Final moves

[chiefbkt]

At what point in the pre-season do you stop making alterations to your prime hunting set up(s)? Or when do you make that final cam check in the area you've been getting big buck pics in all summer? Or do you not stop making adjustments?

On Saturday I was finally able to get into my favorite spot, move my stand about 20 yards west into some thicker cover, trim some branches, and round up the dang poison ivy. Also put a cam up on the main deer trail to see what's moving through. I'm thinking ill prob check the cam next week and then leave it until I sit in the stand during bow season. Other than that, my cams are easily accessible via truck and the rest of the stands are set according to prior years deer movements. Hoping I won't have to change anything now unless something freaky happens.

[oblivitar]

I'll check the cam 1 last time this weekend and stay outta there until opening day same as you. As for making alterations to prime hunting locations.......Ive cleared some brush away from where ill put my climber and made some shooting lanes about 2 months ago. Ive just been going in to check the cam and out i go.

[Doc]

My primary annual stands (all ground blinds) have been all prepared for a couple of months now. That is not according to plan, it's just the way my time became available. However, I do know that I will come across some smokin' hot places as the season progresses and I will not hesitate to knock out an instant stand right there on the spot. I have had success doing  that. As long as too much disruption is not made, and the area is not stunk-up too much in making the set-up, I have had amazing success in "same-day" stand building. You guys with climbers should be able to set stands just about anytime you want as long as you don't have to butcher the area clearing out shooting lanes.

 

 

[Lawdwaz]

Human presence does not do as much damage to an area as you guys think.

You must be forgetting about small game hunters, hikers, trappers, nature walkers etc. I have a couple spots where I hunt that get all kinds of human activity and can still kill a deer.

If your thinking you're going to run off your 150" B&C buck, well maybe but not the rest of the herd.

Edited September 4, 2013 by Lawdwaz

[Cabin Fever]

Here's a QDMA article, "Bucks Are Loyal To Home Ranges, Come Hell Or High Water". http://www.qdma.com/galleries/bucks-are-loyal-to-home-ranges-come-hell-or-high-water

[A Sportsman]

At a minimum,I like to start the season with stand options for every wind. Usually at least 2 options for each wind as I often hunt with a buddy. For the upcoming season, we are at that point now, and Will not have to go back to these set ups. We will continue to scout in september (but light scouting, more or less walking trails) and possibly throw a stand or 3 up in real hot areas. As far as human stink, I tend to agree with lawdwaz, with the caveat that it sorta depends upon the location of the stand. Stands that are right in or immediately adjacewnt to bedding areas I try to be very careful with. For an early season afternoon stand a good distance away from bedding, not as important. We don't use trail cams, so that's out of the equation.

[chiefbkt]

Human presence does not do as much damage to an area as you guys think.

You must be forgetting about small game hunters, hikers, trappers, nature walkers etc. I have a couple spots where I hunt that get all kinds of human activity and can still kill a deer.

If your thinking you're going to run off your 150" B&C buck, well maybe but not the rest of the herd.

I primarily hunt private land (my farm and camp) so me, my family, and club members are the only people who are walking about. At home, I'm generally within several yards of my stands (with exception to the one i mentioned above) several times a week with the kids walking the trails, looking for frogs, and what not. In fact I try to spend more time in the woods during the summer so the deer are accustomed to our presence. But the last few weeks before season I will try to stay out of certain areas I know the deer hang out in. Hunting public land is an entirely different story, it no holds barred.

[Lawdwaz]

I don't hunt public land either but a trapper, fall turkey hunter, grass cutters and landowners make their rounds!

[phade]

Human presence does not do as much damage to an area as you guys think.

You must be forgetting about small game hunters, hikers, trappers, nature walkers etc. I have a couple spots where I hunt that get all kinds of human activity and can still kill a deer.

If your thinking you're going to run off your 150" B&C buck, well maybe but not the rest of the herd.

 

I have enough evidence based on my cam use that the 6-to-10 day range is how long the average intrusion into timber (beyond a field edge) lasts on a single, isolated visit for mature bucks.

 

I have on occassion, caught a mature buck on cam prior to that window, but in each case it was clear to me that he was caught red-handed and did not show up on the cam again for some time (picking up the intrusion at that point).

 

Sure, does, fawns, and young bucks are easy to fool. That's why they are really a different animal compared to a mature buck.

 

Last year, I tracked this information pretty cleanly, and on my cams, it took 6 days nearly every time, and 7 once before I caught a mature buck or one that moved through the area and I had pics of prior. They then started showing up more regularly as they did while the cam soaked for 8-10 weeks.

 

This year, different parcel, and the range is again 6-10 days, with most being between 7 and 10.

 

Having said that, cam sets on places like food plots or field edges where intrusion is minimal is a different scenario. For cams where you step foot into the woods, that is why I advocate much longer soaks than 2-3 weeks.

[G-Man]

I am usually done and out of the woods by sept 1. Deer wont abandon their range but will shift to a quiet area of theirs to wait out intrusion. After all the 5 acre camps around me hang stands and ride around on atv's scouting , the quiet area is my property. I've seen it happen for years.....

[WNYBuckHunter]

I get pics of mature bucks within hours after I check my cams. That being said, I tend to keep my cams in areas where human activity is the norm. Its a working farm, so deer are accustomed to coming across human related scent in certain areas. They do get sketchy when they run across it in areas not normally worked, or if they spot you not in a truck or on equipment.

 

I still have stands to put up and some lanes to trim. Im not worried about it. I will adjust my setups during the season if I have to.