Why aren't I seeing deer ?????? Pics

[robtattoo]

Here's my setup.

The white lines are the most obvious trails, the red lines are the outlines of huge areas of honeysuckle the deer are using as bedding areas.

 

The area is only accessible by boat & to the best of my knowlege only me & a friend of mine are hunting it. The total area is roughly 50 acres of open woodland (on the hillsides by the lake) & thorny sawbriar & honeysuckle on the tops.

When we first scouted the area in September we found & marked the biggest trails (white lines) but the honeysuckle areas are just a mess of trails, criss-crossing together (inside the red lines) Later in the season (mid October) we started finding a lot of rubs. So many, in fact, it was tugh finding a tree smaller than 3" that hadn't been rubbed to some extent.
On the 2 trails running parallel along the north side of the land we found two seperate scrape lines, one had 11 scrapes, the other 19. These areboth obvious scrape lines, not just random scrapes. If you stand in one, you can pretty much see 4 or 5 in a line.

We have not hunted the land too hard, once a week on average, from late September onward & have been careful not to follow the same tracks in & out each time. Between the 2 of us, we've sat in each stand from sunup until sundown (although not in one stint)

The best we've seen so far, on Monday my bud saw 3 small does on the South side of stand 3 at 8:15 AM

The photos in my next post show a 270º view from stand 2.

If anyone thinks they can help, I'll happily EMail a fullsize version of the Google Earth pic.

[robtattoo]

You cansee how thick it is up on the tops, where the deer are beddng & the trails are pretty durn obvious in the snow.

This stand (like the other 2) is set up on the downwind side of the 2 scrape lines, roughly 20 yards from the edge of the honeysuckles.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[KHALVERSON]

rob
looks like a great spot
what are the deer feeding on
might try some trail cameras on the heavy runs
how large is the island 50 acres total? do the deer move off the island or onto the island for security?
a lot of variables are involved
kevin

[robtattoo]

I'm guessing that the deer are eating the honeysuckle. There are very few oak trees in there & they're all dropped anyway. I can't find any evidence of them rooting for acorns anyway.
It's not actually an island, just a spit of land jutting into the lake, but the nearest accessible road is about a 3 mile hike.

If you were to pan the picture up & left at a 45º angle, you'd see a few lakehouses with well manacured lawns. No crop fields for miles.

As best we can discern, there is no reason for the deer to even leave this area. They have water all around, good shelter, thick bedding areas & honeysuckle to eat.

From the tip of the spit to the mainland (so to speak) is about ¾ of a mile & across the widest point, maybe a ½ mile. It's a pretty big area.

I'm loathe to leave out any cameras. Even though I'm 99.99% sure no-one else is there, it's still public land & I'd hate to lose $500 worth of camera. I'm nervous enough leaving my stands there & they're only 30 bucks a piece!

[Stumpkiller]

Originally posted by KHALVERSON:

. . . what are the deer feeding on?
 

That was my thought.  An island/penninsula may concentrate the ones who stay, but is there anything to keep them there if there is no food?  

You're seeing tracks, so they are there.  But if they are moving at night you need to find their day use trails and bedding areas and catch them moving to and from those areas.

Just from looking at your God's Eye picture, I'd set up at the top of that woodlot above the sign that says "wind" at the head of the ravine.  Just inside the woods about 20 yards.  It's in the center of the open brushy section (so they have cover and an escape route), the water "funnels" them up if they are moving to and from the penninsula and it is South facing.  Likely they will be starting their day somewhere near there.  

PS - set up 10 or 15 yards off a trail and not directly on it.  Same for a field.  Don't set up right n the edge but in a few trees.  You stick out and movement shows a long way off.

[magnus]

Rob. Doesn't the brother of the bow site have a service where you can get info from them on this exact situation? I'm not certain but just an option for you maybe. Good luck!

Keeping the Faith!
Magnus

[RC]

Where the two inlets?? at the bottom of the page are going upward looks like where I would start if I were headed there for the first time.They should be making a great funnel. I would go up above the end of them a bit .Critters should be funneling around them.The one on the left where you have the wind marked would be about where I`m talking about.

  I hunt different that a lot of folks. I don`t hunt trails I hunt trails in funnels.RC

[KentuckyTJ]

Rob, try a canoe and leave the boat motor at home. You also have to move the stands around, deer can pattern you even after you leave. If you have been sitting in the same place all year they know where you are and avoid those places in daylight.

[Stumpkiller]

I highlighted the two spots I would start with - depending on what a ground scout showed.

Just MHO and based on NY whitetails.

 

[Jeff Strubberg]

Dunno Rob, but my first though is that those deer have trails, food source and bedding area right on top of each other, making them very difficult to hunt because of lack of movement.

One thing that might be worth trying is a slow, controller push to see what's happening when you come into your stands in the morning.  One of you swing around the south end and drop in that inlet farthest to the east.  Work in a few hundred yards and set up.  Other hunter goes back around to the west and lands as normal, then still hunts slowly towards the first hunter.

If you see no or very few deer, maybe it's just a low deer population area.  If you see quite a few, you may have to rethink your stand approach and location based on ( I think ) the deer bedding right under your stand locations.

[NoCams]

No way you could know this KY TJ..... but that would be one heck of a canoe paddle for Robbie ! It is over 2 miles I think.

Rob, maybe Mason and I can come over in the next few days ? Not that we are an expert, that is for sure ! We need folks like RC and KY TJ, they are the ones with the hero pics !

I suspect that Khalverson and Stumpkiller are correct in their assumptions...... night activity ! It will fool you everytime, especially the heavy night trails made by groups of does. Took me a while to figure that one out too. Do you have any of the newer Scoutguard type cameras that will fit in the palm of that paw you call a hand Robbie ? We could hide it better and maybe not lose it to thieves ? A camera would confirm all this for us. Looks awesome with those trails in the snow. Betting that you will have to move inland and catch them in the mornings leaving the penisula or vice versa, catching them heading to it in the evening. Let's find a choke point if we can where most of the deer leaving the penisula are using ? If we see no deer keep moving 200 yds at a time further inland till you are in them during daylight hours. Mason and I don't have a problem getting on the deer, just a problem getting them within 30yds !!! I want to take lessons from RC and KY TJ. JMHO

[Manitoba Stickflinger]

Late season movement is likely food motivated. Perhaps there is a significant food source away from the peninsula you are hunting? Just a thought. The tracks you are seeing could be nocturnal movement as deer roam and browse away from the primary food source.

What about how you approach the peninsula and wind direction. 50 acres is quite small, and perhaps the deer are being bumped out of the area on your approach? Just a thought!

The previous idea of a gentle push might be a great way to see deer and learn escape routes. What if one hunter approached the southern stand by canoe and arrived slightly prior to the 2nd hunter taking the long walk in from the north? Just a thought again?

Ryan

[longbowben]

At this time of year deer are really grouped up try to scout and see where they are bedded then look for digging to see where they are feeding.There are lots of night time trails at this time of the year that will fool you.Just remember deer are not traveling very far to get to food at this time of year.Good luck  

[Greg Szalewski]

i would try the spot left of stand 3 between the bay and hooneysuckle thicket. Looks like it could be a funnel of sorts.

[smoke1953]

Just wait for the coldest period and high pressure systems. The deer are conserving energy most of the time during this period but will naturally move during the coldest periods to generate heat. Looks like you are in the right spot otherwise.

[John Scifres]

I agree that the most likely culprit is nocturnal deer.  Public land that is pressured changes patterns.  I'd also guess that is a bedding area and they are feeding elsewhere.  They might have you patterned and skip out before you get in your stand.  I'd walk in the 3 miles.  You can always use the boat to get the deer you kill.  

50 acres isn't that much ground especially when only roughly half of it is used by the deer.  It's pretty easy to bump them off that.

[JDinPA]

The one thing I've learned from watching deer around public land is they are aware when people are coming and going.

I watched deer raise they heads when trucks drive by on the roads. Maybe cut the motor aways from shore and use an electric trolling motor. Be quiet when you beach the boat.
See if it helps.

i would cover the whole place till i jumped the deer from there beds, then i would know where to put up stands from there. or hunt the stands you have more than once a week, you need to know were theyre at....imo.

[ishiwannabe]

Many things could be the cause, many of which have already been touched on.
I would start moving around. Two man drives possibly? Hunt from the ground if you need to, but find out where they are. I tend to think they may have shied away from the water's edge for more shelter. That and the food source may have changed.
Another tactic, two walk in to a stand, one walks out. If they are alerted to your entrance, this may fool them into thinking the threat passed by.

[YORNOC]

Have they changed their feeding habits this late in the season?  Up here they are already hammering cedar and juniper...the main winter forage.
Very interesting, some really good ideas coming forth. Love this site.