How many properties?

[Buckfever]

How many different properties do you guys hunt in a season? Last year I hunted 6 different properties as I was getting to learn new public land properties. 3 of the properties are out for sure as I don't like how 2 are managed and the one has too much adjacent pressure and was too far, given the quality of other properties closer to home.

I kind of feel like the three remaining are excellent properties, but would like to at least try a new one each season so maybe hunt 4 per season. At the same time I don't want to spread myself too thin and not be able to really know the properties that I'm hunting.

How do you guys find the right balance between learning an existing property and discovering "new" opportunities?

One thing, I really feel is that I will always hunt at least one new property a season going forward or at least hunt a completely new area of an existing property, every year. I learned so much about setting up this year, given how many different terrain features I was exposed to this past season. Plus it's fun for me going into a new area, especially if the reasearch leading me to the property speaks of potential.

[BillCartwright]

currently I'm hunting 11 different tracks of private property, then at times I'm hunting a 2-3 public land spots.

I find that after I learn a property, I can pretty much go into the place at the appropriate times of the season and be productive. Like public ground, I have a couple places that will absolutely get torn up with buck sign the first week of November and I know this is the time to check the area out and hunt it. I use this experience/knowledge to help dictate when I'm hunting/scouting areas I need to learn better.

For me, it isn't necessarily "new" opportunities either, as it is adjusting to change. Generally I find deer do not change much from one season to another, but there are times when a hunter must get creative and take a different approach that may be something simple or somewhat complex and off the wall. One thing I've done for the upcoming 2006 fall is contructed a platform blind on a huge white oak that had been cut do to storm damage. The stump is about 10-12ft high. I built up a blind frame, added limbs, camo netting and so forth. I feel without a doubt, this will produce a shot or two on P&Y class bucks this Sept. This is a tree 14ft round that sits alone in a bean field. Situation doesn't support a typical ground blind in my opinion and this tree was simply too large in the past to try and erect some sort of stand in.

Ever hear the saying, 10% of the water holds 90% of the fish? I think this can be applied to whitetails as well. There is only so many "Prime" areas on any piece of land. If you have 100acres to hunt, it is likely that less than 10 acres will be what is focused on.

[Twanger]

I'm hunting 6 different properties, but only a couple are 'mainstays'.
I agree with the 10% rule. I heard it more like "10% of the fisherman get 90% of the fish." But it also seems to apply to hunting and hunting areas. For years somebody thought I was following them into the Monocacy WMA and then hunting "their" spot. Of course, I never followed the guy in there once. I just scouted around and set up on sign that I thought was in a good spot.

[ncboman]

I have a great deal of aggravation in this area of my hunting options.

Currently I only have 3 or 4 local properties worth hunting to choose from and none of them are what I'd call 'great'. When I was in clubs I always had in excess of 30 hunts to choose from and all were 'great' hunting.

Once I made my first trip to Illinois and actually saw the deal in real life it didn't take me long to realise the clubs were holding me back in many ways from what I actually wanted. Add that I can't afford to have it both ways and a decision was made to go for the gusto.

The dilema for me is back then I killed way more deer but never exceptional deer by world class standards. Now I go to where the exception deer live and keep running into where I should have been yesterday instead of today.

At times around here I long for the days of old but if I get to thinkin about where the biggest buck I know of lives ...... and the 30,000 acres there that hold lots more of em ....

man o man, if I lived in Ohio I wouldn't be worth a flip. ;D

[Buckfever]

Honestly, given my unwillingness to travel in the short run, I don't think I could live and work in a much better area in terms of public land opportunities. I feel that I should have made that transition a few years sooner. Wasted a few years focusing on a specific animal, but then the specific lessons learned I might not have gotten otherwise. I doubt that I will ever understand the habits of a specific mature buck as well as I did that one. And it gave me a tremendous perspective, in 4 years I had 3 encounters with that wide racked twelve pointer. For one it taught me that really it is not an efficient game to go after a specific animal. But it taught me little things about their behaviors that I've seen repeated and have come to recognize. For instance, they will hold up in the thicket. They are incredibly patient compared to younger deer. I've made the mistake several times over the years of giving up on the movement I heard and then 10-15 minutes later I discover that I just blew it.

In any event I have learned and had more shot opportunities on quality bucks this year than the previous 5.

I'll tell you though. I sure do wish that I had the shooting abilities that I have today 6 years ago. It was a 40 yard broadside shot and I didn't take it. Today that deer is dead. In the fullness of time you remember those things, because of how precious those opportunities are.

[freedomrules3]

I have several tracts of good public land available. i used to concentrate on just 2 of them specifically. i know those 2 tracts like the back of my hand. over the last few seasons i have expanded , which is sort of 2 fold. i've run across some great spots along the way but it adds to the "where do i want to hunt" question i ask myself before going. too many good spots always keeps ya wondering what if. I have happened across a couple specific places where i will concentrate my efforts at in the next couple of years , given the same bucks are around.
i do like to use turkey season as a scouting tool also, finding new potential spots. its always hard to actually hunt them since its easier to go early where you already know there are good deer. its always nice to expand the hunting grounds. i have several tracts i have never really hunted, scouted or walked but never hunted.

I agree about Ohio, if i ever hit the lottery i would definitely buy some property there. if there was only enough work there i would move lol . from what i saw while i was there, thats not gonna happen. i cant complain though, i live in one of the best spots in the country for a hunter to live at .

[Twanger]

buckfever said:

it is not an efficient game to go after a specific animal.

Yeah, I've blown alot of time and generated alot of frustration going after a single animal... as recently as last season I was spending every hunt going after a buck that I KNEW was bedding under a specific downed tree. Never got him. Sheer frustration. He was out foxing me at every turn. Tag soup this year... at least for an antlered deer.

It's probably more productive in the long run to hunt great spots than to hunt great deer (or even worse, what you only think is a great deer).

I have such a spot on private land where I usually see nice bucks. I wasn't hunting that spot because I was targeting "THE BUCK." In retrospect, I should probably stick to the good location.

[Buckfever]

Yeah we tend to want to hold on to what we know. But this year on completely new properties I developed 3 setups that I "Know" will consistently produce kills on quality bucks. 2 of them unfortunately I have to draw a permit for. But it doesn't matter. I knew those three spots would produce before I hunted them. And I think that is the importance of doing at least some new areas every year. You hone the skills to be able to get on them.

[Eulenspiegel]

Including varmint hunting I've hunted five tracks of private land and one area in the National Forest in the last twelve months. Unfortunately, all were in Virginia where I used to live, and too far from my present Maryland abode for easy access. The Virginia spots are growing fewer as the landowners I know move, die, sell or build on their land. I don't have the kind of job these days to put me into touch with Maryland landowners and I haven't taken time to learn the public land nearby because it's more comfortable to spend the time hunting the places I know.