DEER HUNTING (Scouting In Progress 1999)
  1. Scouting the Rolled Wire
  2. Setting Up To Bowhunt at the Rolled Wire & the 3rd Fence
  3. Get A Map of your hunting place 
  4. Scouting With Your Map (we scout the Rolled Wire)
1998 was my first year to deerhunt the Rolled Wire and 3rd Fence area.  I originally hung a treestand about 150 yards from the 3rd fence so I could watch a large area. I quickly learned that the main deer traffic is over the crest of the slope, out of sight of the occasional traffic on the sparsely traveled county road 200 yards away. 
There are three different crossings. One each at: the 3rd Fence, the Rolled Wire, and at the bottom of the Rock Ledge. Bucks jump the fence at the Rolled Wire. The other crossing is at the bottom of the Rock Ledge near the grain field, but my property line stops before the crossing, so it is not in the mix.
3rd Wire Fence Crossing

LEFT: This is the 3rd Wire crossing. From watching the area I learned that, for some reason, Doe families favor the 3rd fence. They come out of the thick bedding area, jump the fence and then cut into the woods toward the crest and continue on through the strip of woods that is my property. 
So, I just hung a treestand here. (You can see the 3rd Wire crossing, it's to the right of the tree with the climbing rails in it.) Deer hop the fence and pass 10-20 yards to the front and left left of this tree. How did I figure that out, you ask? I hunted in three wrong trees before I found the right spot.
This is the broader view of the same tree. I am right handed so I set up with the shots to my left. I'll have to trim a couple of shooting lanes, but I will wait until later so the lanes don't grow over.
Rolled Wire - the buck crossing
Part of the reason I didn't get the 3rd wire figured out was that, early on, I saw bucks at the Rolled Wire and moved to the rocky ledge so I could see what was up. Then I moved to a tree were I can see the wire roll. I passed several mature bucks from this stand that were in range, so this year they will be "looking real good". 

My buddy Robbie saw a bomber buck come through and jump the fence at the wire, but he was in the trees on the crest, out of range for a sure shot. I also saw a bomber in the area and so did Ricky Philippi.

  • I settled on a tree 41 yards from the wire roll.
  • The stand is only 8 feet high but there is lots to blend into so everything is cool. I prefer to hunt lower when I can. I can see better and the shot angle is very close to a broadside angle.
  • When the 2nd rut was on in late December this entire area from the 3rd wire to the rock ledge was a waiting area for does that were in.
41 yards from the Rolled Wire.
So why does this area attract so many bucks?
Across the fence, a mere 65 yards behind the rolled wire, in January, I found a Core Rutting Area.  A full blown scraping, branch licking & shredding hot spot for bucks to meet does when they are in. That side of the fence is very thick with cedars and young oaks. In the bigger picture the property is a dense 100 acre bedding ground so it holds more deer than 100 acres normally would.
Last December I observed does hanging out on my side of the fence where it is more open at ground level. They waited here so that bucks could see them. I wanted to look around but waited because I didn't want to spook up the area right then.

Let's Take Some Buck Pictures
Yea, and wouldn't it be cool to catch that bomber buck and his buddies, velvet racks and all, jumping the fence at the rolled wire. Heck, I couldn't resist. Here are two pictures of the setup we have going right now. 

  • LEFT: This pic shows the Buckshot35 looking down the top of the fence.
  • RIGHT: This is just past the low spot, looking toward the camera. 
  • (The buckshot35 has a camo cover but I had to take it off for the picture because you couldn't see the camera in the pic on the right.)
  • I'll check in a couple of days and we'll see if it worked. Then I'll move the camera to watch the area close to the stand in the tree 41 yards away. Then we'll go to the Back 200 and try to find the 2 bombers I saw there in December last year.
To Scouting For Deer - 1999
To Deer Season - 1998
BACK - To Bowhunting.Net
To Wild Hog Hunting Page