used almost every type of food available in one for or the other. the deer need COVER period. They can run out of food and stll survive but when they run out of cover, thats when they get sketchy. I hate to even say this but it truly is cheaper to dump corn. even at 10 bucks a bag and it works. there are only a couple products that i have seen truly work...soybean and buck forage oats.

 

[hickslawns]

Gordo- I read a lot as well. Just keep in mind, we live in totally different areas, and I am just getting started into "property maintenance" in regards to deer. I shared what I had seen on our property, but just take it as another perspective of a guy learning as he goes. I agree with Milo on the cover. I think we took out too much cover last year. We had tons of food for them. Would have been great in the late season. . . .if it ever got cold or we had snow to stick around. As it was, with the huge amounts of food plots we had combined with trying to keep the pressure low, we found the deer just wandered around wherever they wanted with no cares in the world. What would have helped us more is to leave more cover, and put in strips of food leading to our stands with a little bigger patch of food in front of the stands. Removing 10acres of cover and replacing it with food is AMAZING for seeing deer! Pretty much luck of the draw in regards to bow hunting them. You simply don't get the patterns you might have seen if it is all open food plots and not much cover. Once they feel comfortable, they just randomly pop out wherever they want to.

 

[Gordo]

Good points by both of you guys.

The cover at this property is what makes it what it is. There is so much fuggin cover it makes it a mature bucks paradise because of all the options they have, but it really makes them harder to kill.

The thick/nasty shit is what separates it from other properties I have access to.

I do run an 'inventory' cam with corn pretty much smack dab in the middle of this field.

If I was the hunter I hope to be in a couple years I think I would have killed two 140+ deer the last two seasons well before the rut began, prob the first week of season with the intel I had on these certain deer.

I guarantee the more seasoned guys on this site would have, and that's obviously what I'm striving to do.

I still had my chances during the rut, but blew both shot opportunities. It's prob better in the long run that I ate tag soup, or I wouldn't have the drive to keeping trying to get better.

Back to the hole cover issue:

I really am lucky with the amount of people I know who own land and give me the thumbs up to do as I please.

I have access to shit tons of land, but most of it just does not have the cover to hold a mature buck. Most of them are great for doe hunting all through out season, and I'm sure you can get lucky with a rut crazed buck cruising through in November.

I'm at the point now when I go and check these places out, if there's not thick and nasty shit for a mature buck to hole up, I lose interest.

I really need to turn up the heat this off season and put more work in.

I have 8 stands set up at the main property I'm talkin about. The prob is I set these up 3 years ago, when I started to get 'serious' about trophy hunting and have made hardly any adjustments.

I would say of these 8, there's two of them(that even maybe a stretch) that are sets a mature buck that hasn't lost his mind chasing tail could walk by on his way in or out of his bedroom.

I need to hit the reset button, take most of the stands down, and re-hang them using the knowledge ive gained the past three years.

I got me some work to do.

Milo, I was serious that I am going to need my bow tuned. I think everyone says your the man for that, not sure if you do it for a business or not? Ive tried myself, takin it to different places, etc. All I want is my slick tricks to shoot exactly like my field points, and haven't achieved that yet. It frustrates the shit out of me.

I have a Hoyt vectrix now, but may get a new bow with #60 limbs vs the #70 I'm shooting now. I want to go shoot the Hoyt vector turbo, and if it's all it's cracked out to be try to hunt one down on AT

 

[Milo]

well when you want to get that accomplished let me know. you can send it to me and i will get you where you need to be and i will ship it back to you. We can talk more in a PM about the bow stuff. If you have the cover its only a matter of time. a food plot wont increase your odds as much as you think. i would work on access to better stand locations and monitor wind conditions for the areas you want to hunt. In the hills and hollars you will find much different air currents at stump level that you will at tree top level.

 

[hickslawns]

Very nice Gordo! Sounds like you are a humble guy and willing to listen. You sound a lot like me. I read and read and read online, in magazines, books, TV shows, DVD's and in person. I am still working at applying much of this every year. If I can implement a little more each year and improve a little bit each year, then someday I will get to the level some of these guys are at. I feel the strides I made this year enabled me to kill 4 does and put myself within 65yds of 140"+ bucks on 4 separate occasions this season. One of them was killed by my buddy. I had him at maybe 5 yds but I was half way up the tree and could only freeze in position and let him stroll on thru. The other opportunities were just "No shot" opportunities. They were close, but not quite close enough or not the right shot. It just didn't work out.

I think next year the attitude is going to be "Less is more". Less food and more cover. Or less open fields but put up corn so there is more cover AND a food source. I am hunting this property less next year for sure. I plan to have LESS pressure and only work the edges. I am hoping to redirect the deer a bit with less food plots but more "destination food plots". Sometimes less can be more. Heck, less hunting might even get me laid more. haha Hopefully less will offer more antlers on the wall and I hope your plan works out for you as well!

 

[jagermeister]

I still say cut some of the hay field. Cover is king, no doubt... but it sounds like your property is not hurting for cover. Don't cut it all, just small strategic portions... It'll be the best of both worlds.

 

[brock ratcliff]

I still say cut some of the hay field. Cover is king, no doubt... but it sounds like your property is not hurting for cover. Don't cut it all, just small strategic portions... It'll be the best of both worlds.

Agreed!

 

[Gordo]

Can anyone tell me how to post up a google earth satellite picture?

 

[jagermeister]

Can anyone tell me how to post up a google earth satellite picture?

Look on your keyboard for a button that says "Print Screen." It should be located up above the delete key. When you have Google Earth opened, and zoomed in to whatever extent you want, press and hold the "Control" key and then press the "Print Screen" key. This basically copies your screen on the computer. Now, downsize Google Earth and open up Microsoft Paint. Once it opens, click on Edit up at the top, then click Paste... this will paste your screenshot into MS Paint. Next, go to File, Save As, and save it as a jpeg somewhere on your computer. Then all that's left to do is post the saved picture, just as you normally would via photobucket or as an attachment through TOO. You can even draw on the map in MS Paint before saving the file if you wish.

A little tip... before saving the picture in MS Paint, erase or black out any GPS coordinates that are on the screen. You never know who may be viewing the picture.... Hell, I may just drive there myself. lmao

 

[finelyshedded]

I can't add anything else these guys have offered but I do like your attitude and positiveness you bring to the table. I totally agree with cutting lanes in strategically places areas offering you an edge with both wind and entry in mind. Goodluck and looking forward to your aerial pics.

 

[Gordo]

Still going to get that aerial but wanted to add something.

Hicks has said 'less is more' and made me think how right that is in a bunch ways.

It just made me think of the one thing you can't have too much. Confirmed 'shooters' using any given property.

I'm gonna put a bunch of time in on the property vie been talking about, but even though it's perfect there is no guarantee that there will be a buck that's worthy of an arrow using it this upcoming season.

I'm pretty damn sure there will be so I'm not to worried about it. Best case scenario would be if there where 3 or 4. The more the merrier as I believe my odds to connect would be greater.

Kind of drunked up and don't want to ramble(too late for that)

Pretty much just wanted to stress that I need to not give up on other properties in terms of locating mature deer.

With the access I have to private property, I need to spread my efforts out in locating deer to hunt.

Around my parts there isn't a whole lot of driving around to glass fields due to the terrain.

I need to invest in a couple more cameras to do the work for me.

It sure as hell would be nice to find that one property, any given year, that was holding multiple shooters, instead of just one.

'don't put all my eggs in one basket'

 

[bowhunter1023]

Ain't it grand buddy!?! :smiley_clap: