Hill Country Question

[southernyankee]

Ok so i think i finally grasp the whole idea of buck bedding areas in hill country. leeward side of a slope, military crest, cover to the back, open to the front, etc. Of these it seems like dan most often emphasizes the leeward side (wind tunnel) for bedding and scent checking/cruising. There is a piece of very expansive public land that doesnt get a ton of pressure that i really want to scout and hunt. Only problem is this: the western border of the property is the crest of a ridge that runs NNE to SSW. Off of that ridge protrude a ton of fingers of varying size pointing NWW. The predominant oct./nov. wind is a NWW wind. There is like one spot total where one of the fingers curve and then a point off of it sticks slightly back toward the south where a buck could bed to the side of that point and have the wind at his back.

At the end of these points (near the eastern end of the property (2-2.5 miles from the main ridge) there are some varying age timber cuts (head high brush to fresh cuts from last year) they are shelterwood cuts so they produce a ton of acorns. if any area is going to receive pressure its here, though i bow hunted one late morning on a funnel between two cuts and almost got a shot at a buck dogging a doe. Being that the only real pressure this place would receive would be firearms season (not much) or bird hunters(what few grouse and woodcock hunters are left), I feel as though the areas surrounding the cuts would support more deer because of this major food source(whereas the big mature woods have lower deer densities). The deer hunter in me says to hunt around the cuts, but the big buck hunter in me says to go hunt one of the rhododendron choked ridges. but in an area where im more likely to see bears than bucks doing this, its tough, especially with no way to narrow down the 5 square mile areas i decided i want to hunt.

With an area so large, will the deer cross over the western ridge to bed on the leeward side and therefore i should hunt the saddles and try to get them crossing? i know there have been a few monster bucks taken out of the area by rifle hunters in late november, so theyre there. Would they be using an area 2 miles and 2000ft of elevation drop from their beds across the ridge or can i assume that the monster bucks that were killed in this huge wood lot are bedding somewhere not on a leeward side.

this is a huge wooded area with no ag at all and only some cow pastures a few miles away.

thanks for any help in advance,
matt

[southernyankee]

adding a map as best i could make it

[ghoasthunter]

Ok so i think i finally grasp the whole idea of buck bedding areas in hill country. leeward side of a slope, military crest, cover to the back, open to the front, etc. Of these it seems like dan most often emphasizes the leeward side (wind tunnel) for bedding and scent checking/cruising. There is a piece of very expansive public land that doesnt get a ton of pressure that i really want to scout and hunt. Only problem is this: the western border of the property is the crest of a ridge that runs NNE to SSW. Off of that ridge protrude a ton of fingers of varying size pointing NWW. The predominant oct./nov. wind is a NWW wind. There is like one spot total where one of the fingers curve and then a point off of it sticks slightly back toward the south where a buck could bed to the side of that point and have the wind at his back.

At the end of these points (near the eastern end of the property (2-2.5 miles from the main ridge) there are some varying age timber cuts (head high brush to fresh cuts from last year) they are shelterwood cuts so they produce a ton of acorns. if any area is going to receive pressure its here, though i bow hunted one late morning on a funnel between two cuts and almost got a shot at a buck dogging a doe. Being that the only real pressure this place would receive would be firearms season (not much) or bird hunters(what few grouse and woodcock hunters are left), I feel as though the areas surrounding the cuts would support more deer because of this major food source(whereas the big mature woods have lower deer densities). The deer hunter in me says to hunt around the cuts, but the big buck hunter in me says to go hunt one of the rhododendron choked ridges. but in an area where im more likely to see bears than bucks doing this, its tough, especially with no way to narrow down the 5 square mile areas i decided i want to hunt.

With an area so large, will the deer cross over the western ridge to bed on the leeward side and therefore i should hunt the saddles and try to get them crossing? i know there have been a few monster bucks taken out of the area by rifle hunters in late november, so theyre there. Would they be using an area 2 miles and 2000ft of elevation drop from their beds across the ridge or can i assume that the monster bucks that were killed in this huge wood lot are bedding somewhere not on a leeward side.

this is a huge wooded area with no ag at all and only some cow pastures a few miles away.

thanks for any help in advance,
matt

big bucks bed in places you find bears all the time I would keep an eye on both they will gravitate to the does during rut so if does are heavy in those areas that's where they will be early season the rododendrons will provide the cover and cool air espessaly if there are pine mixed in bucks will use those big patches of rododendrons on more than just the leeward because of the major wind buffer they also grow where its wet so I'm thinking you will find drainages in there. if the drainages run twords the clear cuts the bucks will travel those down in evenings and up in mornings. like a highway they will favor one side or other on there rout a good place to find some big buck beds is on benches between two drainages they don't always have to be on the wind tunnel in these situations a lot of times they will bed in a thick pocket overlooking the bench in the real steep stuff this is what that looks like below this bed on bench is one lonely rub that indicated to me to look sometimes they don't even have rubs the bed is sitting on a 10 foot buy 20 foot outcropping. it has a 30 foot rock face as a back stop and the buck walks threw boulders to enter and exit. you will have resident deer in both spots year round but I think your bigger bucks will stick to high ground out of rut. they will cruse the benches and make rubs and scrapes during the rut. and use the drainages as there highways up and down year round.

[dan]

Based on that map, I would say bucks have a lot of places to bed leeward. It does not have to be a straight crosswind, it can be an angle. And I would look at the points and knobs closely. In areas with no leeward spots,(which this area seems to have many) I would look in thick draws where winds swirl, and on the edges of thick cover. Especially the down wind edge.

[brancher147]

2 miles and 2000 ft are nothing to a buck in a big wooded area. I saw one last year go over 3 miles and about 2000 ft in 12 hours, but that was during the rut.

I would not assume they are bedding on a leeward side in a huge wooded area like this with such varying topography. They will be bedded where they have the best advantage, and I have seen that be the military crest upper 1/3 elevation on the windward side and facing back towards the top of the ridge, it just depends. As Dan said, also areas where the wind constantly swirls, like the head of a draw upper 1/3 elevation, especially with thick cover are also places to check.

[brancher147]

Whoops. Double post...

[ghoasthunter]

adding a map as best i could make it

I would check the long east to west ridge too the south also it close to main road but yells buck beds if its holding laurel

[southernyankee]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

dan, So i understand why a swirling wind would give a buck the advantage similarly to the wind tunnel, but is there a way to hunt a swirling wind as easily as you can hunt a wind tunnel(by getting above it)? or would you simply set up outside of the swirling wind and try to catch him on his exit route at the end of shooting light (hopefully he makes it far enough in good light)?

ghoast, I was always under the impression that bucks would walk on top of the really steep knife-like ridges to access food in the valleys because they are less steep than dropping off the side. is that incorrect?

brancher, thats incredible how far they can travel. I know the largest that has been taken in this area was essentially shot through a rhododendron thicket and the guy got lucky his bullet didnt deflect. I assumed that this wouldve been this bucks core area (late november which is typically at the tail end of or after the rut in this area) but i guess he couldve simply been cruising through from who knows how far away. supposedly there were trail cam pictures across the mountain of him but only real late at night. there are areas of really thick stuff, a few ridges that are covered in it, and others that have none. i guess i be trudging through the thick stuff!

im trying to get down for a scouting trip this spring, but trying to debate whether to wait until after snow melt and use the snow to follow tracks. is the sign found in snow going to be applicable for the season? I am going to look at that big east-west ridge on the southern end. near the end of it is where 2 of the shelterwood cuts are. even though there is a trail running up the length of it as shown, it gets VERY little use.

[brancher147]

ghoast, I was always under the impression that bucks would walk on top of the really steep knife-like ridges to access food in the valleys because they are less steep than dropping off the side. is that incorrect?

I very very rarely see bucks or buck tracks walking the spine of a sharp ridge. They prefer to angle down the sides of a draw to access food in the valleys from what I have seen. But we have a lot of bears here and the bears prefer to walk the spines of ridges, so not sure how much that influences deer not using them. If you don't have too many bears then deer may walk the spines more... If you can scout in the snow it should help determine this.

[ghoasthunter]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

dan, So i understand why a swirling wind would give a buck the advantage similarly to the wind tunnel, but is there a way to hunt a swirling wind as easily as you can hunt a wind tunnel(by getting above it)? or would you simply set up outside of the swirling wind and try to catch him on his exit route at the end of shooting light (hopefully he makes it far enough in good light)?

ghoast, I was always under the impression that bucks would walk on top of the really steep knife-like ridges to access food in the valleys because they are less steep than dropping off the side. is that incorrect?

brancher, thats incredible how far they can travel. I know the largest that has been taken in this area was essentially shot through a rhododendron thicket and the guy got lucky his bullet didnt deflect. I assumed that this wouldve been this bucks core area (late november which is typically at the tail end of or after the rut in this area) but i guess he couldve simply been cruising through from who knows how far away. supposedly there were trail cam pictures across the mountain of him but only real late at night. there are areas of really thick stuff, a few ridges that are covered in it, and others that have none. i guess i be trudging through the thick stuff!

im trying to get down for a scouting trip this spring, but trying to debate whether to wait until after snow melt and use the snow to follow tracks. is the sign found in snow going to be applicable for the season? I am going to look at that big east-west ridge on the southern end. near the end of it is where 2 of the shelterwood cuts are. even though there is a trail running up the length of it as shown, it gets VERY little use.

bucks walk the drainages to take advantage of the wind tunnel it produces they don't like to be down on bottom but they hug the side if they walked the top they would skylight themselves. there movement is like running ditches and creek bottoms. a deer's nose will take over the path of least resistance. younger deer will travel the knife but mature bucks and does are a different animal. if I set on a drainage I set right on the drop from the knife and get high up in a tree. think top 1/3 like bedding they use the knife as a leeward and the thermal to dictate what side they travel. it takes a lot of milkweed to get your tree picked I like to be near a shelf so I can get a stronger wind across shooting my sent across the drainage then the thermals pull it out the other side better. when a deer comes in he's normally going to be under my tree. I walk the wind tunnel up and throw milk weed as I go in off season and try and find a chink in the armor.

[ghoasthunter]

Thanks for all the replies guys.

dan, So i understand why a swirling wind would give a buck the advantage similarly to the wind tunnel, but is there a way to hunt a swirling wind as easily as you can hunt a wind tunnel(by getting above it)? or would you simply set up outside of the swirling wind and try to catch him on his exit route at the end of shooting light (hopefully he makes it far enough in good light)?

ghoast, I was always under the impression that bucks would walk on top of the really steep knife-like ridges to access food in the valleys because they are less steep than dropping off the side. is that incorrect?

brancher, thats incredible how far they can travel. I know the largest that has been taken in this area was essentially shot through a rhododendron thicket and the guy got lucky his bullet didnt deflect. I assumed that this wouldve been this bucks core area (late november which is typically at the tail end of or after the rut in this area) but i guess he couldve simply been cruising through from who knows how far away. supposedly there were trail cam pictures across the mountain of him but only real late at night. there are areas of really thick stuff, a few ridges that are covered in it, and others that have none. i guess i be trudging through the thick stuff!

im trying to get down for a scouting trip this spring, but trying to debate whether to wait until after snow melt and use the snow to follow tracks. is the sign found in snow going to be applicable for the season? I am going to look at that big east-west ridge on the southern end. near the end of it is where 2 of the shelterwood cuts are. even though there is a trail running up the length of it as shown, it gets VERY little use.

bucks walk the drainages to take advantage of the wind tunnel it produces they don't like to be down on bottom but they hug the side if they walked the top they would skylight themselves. there movement is like running ditches and creek bottoms. a deer's nose will take over the path of least resistance. younger deer will travel the knife but mature bucks and does are a different animal. if I set on a drainage I set right on the drop from the knife and get high up in a tree. think top 1/3 like bedding they use the knife as a leeward and the thermal to dictate what side they travel. it takes a lot of milkweed to get your tree picked I like to be near a shelf so I can get a stronger wind across shooting my sent across the drainage then the thermals pull it out the other side better. when a deer comes in he's normally going to be under my tree. I walk the wind tunnel up and throw milk weed as I go in off season and try and find a chink in the armor.

also sometimes you have to sit back and wait till thermals start dropping to make a move

[southernyankee]

TONS of bears in this area. Ill have to try to get at that 1/3 elevation and just walk one of the fingers.

ghoast, Have you ever done observation sits from on top where you could see down into a drainage? Obviously it would be hard to do with leaves still on the trees. even more so in a rhododendron choked area. Or does every sit need to be a hunt with mountain deer because they are more sensitive to human pressure? i feel like it must take years to learn an area well

[dan]

dan, So i understand why a swirling wind would give a buck the advantage similarly to the wind tunnel, but is there a way to hunt a swirling wind as easily as you can hunt a wind tunnel(by getting above it)? or would you simply set up outside of the swirling wind and try to catch him on his exit route at the end of shooting light (hopefully he makes it far enough in good light)?

A lot of the time when they bed low in a draw its cause air currents come in from all directions and you can't get close. The way to hunt them is the same way you hunt all buck bedding areas.

You look at the bed and determine the direction(s) he exits. set up on the exit trail as close as possible without getting within sight, sound, or smell. So in other words, your setting up outside of that "swirl". The buck should feel comfortable moving in daylight within the area he can sense intrusion. This is what we call "the safe zone". You want to be on the edge of the safe zone.