Hunting Large Cutovers

Last year I attempted to hunt around some cutovers that were 10+ acres and appeared to be bedding areas. One in particular was between relatively flat land and fairly steep ridges. Can anyone recommend general guidelines for hunting areas like this? Should I simply set up at the higher elevation so I can see more acreage (assuming the wind is in my favor)? Set up alone the flanks? Should I pay much attention to certain areas based on topography? There was plenty of sign, but the trails and such could have been used in the middle of the night for all I know. I should mention, there is are no food plots or agriculture nearby.

Yes, visualize as much ground as possible (like a tripod) and get the best binos you can afford.

I agree. if you have tall timber, climb as high as you can comfortably shoot. this is my favorite type of hunting. I also add that for a morning hunt, get settled in way before first light.

I agree. if you have tall timber, climb as high as you can comfortably shoot. this is my favorite type of hunting. I also add that for a morning hunt, get settled in way before first light. [/quote]

Pretty good advice from these two. I want to add that you will need a good solid rest to shoot from because some of the deer will be a looooooooooooong way off. Good luck.

I have found from past experiences have been to try a hunt the South facing ridges. Get up high and get in there early and try to sit as long as possible. I have been in the stand on these types of places for a good hour or so before daylight and not had any action until after 10pm but have also been sitting there at first light and have the deer start moving through. You never know. Also on the flat parts. Look for any terrain or vegetation differences in the cut. I have a flat that I like to hunt and all it has is a very slight rise in the topography that the deer relate to when they travel across it heading from point A to point B.

Just thinkin' about one of them big ol' cutovers, about belt-high briers...

Sun at your back in the morning and sun at your back in the evening. Deer will light up like Christmas trees. Hunt the corners if you can and remember, the wind is your friend as long as you keep it in your face.

X 2 on the get a good prop and sit late. A few years back I missed a 140'' buck on a 50 acre clearcut because I had to awkwardly free arm a shot. We set up a tripod shortly after, and over the next 3 or 4 years we passed on and killed more good bucks out of that spot than any other spot in my lifetime. Had my best luck on cold mornings with little to no wind. Be on the high ground and as soon as the sun rises above the trees and shines on that clearcut, get ready.

find a BIG tree left in the clearcut, climb high as you can, then go ten more feet. I would build a box frame in a good fork and get comfortable. Some of my stands were 40-50 feet up. Take a good rifle and a rangefinder. Wear em out.....

on 2nd thought, you should let me check the area out a few times first. it may not be worth your trouble.

Thanks. Any recommendations for a solid rest? I use a lock-on style stand and this is public land so that will limit my options. I know Caldwell and others make TreePods of one design or another.

i've heard folks say that when the temp is low and theres a wind, the deer will probably bed on downwind side, my uncle would always say he liked a cold northern wind and would hunt the southside of a thicket. Folks on here have also said they like to watch the areas that catch the first rays of morning sun.

I've been very successful the last couple of years getting HIGH and watching as much ground as possible. Get in early, on a COLD day, and sit as long as you can. Carry a range finder and get a rest of some kind.

Yes, for sure. It just depends on how the cutover is laid out.
Saddles, benches, SMZs/draws (and the ridges between them) can all be good spots to investigate further.
I can look at an aerial and just about get you on the X I bet if you want to post one.

Climb as high as you can be comfortable like they said wind in your face, glass glass glass glass with a good set of binos and a shooting stick im a fans of the Primos trigger sticks. Killed some
Nice deer over the last few years . Probably my most effective and favorite way to hunt bucks

IMHO and in my experience, which I haven't been hunting since the 60s' since I'm only 26 is that the most mature bucks do not bed in the cut overs. I have a couple ridges that are pretty high up and facing the north. The mature bucks always seem to bed at the top of the ridge or right under the top. I thinks it's because they can see all down and through the cut overs looking for predators/hunters. Get up real early one morning and find the quietest way in to a good tree with the right wind. Realllll early and try and wait for one to come to his bed. Also it's fun to go night scouting before season. This way the deer are mostly feeding some where. Find a faintly used trail and look for good beds and set up on one when season opens. This only works for morning hunts though but has def. worked for me. But there is a lot of great advice here and I wouldn't stick to just one strategy, if something like hunting right around the cutover doesn't work try what I said and others one here said. Mix it up! Man I can't wait for deer season!

I set up on corners so I can watch two breaklines ,by that I mean edges. Look for travel lines and routes they use in and out to go to food or water. I dont use binos, often you get to see the deer a short time. you can miss your shot playing with binos.

To each their own but I haven't had a missed opportunity yet due to using binos. But I have killed many animals, Bucks included that I never would have seen without them. I constantly scan hill sides and areas your naked eye can't see.

I had access to a 4 to 5 yr old 300 acre cutover tract in Chambers County several years ago. It was rough terrain with a high rock knoll on one end and thick creek bottom cutting through the center. Elevation difference was about 200 feet. I saw more bucks in that cutover the two seasons I hunted it than any place I ever hunted. The mature bucks ALWAYS bedded just a few feet below the top of the steep knoll and could not be approached without them knowing. I ended up killing two of them by finding a spot to set up where I could pick shots into small open sagebrush areas on the east side of the hill. The deer would bed in the sage areas on cold days.

bucks of any age will bed all day in any cutover that has enough cover. I've jumped and killed several over 5 year old bucks in thick cutovers, jumped from their bed.

Yea I'm sure y'all have, no doubt in my mind, but where I hunt they just don't prefer them. I have 2 sanctuarys that I've never ever stepped foot in, literally never and one I suppose you could call a cutover and They could bed in there and some probably do but I'm not going to find out. I find other spots to kill them. Just talking deer hunting and another strategy, one of the most fun ways I've ever bow hunted and been successful on mature bucks is stalking standing corn fields. That is an awesome way to get a mature bucks. Just have to have some wind and/or rain. But again to the OP, try different strategies, it will benefit you, I think, and keep it challenging and fun.

What age/age range clear cut do you all prefer to hunt?

Years 2-5 are usually best then they get too thick to hunt.

My kind of hunting. If I know a good one is using a clear cut I'm going to slip around in it until I get him up. I kill my fair share of 5 yr old plus bucks doing this. It ain't for the faint of heart, sometimes they'll get up right on top of you. I like a BAR .270, sometimes it takes a shot or two or three to catch up with him, sometimes you don't catch up. I have no doubt that I would of never killed or even seen many of these old bucks if I hadn't walked them up.

Good spots for rut hunting too. You can catch them on the move in cut overs.

never to thick to hunt but the dragging them out of it can get to be hell . lol

no telling how many you did walk by .

As far as stated post above during the rut if you can do all day sit that has been good for me. Seem to bed and chase frequently in the cutovers

Also pay real good attention to how they travel through the clear cut while you can see.I hunted a 20 AC 1 year cut on my property last year and every buck that crossed it did so in one particular travel corridor, which was about 100 yds further than I wanted to shoot.I have now set up stands which I hope will put me on them for many years, even after I can no longer see them like I can now.A buddy who is a very successful hunter and timber guy who sees lots of clear cuts does this and and has shot some good uns. He says the travel routes don't usually change as the pines grow, so he pushes out shooting lanes across major trails and sees a pile of deer.

Nearly every clear cut around my place has a smz or "head" coming into it. Deer like to use the smzs to travel in and out of clear cuts. Really good way to bow hunt a clear cut.

Another thing that I have done in the past is that I fertilize the browse as well as took a few 50lb bags of wheat and rye and spread it over a particular hillside or flat away from where anyone could see it. Not all of it will come up but I have some good hunts watching these spots and nobody knew what I had going on in there.

I'm familiar with saddles, benches, and funnels, but what is a SMZ?

Streamside Management Zone (SMZ)...basically a strip of timber containing a creek, river, or branch that is left when the timber is cut. Allows travel corridors for wildlife

Oh yeah, I remember that now. Thanks for the reminder!