Like most hardcore deer hunters, you looked at maps, found food sources and located the rubs.
When the time was right, you moved in set up a stand and waited for the deer to appear in this hot spot.
Hour after hour, day after day you sit and no deer ever show up.
Many hunters will base most of the hunting season on the sign they find waiting for the deer to show up.
Sound familiar? What happened and why no deer? There are many things that will cause deer to change their routine but one remains consistent every year, "other hunters".
You can do everything right but if another hunter messes it up for you, it is over before it gets started.
So, what can we do to over come this issue? A few tactics have been designed over the years to let hunting pressure work for you.
One such idea is to be in your stand while other hunters are moving in and out of the woods.
Another is to go deep and stay late and there are many more tactics that will let other hunters work for you.
I personally have used a few of these ideas and put a tag on a buck doing so.
The problem I find is this, these tactics are just not consistent.
It is hard enough to judge how the deer will react to hunting pressure, let alone what other hunters are going to do.
Another option and one I like better, is to find deer hot spots where the only sign is made by animals.
No boot prints, empty beer cans or spent shell casings (avoid the pressure).
Do these areas still exist? I think one thing that remains true, deer always find ways to avoid humans.
For big bucks, this is even more true.
Cities grow and hunting land is shrinking but deer still find ways to hide themselves in little pockets where there is minimal pressure from hunters.
Finding these little hot spots means you have to take the game one step further then the next guy.
Finding these little honey holes is the first step and not as hard as one may think.
You probably drive by them on your way to work every day.
These over looked areas can be a small piece of public land surrounded by private property, a small piece of private land surrounded by public property, travel corridors along highways, marsh grass areas along rivers or just a small dry spot in the middle of a swamp.
All these areas should have one thing in common, they are difficult to get to.
I hate to say it but I still think if most hunters have to put on a pair of waders and drag all their gear across two hundred yards of muck and knee deep water to get to the dry wood lot on the other side, they will find another place to hunt.
The same holds true for hunters trying to navigate a thick tangled tag alder thicket.
The idea here is, you need to be prepared to put in some effort to get into these spots.
Is the blood and sweat you put in worth the effort? A friend of mine told me stories of hunting a small public wood lot that was surrounded by swamp on three sides and private property to the north.
He continued to add that while on stand one evening he could see six bucks at one time.
One day this spring he contacts me and says "I was there turkey hunting and birds are every where".
The plan was, I would come out with him the next day to film his turkey hunt.
Walking the swamp in the dark turned out to be harder then I thought.
Carrying a blind, a stool, a video camera and tripod I found myself sitting in knee deep water only fifty yards from the truck.
I managed to keep the gear dry and drudged on in the dark with waders full of water.
No we didn't get the turkey we were after that morning but in the few hours we spent hunting before heading off to work, we did have 14 deer come through our set up.
The fact is, deer are private creatures and like to be left alone.
Pressure them and they will move to another area.
Little secluded pockets with minimal or no pressure will concentrate deer.
Forget planning around hunting pressure, try to take hunting pressure out of the equation.
Find these little deer hot spots and you might just be in for the hunt of your life.
When the time was right, you moved in set up a stand and waited for the deer to appear in this hot spot.
Hour after hour, day after day you sit and no deer ever show up.
Many hunters will base most of the hunting season on the sign they find waiting for the deer to show up.
Sound familiar? What happened and why no deer? There are many things that will cause deer to change their routine but one remains consistent every year, "other hunters".
You can do everything right but if another hunter messes it up for you, it is over before it gets started.
So, what can we do to over come this issue? A few tactics have been designed over the years to let hunting pressure work for you.
One such idea is to be in your stand while other hunters are moving in and out of the woods.
Another is to go deep and stay late and there are many more tactics that will let other hunters work for you.
I personally have used a few of these ideas and put a tag on a buck doing so.
The problem I find is this, these tactics are just not consistent.
It is hard enough to judge how the deer will react to hunting pressure, let alone what other hunters are going to do.
Another option and one I like better, is to find deer hot spots where the only sign is made by animals.
No boot prints, empty beer cans or spent shell casings (avoid the pressure).
Do these areas still exist? I think one thing that remains true, deer always find ways to avoid humans.
For big bucks, this is even more true.
Cities grow and hunting land is shrinking but deer still find ways to hide themselves in little pockets where there is minimal pressure from hunters.
Finding these little hot spots means you have to take the game one step further then the next guy.
Finding these little honey holes is the first step and not as hard as one may think.
You probably drive by them on your way to work every day.
These over looked areas can be a small piece of public land surrounded by private property, a small piece of private land surrounded by public property, travel corridors along highways, marsh grass areas along rivers or just a small dry spot in the middle of a swamp.
All these areas should have one thing in common, they are difficult to get to.
I hate to say it but I still think if most hunters have to put on a pair of waders and drag all their gear across two hundred yards of muck and knee deep water to get to the dry wood lot on the other side, they will find another place to hunt.
The same holds true for hunters trying to navigate a thick tangled tag alder thicket.
The idea here is, you need to be prepared to put in some effort to get into these spots.
Is the blood and sweat you put in worth the effort? A friend of mine told me stories of hunting a small public wood lot that was surrounded by swamp on three sides and private property to the north.
He continued to add that while on stand one evening he could see six bucks at one time.
One day this spring he contacts me and says "I was there turkey hunting and birds are every where".
The plan was, I would come out with him the next day to film his turkey hunt.
Walking the swamp in the dark turned out to be harder then I thought.
Carrying a blind, a stool, a video camera and tripod I found myself sitting in knee deep water only fifty yards from the truck.
I managed to keep the gear dry and drudged on in the dark with waders full of water.
No we didn't get the turkey we were after that morning but in the few hours we spent hunting before heading off to work, we did have 14 deer come through our set up.
The fact is, deer are private creatures and like to be left alone.
Pressure them and they will move to another area.
Little secluded pockets with minimal or no pressure will concentrate deer.
Forget planning around hunting pressure, try to take hunting pressure out of the equation.
Find these little deer hot spots and you might just be in for the hunt of your life.