help me pattern these deer for 07

[hickstick]

Since I capped off a miserable season in MA this year with an empty freezer, continuing a 6 year trend, Im trying to get my ducks in a row much earlier.  starting with some good post season scouting so I can try to establish a good pattern on the deer then follow it throughout the year as their patterns change.

2 weeks into the 06 season I found what looked to be a good funnel at the base of a hill where 2 stone fences met (one going up the hill, the other perpendicular). at the bottom of the hill is a large marsh created by a flood control dam.  both stone fences had breaks in them from old farm-cart roads that are long since overgrown, and several runs came together thru the breaks in the fences, and spread back out on the other side.  I sat over this funnel without seeing a single deer most of the season.....so I figured I needed to learn  when they use the funnel.  

in early January, went I went to pull the stand, I set the trailcam up.  today I went to check on it and there were 11 exposures so I pulled the film and replaced it.  2 of the pix were me, the rest deer.  nearly all are traveling in the direction of crossing the stone fence from up hill traveling towards the marsh, all but two in the dark.  unfortunately, the camera is a date OR time stamp not both, and I accidentallly left it on date, so I still don't know exactly when, but at least I now know what direction they tend to be using.

one further bit of info, we don't have a huge herd up here, the division of fisheries and wildlife estimates 10-12 per sq. mile. and this spot is a 1/2 mile square chunk of woods amidst residential neighborhoods.   so we're not talking a ton of deer.  but for two years now I've gotten pix of a decent 9 point and would love to meet up with him, if you know what I mean.  most of the rest of the pix are of a doe-n-fawn set.

on the hill side they are coming from there is remnants of an old orchard, with some apple trees still bearing fruit (summer drop...seem to be september...and hunting season doesn't open til mid October...argh!), and as I said before the base of the hill is a flood control marsh.

here are a couple of pix, the first is the nine (already dropped his right side):

 

and next the doe & fawn

 

[hickstick]

I'm gonna kinda use this as a diary  over the year to see if I can nail it down, figure out where they're bedding and feeding etc.  so I'll post back when I get more info.

I've got 2 additional cameras, so next time out I'll station the other 2  up and down the runs and try to figure where they're coming from/going to...

[Guru]

Two things that come to mind with out knowing more is....1. wind might be fickle at the bottom of that hill and 2. how you get to your stand?

[Jerry Jeffer]

A couple of things.
I now hunt big woods with a supposed population of 3 to 4 deer per square mile.  I see a hell of a lot more deer than that. ok. I used to hunt smaller woods like you seem to be talking about. Scouting, scouting, scouting. If you can't be out there much, it makes it more difficult. I don't get out much with my schedule, so learning my hunting area has been taking me years. I'm mostly learning during the season, which isn't  so great. Your pics show deer in the dark. I don't think you will get one during those hours. How much property is there to hunt? How much do you have access to? Some times areas that seem real good are not the best.

[Jerry Jeffer]

sorry, I must have missed the 1/2 mile of woods mentioned. That is not very big. Think I would be getting to know as much of that place as I could.

[Bill Carlsen]

Over the years my deer hunting philosophy has simplified and since then my success rate has improved. Find out where they are eating and wait for them. If you want a buck hunt where the does are eating and wait for them. I read somewhere that you can't hunt deer where they are, you need to hunt them where they are going to be. There is also no substitute for time in the woods.

Marc, where in Mass. are you?

[Huntrdfk]

Bill just asked my question, where in Mass are you Marc?


David

[vermonster13]

You may find out that the density is better than you think in this area. I would bet they travel through to feed on some landscaping also. They would feed in the residential area after dark(at least they do here at times). Now is the time of year to back track them and identify bedding areas. They will have plenty of time to get over your having been there. Locate these and set up stands back in as far as you need to to get a daylight shot at one. Find feeding areas like said above, but if they are only using them after dark, you need to locate staging areas and spend sometime learning the best stand locations for those.

Good luck and it's never to early to be getting the plan together.

[hickstick]

all good points guys.
 
curt...good point.  the prevailing wind is from the west in this area and my house is at the north west corner which makes it kind difficult to get to the stand, if they're bedding or feeding on the eastern edge I'll have to come in from a different direction.   there is also ALOT of sign and a major run 500 feet behind my house, that I've occassionaly jumped deer from walking in.

but since I hadn't figured out where they'er coming from/going to I was just kind of winging it.  

Bill Dave and david...this is Central mass, just east of worcester. moved back to my home town in 04 and bought this house right off the highway (290....I can see it out my window as I type this) on the edge of this town owned conservation land.   I have another spot by my parents house (same town) that I'd hunted pretty much exclusively over the past ten years, its a 50 acre horse farm in a woodlot at least 4 times its size if not more.  I missed a PnY buck there in 05.  but found out in early 06 that most of the rest of the woodlot is being razed for a strip mall and 300 apartments.  so I've been trying to find other spots.

I also have to add that I'm pretty much using this spot behind my house as a second string spot, opting for southern CT as the deer density down there is more like 40/sq.mi, and its not uncommon to see 11-15 deer a day down there.  but when I'm going for a quick hunt before work or when I can't get the weekend off to head 2hrs down to fairfield county and back...I've been hanging behind the house.  I missed a doe in Oct 500 feet behind the house, and that was the last deer I saw in the woods in MA...

[Flatstick]

I'm with Guru & Bill C.

The wind can be very tricky at or near any type of bottom. There are times it can be doing a full circle around you by the time it reaches the top, warning deer before you even get a chance to see them. I would set up at or just below the peak of the ridge. If deer come thru the funnel below you but choose a path not leading to you, softly call to them to see if they might change their direction. If nothing else you will get a better feeling as to where they are coming from and going to when they use this funnel and you can change your stand accordingly.

The single most important thing I have learned besides playing the wind directions, is how you ENTER your hunting area. Even playing the right wind direction isn't going to work if you enter an area by going through the deer. Even if the wind is in your favor you shouldn't enter across an open field or ridge top where you can be seen even in the dark. Stay close to the fence row or waterways of fields,,or just below the peak of the ridge and then cut to the top only when you get in line with your stand.

I am by no means an "expert deer hunter" but my success improved greatly when I started paying attention to wind & approach to my hunting areas.

[Shawn Leonard]

Curt, stole my answer. Go in there and hang your stand again. Climb up during a wind you would normally hunt it and let some milk weed fluff go. See what it does, wind might be fickle. Shawn

[ishiwannabe]

Sounds like wind might be an issue. Are the deer coming downhill on the afternoon?If so,could be a thermal ruining your chance.
Dont forget to check your stand location from the direction the deer are coming from...if ya skylight yourself its all over too.
Good luck....good idea with thte thread too.

[swamper]

make sure the sign you find is deciphered the best you can,try to figure out why its there not just that it's there..hunt the freshest sign you can.that will help you get on the deer,you can get directions of the deer if you look hard enough, then googe earth it and look good from the air to figure it out a little more at a time...hunt any hours you can and any weather..I hope this helps

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I would move the trailcam up the trail ( back tracking the deer's movement) 20yards at a time, make sure it's set for time stamp.. every other day move it again. doing this now thru summer will get you where the deer are in shooting light time. Also make a scrap book from all the pic's and if you can take a climber in with you and set in a tree and just glass your area, take notes.. Deer hunting is a 365 day job..

[hickstick]

sal...   don't think my wife or daughter would buy that  

I've got two other cameras and was gonna try to leapfrog them... till I get a better idea.