Pressured Deer Are EASY To Pattern

[redfish76]

GaryGuy if you're scouting a new sanctuary or other general area (like in the DCNF) when do you do that so as it minimize the impact on the deer? I'm talking about the time of year and time of day. Jooger said it's good if you actually bust a buck ouf of his bed but obviously you don't want to do something like that in September...

Just had a thought. What if you actually started your scouting for next year during the middle of the day, the last week of the season (or so). That way, if you did stumble upon a bruiser bedded down, you might be able to get a shot (assuming you weren't tagged out).

[crowmagnum]

No Sir. I like real vanilla but cheap Great Value at Walmart works too. I mix it about 1 part V to 4 water on real and maybe 1 to 2 or 3 on imitation. I spray down when corning and hunting. Everything I own smells like a cupcake from sept to January. I spray my hat, boots, butt, hair, underarms, bushes I touch, and the ground around my corn. It will not spook deer and will actually attract them to some degree. They like vanilla corn better and after trying it , they will leave the other until the V is all gone!

I hunted as a guest in Dickens co couple weeks ago.Had a popup on bend in a sendero.I put V corn on one sendero and non V corn on the othe.I had 4 does walk right over the Non V corn and went for the good stuff.Lol!Stuck a 100lb doe that trip.

[GarGuy]

GaryGuy if you're scouting a new sanctuary or other general area (like in the DCNF) when do you do that so as it minimize the impact on the deer? I'm talking about the time of year and time of day. Jooger said it's good if you actually bust a buck ouf of his bed but obviously you don't want to do something like that in September...

I don't scout much at all anymore. Where the deer is bedded in Sept has little to do with where he will be Dec1st. I have a bunch of proven spots but If a fellow learns what they look like, just go on a hunch with a camera and a little vanilla corn.

[GarGuy]

Just had a thought. What if you actually started your scouting for next year during the middle of the day, the last week of the season (or so). That way, if you did stumble upon a bruiser bedded down, you might be able to get a shot (assuming you weren't tagged out).

The last week of season is awesome . Also, I almost always put a kid on a stud in the late youth season. Im either tagged out or totally focused on one deer though as a rule. Its not at all unusual for me to pass 25-50 shooter bucks a season.

I will be archery only so jumping and shooting rarely is an option. If I was toting a rifle.....I would be tagged out right now and looking for taxidermy money!

[Court2005]

Summer time! Over grown tornado paths or clear cuts are best. Im constantly watching for vulnerable spots. A big oak that got left and the thicket growing up around it is ideal. I will cut a lane in June and clear a little spot where the acorns will fall. I only bow hunt now and 30 yds is usually the limit of visibility. No scouting the thicket..EVER. I know that by the time all the out of towners get through walking the open woods, the mature deer will be spending their days in the thicket.

I will cut a small trail to walk in with corn. This is never the trail to my stand. Spray down with vanilla and spray the corn every time. I keep that up for a while and then when the wind is perfect, sneak in and make a day of it.

Man I have always wanted to do something like this but for some reason I never did. I know know without a doubt this will be my game plan next season. I like the idea of two different trails going into the area it makes perfect sense.

[bwool]

This thread is driving me crazy trying to apply some of this to the hill country! GarGuy, you make it seem so easy, I find myself wishing I was hunting some yaupon/briar thicket instead of cat claw & cedar valleys.

[krtnorris]

I have hunted like this all my life due to small tracks of land in the midwest. I always dreamed of hunting big tracts of land. But now I see how much I miss hunting those thickets! Sitting all week during gun season waiting to see when they would hole up in the thickets.

[Texas Stalker]

I always tell myself when I'm headed to the lease this will be my new approach. Then I go sit by a feeder. Creature of habit I guess.

[trophytrout1]

Well let me tell you a story about that hunt. That old buck and four more shooters were in a tiny sanctuary. I had hundreds of pics of them and all in daylight. just like clockwork, if one of the other deer got in the corn, the old wide deer would be there all hours of the day. SLAM DUNK!

I had a ground blind so we could sneak in to 100yds without being seen. The only reason those bucks were out there was because there was zero hunting pressure so I had to do everything perfect. I waited until the wind was right and we got in perfectly. I was recovering from the flu and 30 minutes into the hunt, I felt the gagging cough coming. I choked it back as much as possible but it wouldn't go away. I pulled my coat over my head when it had to come out but I knew I had messed up. We sat all day and didn't see a deer.

That was two weeks ago and I went from having hundreds of pics a day of those buck to not a single pic since! I mean, those bucks have not even checked that corn pile once since that cough. That just goes to show you how sensitive mature bucks are in their core sanctuary. Those deer had never experienced a hunter there before and wouldn't tolerate one.

WOW! Interesting

[GarGuy]

Well, where did they go? They should have another sanctuary close by...right? I love this thread...anybody that has killed as many big SETx deer as you, we might ought to listen.

I have a hunch where they went. Found a couple of them but not the two biggest ones.

[Bumpy]

I was walking my dads property yesterday for the heck of it. Of course I had my rifle but I was walking in some areas I'd never been. I'm sure someone will jump on me for saying how can you not know all of the property. Anyways I find this huge tree and at the bottom of it was covered in thick brush. Look like it had like a dried gulley underneath it. As I walked close I could hear something moving through the brush but I couldn't see to save my life. I thought Garguy would know what do perfectly here.

[Backwoods101]

I was walking my dads property yesterday for the heck of it. Of course I had my rifle but I was walking in some areas I'd never been. I'm sure someone will jump on me for saying how can you not know all of the property. Anyways I find this huge tree and at the bottom of it was covered in thick brush. Look like it had like a dried gulley underneath it. As I walked close I could hear something moving through the brush but I couldn't see to save my life. I thought Garguy would know what do perfectly here.

GarGuy would say to vanilla corn on the down wind side of it and only slide in when the conditions are perfect! And no coughing!

[Backwoods101]

Bump for hope that Garguy will make the next chapter

[ElfEyes]

Bump for hope that Garguy will make the next chapter

Me too. I miss his wisdom in every post

[Pkripper]

I don't scout much at all anymore. Where the deer is bedded in Sept has little to do with where he will be Dec1st. I have a bunch of proven spots but If a fellow learns what they look like, just go on a hunch with a camera and a little vanilla corn.

First off GarGuy, thanks for all the info you put out.

I really enjoy your write ups and the info you give and very much value your opinion.. For those of us learning the tricks of the trade, what is it we are looking for?What do you look for in bedding areas?

I have about 600 acres that is heavily wooded with neglected fields with tall weeds and thick briar patches throughout. We have really good deer on camera including some nice bucks. The deep timber where they come out of is so overgrown and loaded with deadfall they can hear you for miles. I have found some incredible rubs back in there and was wondering what strategy you would use in this situation. Would you cut lanes in the post hunting season or just try to coax them out? Or would you have other strategies? Any advice is greatly appreciated.