What to do on multi-day white-tail hunts

[AlabamaMountainMan]

If I don't win a couple of draw hunts this year, I'll be looking at taking a week off to hunt national forest gun season. I'll have as many as 9 days to hunt since I would just stay in state, or go close by to a neighboring state I border. On the short draw hunts, I usually sit all day, or grab a quick lunch at noon and head back out by 1:30. The one time I sat at camp from about 11-2:30, I found myself feeling like I was wasting the trip.

I very likely will not be hunting the rut as ours is somewhat unpredictable and tends to be January/February. Would most of you sit all day, get up and scout mid-day, or get up and slip hunt? I have a hard time seeing myself sitting from before sun up to after sun down for 7-9 days, but I am pretty well determined to hunt until I fill a tag or run out of time.

 

[mtfallon]

I'd be scouting mornings/mid day (depending on time of year) until I had enough intel or sightings to tell me where to spend those full days.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

If I don't win a couple of draw hunts this year, I'll be looking at taking a week off to hunt national forest gun season. I'll have as many as 9 days to hunt since I would just stay in state, or go close by to a neighboring state I border. On the short draw hunts, I usually sit all day, or grab a quick lunch at noon and head back out by 1:30. The one time I sat at camp from about 11-2:30, I found myself feeling like I was wasting the trip.

I very likely will not be hunting the rut as ours is somewhat unpredictable and tends to be January/February. Would most of you sit all day, get up and scout mid-day, or get up and slip hunt? I have a hard time seeing myself sitting from before sun up to after sun down for 7-9 days, but I am pretty well determined to hunt until I fill a tag or run out of time.

I would still hunt all day. The idea of sitting in one spot all day makes me start getting bored already. The only time I stay in one spot is when I can count on other hunters pushing deer past me.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

Bama rut is wild to me. But that late in the year food and cover are scarce, even in the deep south. Scout your butt off till you find where they're feeding heavily then sit as close to cover as possible. No need for all day sits that late. Food and cover are king, and almost certainly becoming limited.

 

[AlabamaMountainMan]

I'd be scouting mornings/mid day (depending on time of year) until I had enough intel or sightings to tell me where to spend those full days.

I plan to do some early scouting, but I figure the first day or 2 of that hunt will be best spent scouting. I've had it happen time and time again where I get sign in the summer, then archery season opens and the sign is gone. Then I find new sign and it's gone by November.

 

[AlabamaMountainMan]

I would still hunt all day. The idea of sitting in one spot all day makes me start getting bored already. The only time I stay in one spot is when I can count on other hunters pushing deer past me.

Do you worry about blowing out the area? I think that's the main concern I have with hiking all over the place mid day is spreading smell and bumping everything.

 

[98XJRC]

I prefer scouting in the morning and being setup by 10 AM. If on really hot sign I'll stay there all day otherwise I'll make a move around 2 PM to another area I've found good sign at. With that many day's to hunt consider scouting the first 2-3 days.

 

[AlabamaMountainMan]

Bama rut is wild to me. But that late in the year food and cover are scarce, even in the deep south. Scout your butt off till you find where they're feeding heavily then sit as close to cover as possible. No need for all day sits that late. Food and cover are king, and almost certainly becoming limited.

I guess I need to figure out their late season food sources in the area I would be in. The red oaks just don't seem to get touched much, and white oaks are long gone by gun season.

 

[Throwin Darts]

I usually crawl down out of the tree and eat lunch and take a nap for an hour then get right back up. Man I've had some good naps at the base of a tree.

 

[TreeDux]

It will depend on how many days at a stretch you plan to hunt and how big a property you are on. A national forest would be more forgiving of midday forays that inadvertently contaminated some areas with scent or bumped a few deer. Those same activities could bite you pretty quickly on a smaller state managed WMA.
Personally in your scenario I like to sit for a couple hours in the morning, slip a little then set back up for 10:00 to noonish. That’s a good time to watch funnels and escape routes as other hunters are making an exit. If I have plenty of space I’ll still hunt/scout until mid afternoon then set up for the evening. There’s a valid hunting purpose for the whole day if you want it. You might well find “the spot “ for an all day sit but I wouldn’t go into your hunt feeling like that has to be every day.

 

[Macintosh]

Do you worry about blowing out the area? I think that's the main concern I have with hiking all over the place mid day is spreading smell and bumping everything.

How big a national forest are we talking about? Unless its tiny chunks (sub 300 acres) or its just literally crawling with people even deep in the backcountry, blowing deer out would be the farthest thing from my mind. I’d be hiking all over creation to find sign, still hunting vegetation transitions during the day and maybe sitting for an hour first/last light and not a minute more. If I blow a deer out, great—thats the best kind of sign. They wont go far.

 

[Q_Sertorius]

Do you worry about blowing out the area? I think that's the main concern I have with hiking all over the place mid day is spreading smell and bumping everything.

No, I never worry about that. I hike all over my hunting land as often as possible. Most days, I literally walk the same route around the farm at about the same time. I see deer every day and bucks about every other day. In a perfect hunting season, I would be in the woods every day from October 15 through December 15. Last season, we had hunters in our woods approximately 28/42 days of Blackpowder and Rifle season. Hunting across approximately 500 acres of private land, we (my brother, father, nephew, family friends, and me) killed a dozen bucks. About half were mature deer, but there were a couple of smallish three or four pointers with broken racks. The two biggest deer were killed after the rut was over, right at the end of the season. None of them would qualify as a monster, but we are not managing for monsters. We are managing for the opportunity for hunters to kill bucks. We don't shoot does. We have about six herds of 4-6 does scattered around the farm. We have mature woods with good mast, cover, and water. Consequently, there are always bucks around.

 

[loganwayne]

when we do draw hunts 3-4 days. we usually e-scout, find any easy place to setup the first morning. get down by 10 and start covering ground trying to find sign and then make a plan.
If you have anywhere to setup and glass i might consider doing that. Ive setup on high voltage lines and glassed to figure out where deer were crossing (there wasnt alot of trails) and then setup on them.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

I guess I need to figure out their late season food sources in the area I would be in. The red oaks just don't seem to get touched much, and white oaks are long gone by gun season.

In Texas a lot of times I’m hunting nothing but green browse come January. Greenbriars, green fields, creek bottoms with fresh growth… or sometimes just trails moving from public towards the corn feeders on private. Red oaks ought to get hit eventually, but if not on mast, think browse instead.