Ok, I need some input from you guys. I have been hunting an 80 acre plot for the last 10 hunts, 3 of which were practicaly all day hunts. I walked up on a doe and yearling, and almost got a shot off, on my first outing and thought I had it made. I haven't seen a deer since and I'm thinking of giving up on this patch of land. There are about 6 or 7 main trails that were cleared with a bulldozer and planted with rye grass as well in an attempt to keep them in the 80 acre patch. There are tons of tracks on the trails, where they are crossing. The woods are a thick 15 year old pine timber with some scattered hard woods. The underbrush is very thick outside of the trails. We have 6 stands and a blind setup, and 3 trail cameras. Except for a couple mid-day movements, the cameras are showing movement almost exclusively 45 minutes before and after daylight. The woods are surrounded by rye grass owned by someone else too. We have not identified their bedding area and suspect that it deep in the thick woods. Am I wasting my time here until the rut, or have I just not done enough crawling into the thick underbrush?
Thanks
Kendall