Hill country...

[dan]

Lets take a minute and discuss hill country from a different perspective... Traveling around scouting and hunting in different states and areas has taught me that there are some huge differences in the types of "hills" in hill country, and in the ways you go about hunting them, or deer go about bedding them.

In Wisconsin we have steep high hills in South western WI, but more rolling lower ones in South central. Out in Indiana where I scouted last week the hills where sharp drop offs like Western WI, but they were not high in elevation and in a lot of cases you could throw a stone from one hill top to the next. Made it real hard to set up on dropping bucks...

In West central Illinois, the hills are really draws or erosion. The landscape is flat, but the erosion down to river valleys creates elevation. Its not shaped like hills and has no military crest, but bucks bed it similar... One differance I see with this type of landscape is a lot of the bucks bed on feild edges at the top of a draw in the lowest spot on the field. You can usually see this as a point sticking into a field on a topo or aerial, but the elevation goes down rather than up... Pretty great little spot for the buck cause he can smell the wind coming across the field, and thermals rising from the bottom, then at sunset the evening thermals kick in and scent drifts down to the bed from every direction in the field he likely intends to feed in...

They are notorious for having these beds winding the main access hunters take to a property thru a field. You just about have to hunt this buck by observing where he crosses the field and sneaking to that edge and setting up on a day he gets far enough.

Then you have mountain type hills where bucks bed at lower elevations on benches, and use more of a cross wind than a directly down hill wind.

Or the small ridges or hills in otherwise flat land...

Anywho, what are your hills like? and do you see any differences from what we talk about? How do you hunt your hills?

[BigHunt]

my hills are steep high hills .. highest elevation 1500 ft around the area. bedding location will very but is pretty much at the same elevation all around. there area few very strange bedding areas near my land that are not "slandered" bedding for hill country....but from going to dan workshops im starting to figure out why deer are using one of them .....its the way the wind swirls over the top old barn foundation....ill heading over to the land in a week or two I make a small video to show more in detail what im talking about

[Thermals]

As I have found in are hills that bedding is not as predictable as it may seem on a topo. It seems to me most of the best bedding is on little stuble points that almost don't show on a topo on not at all until you walk the land. This one reason I don't mark to many maps for guys, the obvious ones hardly have a bed on them that I have found.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Southern Man]

I use to think that the hills around me didn't qualify as hills when hill country was discussed on here, simply because of elevation. I actually refer to them as ridge country, not hill country. One major difference I see is that there are very, very few fields on the ridgetops, they are almost always in the bottoms. Most all of the ridgetops are narrow, 100 yards or so. The bedding I find is mostly right at the top.

[BigHunt]

As I have found in are hills that bedding is not as predictable as it may seem on a topo. It seems to me most of the best bedding is on little stuble points that almost don't show on a topo on not at all until you walk the land. This one reason I don't mark to many maps for guys, the obvious ones hardly have a bed on them that I have found.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

actually some of the best bedding on my land are tiny little side points that are NOT visible on the topo so your on to something there thermals...we think of bedding points as huge long points witch they do use but im starting to find that the BEST bedding areas in my area are the smallest little side points

[oldrank]

Security seems to be the most influential factor I have noticed when scouting hill beds. There needs to be some type of hidden buck agenda... examples.. over looking a human entry point, security from a river, or tucked away in a corner far from any human activity. The "common" points that are easily picked off the topos seemed to have some off season bedding but were to insecure once human activity increased in early fall. They also seem to be using less steep points then what the video describes, which is more typical of the area in southern Michigan.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Jphunter]

Dan, you mentioned bedding being at lower elevations and benches. Are you referring to small burrs farther down points? Do you still look for the upper 1/3 elevation in this type of hill country? It sounds like the hill country that I have access to is like the hill country in the SW part of Wisconsin. More of a mountain type hill country going from 800 ft to 2000 ft of elevation in a pretty short distance. There's not any farm country above or below. We always looked for good saddles and benches growing up and we did pretty good during the rut, we didn't really focus on finding bedding when I hunted it. We mainly looked for good rut sign and hunted areas showing a lot of doe sign. . I plan to hunt this area some this coming season and I am looking for bedding areas, so I am looking forward to this thread....

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Tennhunter3]

The area I hunt is very similar to Southern Mans description in Carroll County and Stewart County Tennessee. Long steep narrow ridges I hunt mainly 800-1100 feet elevation. There is very few fields up high all are in valleys the fields that are up high are all small less then 1-2 acres. I have found a lot of great buck sign on the Lee sides. These ridges seem to never end. can walk near all day on one ridge. The bedding is not easy to locate at all.I have found 2 beds on tiny points that don't show on the topo map. Roads seem ontop of every ridge or high spot in the public ground which seems to make it much more difficult.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[HighNtree]

The areas that I hunt in the central, northern region of Maryland do not have many true high hills. The terrain is flat or rolling with most elevation coming from drop-offs caused by erosion. The deer tend to bed at the head of draws where they can look out over the flat land above the draws. The deer can see you coming from a distance and they will dive down into the draw to avoid detection. This makes setting up on them near their beds a little more difficult (not that it can't be done). I have had my best luck setting up where the draw takes a turn so that I can sneak in from around bend.

[mheichelbech]

Southern Indiana near Louisville is varied. Some areas have extremely steep hills whereas others are more walkable/huntable. A lot of ridges with spurs or points like a turkey foot. Agriculture also varies with some areas the fields are at the top with drainages as Dan described whereas others are in the bottoms. There isn't any "typical" area here other than that max elevation is between 600 and 800 feet for the most part. As you get west and north of Louisville things tend to flatten out in most areas...at least as it looks driving down the highway.

For the places I have hunted, I still see deer and bucks bedding at or near the tops or on points.

During the rut, I have observed nearly all daytime chasing/searching occuring either on top of ridges or on the sides if it is hilly.

One thing I would note about these areas is that in the hill areas, if you scouted this after green up, you might think there were few if any deer using the area. I've noticed the deer often tend to meander their way up or down a hillside and do not make much for discernible trails. The only things that led me to hunt these areas was a plot watcher camera and observation. Brad Herndon talks a lot about this in his Mapping Trophy Bucks book. It can be difficult to hunt an area that does not have a lot of discernable sign but there can be a huge payoff if you are patient.

[Bowhunter4life]

As I have found in are hills that bedding is not as predictable as it may seem on a topo. It seems to me most of the best bedding is on little stuble points that almost don't show on a topo on not at all until you walk the land. This one reason I don't mark to many maps for guys, the obvious ones hardly have a bed on them that I have found.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

I see this exact same thing in the hills I hunt here in southeast missouri. The very best beds I have found have came from little points that don't show on a topo map. This is why I'm a firm believer in scouting and putting boots on the ground prior to hunting new spots.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Zona]

Big mountains some with A 1000FT elevation change in under a mile , long ridges with large agricultural valleys. I have just about everything here and the recipe for a buck bed remains the same. Good back cover, good down wind visual and no human disturbance.

Big mountains around here are remote or hard to access and have very little to no agriculture around them. If a buck has water close he will stay on the mountaintops. When I say mountaintop here, I am talking about a top that is 2-3 miles wide. These tops are their own little world with points, knobs and draws. A main ingredient I have found in big buck bedding in the mountains is locating a top area that has Mountain Laurel. Mountain Laurel thickets can be down right impossible to walk through at times. I like to walk the transition line of the laurel and the hardwoods. Much like marsh hunting, the sign will usually be on the edges. I find most of the beds on the leeward side of these laurel thickets, right at the edge of the laurel and hardwoods transition. Sometimes the bed will be situated back in the laurel a bit, but the buck will be able to see into the hardwoods. What makes these areas so hard to hunt is there is usually oaks intermixed with the laurel. The buck doesn't have to travel far for food so I try and locate the nearest water. The trail heading to the nearest water source, IMO gives you the best chance at an encounter.

The ridge and valley area of Pennsylvania is made up of narrow ridges that are miles long. The elevation change is around 400 to 600 feet from top to valley floor. The valleys are agricultural, residential or a combination of both and can be miles wide. Early fall, bucks will bed lower on these ridges near the crop fields. The first bench up from the fields is a good place to find early season beds. Also any woodlots in the valley floor will contain a buck or two. These deer bed much the same way as any hill country buck. Wind to there back, good visual below. The difference is the beds are usually on a side hill. The ridges have very few points so benches and very subtle points that are not visible on topos are where you will find the beds. Later in the fall the bucks seem to bed higher on the ridges in the top third, but again they are using benches and subtle points. The tops of these ridges usually have Mountain Laurel also. I find most of the beds to be situated where the mountain Laurel and the bench converge and make a transition line. Steep drop off in front, thick laurel in back on the leeward side is where I find most of the bedding. Once the pressure starts the older bucks will retreat to the ridge tops and bury themselves in the Mountain Laurel.

I also hunt Southwestern Pennsylvania which is more of the traditional hill country with hollers and creeks. Some of the area I hunt are very residential with housing developments on every hill top. Some of my other areas are reclaimed strip mines or agriculture on top of the ridges. The residential areas are by far the hardest to find buck bedding. They will literally bed anywhere humans are not. One of the biggest bucks I have ever seen was living in a 5 acre patch of brush behind a Wal-Mart Super Store surrounded by 4 lane highways. I've jumped bucks that were bedded feet away from guardrails along a busy highway. The rule to follow in residential settings is there are no rules. One type of terrain that I don't see much discussion here about, but is one of my favorites is reclaimed strip mines. These areas usually have an abundance of good bedding and cover. A old spoil pile covered with pines and under brush makes a perfect buck bed.

[Thermals]

I think the deer no that there kinda sticking out there on a point like that and makes it easy to get in close and them not know it as well. Being on that point they kinda have two dead zones I would call it to each side of them.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Zona]

I think the deer no that there kinda sticking out there on a point like that and makes it easy to get in close and them not know it as well. Being on that point they kinda have two dead zones I would call it to each side of them.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Thermal I agree. If an obvious point doesn't have thick cover on it, I don't find a buck bed. I am having better luck finding beds on the smaller less conspicuous bumps, knobs when back cover is less.

[kurt]

I've seen great beds right on point just as video suggests but shape, width of point, cover, view, etc... all come into play. Small secondary points are good too it just seems like the harder the approach for the hunter the better the bed.

[ Post made via Android ]