Southern Indiana Whitetail: NOVEMBER!!!

Monday, November 1, 2010

NOVEMBER!!!

It's the best month of the year to be a bow hunter. The days are getting cold, so the deer are moving. Does will come into estrus. Bucks will run around amped up on testosterone. And many giants will fall.

Surprisingly, though, I'm not sure a whole lot is happening in Southern Indiana right now. I have spent a considerable amount of time in the woods over the last week, and buck sign has been scarce. I have found no more than 4 or 5 scrapes in the last week. Why that is, I have no idea. It may be that I'm not looking in the right spots. But I find that hard to believe with the consistancy of many of these areas over the last five to ten years. It has to happen soon, though, and it's best to be in the woods when it does.

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Properties

My only property in the Cincinnati area right now is a 50 acre tract on the Great Miami River that I call "The Sanctuary". 50 acres does not sound like much, but the setting of this property is what makes it great. Sitting adjacent to a park, it is protected from hunting pressure and receives deer traffic from the vast amoun of wildlife habitat in the park. The 50 acres is about 1/3 native grass field and 2/3 wooded area and thick burr patch. My first year hunting this property was 2008. Though I filled my tag on Thanksgiving morning on a different property, I saw a good amount of mature buck activity on this property that fall. Having worked hard all summer to get ready for the 2009 season, I was able to arrow a mature buck on Halloween.

The Dream 80 is an 80 acre tract in southern Orange county that is surrounded mostly by Hoosier National Forestry. We started our lease at the beginning of December, 2010. Dad had lusted after this property for many years, so it is now called The Dream 80 and referred to as TD-80. At this point (12/12/2010) we are just beginning to make plans for TD-80. We are beginning to map out sanctuaries and food plots that we will break ground on early in the spring (map seen here http://siwhitetail.blogspot.com/2010/12/preliminary-plans-for-td-80.html). The innitial goal for this property is to make it home to two mature bucks a year. That seems like a realistic goal that will push us to want more out of the property. If this property produces one mature buck (four of us will hunt it with bow only) per year, I will consider it a major success.