Scouting for Public Land Survivors
Even if you think you have a spot nailed down; every “i” is dotted and “t” crossed with absolute precision, you need to get out late season with snow present and put boots on the ground. As a private land hunter turned public land buck locator (killing them is a different story) I can tell you, maps and scouting from the computer and comfort of your home late January into early March might be more alluring, but nothing beats the feeling of sitting down in a large buck bed and looking over a hillside or down a fence row and understanding what he is actually looking at from his point of view.
As most are aware, late season a buck is slave to nothing but his stomach. The stress of breeding is behind him and what worries were had of passing on genes are as out of his mind as a hunter walking through the woods as it has hopefully been months since they were last harassed by man. Bucks are going to be going from bed to food, food to bed, only to be displaced by changing winds and possibly a few coyotes in the area but with the high deer population in Iowa, more than likely he isn’t in much trouble due to his size and obvious intelligence to make it this far in the game.
I enjoy bringing friends into the outdoors and one just began bow hunting so I decided to take him out scouting a property I am very familiar with which has plenty of sign, old and new. I have been to this property 3 times since season closed on January 10. I went right away the 11th and placed 4 cameras to see what not only had survived, but what antlers looked like in terms of breaks and any other signs of a stressful and high paced rut. Getting a good doe count was also important, however the most important piece of the puzzle for me, how many other people would I catch on my cameras that were scattered across this medium sized property of 350 acres. The answer when I pulled the cameras 17 days later on January 28th? 1! One person had been in there, and I knew it because I not only had a picture of him, but was also able to follow his boot prints to a tree I had seen a stand in, which was no longer there, but also was able to see the areas he checked out and compare it to what I thought. In my opinion he can have the area he was in. After taking my cameras out I found what appeared to be an active buck bed and bedding area so I decided to leave a camera out to gather a little bit more info.
Finally arriving to the final time out to the property with my friend. February 15th, another 17 days of a camera soaking and very harsh weather. My friend, James and I walked the property so he could see rubs and old scrapes and I explained to him the wheres and whys that deer use them. The more important thing that I explained is that most rubbing and scrapping happens at night and the it is more important to let the snow show you where those big 3 and 4 finger tracks are coming from. Follow them backwards to the bucks bedding area. He asked me a few times why we were ignoring the beaten down paths in the snow but when I showed him his first buck bed he understood. You’re not hunting the does which are the ones leaving the beaten down trails unless you are hunting does, by all means please do. You will have fun and kill plenty of deer along the way. I showed him the food sources on and off the property and how you can use these features to your advantage intercepting a weary buck using his instincts against him.
Most people reading this will already understand that bucks like to bed in thick cover with multiple escape routes and the wind will be at their back. This particular piece of property has a good amount of AG, CRP, Cedars, Oak flats, and ditches with a main stream running through it. The Oak flats drop down into the ditches which work into Cedar thickets on the tops where water is sparse and then roll into briars, and back into oaks again. This is exactly the type of habitat I search for as deer love edges and transition. While showing James how bucks will work scrapes along field edges I noticed a carcass across the stream while we were in a larger field which is most definitely a destination food source. We went to investigate and found locust pods that had been mowed over while deer were most likely traveling to the larger field. As many waterways in Iowa have sculpted the landscape, this one was no different. We were forcedto go the long way around, over a bluff due to the sheer cliff created and made impassable by the stream. Knowing the property and our location I told him we were roughly 150 yards south of my camera which was on the north fence line. Nothing but Cedars and brush between us as we were standing on the bluff.
Then I noticed an oak tree the size of my waist about 10 yards North of the bluff and began looking for trails once I noticed the rubs. The rubs were on trees only the size of my arm but what was important was the height, not one starting below my knee and all going to my elbow and above. The sure sign of a mature Whitetail. I continued to survey the area knowing there would be a creek crossing I could better see from my elevation on this side of the creek and quickly found it using the snow as my fact checker. A short 20 yards to my right from the oak tree was the trail deer on this ridge use to get to the field and more importantly survey as a mature buck will before committing down the steep slope.
Now, this hillside is steep, but certainly traversable when done correctly and safely. A creek or stream such as the one described is the perfect access as it is rarely above knee deep and the banks allow for seclusion and silent travel. I am able to wait for an evening with the right conditions, climb up the hill and keep the Oak tree between myself and the Cedars, hang my stand in one climb with the stand placed facing south where the tree is between me and oncoming deer, and wait patiently enjoying a sun on the horizon with a North or North East breeze, North West being my marginal wind choice. The evening thermals will carry my scent off the bluff and into the stream below.
After this plan was laid out in about 10 seconds in my head we continued on to find the carcass was that of button buck who did not have the savvy to escape coyotes. James and I worked our way up a ditch and to my camera set over a bed in the cedars which did not disappoint. Sitting down in the bed I was able to see the top 10 feet or so of a now familiar Oak tree. A very solid 11 point routinely was using the bed which I can most likely see from my newly formulated stand location. Tracks from the bed travel South, right by a certain Oak tree. Hopefully a route he takes into the fall…
Public land bruiser located in the area.
