Where are the bucks?

[BUCK]

I have been scouting out a 40 acre area in Cedar County that consists of mostly wooded timber and a few pasters, there are alot of real nice trails but i havent seen to many buck signs. This area seems like it would be perfect for bucks there are alot of soy beans, corn, acorns, and watering holes. I looked everywhere and only found a couple of old rubs.I know that there are nice bucks in the area, Iv seen a few nice ones driving around the area. Why arent there any signs in my area?

 

[TRAK]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by BUCK:
I have been scouting out a 40 acre area in Cedar County that consists of mostly wooded timber and a few pasters, there are alot of real nice trails but i havent seen to many buck signs. This area seems like it would be perfect for bucks there are alot of soy beans, corn, acorns, and watering holes. I looked everywhere and only found a couple of old rubs.I know that there are nice bucks in the area, Iv seen a few nice ones driving around the area. Why arent there any signs in my area?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

J-BUCK; continue to scout; check the down-wind sides of the cornfields in your area. Bucks tend to bed down inside the standing corn during the hot temps as the ground is usually cooler and holds some moisture for dampness. Also keeps the flies down... Check around your water holes, should see some sign there, if its hot in your area...
Fella named Toad Smith put out a book on cornfield hunting before he passed on to a better hunting place; might be interested in trying to locate that book
If you can stand the heat and want to find out what's in the standing corn; take a venture through real slow and one row at a time.
Keep scouting & keep 'em sharp!!!!

 

[Admin]

Buck,

These are just my thoughts...

I guess to start, I think walking through your timber in September isn't a good idea. Any deer that were in there are certainly gone by now. Don't get me wrong I don't think there is a darn thing wrong with scouting,it's just that it should be done in late Winter or early Spring, this includes stand placement. This is when you look for old sign, rubs, bedding areas, main trails and food source as well as water.

Then comes early season scouting from observation stands or your vehical. This can take you well into Summer and early Fall.This scouting is a lot of fun especially in July and August, you can see some nice bucks driving the back roads.

When the season starts you hunt the outside/in and that's if you aren't trying to ambush a buck you have seen feeding or watering. I believe mature bucks will do some of the first rubbing so start to look for rubs on your way into your timber.

This is all early season stuff and I know it isn't really telling you what to do next. You probably have a pretty good hunting spot you just need to stay out of there for now. I would go back to the drawing board and find some more spots to hunt and let this one cool down. You gotta figure most of the bucks are still in groups and will be for the next 30 days or so, if they were in there you would know it. So go find the bachelor groups if you are still scout/hunting and trying to find a good area. I scout hunt every year looking for different spots and most importantly mature animals.

I hope you don't take any of this negatively, I am just trying to pass on some of my mistakes I've made the past 18 years.

You know there are just areas you can go back to every year and harvest a deer, I go to the river for that kind of hunting. Then there are areas in Iowa that are more open and the animals cover a bigger area. This is when it gets tricky, because you see sign and you think animals come through regularly. These area are one and two shot hunting spots. One wiff of your jiff and the animal will move 2 miles away. You have to be more careful in open country hunting, I learned it well hunting antelope with a bow.

Anyway, not knowing the area makes this just a stab in the dark.

Good Luck,

PS, most of this talk is all early season tactic. We all know when the Rut starts anything can happen and just finding a hot doe can get you good and close to a decent buck

 

[BUCK]

I know I should have had my stands up in this area a while ago. I had just got permission to hunt this land about a month ago I plan on putting my stands up this weekend. I hope that I dont screw anything up when I go back. Im just going to go in there quitely and then get out hopefully no harm will be done. Do you think that this is a good idea, or do you have any other ideas?
I just dont want to screw this area up I have a good feeling about this place.Thanks alot!!

 

[Admin]

Buck,

Don't get me wrong, anything can happen so go for it...set your stands up. It sounds like a pretty good spot. I hunt the Loess Hills sometimes and it's sounds similar to your description. I can walk through an area and not see any sign and sure as heck see a decent buck in the fall cutting through the area. The cover is so thick and the area is so big it's hard to imagine a deer hanging in one small area.These stands are shot-in-the -dark stands but if you see a buck he is usually big

Good Luck


TLH

 

[Guest]

I normally put all my stands up as early as possible and stay out of the area. That is not always possible. A good example is a new spot. I do a lot of just show up and hunt if I know there is a good buck running in a certain area. I am going to hunt a totally new area with structure nothing like I am used to so there really is no alternative - scout. Yesterday I went in and stunk the area up bad. But now I THINK I know the bedding areas and feeding areas. My trees are already picked, my entrance and exit routes are also chosen. My stand sites have 4 and 6 trails intersecting - UNREAL!!! There is no way I could have done this going in blind.
As far as buck sign nothing but a few old rubs. Normally I am a rub hunter and hunt over rub lines. But I know there are some nice bucks in this new spot. I glassed them coming out to feed. Not all spots are the same I guess. A person just keeps on learning.


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[Guest]

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[Admin]

Buck,

This isn't a very good pic but this is a ladder stand that I put in early this spring.

I probably wouldn't be afraid of putting something like this up on the edge or better yet on a nice fence row funnel in between timbers, etc. What would be even better is if you could catch a rainy day to do it.

Good Hunting,

TLH

 

[Rich]

Hi,

Sounds you've found a good hunting locale, with a diversity of food choices and good deer sign.

You shouldn't fret too much about not finding many rubs. Bucks favor particular tree species/sizes for rubbing and you may not have many of those in your area. I can recall lots of areas I've hunting over the years that had big bucks but very few rubs.

Like some others have suggested here, I'd avoid scouting the area now. I always suggest scouting in the late-winter or early spring when possible to avoid educating area whitetails that you're on their tail (so to speak).

That said, though, I frequently end up placing stands, or remanuvering them a bit, this time of year anyway, simply because I may have seen a big buck and I want to slip into his core area before he starts wondering more with expanded prerut movements. The first two weeks of the season is a great time to kill a big buck if you can slip a stand into his small late-summer core area -- that often means placing them right now.

The optimum time to do this in on a windy, rainy day (so most of your noise is covered and your scent is quickly washed away). And like I do when I hunt, I always wear scrubed-clean knee-high rubber boots when placing stands.

Don't be afraid to prune shooting lanes -- the last thing you want is for a big buck to walk past your stand without being arrowed -- so prune shooting lanes! Just don't go overboard with it and use rubber gloves to place the clipped branches up into foilage where deer can't smell any scent you may have left on them so easily. I also like to rub dirt into the fresh cut ends of all clipped branches. Numemerous times I've had nice bucks walk by within hours of having clipped shooting lanes without them noticing anything.

I'd suggest keeping to the periphery of your area with stands early in the season so that you have mimimal impact of disturbing whitetails. Find a trail that leads off of neighboring property into some white oaks if you can early this season. Try not to disturb any does holding out on the area -- determine where they bed and feed by watching them on stand. Then, hunt near these does during the rut. Some of those good bucks you mentioned seeing in the area are sure to come prowling past your stand then!

Good luck this hunting season!

Rich