I hunt a lease on the Clay Randolph county line on 77 and there is a huge cutover on it. I have never seen any deer on it. Yall always talk about how you love hunting cutovers. What am I doing wrong? Should I hunt it in the wind tomorrow? It is on the edge of thinned pines.

How old is the cut over?

Has it been sprayed to be replanted?

What is your definition of "huge"?


God Bless,
David B.

Hunt it on Saturday when its cold and you should see deer

They can be hard to see in a cutover...a good pair of binoculars helps.

It has been planted in pines but they are small. It's at least 100 acres. Everything is about waist high.

Weather is key IMO this weekend should be good. Find a couple of good trails criss crossing and get as high as you can

Up a tree, that is.

xabillion...I have a lot of experience hunting cutovers from bare dirt to old growed up cutovers.The deer are there,just hard to see.The majority of my time is spent in a 80 acre cutover that was burned last year and replanted.Last year deer were easy to see out to 400 yards.This year not so much.I actually had deer bout 200 yards in front of me this morning and didn't see em till I looked through my binos.I would hunt it as much as possible.

Cutover is a deer hunters best friend...

Theres plenty of food in a clearcut until its 7 or 8 years old. Not to mention plenty of cover too, after the first cuople of years. And if you're looking down into it from well above it, the deer are much easier to spot. Very good choice on cold days, especially after most of the preferred kinds of acorns have dissapeared, or when the rut is winding up.

Early morning, watch the sunny side of the clearcut
Get the sun at your back too

Good advice.

I will try in the morning. Do they just come in and bed down or come in and just hang out?

Yes up a treeless

Some bed down...some travel. Good place to be when they are chasing or even to try some rattling.

It will take a while to learn what to look for and how hard it is to see them but you can't ask for a better morning spot. If there is a hill get where u can see a eastern facing slope and they will glow in early morning sunlight. Get high and then go 10' higher.

Yes. Bedding, feeding, passing through, making out, etc. On cold mornings sometimes they will bed on a south facing slope just a little below the crest of a hill. This is presuming a wind from the north. They can watch downwind(down the hill) and they can smell whats over the hill. On a west wind, I will sometimes try to watch a southeast facing hillside for the same reason.

If there are saplings in the clearcut and you'll look . You'll often see several shaking from being rubbed. The deer could be bedded there till after dark. I've seen does suddenly appear. they were already bedded and just stood, stretched and laid back down.Look hard they are there ! Watch for bucks to walk treeline looking out into it for does.

So mid days and afternoons stay away or stay put?

stay put