Newbie Question

[DHost21]

I have a few questions about where to find deer. I have been hunting the farmlands of southwest mn all my hunting and had it down pretty good i think it is a little easier to pinpoint the deer in the little groves and trees and i would sit on different agricultural fields and see deer almost every night and morning on the stand. We lost our hunting land this year down there and i am forced to hunt public lands and different areas. I have been doing a lot of hunting up in the sherburne wildlife refuge and different metro areas wmas. Most of the WMAs have swamps and woods but not really fields. This is all new to me i was wondering if i could get some insight on what to look for... where do the deer bed? thick woods or swamps and what do they eat after acorns are gone and with no agriculture around? Any help would be awesome! I havent seen much this year and am getting a little discouraged cause i have found a lot of thick trails and new scrapes and rubs and i can set up around these areas anywhere and im still not seeing much. Im just wondering if there is anything else i can look for

thanks!!

[wannafish2]

For starters, if you have walked the area and are somewhat familiar with it, then get on google earth and look at the spot you are hunting from the aerial view. This may help you identify some natural funnels and terrain types to help you figure out the natural travel routes the deer are taking, what wind will be most favorable etc. just my .02....and google earth is FREE!

[MUSKY18]

If there are swamps, there is a pretty good chance that back in them is a bedding area. However, the really thick stuff will also serve as a bedding area. If you are finding scrape lines, then you obviously are in the area where the deer are traveling. If you can find scrape lines, rubs and trails coming out of the swamp, set up on the edge and try to catch them moving to and from the bedding area. Great tip on using Google Earth. You can get a very good idea as to where to find funnels and pinch points on the land that you are hunting. I use it all the time to look at different areas and try to figure them out a little better. As for food, the deer will browse on the grass around the trees in little open areas, eat the leaves off of trees and other greenery that is around.

One other point about hunting the WMA's. There are other people out there hunting and looking for the same pinch points and funnels that you are. Try not hunting the most obvious spots and look for that certain spot that other people might not look at hunting. Perhaps a little point on the swamp edge or a distinctive terrain feature.

Just my thoughts.

[DHost21]

I have been looking at maps from google and bing and found what looks good im still struggling tho. Does anyone know how to put a picture from say google or bing up on here to show you guys to see what you think about a spot? Ive seen other people put map pictures up

[Cheetah]

Sherburne gets hit hard even by archery hunters. Try walking further and in thicker cover. Deer like to bed in high spots in the swampy areas that you can't necessarily find, so look for trails going in and out of those areas. Find a few good spots to hunt in different wind conditions so you have options whatever the wind decides to do each day.