Advice in hill country

[RidgeGhost]

Just watched disc 1 of the second hill country dvd. Dans description of bedding in rolling hills really hits home on this one. Most of the hills are rolling, gently sloping off into the draws. Some do have a military crest though, and I will focus on those when I'm back in there. The military crest in this case drops way off, up to a couple hundred feet dropping almost straight down.

I will try to remember to post what I find on this thread next time I'm there.

More rolling hills I’ll find them a little more sporadic than on a solid military crest. Depending on how the pitch is on the rolling hill, the backcover, or the terrain around will allow the wind the push farther up or down the hill before it meets the thermals if that makes sense to you. Steeper usually results in higher on the hill. No cover then it’s just a good looking point on the map imo. You can probably help narrow down those thicker spots by using the history bar on GE. Not all the time you’ll be able to find a good winter photo and those dark thick spots stand out.

Other thing is it sounds like you are finding a lot of rubs and scrapes, maybe they are only using it during that time frame and have shifted a little to be closer to preferred browse?

When was the last time you had that wind to put them in those locations would be another thing I ask myself when I’m not finding anything that stands out. The scout goes to a snails pace then.

Yep, makes sense. I'm more used to having a narrow, flat point that breaks off very sharp on the leeward side and the bed will be right on that break or maybe just over the break. The wind in those cases swirls just over the top, not anywhere near a third down.

I'm really thinking I tried to cover too much ground first time in. Next time I'm going to pick two or three of the best points and really break it down. It will be worth the time investment, this particular place is buck heavy.

[tbunao]

Just watched disc 1 of the second hill country dvd. Dans description of bedding in rolling hills really hits home on this one. Most of the hills are rolling, gently sloping off into the draws. Some do have a military crest though, and I will focus on those when I'm back in there. The military crest in this case drops way off, up to a couple hundred feet dropping almost straight down.

I will try to remember to post what I find on this thread next time I'm there.

More rolling hills I’ll find them a little more sporadic than on a solid military crest. Depending on how the pitch is on the rolling hill, the backcover, or the terrain around will allow the wind the push farther up or down the hill before it meets the thermals if that makes sense to you. Steeper usually results in higher on the hill. No cover then it’s just a good looking point on the map imo. You can probably help narrow down those thicker spots by using the history bar on GE. Not all the time you’ll be able to find a good winter photo and those dark thick spots stand out.

Other thing is it sounds like you are finding a lot of rubs and scrapes, maybe they are only using it during that time frame and have shifted a little to be closer to preferred browse?

When was the last time you had that wind to put them in those locations would be another thing I ask myself when I’m not finding anything that stands out. The scout goes to a snails pace then.

Yep, makes sense. I'm more used to having a narrow, flat point that breaks off very sharp on the leeward side and the bed will be right on that break or maybe just over the break. The wind in those cases swirls just over the top, not anywhere near a third down.

I'm really thinking I tried to cover too much ground first time in. Next time I'm going to pick two or three of the best points and really break it down. It will be worth the time investment, this particular place is buck heavy.

Sounds like a solid plan!

[RidgeGhost]

I had the day off and was able to get back into this area. After my last excursion, I decided I needed to further narrow down what I was looking at. This place is about 15000 acres I think.

I broke it down into three areas I want to see, all based on thermal hubs. I found three good thermal hubs with bedding points surrounding them so that there is a point for each wind direction. I just walked the edge of one of the hubs last time and that's where I found the majority of the big rubs.

In addition, I focused in on the points that were thickest and steepest surrounding the hub.

Walking it today, the first point (actually two points forking off of one ridge) was too open to be ideal...no beds found.

From there, I dropped down into the creek bottom, the hub. And the big rubs started popping up as expected. I followed them along the side of a ridge that is too steep to climb, waiting for a break. Found a really cool dead buck in the bottom in some thick laurel. As I followed along the creek, I found a break in the terrain. Just enough change in slope to make it passable and there was a good trail along that break. I followed it up onto the ridge and walked right into a bed, finally! From his vantage, he has the wind blowing over the ridge behind him which is super thick. Nothing can get to him from behind. And in front he is watching over the entire thermal hub. It's actually impressive how much he can see from there. I imagine he spends a lot of time there in the rut watching other deer pass through that hub. I took a few steps and spotted another bed just around the ridge watching the other direction. Big rubs everywhere.

I cut back across the hub to get to the last ridge I wanted to check. This one is a series of small points that looked to have a good military crest on the map. I climbed up to around the top third mark and again, rubs everywhere. I made my way around the points at that elevation and walked up on a bed up against a pine tree in the pine needles. Ten yards away was a big rub. Followed the rub line around the ridge and out to where I think he stages. Between the bed and the staging area were probably 15 thigh sized rubs and many smaller ones. And actually a well defined trail leaving the bed, which I have never found. Usually sign leaving the bed is faint for me.

Found lots of big tracks and finally got on some beds today. I feel much better about this place now. I know how to attack the other hubs I found. I jacked up my knee in the process, can't bend it and have to walk like a peg leg pirate now, but surely it was worth it.

The dead head

[Lockdown]