Patterning and effectively hunting a big-timber buck isn’t an impossible quest, and the results can be extremely rewarding. (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock)
September 16, 2024
By Josh Honeycutt
It’s opening afternoon, and a fat, soybean-fed, heavy-antlered buck eases along the food plot edge. He raises his head, looks around like the king he is and begins ripping cowpeas out of the ground. Wait, that doesn’t sound right. Scratch that. Rewind. Start over.
The deafening sound of silence roars, slowly growing louder until a slight breeze brings that roar to a halt. After days upon days of sitting with nothing but the occasional cricket or squirrel to entertain you, finally you get a sighting. A respectable 8-pointer soft-steps through the vast timber, slowly making its way to the white oaks dropping acorns in the distance.
These two scenarios are vastly different, and those of us who have spent any time hunting big-timber bucks know it. The pursuit isn’t an easy one, and it takes significant time and effort to fill a tag in such places. That said, patterning and effectively hunting a big-timber buck isn’t an impossible quest, and the results can be extremely rewarding.
NO CAKEWALK The reality of hunting big-woods deer is much different than hunting in other settings, especially agricultural areas. For starters, we must expect lower deer densities with greater periods of inactivity and fewer overall deer sightings in the timber.
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Also, prepare for larger home ranges due to whitetails traveling farther to meet each of their basic needs. Anticipate seas of cover with great expanses of unbroken timber. Await challenging terrain thanks to significant changes in elevation and varying topography. Watch for heavy hunting pressure, as these areas often see higher hunter numbers. Plan for food source dispersion, because while mast crops are sometimes clustered, they’re usually spread out on the landscape. And expect less discernible interception points, as good stand locations aren’t as obvious and usually require significant scouting to pin down.
BACKWOODS BEDS While finding quality bucks in the big woods is certainly a tall order, it’s easier once you know where the older deer tend to hang out. Typically, you’re searching for areas that allow bucks to reach older age classes. Focus on roadless areas that require long walks in from access points, as well as areas that allow bucks to see danger coming from a distance.
Or stay rather shallow. Sometimes, if a spot gives deer a good view of incoming hunters, and a few good escape routes, they’ll even bed down and watch a parking area. On public lands, don’t be afraid to scout the perimeters, as deer often congregate around the borders of public and private lands.
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Consult 3D mapping tools, which show habitat and topography in a true-to-life display. (Photo courtesy of Shutterstock) Learn to read topo lines, which can indicate important hot spots. Consult 3D mapping tools, which show habitat and topography in a true-to-life display. Use these and other apps and mapping services to eliminate negative spacing (gar holes offering minimal opportunities) and find potential areas of interest.
Then, walk some miles and physically scout areas that piqued your interest while e-scouting. Look for historical sign but focus mostly on fresh sign. Where permitted, deploy trail cameras to ground-test your suspicions.
Generalities aside, find the beds. Oftentimes, hill-country bucks bed down in more remote areas that see less human intrusion and that offer some horizontal cover around them (usually to their rear). Bucks typically face downwind and observe their backtrail used to enter the bedding area earlier in the morning.
E-scouting only takes you so far on properties with vast timber tracts. Walk areas of interest while searching for signs of deer activity, including fresh tracks, rubs and scrapes. (Photo courtesy of Shuttestock) FORAGE FOCAL POINTS Food sources are important, too. There isn’t much, if any, ag in big-woods areas. But producing mast trees, cutover timber and heavy loads of early-successional habitat can have similar drawing powers. There are several key categories, including hard mast, soft mast, browse, forbs and grasses.
With hard mast, key oak trees include the red and white oak families. Among the white oaks, focus primarily on bur, chinquapin, overcup, post, swamp chestnut and swamp white. These typically produce every year and are recognized by leaves with rounded lobes. Deer prefer white-oak acorns over those of red oaks due to lower levels of tannic acid, which ultimately yields a sweeter acorn.
By contrast, red oaks are more bitter due to higher levels of tannic acid. Furthermore, these trees tend to produce every two years, though this can vary. Identify red oaks by leaves with pointed lobes. While other subspecies of red oaks exist, among the most common and important include the black, cherry bark, live, nuttall, pin, northern, southern, sawtooth, scarlet, shingle, Shumard, water and willow oak trees.
Oaks aside, other important hard mast that deer might feed on include beech and hickory tree nuts. And, according to some studies, a Dunstan chestnut tree will draw whitetails over oak trees 100 to 1. Soft mast is important as well. Apple, pawpaw, pear, persimmon and plum trees are all viable food sources.
Lastly, other natural vegetation species within the general browse, forbs and grasses categories are equally important, if not more so. While it’s impossible to give a comprehensive list of all species deer consume, on the forbs front, watch especially for goldenrod, beggar’s lice, ragweed, pokeweed, sunflowers and aster. Some favorite briars, shrubs and trees include black gum, huckleberry, blackberry, common snowberry and buckbrush. While grasses make up a smaller portion of a deer’s diet, little bluestem and bluegrass are common options. Larger trees to note include honey locust, aspen, ash and elm, among others.
If you’re having trouble finding deer, seek out edge cover. That is, places where two different habitat types meet and create an “edge.” Deer love these areas for the cover and food they produce.
On expansive public lands, pack light and push deeper than other hunters are willing to go. Break large, contiguous chunks of forest into more manageable sections.(Photo courtesy of Bear Archery) CLOSE ENCOUNTERS Knowing where to target big-timber bucks certainly doesn’t guarantee success, but learning the best spots to intercept them can boost your odds. Getting close enough for a shot is the last part of the equation.
Strategies include hunting on the downwind sides of trails on or along benches, bluffs, bowls, connecting ridge systems, funnels (pinch points), ridge lines, ridge endings, saddles, thermal hubs, isolated water sources and more. These ambush spots tend to be highly productive, especially during the early season and pre-rut.
While you’re making these plays, though, never overlook deer hunting
essentials, which become very important when hunting cagey big-woods bucks, especially older ones. First, be ready to spend a lot of time learning your hunting areas in big timber. Second, be patient. You might go hours or even days without deer sightings. That doesn’t mean deer aren’t there, though. It’s merely a reality of hunting lower-density deer herds.
This is OK, as it forces you to become a master in terrain and topography to identify those areas most likely to hold deer and learn how and where they travel between them. Learn all about thermals, prevailing winds and swirling winds. And don’t forget to hit the kill switch on that four wheeler or side-by-side a little sooner. A lot of hunters drive theirs way too far into a property and too close to their hunting spots. Mature bucks, and deer in general, quickly catch on to this.
Finally, drill down on sections of a vast, wooded property, and don’t get lost in the expanse. Realistically, mature bucks inhabit very specific stretches of the landscape. They won’t be just anywhere. Sightings won’t be numerous, so temper your expectations, and prioritize woodsmanship. Do these things, and you just might pattern a buck in the big timber this season.
On expansive public lands, pack light and push deeper than other hunters are willing to go. Break large, contiguous chunks of forest into more manageable sections. (Photo courtesy of Trophyline) WOODED WONDERS Try these five vast public lands loaded with sprawling timber and more than a few nice bucks.
The Midwest is blessed with numerous large, wooded lands open to public hunting. Most are state or national forests, but some of the larger WMAs around the region may also contain large forested tracts. Certainly do some exploring to find suitable big-woods public ground near you, but also consider these five properties when planning a hunt.
SHAWNEE STATE FOREST South-central Ohio’s Shawnee State Forest is a big-woods deer hunter’s paradise. With approximately 63,000 acres, there’s no shortage of property to explore. Of course, this is some true hill country, and deer densities aren’t what you find in other parts of the Midwest. It is, however, a rewarding adventure for those seeking a public-land challenge.
HOOSIER NATIONAL FOREST Southern Indiana’s Hoosier National Forest, which contains approximately 204,000 acres of rolling hills, is a gem for those who like hunting big timber. The deer are hunted hard here, but work to find unpressured pockets of ground, and you can tag a good buck.
SHAWNEE NATIONAL FOREST Not to be confused with Shawnee State Forest, Illinois’ Shawnee National Forest offers 289,000 acres of wooded opportunity. Positioned between the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, it contains good habitat and some big bucks. It takes work to find the deer, but it can certainly be worth the effort.
MARK TWAIN NATIONAL FOREST Missouri’s Mark Twain National Forest contains more than 1.5 million acres of beautiful landscape spread across several different units in the southern half of the state. It’s a popular destination for deer hunting, but things won’t be easy here. This is some rugged ground, and although south-central Missouri is known for some big deer, it can take significant effort to pull one out of these hills and valleys.
CHIPPEWA NATIONAL FOREST Those in the Upper Midwest might find their big-timber adventure in Minnesota’s 1.6 million-acre Chippewa National Forest. The roughly 660,000 acres managed by the U.S. Forest Service represent a paradise offering a mix of habitat, including big woods, wetlands and more.
This article was featured in the September 2024 issue of Game & Fish magazine. Click to subscribe .
