What are your game plans this year?

[iccyman001]

As you all know, I am addicted to whitetail hunting.
We also have a very large base of whitetail hunters here from all over the US.

We have people hunting deer anywhere from New Jersey all the way over to California. We also have some lucky people who live in prime states like Iowa, Kansas, and Missouri.

So with that being said, what are your game plans for this year?
Are you going to be planting and sitting on food crops? Hunting funnels? Bedding areas? Food sources?

Scout a lot? Scout a little? Game cameras?

 

[cnelk]

For the first time in a long time I am going to dedicate some long weekends sitting in a tree stand in Nebraska come late October.
Then maybe go back with my ML in December.
I sure do like hunting WT too

 

[iccyman001]

Me personally, I am stepping my game up this year even more.

I hunt a VERY large area of public land that is bow hunting only.
It holds very large bucks, but this area is not simple like stuff I used to hunt.

Where I grew up in New England it was always ideal to hunt on funnels and pinch points.

Now that I am hunting out in the mid west, it\'s very spread out.
There are tons of draws, travel routes, and more. It\'s too big to have set funnels or pinch points because there are so many options.

So this year I will really be focusing on three main points:

- Does
- Food
- Bedding

With the help of cameras, I will really be focusing on finding does. I could try to focus just on bucks, but they change their patterns up from the summer to fall transition, and then the rut kicks off and it\'s game over.
If I stay on top of the does, I know that I will have a good chance of seeing some bucks during the rut.

This year I had a honey hole that was set up about 300 yards out of a doe bedding area. It produced two nice bucks during the rut.
It also gave some other people opportunities, but.... they didn\'t quite get a shot off. :wave:

Just a quick FYI. I do also use the cameras to inventory my bucks and find a general location.
The big buck that I shot this year I started catching all over a 4 square mile area. By the end of it, I had him pegged to a 1/4 square mile.

Next its the food. Out there they have tons of food plots, but they get hit hard only during end of the season when its real cold.
So I am focusing on food that they are hitting in fall, during the rut, and post rut.

I\'ve been talking a lot with the biologist out there to find as many sources as I can.


Last it\'s the bedding. I am trying to find not only where the does bed, but the bucks bed too. That way I can look at the terrain going into and out of the bedding areas and figure out strategic set up points for ideal shots.


This is just a brief idea of what I am doing. So with this being said.

What are you doing?

 

[iccyman001]

For the first time in a long time I am going to dedicate some long weekends sitting in a tree stand in Nebraska come late October.
Then maybe go back with my ML in December.
I sure do like hunting WT too

I\'m going to be looking forward to hearing some stories from those trips.
I know NE got hit hard by EHD and CWD, but I know there is still a fair population of nice bucks out there :upthumb:

 

[cnelk]

Remember that big community scrape I found last fall?
Thats going to have a cam camera on it - and a stand nearby too

EHD didnt get a lot of deer in that area, some but not near as bad as other areas

 

[F M]

I have hunted the same farm now for probably 10 years now so I know the basic patterns they use yearly. There are no crops on this farm just hay fields. Last year I planted a food plot on the edge of one field but planted it to soon and the deer wiped it out before season. This year I am planting a couple more but am waiting longer before I plant it. I am lucky because the landowner will let me do just about anything it takes to improve the habit for the deer. I do use trail cams mainly to see what deer are around.

 

[mainebrdr]

Well, my plan this year is to have a good time and help my son get a nice one. I didn\'t use cameras much for years even after they were available but lately I have been using them more and I find that getting good pictures is about as much fun as shootin\' one.
One of these days in the not too distant future, I am going to take a little time off around the first of Nov. to spend more time in a stand. (Swede is my hero!)
Brad, if you are hunting on public land in Nebr. how do you hang on to your trail cams? Dan, It seems like you would have the same problem. Especially in Okla.

 

[iccyman001]

Well, my plan this year is to have a good time and help my son get a nice one. I didn\'t use cameras much for years even after they were available but lately I have been using them more and I find that getting good pictures is about as much fun as shootin\' one.
One of these days in the not too distant future, I am going to take a little time off around the first of Nov. to spend more time in a stand. (Swede is my hero!)
Brad, if you are hunting on public land in Nebr. how do you hang on to your trail cams? Dan, It seems like you would have the same problem. Especially in Okla.

Tim,
do you need a spare stand? I have a ladder stand, new in the box, that I will probably never use. I will bring it up for you if you\'d like.
As for the camera, I think I am lucky due to the lack of pressure.
Again, the area I bow hunt is not appealing to certain people because you can\'t road hunt, rifle hunt, and actually have to put in effort! Also no feeders or baiting allowed!

So my cameras are fairly safe.
Another perk is I hide them fairly well and I am usually in the woods a little deeper than most travel.

We have had a few bird hunters pass my cameras, but they see them and leave them be! :upthumb:

I have hunted the same farm now for probably 10 years now so I know the basic patterns they use yearly. There are no crops on this farm just hay fields. Last year I planted a food plot on the edge of one field but planted it to soon and the deer wiped it out before season. This year I am planting a couple more but am waiting longer before I plant it. I am lucky because the landowner will let me do just about anything it takes to improve the habit for the deer. I do use trail cams mainly to see what deer are around.

What type of food plots did you plant? Do you set up stands over it or blinds?

Remember that big community scrape I found last fall?
Thats going to have a cam camera on it - and a stand nearby too

EHD didnt get a lot of deer in that area, some but not near as bad as other areas

I am very excited to see what you get!

 

[cnelk]

This is how Rudy hangs his cams on public land in Neb.
I may do the same

 

[F M]

It was a mix of clover,turnips,oats and brasicvas sorry don\'t remember how to spell that one. I have to hunt it out of a blind. The only good trees got taken down when a tornado went through while I was in Co.hunting.

 

[iccyman001]

It was a mix of clover,turnips,oats and brasicvas sorry don\'t remember how to spell that one. I have to hunt it out of a blind. The only good trees got taken down when a tornado went through while I was in Co.hunting.

Nothing wrong with that I guess. Do you have some nice areas to brush the blinds into?
Hopefully you get some good growth from some trees in the next few years!

 

[F M]

There is a lot of brush around the field so brushing in a blind is easy. It will be a long time for some trees get big enough. The growing season is pretty short here.

 

[mainebrdr]

Believe me Dan, you\'ll use that stand some day! I have one unopened in a box now as well. Have probably 14 or 15 out at any given time. All on private land but occasionally I still lose one.

 

[mainebrdr]

Brad, it would seem that it wouldn\'t take much wind to get a lot of pics of branches waving at that height! That would certainly discourage thieves however!

 

[bowhunter]

Brad, it would seem that it wouldn\'t take much wind to get a lot of pics of branches waving at that height! That would certainly discourage thieves however!

Yes the wind and false pics was my first thought. Nebraska is known for a little breeze :haha:

 

[iccyman001]

Brad, it would seem that it wouldn\'t take much wind to get a lot of pics of branches waving at that height! That would certainly discourage thieves however!

Yes the wind and false pics was my first thought. Nebraska is known for a little breeze :haha:

Terry,
You guys have Boone and crockett deer behind every tree. So I imagine you don\'t need to do much except walk outside and pull the trigger :wave:

 

[bowhunter]

Terry,
You guys have Boone and crockett deer behind every tree. So I imagine you don\'t need to do much except walk outside and pull the trigger :wave:

:haha: :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha: :haha:

 

[mainebrdr]

Couldn\'t have said it better myself Terry!