just wondering fellas because im new to this. i try and get in the stand at 5am and sit till about 9 or so then try to get in at 330pm nd sit till good dark. Im in FMNF so no corn or trail cam and im with a bow. so im set deep in the woods next to the thicket and see alot of trails and some rubs and havnt seen anything in a while. a good buddy “gave me this spot” and he hunts about 300 yards the other way. hes seen some nannys but no shooters. also wondering how long to you guys sit one spot before you change locations. any help would be great! thanks
Welcome…
I don’t go in the woods until about 30-45 minutes before day light. That’s plenty of time to let things settle back in and it helps me stay on the stand longer after shooting light (10-11am if there isn’t anything going on.)
No need for corn…at all. Find their food source, find a good trail between your thicket and the food source. Back off 40ish yards from the food source and 25ish yards off the trail and set up…PAY ATTENTION TO WIND DIRECTION when deciding which side of the food source and trail you set up on.
Deer get killed all the time with a bow…good on ya.
Back off of your thicket and hunt the food source. You may be bumping them out of their bedding area.
Shoot a nanny…you can’t eat horns and you need to break the ice. A nanny with a bow in the FMNF IS a trophy.
You can/should change locations as often as the wind dictates…you can hunt the same trails/bedding area/food/water source by hunting the wind and moving appropriately in a couple hundred yard “circle”.
Hope that helps
Good luck…shoot a nanny
I’m not slurring my words…I’m simply speaking in cursive.
thanks im new to posting but not at ll new to the site. ive been here learning for years! thanks for the input! i was scouting sunday and found a food plot they are rolling to on the otherside of the thicket so im gunna try that today. thanks for everything! whats up salty. Dustin D here!
Took last week off to clear some land. 4 days running had does out playing and being curious in the 1130 - 1530 range. No Bucks except on camera ranging from 0030 - 0400.
The more you “sit” an area the more the local wildlife will accept/get used to your sent. The more you go the better your odds become.
As a last thought make sure the “spot” your buddy gave you has signs of activity.
< Evil is simply the absence of God >
This time of year, I’d hunt close to heavy cover and bedding areas. X2 on paying attention to the wind and making sure you are as scent free as possible. I stay away from cover scents and bombs, pads etc. they spook more deer than they draw IMO. Nothing beats being quiet and still. Watch the moon phase too, if its been up and full all night, chances of seeing them go way down in the am, mid-day is actually better. Also ease in to your location making as little noise as possible and using no light or little as possible, deer aren’t stupid especially this late, a million candlepower flashlight will spook them to the other side of the FMNF.
Mark
Pioneer 222 Sportfish Yamaha F300
Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal? I wouldn’t go so far as to call a dog filthy but they’re definitely dirty. But, a dog’s got personality. Personality goes a long way.
“Life’s tough…It’s even tougher if you’re stupid” John Wayne
I hunt from about 45 minutes befor elight till about 11ish then short lunch break if not eat in the stand then from about 330 on until dark. But sometimes it is nice to stand all day from daylight till dark. Just take your lunch with you with some snacks. great way to see a bunch of animals.
Going to Church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
You are the offspring of 5 monkeys having But Secs with a retarded fish squirrel. CONGRADULATION!!!
Never been one to sit all day, it gets boring. There are some pretty spots out there, anywhere there is food right now is a good place to be. The food plots in the govt woods get way to much pressure, avoid them. Good luck, bow hunting educated deer is tough.
11 Bowtech Destroyer
Remington 700 30-06
x2 food plots on public land are beat the hell up…beautiful and amazingly good use of our tax dollars but waaaaayyyyyy over hunted. Find a couple live oaks, pin oaks etc that may be still dropping acorns or where they are still on the ground…away from the food plot. Try to find the natural food source they’re hitting right now…hunt between that and their bedding area on a good trail. Good luck.
I’m not slurring my words…I’m simply speaking in cursive.
quote:
Originally posted by RedfishScout…I know a guy who has killed over 35 deer this year…
Here’s hoping they implement and enforce bag limits.
I hope he was on Private land
Going to Church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
You are the offspring of 5 monkeys having But Secs with a retarded fish squirrel. CONGRADULATION!!!
quote:
Originally posted by RedfishScoutI’m amazed at some of the BS that people put on here sometimes. Don’t let these guys talk you out of hunting food plots. Right now they are absolute magnets for deer. Go check some out. They are planted in wheat and peas. Download the Berkeley County GIS app for your smartphone because it has better resolution and has more up to date photographs. That can help you find which plots are planted. Go to the plot and pay attention to the track patterns both human and deer. If there are little or no boot prints and lots of deer tracks and you are lucky enough to figure out the best entrance/exit paths…then hunt it. Google Earth is a great tool to find which plots have a few live oaks in them. Trees in the middle of a food plot sometimes can be a hindrance, or another food source, or a hiding place…you decide.
Now print this out and save it and get it out every year or so and see who is putting out the BS and who is NOT! I know a guy who has killed over 35 deer this year and his rule of thumb is NEVER hunt the same spot two days in a row. You can hunt morning and evening on the same day. I personally think that can be stretched if it rains overnight.
Scout 177 Yam 115
If you follow that rule, you would never hunt food plots on public land. Someone sits on just about any given food plot every night.
No one said not to hunt food plots, simply that other areas were more productive if one were wanting to harvest a buck. Hell, you can shoot a doe almost everywhere even at this time of year.
Congrats to your buddy, he must feel accomplished by killing that many in a year. Does he feed the hungry? Have a large extended family? Lots of non-hunting neighbors. Maybe do it for pest control in an agricultural area? Those reasons I could respect and see. Sometimes restraint and discretion are the better points of conservation, buffalo hunters taught us that a long time ago.
Mark
Pioneer 222 Sportfish Yamaha F300
Yeah, but do you consider a dog to be a filthy animal? I wouldn’t go so far as to call a dog filthy but they’re definitely dirty. But, a dog’s got personality. Personality goes a long way.
“Life’s tough…It’s even tougher if you’re stupid” John Wayne
I’ve not seen anything in this thread that I’d consider to be BS. I’d say we gave DoubleD’s plenty to think about as a new comer to the sport. Good luck sir. Be safe and shoot straight.
I’m not slurring my words…I’m simply speaking in cursive.
quote:
Originally posted by RedfishScoutI’m amazed at some of the BS that people put on here sometimes. Don’t let these guys talk you out of hunting food plots. Right now they are absolute magnets for deer. Go check some out. They are planted in wheat and peas. Download the Berkeley County GIS app for your smartphone because it has better resolution and has more up to date photographs. That can help you find which plots are planted. Go to the plot and pay attention to the track patterns both human and deer. If there are little or no boot prints and lots of deer tracks and you are lucky enough to figure out the best entrance/exit paths…then hunt it. Google Earth is a great tool to find which plots have a few live oaks in them. Trees in the middle of a food plot sometimes can be a hindrance, or another food source, or a hiding place…you decide.
Now print this out and save it and get it out every year or so and see who is putting out the BS and who is NOT! I know a guy who has killed over 35 deer this year and his rule of thumb is NEVER hunt the same spot two days in a row. You can hunt morning and evening on the same day. I personally think that can be stretched if it rains overnight.
Scout 177 Yam 115
Another internet super star. Post one report of a dead pig and he’s got it goin on and his advice is the gospel. 35 deer in one year ain’t nothin partner, back when I was a number huntin game hog I would get pissed if I went and didnt kill one. Just gave some advice to a person I do know to stay away from the govt food plots because every rubber head with google earth has set in them. If he would shoot me a pm I would give him a little more info, have every kill and every spot on a map of the fm recorded, a map a Game Warden who lived in Shulerville gave me years ago. Pre google earth style. I
i try to be in the stand ready to hunt about an hour - hour and a half before sunrise in the morn and sit til about 10. dont get to hunt many evenings but if i did id try to be ready about 230. i like getting there early in the govt woods in case someone coming in late tries sitting near me its possible they kick one up towards me while walking in. hunting pressure can be used to your advantage…just have to learn how to do it. couldnt tell you how many times ive heard a truck roll in and door slam not 10 minutes til sunrise out there! couple times i also saw a deer or in 1 case a hog 15 minutes later but no shot at either. my main spot ive never seen anyone other boot prints there and is farther in than most people would want to walk…also quite a fun drag as i learned last year 
i dont get to hunt too often with my wierd schedule so going to the same spot once every 6-10 days compared to food plots being hit daily isnt going to hurt…however i do have other spots in FM and a place thats private land ill go to as other options. if you have constant fresh sign and your buddys been seeing does not far away i wouldnt give up on it but thats up to you. ive never had a problem dropping a doe for the freezer…then again for whatever reason ive NEVER seen a doe in my spot in 2 seasons of hunting there even though theres plenty of cover and oak trees in the same area. good luck!
quote:
Originally posted by capntangquote:
Originally posted by RedfishScout…I know a guy who has killed over 35 deer this year…
Here’s hoping they implement and enforce bag limits.
Capttang I fee the 35 is a good deal more than your average hunter is taking, but why do you feel we need bag limits? Most hunters aren’t taking that many. I only harvest 2-3 a year, but would invite more to hunt my property if the rest of the family wasn’t taking deer. Face it our deer population has been handling our current bag limits for a long time and continuing to improve. The biggest current impact on deer are the stinking coyotes.
quote:
Originally posted by joeboo Face it our deer population has been handling our current bag limits for a long time and continuing to improve. The biggest current impact on deer are the stinking coyotes.
I’ve sat in on talks from various folks from the USDA and DNR, and they all speak in favor of increased limits and controls. You are correct in stating that the average hunter does not take 35+ dear a year, but the top 5% that do take that many account for a staggeringly high percentage of the total deer taken every year. 95% of hunters would be mostly unaffected by proposed limits, and the 5% that goes a little crazy might ease up a little.
Face it? Sure, the deer population in SC was once developing at a rate that could support a “no limits” approach, but that has changed. The deer population is still relatively healthy in most areas at the moment, but we now have a growing population of pigs competing for land and food in many game zones, and coyotes are pretty much everywhere. Research conducted by DNR and in other states over the years shows pretty conclusively that once the coyote population is established, there’s not much that be done to control it effectively or eliminate it.
Why do I feel we need bag limits? You’ve answered your own question, but you’re not looking far enough ahead to see it. Coyotes and pigs are here to stay, and they are not factors that we can control. The deer population will continue to be negatively affected by these influences, and that leaves us with the one factor we can control - hunting.
Anybody taking more than 5 in a season is “market hunting”. That was outlawed at the turn of the last century, and one hunter taking 35 deer so far this season is simply unreasonable. The idea of a reasonable bag limit is adversarial because of the problems we now face with strict catch limits and prohibitions of fishing.
The more we just complain…the more things stay the same.
30 min before dark.
Love up in the AM between 9:00 AM until noon. Killed plenty of nice bucks then.