virginiashadow

Sometimes trying to pinpoint deer as they move from bed to feed in the big woods can be extremely difficult. Couple that with a massive acorn drop and it can be like finding a needle in a haystack on many days, due to not being able to pinpoint where they are eating. For those of you who hunt the big woods without any crop fields, how do you go about locating deer (bucks or does) moving from bed to feed?

I usually just try to catch deer as they are milling about eating as they exit their bedding areas...they don't tend to travel far from bed to feed, especially early in the season, sometimes only 75-100 yards. I need a little bit of a different plan for the early season this year. Any tips or advice would be appreciated.


Brett

Austin/WI

The last time I hunted big woods we were able to use some of the terrain to guide us. Try looking for benches - larger flat area on the side of otherwise steeper terrain, or saddles - a dip in the ridgeline. Also, for the early part of the season, you may want to consider focusing your efforts near a water source, I know VA is hot and the deer will need to visit water at some point(s) in the day.

GMMAT

Brett:

We don't always see eye to eye on issues (the person I'm going to refer you to).....but if I were in your shoes with such questions.....I'd be PM-ing Teejay. He hunts those situations with great success....and has my utmost respect as a hunter for it.

I wouldn't hesitate to contact him. Good luck.

gri22ly

This is sound advise,I alsolook for isolated oaks, away from doe family groups while buck hunting. While deer hunting I focus on the largest oak stands, perferably near water and thick stuff.

early in

Also, try to find White Oaks, they really do prefer them above all others! That's gospel.

Austin/WI

x2 If you can find some white oaks near some security cover - you're in Business

_Dan

Up here the food sources and bedding areas can be one in the same. The major foods are browse, lichens, water weeds, cloverand thistles. The biggest one coming out now is the thistles on the dry beaver ponds, they eat the seed off the tops. By early/mid October, most all of the tops will be eaten off.

Like Austin said, you have to use the terrain. Find those edges, funnels, benches and draws. A lot of my hunting is done around beaver ponds near the dam. One side has a lot of water while the other side is dry. The deer tend to skirt these edges. The draws don't have to be real deep, just enough to make them feel like their hidden. I watched 5 deer this summer in a fresh logged area (2 bucks, 2 does, and 1 fawn) follow the same exact draw 5 nights in a row coming to feed in the cut. Pay attention to the terrain.

One other thing I have noticed about big woods deer is their tendency not to be nocturnal. In the big woods they don't have nearly the same human pressure that there is around farm land. They don't have to pattern themselves around human movement. Because of this, most of my hunts are all day long, right from the beginning of the season.

There's alot more to it, but I suck at transfering my thoughts from my head to the keyboard.

_Dan

VS, how "big" of woods are we talking here?

dmen

I am halfway thru a book by greg miller called "Bowhunting Forest And deep woods". Here in Maine I am havinghard time trying to tie some of the hunting techniques I read about here and see on the hunting shows with the type of huntingI can do, especially up north,so i thought a book wouldhelp.So far what I have gathered is very much what Dan said, almost to the word. Concentrate on any edge weather it be swamps, one or two year old clearcut,or from one type of vegetation to another are some examples.The deer like to move on saddles and ridges and suchwhere they can see a distance but still be just one bound away from safety if danger appears.They are unpredictable in feeding and change sometimes weekly from one food source to another and rely on browsing alot. (This is what I have learned thru the book so far, not any personal experience)

gri22ly

Find the White Oaks, find a water source, find the nearest thicketin reference to them, then hunt the lay of the land,to and from.