Hey guys,
I am fairly new in the whitetail hunting game and I would like to seek some advice from from your great, experienced hunters minds. I apologize in advance for the long post, but i didn't want to leave out too many details. Here it goes;
I hunt in Quebec and this year will be my third year hunting this plot (see image attached). On the first year, i shot my first deer, a young buck during bow and crossbow season using bait (allowed up here). Last year, i tried going after the bigger bucks on the property, without bait, and i had a very poor season, almost only seeing deer on my way in or out. The ag field was standing corn during the whole crossbow season (as an FYI). Im looking for advices for both arrow and gun season, as i can hunt both. For reference, here are our seasons :
- Arrows : 3-21 October
- Gun : 7-22 November
Here are the details i put on the map :
Green : where i can hunt
Red rectangle : Cannot hunt, can only pass thru on the trail
Blue line : Access trail (Pretty much the only possible access)
Purple : small creek. I have seen deer trails along the creek at several occasions.
brown : Swamp
short yellow line that crosses the blue trail : past this line, the trail is newly opened to reach a neighbor's land. it is all sand and I have never seen a deer track along this part of the trail.
S : Ladder stand where i shot my first spike buck. Cool location, a game trail that crosses the northern edge of the swamp ends up in front of the stand. I have a mock scrape and mineral site there. During the summer, I inventoried 3 bucks of roughly 3+ years that I want to go after. They were still in bachelor groups, so I expect they will not necessarily frequent this site during the fall hunting season.
S2 : Spot where I hung my portable stand last year. It looked like a place where 2 deer trail crossed, but i saw no deer during shooting hours. I would however see tracks around and in front of it. Access is not that easy as I have no beaten trail.
1 : Deer trail. I have had does going through here once in a while and very rarely, a buck during the night.
2: Often seen/ heard does in this general area.
3: Major deer trail that seems to go between the field to the swamp.
DB : Doe bedding. Interrogation mark means I am unsure of the exact location.
BB1 : Pretty sure this is mature buck bedding. Behind doe bedding, seen major rubs.
BB2: Not sure if this is buck bedding, but I have seen signs around it. Pretty sure there is at least one buck bedding on this northern side.
Now here is the deal, I am stuck getting in from the only access trail, and therefore I have to step along the major food source (the field) to get on the property. I usually do not hunt mornings during bow seasons for this reason. I am considering driving my car thru and parking at the end of the trail, then walking back to hunt. Not sure if that would be a good idea and if it would spook deer far away if i come across them early morning getting in or at dark getting out.
The areas I am thinking I could target for this year's season are marked with a T :
T1 : Seems to be a transition zone between bedding/food/water. Only problem is access. I can get there in the day but getting out will be tough. I am considering walking inside the creek the whole way there and out. Seems like a promising spot but one I could easily mess up.
T2 : Thinking of this spot for the rut/gun season. the east bank of this small swamp is quite frequented. so I would post on the eastern bank and hope for buck movement around doe bedding. Also difficult to access, i would have to open a trail and get there from the north.
T3 : I am thinking of opening a line of sight there and posting north during the rut, as it seems like a good transition zone for rutting bucks wanting to void the open field when traveling from the north site to the swamps and vice versa.
As for the northern end of the property, I am quite unsure how to approach it. I feel like the small field corner should be gold, but I have been disappointed last year. My main struggle is for access. I frequently come across deer getting in/out, and this obviously hurts me a lot. Any other feedback for locations to target will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
I am fairly new in the whitetail hunting game and I would like to seek some advice from from your great, experienced hunters minds. I apologize in advance for the long post, but i didn't want to leave out too many details. Here it goes;
I hunt in Quebec and this year will be my third year hunting this plot (see image attached). On the first year, i shot my first deer, a young buck during bow and crossbow season using bait (allowed up here). Last year, i tried going after the bigger bucks on the property, without bait, and i had a very poor season, almost only seeing deer on my way in or out. The ag field was standing corn during the whole crossbow season (as an FYI). Im looking for advices for both arrow and gun season, as i can hunt both. For reference, here are our seasons :
- Arrows : 3-21 October
- Gun : 7-22 November
Here are the details i put on the map :
Green : where i can hunt
Red rectangle : Cannot hunt, can only pass thru on the trail
Blue line : Access trail (Pretty much the only possible access)
Purple : small creek. I have seen deer trails along the creek at several occasions.
brown : Swamp
short yellow line that crosses the blue trail : past this line, the trail is newly opened to reach a neighbor's land. it is all sand and I have never seen a deer track along this part of the trail.
S : Ladder stand where i shot my first spike buck. Cool location, a game trail that crosses the northern edge of the swamp ends up in front of the stand. I have a mock scrape and mineral site there. During the summer, I inventoried 3 bucks of roughly 3+ years that I want to go after. They were still in bachelor groups, so I expect they will not necessarily frequent this site during the fall hunting season.
S2 : Spot where I hung my portable stand last year. It looked like a place where 2 deer trail crossed, but i saw no deer during shooting hours. I would however see tracks around and in front of it. Access is not that easy as I have no beaten trail.
1 : Deer trail. I have had does going through here once in a while and very rarely, a buck during the night.
2: Often seen/ heard does in this general area.
3: Major deer trail that seems to go between the field to the swamp.
DB : Doe bedding. Interrogation mark means I am unsure of the exact location.
BB1 : Pretty sure this is mature buck bedding. Behind doe bedding, seen major rubs.
BB2: Not sure if this is buck bedding, but I have seen signs around it. Pretty sure there is at least one buck bedding on this northern side.
Now here is the deal, I am stuck getting in from the only access trail, and therefore I have to step along the major food source (the field) to get on the property. I usually do not hunt mornings during bow seasons for this reason. I am considering driving my car thru and parking at the end of the trail, then walking back to hunt. Not sure if that would be a good idea and if it would spook deer far away if i come across them early morning getting in or at dark getting out.
The areas I am thinking I could target for this year's season are marked with a T :
T1 : Seems to be a transition zone between bedding/food/water. Only problem is access. I can get there in the day but getting out will be tough. I am considering walking inside the creek the whole way there and out. Seems like a promising spot but one I could easily mess up.
T2 : Thinking of this spot for the rut/gun season. the east bank of this small swamp is quite frequented. so I would post on the eastern bank and hope for buck movement around doe bedding. Also difficult to access, i would have to open a trail and get there from the north.
T3 : I am thinking of opening a line of sight there and posting north during the rut, as it seems like a good transition zone for rutting bucks wanting to void the open field when traveling from the north site to the swamps and vice versa.
As for the northern end of the property, I am quite unsure how to approach it. I feel like the small field corner should be gold, but I have been disappointed last year. My main struggle is for access. I frequently come across deer getting in/out, and this obviously hurts me a lot. Any other feedback for locations to target will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks in advance!
