Help Scouting Hill Country

Discuss the science of figuring out our prey through good detective work.
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WVCharlie
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Help Scouting Hill Country

Unread postby WVCharlie » Fri Sep 25, 2020 4:06 am

Hello all, we have scouted this area pretty heavily and have found some good beds and good sign but are having trouble finding the primary buck bedding. We’ve found buck beds and have got some decent bucks on camera but we knows it’s not “the spot”. I would appreciate if we could get some help in looking at this map and pointing me in the direction of the spot in the spot. Predominant wind is a SW wind.

Pink Area- 75 acres that was select cut 6-7 years ago and is now mostly blackberry briars and is super thick.
Orange area - public hunting that is currently being timbered.
Blue X’s - Buck beds
Green Circle - lots of rubs on sapling s that have sprouted around a stump. Found a bed in pokeweed just off a logging road above the ribs.

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<DK>
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Re: Help Scouting Hill Country

Unread postby <DK> » Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:26 am

Im a little confused - Do you have a larger buck on cam and cant find his bed? Or you are looking bigger deer that is not on cam? Or there is no bigger buck, youre just assuming there is one there?
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Re: Help Scouting Hill Country

Unread postby <DK> » Sat Sep 26, 2020 10:28 am

Since its so thick, walk the creeks / ditches a couple days after a rain and try to catch tracks
WVCharlie
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Re: Help Scouting Hill Country

Unread postby WVCharlie » Sat Sep 26, 2020 1:31 pm

DK, I should have led with that. Just to the NE of the green circle on the bench above we got a picture of a real nice deer over Labor Day weekend. They had went in and mowed the field just above there and he came through the next day right at sunset. We had to go in and fix the cell camera the other day and yesterday after exactly 10 days he showed back up at 3-4am. That’s why I’m wondering where the spot in the spot is. We got too close to season and didn’t want to disturb the area too much so we are trying to do some hard thinking before season comes in. When we scouted last we were down in the bottom and did find some decent tracks and that’s how we found the area in the green circle.

That’s where we are doing some guessing but we think he’s bedding low due to pressure but if he’s bedding there it goes against bedding on the leeward side. Also bedding that low the wind swirls a lot and possibly the way the wind flows around the mountains in is better for him than we think.
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<DK>
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Re: Help Scouting Hill Country

Unread postby <DK> » Sun Sep 27, 2020 12:13 am

WVCharlie wrote:That’s where we are doing some guessing but we think he’s bedding low due to pressure but if he’s bedding there it goes against bedding on the leeward side. Also bedding that low the wind swirls a lot and possibly the way the wind flows around the mountains in is better for him than we think.


That sounds about right for a good buck. They have some great wind spots that are terrible for a hunter. Id wait for good moon days, pre rut/rut and dive in for AM hunts on that specific spot. While scouting those bottoms, note the wind direction and throw milkweed when the wind blows and when it stops.

I am sure he is around more often than the cam reveals. They can bed low (for now) until the leaves drop, they can bed towards the top of thick draws (like the right Blue X). Also dont overlook the subtle little points vs the large traditional points.

I would turn to google earth, back date to winter ariels and locate the thickest areas first. Also, go to caltopo, click shaded relief and locate any steepness or bluff that a normal map doesnt show.

Just based on your responses I think you guys have a good handle on the situation and will find him in no time. Just pick the scouting days right and dont scare the heck out of him. Sometimes you may not find his best bed.

Good luck
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<DK>
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Re: Help Scouting Hill Country

Unread postby <DK> » Sun Sep 27, 2020 12:24 am

Also go to wunderground.com, look up the wind for the day he traveled the bench. Back track him and take a guess. If he came thru at sunset and it wasnt a cold front day then he should be very close and you should have no issue setting up a game plan.

I would also suggest getting your cams set for the rut/season and leaving them be. At this point in my season I would not check one w/o rain or going in to hunt at the same time. Keep one cam at home for a random drop on hot sign I may find.
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Re: Help Scouting Hill Country

Unread postby MichiganMike » Sun Sep 27, 2020 3:37 am

<DK> wrote:Also go to wunderground.com, look up the wind for the day he traveled the bench. Back track him and take a guess. If he came thru at sunset and it wasnt a cold front day then he should be very close and you should have no issue setting up a game plan.

I would also suggest getting your cams set for the rut/season and leaving them be. At this point in my season I would not check one w/o rain or going in to hunt at the same time. Keep one cam at home for a random drop on hot sign I may find.

thats a good point DK and you got me thinking about one I got on camera- but in the AM. I caught him traversing the lower 3rd of a ridge at about 9AM. Camera was facing easterly down the ridge and I caught the top of his rack. Wind was ESE and 40 deg that morning. I believe he was heading N to S along that bottom but couldnt make it out for sure. Below is a thick tangle/creek bottom where I believe his bedding is and was scent checking it. How i would access down there and set up without him crossing my scent trail? I have no idea...
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Re: Help Scouting Hill Country

Unread postby WVCharlie » Wed Sep 30, 2020 6:50 am

Thanks DK. All that is very good advice and I'll be going back looking at it. We used Caltopo to see where the steepest areas were and that was helpfuI. We took a picture of the area and if you shaded the areas that had pressure, which were mainly the roads that you can take an ATV, that seemed to help the most.

We went back and looked at the weather from the times that we got him and other times we got a decent buck on camera and both of them were through there when the local weather stations showed 0mph winds. They must use that on calm days using the thermals to their advantage.
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Re: Help Scouting Hill Country

Unread postby <DK> » Mon Oct 05, 2020 2:09 am

MichiganMike wrote:
<DK> wrote:Also go to wunderground.com, look up the wind for the day he traveled the bench. Back track him and take a guess. If he came thru at sunset and it wasnt a cold front day then he should be very close and you should have no issue setting up a game plan.

I would also suggest getting your cams set for the rut/season and leaving them be. At this point in my season I would not check one w/o rain or going in to hunt at the same time. Keep one cam at home for a random drop on hot sign I may find.

thats a good point DK and you got me thinking about one I got on camera- but in the AM. I caught him traversing the lower 3rd of a ridge at about 9AM. Camera was facing easterly down the ridge and I caught the top of his rack. Wind was ESE and 40 deg that morning. I believe he was heading N to S along that bottom but couldnt make it out for sure. Below is a thick tangle/creek bottom where I believe his bedding is and was scent checking it. How i would access down there and set up without him crossing my scent trail? I have no idea...


Sorry I missed this.

Sometimes you gotta be willing to take your lumps and throw up some hail marys to do something awesome. Sometimes you know where they can catch you and gotta be ready to take that shot when he realizes it.

That exact scenario happened to me last night on my setup, the deer stopped broadside exactly how I planned, in the exact spot I planned and it was my entry route - wrong buck tho lol

It would be very tough to guess that on a morning entry w/o the Intel you mentioned.


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