Arrow Flinger

First week of the season was HOT!! Been dead ever since.

Makes sense. I pretty much know where they bed, my problem is figuring out where they feed and when. For example, one of the main bedding thicket I hunt has 3 different pastures to the north, 2 to the east, apples in the woods to the south and a gazillion oaks to the west with another pasture beyond those oaks. All these pastures have is clover and maybe some alfalfa. There are never beans or corn planted in them. Is it a crap shoot where and when these deer feed or do they feed on a pattern? I've seen them feed in all these spots without any noticeable pattern. One day their in the oaks and the next the apples and the next you'll see them in one of the pastures. Too many options for feed I think.

My main problem is that most of the deer where I hunt bed in these pine thickets that are so thick you can only see 10 feet into them. There no way of going in them and hunting, so I do the next best thing and hunt the edges of them where the biggest buck sign is.

PHADE....what do you do during the chasing and breeding phases for hunting a bucks bed? I would think a bucks bedding at this time would be random because you never know where he'll end up after chasing does all night. Just curious. I hunt bedding areas alot, probably more than any other tactic, but I've never tried to key in on a particular bucks bed. I mostly look for big rubs to let me know he's bedding in a particular thicket .Anything wrist size or bigger.

Heres the pics These are all the same bird!

I hunt alot of different spots and each area is different so one persons tactic may work better in one of my spots than another. You have to tailor your strategy to the property you're hunting. For example, alot of my areas have no apples or scrapes near secluded food sources so Eberharts scrape tactics take a back seat to Vales in those cases, but when I find an area like Eberhart talks about, then I rely on his tactics there. You have to be flexible!

I agree! You need to change your tactics as the rut phases change. Hunting scrapes wont work the first weekend or probably even the last weekend for that matter. Obviously you wont see bucks breeding does on October 1st so you need to use a different tactic if you are gonna hunt then. Food sources and bedding areas are key during the early season!

I used the Killzones this past fall. Didn't get to shoot a deer with one but the Coyote I shot dropped in its tracks! Great broadhead and very durable from what I've seen so far.

My buddy shot a Tom last week that didn't have any spurs at all, not even little bumps. This bird had a full fan and a 9 inch beard, so it wasn't a Jake. Has anyone ever seen this before? I have pics, I just have to figure out how to send them to my E mail from my phone (new phone)!

I've spooked birds off the roost very late in the AM too. I wonder what makes them do this? On a side note, I shoulda went out this morning. My son saw a huge Tom in the field I hunt in on his way to school at 7AM....s&%t!!

Yep, I dont even watch the mainstream hunting shows. They usually dont tell you anything about scouting because they have the outfitter do it for them! I listen to guys like Eberhart, Infalt and Bill Vale. These guys hunt the same deer we do....Pressured! All of their scouting tactics are great, as for their hunting tactics, you choose what you want to try based on what suits your style. I know Eberharts mid-day tactics during the rut work. My brother shot a trophy 8 point and a trophy 10 point on back to back seasons using them. He was in the woods when we were at camp eating lunch!

Me too. I think tomorrow morning will be a good one!

Some other videos that are great for learning year-round hunting and scouting are the ones from John Eberhart. I try and do everything the way he does except for the Tree Saddle. I would love to use one but find them uncomfortable! His tips on scouting in the winter/spring are invaluable. I've used them to find many good spots to hunt that I would never have found in the late summer. Also, scouting right before hunting season opens is usually detrimental to your hunting if you're after pressured deer. Scout during winter/spring and stay out of the woods till its time to hunt!