Hunting Forum

I'm going to be hunting Northern Wisconsins deer rife season next week on 20 acres of private land. My issue I run into is that I have to drive from Ga which is a two day trip, and will not be arriving to my hunting camp until Friday afternoon. This only gives me a few hours to do some quick scouting of the land that I will be hunting, and time to set up my blind before opening day. I have tried looking up the land via google earth, but its hard to find any good spots since I will be hunting thick wooded area. Pretty much I have a few hours before dark to find a spot and set up all my gear up, and was wondering what would be some good tips for my situation. Baiting is legal and just not sure what to use to catch the deers attention in such a short time, and also don't want to walking all thru the woods spooking the deer the day before the season.
Thanks,
Matt

Is the rut going on? Put out some estrous and stay within a natural blind, meaning, use the lay of the land, brush, brambels, whatever you can conceal yourself in without using a man-made blind. Using a man-made blind without giving the deer tme to get aclimated to it will cause some huge issues. You may be able to cover it in well enough to fool them until you can get a shot, but it willl be quick? I guess the main thing is to keep things as natural as you can? I would just find a blown down tree or thick brush and get into it.

I belive it will be mid rut when I arrive. I appreciate the advice, and also in the works of getting a climber for my trip which I believe will help my odds. Is there anything else I should look for at this point in the hunt whem arrive.I have never been really so into hunting until now, and its hard to find info that apply to my situation since I dont have time to plant plots or to scoutt through out the year. The guy who owns the land says there is about six does and a 10 pointer walking around in the area last time he was there. Which was probably a few weeks ago. Land is vacant most of the year. He just goes to bait his stand.

Use your best judgement. That's the joy of hunting. Good luck, and you'll learn from every experience.

A climber is nice, but be careful not to skyline yourself due to the leaves being off the tress ths time of year? The landowner would be your best bet as to where to set up? Take a good look at the google earth map again and try to find a food and bedding area surrounding the land and position yourself in between. It's a long shot but might work? Plus you can never go wrong if you can find a funnel area where deer will travel most to be undetected. Have fun!

Thanks for the suggestions, and I will definitely apply what has be said to this year's hunt. The guy who owns the land of pretty much isn't a trophy hunter, just baits his stand and sits there with my dad and they catch up. He isn't familiar with the land, but I will take another look at the maps and try to gather so more information about the land before I leave. If anyone else has any suggestions feel free to comment. Thanks again and hopefully I can get a nice deer this year. =)

Get the best lay of the land, 20 acres is not much. Look for any signs that you know and shooting areas. Let me know how your hunt goes?

Is the landowner going to be hunting at the same time as you? If he is, then go the opposite direction from his stand and set up. If he isn't, then hunt out of his stand!!!!!!!

GLW makes a good point about climbing treestand placement on unknown land. I have gone in after dark or pre-dawn on a friends property, climbed up in my climber, and then found that when the sun came up I had very few shooting lanes. If at all possible get out early enough to have some day light for that first climb. Just a few feet higher or lower can make all the difference.

The sign I look for on an unknown property is foot prints. It may seem old school, but where there are plenty of foot prints there are plenty of deer. The biggest problem with this is that you don't know that time of day they show up. But at least you know that deer traffic passes through. BTW - one deer foot print does not equal tracks. You need to see several sets of tracks to establish that you are seeing a pattern of movement. Leafs on the ground can make this a tough find. If you have time to do so on another occassion you could use a trailcam to tell you what time they deer are passing through.

When it is all said and done, how bad can a day of hunting be though. Have fun, right?

If you use a climber in thick stuff stop at 10 feet and look around and do the same at 12 and 15 and pick the best view . I hunt thick stuff and my height always varies , but high always has too many obstructions . just off the ground at lower heights turns the short shots into 150 plus sometimes .