Hunting the Northland

[Lostit@theHole]

I was wondering if anybody had any tips for bow hunting the big woods. I live in Duluth and hunt big woods public land and am struggling. Been out 12 or so times this year and struck out so far. There is lots of sign but no deer during shooting hours. Any hints on what to look for to get a pin on one? I got plenty of time and patience but i guess i may just lack the know how. Thanks a lot and good luck.

[Powerstroke]

I finally broke down a bought a cheap trail cam era. I've ruled out a few spots that only see nighttime use.

Also drive around at dusk and dawn to look for deer movement. Its hard to not be hunting, but you can spend 5hrs and see no deer or spend that time scouting to give yourself a chance next time out.

[PerchJerker]

The north woods is tough, there's just so much area for the deer to go and so many areas for them to bed. Unless you can identify reliable feeding and bedding areas, your best bet would be to set up on natural funnels - ridges, low areas, even logged edges of different ages. Good luck.

[FL SNIPER]

Look for fresh scrapes, rubs, [PoorWordUsage], hoof prints....this will at least give you confidence there has been deer in the area recently. As mentioned...scouting for a half a day to find some promising spots is good idea. Also, perhaps try some scent lures, rattle bag. A grunt call will help when deer start showing up...to lure them in closer for a shot. Good luck....keep at it...it's constant learning out there and oh so worth it!

[Lostit@theHole]

Well the area that i am hunting has plenty of good sign including a recent scrape 20 yards away and another within sight. The thing is ever deer that i have seen has been either in that 1/2 hour before sunrise or after sunset. I haven't seen any during day light. How can i get on these deer during light hours? Maybe get them on their trails earlier. Well hopefully the rut will start pushing them around. I'll have to hit it hard this week. Thanks for the advice.

[Steve Foss]

Look for logging cuts that are fairly recent. It's one of the surest ways to find openings in the big woods, and deer are creatures of edges and openings. Deer also will gorge on the leaves of saplings that sprout up after logging.

To avoid the tendancy of deer in general and bigger bucks in particular of heading out to feed at or after dark, hunt earlier in the bow season. Most deer are less wary at the end of summer than at the end of fall, and early-season feeding deer are easier to pattern and get close to, in my experience, than those later in the fall. You can get in on the rut and especially the pre-rut with your bow just before gun season, but your odds of finding and patterning deer are better in the big woods along early-season logging cuts.

Logging goes on up here in winter, so a brand new logging cut will have some saplings and other sun-loving plants coming up even as soon as the next summer. I think the second summer after a cut is a bit better, but you can find deer using those cuts as feeding areas for several years after.

[Studer]

Lostit,

Start making reference as to where these deer are coming out of and roughly what times. If you are hunting a food source and they are coming out to late, then move your stand farther into the woods. You have to just get out there as much as possible and try to set up an ambush on these deer. If all else fail, just try to get on there trails that they are using and sit there all day. Back to the basics. It can be tough when you don't have the time to be out there patterning these deer and you are going out there blindly and waiting but unfortunetly that is the way a lot of us have to do it. Good Luck

[lindyman]

I'm in the same boat lost it. I'm getting consistent deer under the stand but it's allways about 1/2 hour after dark. I'm on the edge of a thick woods and a three year old cut that is flourishing. Alot of deer coming out to feed. I allways start hearing them about 100 yards away just at the end of shooting hours. This week I'm moving into the woods to try and get at them sooner. I'll let you know if that strategy works out. Give us a post if you find a good solution.

Good Luck,

Lindy

[I'llTakeWhatiCanGet]

In this type of habitat, the rut will probably be your biggest help. When they start chasing does its easier to find where they're running on scrape lines, etc. They do freshen scrapes at night a lot, but once the rut is in full swing they'll pretty much run all day. Only problem is that the rifle season is usually starting right at the peak of the rut. That really get's them off their normal patterns. Late season fresh snow can be a big help too, and when the snow gets deep they tend to concentrate more. I grew up hunting southern MN, where you're basically trying to intercept them on there way to corn, bean or alfalfa fields. Its definitely a whole different game up here.