South Central/Southeast Nebraska Deer Hunting Tactics

[Coop]

Born and raised hunting open and mountainous country in MT, I never really had a chance to get into still hunting. I recently got permission on a place in Southern Nebraska near Hebron on the Little Blue River, and I was just curious if anyone had any tips for hunting this area. It sounds like the deer populations are pretty good down there, and there is a WMA that borders the land I will be hunting. I am hoping to get out there to check out the area this summer a couple times, but being new to this kind of hunting, I'm not really sure how I will go about it. Obviously look for trails/sign and pinch points, but any other info from you guys would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Husker hunter]

Take me with you & I'll show you everything you need to know

 

[Husker hunter]

Pm me & I can give you some advice on Nebraska deer.

 

[guf54]

Still hunting whitetails is about the only thing I've done so I will give you a few things I've learned over the years.

First I would set trail cams on trails or over salt/feed to get an inventory of what deer are in the area...whitetails don't travel very far (especially in the summer and early fall months) I would use those pics to get an idea of how many bucks there are and what kind of quality. Focus the cams close to food sources, that is where the bucks will be and they typically don't bed far from where they eat.

If you do have a bachelor group of bucks using the property I would hunt them as soon as possible because they are easily patterned and still lazy from the cushy summer months not getting pushed around and hunted. When you hunt them I would focus on evening hunts on the food source or a trail leading to the food. I wouldn't hunt the mornings in the early season unless I knew a sure fire trail they use going to their bed.

Come late September and through mid/late October the bucks begin to branch out from their bachelor groups and typically become more nocturnal. I would still focus my energy on hunting food sources during this time but I would probably only hunt the evenings before or during a cold front as the bucks will usually be out earlier. Also deer will be switching from green food sources to acorns or harvested crops during this time.

From late October to late November the deer will be rutting so hunt game trails, scrape lines, doe bedding areas, food sources, etc...pretty much during this time you can hunt any type of cover and see bucks as they are running all over the place. My favorite setups are on game trails next to bedding areas because cruising bucks will come check these areas for does. Also during this time I would hunt both morning and evening..I would hunt all day but I just don't quite have the patience for that haha.

For late season it all comes down to food sources. If the weather is cold and nasty the deer will be all grouped up feeding on the best food source in the area. If this happens to be where you can hunt it is a great time to fill a tag but if it is somewhere else you might not have more than a couple deer on your property.

I got a little long winded there but I hope some of this info helps you out.

 

[Coop]

Thank you for the info! I'll be trying to make it down there a time or two over the summer to check it out. I'm sure the learning curve will be pretty steep but it should be a good experience!

 

[Pucky Freak]

A couple tips for hunting a "small" property. This could be anything from 40 ac. timber to 200 ac. mostly open ground, or smaller. If you're going to be hunting the same area multiple times, it is crucial you have a plan for getting in and out without spooking the deer. Jump a buck a couple of times, especially out of his bed, and he might go nocturnal, or even relocate his bed to an adjacent property where you don't have permission. My scouting is "low impact" - goal is to jump or disturb zero deer when doing so. This goes for everything from trail cams, to glassing, to setting up blinds/stands.

I print a map of the area I have access to, and mark off the areas I know or suspect are bedding areas, and then never set foot in these areas during the hunting season. These are my "sanctuaries" where deer can feel safe. Deer can also get pushed off the WMA or adjacent properties after the gun opener, and they will join other deer in these sanctuaries as the season goes on, only making your hunting opportunities better.

I then mark areas I will ambush deer, and write down which wind directions I can hunt these spots. I try to have a variety of options for different wind directions, so I can hunt at least somewhere on a day I plan for hunting. Research which direction the prevailing winds are for the months you will be hunting, so you have at least a couple of options for the most common wind direction. It helps to plan the whole hunt sequence in advance. How am I going to get to my stand without spooking deer? Do I need to clear some brush or grass so I can walk in quietly? When I'm done hunting, how am I going to walk out without spooking deer? If I hunt afternoons, I need to know where deer are feeding after sunset so I can sneak on out. I also decide whether a spot is a morning or an evening spot, or both, depending on deer movement, and ability to walk to and from where I need to undetected.

Lastly, avoid the temptation to overhunt your best spot. No matter how well you can sneak in and out of there, the deer will eventually pattern you and avoid you. I tend to mix it up and hunt a spot no more than once a week, and no more than 10 times per season. I'll hunt a more marginal spot if I need to in order to keep from being patterned.

Pinch points can be dynamite, but make sure you have a plan for why you will set up a stand there. If it is not between a bedding and a feeding area in early season, the action might be pretty slow. If it is during the rut and there are doe bedding areas on both sides of the pinch, this can be a very good location, especially in the mornings. I sometimes even set up two stands at a pinch point, one for a N wind, and the other on the other side of the deer trail on the S side.

 

[Coop]

I print a map of the area I have access to, and mark off the areas I know or suspect are bedding areas

These seem like some great tips. Without getting into the area and disrupting it, how do you pick out the suspected bedding areas typically?

 

[Pucky Freak]

Process of elimination

Start by asking the landowner, the neighbors, the persons who farm/ranch the property, or someone who has hunted the area previously. Questions to ask include where and when do you see deer, and where are they moving to. The information they will give you is typically when/where they see doe groups going out to feed at dusk, then returning to their bedding area at dawn. The places they are seen entering or exiting cover is not their bedding area. Deer like to get up out of their beds and meander for about 30 mins in the direction of their nighttime feeding area, browsing along the way. Then when it is dark, they go out in the open and hit the feed bag.

The beds you see in open areas are nighttime loafing areas, and not the deer's daytime bed. Ignore these. Whitetails typically prefer to be hidden when they are bedded during the day. Ideal bedding habitat is cover at least 6 ft tall in which you cannot see more than 50 yards into. When you scout the area, walk in open areas during the day, such as fields (except tall corn), open timber, or short grass, and use your binoculars to look into cover, then record the areas that meet the 6 ft/50 yards criteria, and mark off the areas that are not.

Deer typically bed higher rather than lower, so you can eliminate the areas right next to the river if the terrain slopes down to the water. If there is level ground and a cut bank, however, deer may bed right against the river near the cut banks. They will not bed near the point bars, however, as these provide fewer escape routes, so you can also cross these off your list.

Pinch points and funnels are also not common bedding areas, as predators such as coyotes also travel these narrows, so deer like to have more security and bed elsewhere.

In open timber where bedding cover is not thick enough, bucks will frequently bed just off the edge of a hill/rise, on the leeward side.

 

[Coop]

Awesome info. I will definitely get in there and check it out as soon as I can. Looking forward to spending some time out there. I will have to figure out the whole still hunting thing, but it should be a good time! Thank you all again.