Deer hunt strategy

[Mobuck]

Yeah, I know it's a terrible problem to have more places to hunt than one can cover.
Son and I have been discussing our options since a southerly wind totally messes up most of our stand locations. Anyhoo, I did some snooping this morning (prompted by seeing a buck and 2 does between my shooting bench and the 100 yard backstop). I do have one spot that's easily accessible and works with a south wind so probably sit there for the first hour. Not the greatest spot but I can get to it w/o scaring every deer on the place.
Grandson has some trail cam pics of a couple of good size bucks in a remote corner of the soybean field so I went there just to see what sort of traffic had taken place since the rains 2 days ago. Lots of tracks and it's workable with a south wind. As I was walking back to the Ranger, I saw a buck run off. Light was bad and I couldn't see much of the rack but his neck is as big as a 5 gallon bucket.
I kind of think I may spend some time watching that field since Grandson got pegged to work the CWD sample station the first weekend of the season.

 

[Mobuck]

Opening day was not successful. Bright moonlight Friday night changed the patterns for the next day. Neither Son nor I saw much and nothing at all interesting. Lots of shooting so someone must have seen deer. Son discovered that our north farm is now surrounded by non-local hunters. He saw a vehicle crawling along the highway and dropping off hunters on the wrong farm. That got corrected PDQ but if they were lost with a highway for reference, how are they going to 'find themselves' from the other side?
Guess I'll start hunting the north farm instead of my homeplace just to keep an eye on these 'FUDDS'. Posting 'No Trespassing' is not required but the trespassing offense class is increased if land is posted. I used to post everything until I found that violaters don't pay attention nor would LEO's make any effort to ticket offenders.

 

[JohnL]

Good luck. They are out there.... someplace. Yes, private land hunts can be a challenge when hunters do not follow the laws.

The last few times out in the game unit I had a tag for it was well populated with hunters. Many Texans out of Red River, NM. National Forest hunting land. Many ATVs and noise like a motorized battalion of the Wermacht troops on BMW's with side cars. Sheesh. Not a deer to be seen, of course. Spoke with many hunters. They saw nothing and did not make the connection between motor vehicle noise and deer flight. This is forested and mountainous country. So, where did the deer go? I suspect they went up high into the Latir Wilderness. 10,000 feet. ATVs are not permitted up there and it is difficult to access. My conclusion was to hire a helicopter to drop me off way high on the peak and walk down to find them. Not something I am likely to ever do but that is about the only way they can be found.

 

[Mobuck]

I took 3 deer in this morning--1 donated to Share the Harvest and 2 to be cut and frozen for my freezer.
On my way home, I got a text from Grandson asking if it was cold enough to let a deer lay until evening so he may have finally shot something. He's been holding out for a big buck but I told him all those CWD tags weren't going to get punched by watching stuff walk past.

 

[Mobuck]

Today was the final day of the general rifle deer season. Temps were lower (17* when I left the house) and nearly no wind seemed to be just what the deer wanted. I hunted farms within the CWD permit zone, saw 12-15 deer, and used up my tags. All were donated to Share the Harvest.

 

[contender]

KUDOS!