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Pressured Deer Are EASY To Pattern

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    Pressured Deer Are EASY To Pattern

    Daybreak on opening morning of gun season found me sitting in a homemade tent blind looking down a ten ft wide shooting lane that ended under a big whiteoak 50 yds away. I could see a little corn left from the 2 5 gallon buckets of corn I had poured out the evening before on the Davy Crockett national forest floor. The sound of an occational acorn falling transitioned to the sound of distant and not so distant gunshots. After all, I was hunting in the most highly pressured area of the DCNF intentionally. I was sitting only 35 yds inside the worst overgrown clearcut you can dream up with a small stream immediately in front of me and the only white oak for miles. I had cut this small opening in July when I realized there would be a whiteoak acorn crop.

    The sounds of the wild became abundant as the morning progressed. An old log truck rattled past my hiding spot on the road 35yds behind me and truck doors slammed as hunters gave up early and headed for camp. A glimpse of antlers caught my attention at 852am. A decent 7pt walked boldly into the corn trail and started eating. Long before antler restrictions, this was a very legal deer yet I knew my hunt was just starting. He threw his head up and stared behind me and to my left. Shortly I could hear boots walking on the paved road and hunters talking as the walked past. The deer returned to eating.

    By 945, the gunshots had ceased yet the road behind me had a steady stream of traffic. The 7pt bolted and in walked a nice 8pt followed by a small 6pt. Over the next 30 minutes 8 different bucks showed up to grab a bite of corn or acorns and established pecking orders with a bigger 8pt allowing most to eat. Suddenly every one of them looked North. The 8pts posture changed and he cowed down. I eased my rifle up and rolled the scope to 4 power just as a heavy horned 9pt walked in. 7 year old brute in the mid 140s and it didn't take me long to shoot him dead. 1032am and there was no way in heck I was going to be able to load this deer so I left him there and drove to a small store a few miles away where I knew hunters would be gathered and a big buck contest was going on.

    There was a huge crowd there and maybe a dozen deer in the cooler. Almost all were does and 1.5 year old bucks. I walked up to a group of hunters and the entire conversation was about how poor the year was with only does at their feeders. The feeling was unanimous that the buck doe ratio was horrible. Now keep in mind that I had just seen 9 deer, all of which were buck and all but 3 were over 3 years old! I was going to ask for help but decided against it and went to get a friends help instead. I sure hated to show him that spot.

    I have dozens of stories just like that one but told it because of the great thread about growing big deer but not being able to close the deal once they got smart and nocturnal. The truth is that heavily pressured and nocturnal deer are the EASIEST to pattern. If you can locate his core thicket, you can count on him being right there during shooting hours. This is what I was doing in the DCNF until they made it illegal to corn. Now I just do the same thing on thickets adjoining DCNF.

    Getting in and out of these areas is another story but with the right setup, you can see that old nocturnal buck eating corn but not likely at your feeder.

    Steve
    Last edited by GarGuy; 08-04-2014, 07:55 AM.

    #2
    I do the same thing in the southeast woods of Ohio. My father taught me this years ago. Stick to the thickets and find his home.

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      #3
      That was an awesome write up and story GarGuy. Have any pictures of that old buck?

      It goes along with saying that if you can outsit the other guys on public land (and of course be in the right core area/spot) then your chances should increase

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        #4
        I miss DCNF. Ate a lot of backstrap out of that place.

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          #5
          Originally posted by The General View Post
          That was an awesome write up and story GarGuy. Have any pictures of that old buck?

          It goes along with saying that if you can outsit the other guys on public land (and of course be in the right core area/spot) then your chances should increase
          Yep I have pics but they are Kodiak instamatic.

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            #6
            Same kind of thing happens on areas with lower pressure as well. On our little 800 acre low fenced hill country lease the pressure is pretty light. There is a couple of us that always walk in early, stay late, don't use flashlights, are insane with scent control and wind conditions. The other guys drive in, are not really that quite, will try to cheat the wind, and so on....by the end of the season they always say the same thing...."Ya'll have all the deer on your side of the lease".......All I can do is chuckle.

            -john

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              #7
              Neat write up, thanks for sharing.

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                #8
                Originally posted by HainesNYT View Post
                Neat write up, thanks for sharing.
                X2

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                  #9
                  Nice read

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                    #10
                    great read! congrats on shooting the beast of DCNF

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                      #11
                      Great read, thanks for sharing!

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                        #12
                        Yes very good read. Thanks for posting it. We need to hear over and over again things we already have learned if nothing else to reinforce what we know works and not to forget it.

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                          #13
                          Great story and a good reminder of what we do wrong or not quite right.

                          Thanks.

                          BTW-with a little more volume of material, that's worthy of being published IMO.

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                            #14
                            Originally posted by Split Arrow View Post
                            Great read, thanks for sharing!
                            Yep

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                              #15
                              Nice story. I thought you couldn't bait on Federal lands?

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