Bucks and 1/3 elevation daytime usage

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OldFarmBuck
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Bucks and 1/3 elevation daytime usage

Unread postby OldFarmBuck » Fri Jul 23, 2021 5:14 am

Something I’ve learned/discovered over the years of hunting in hilly terrain: outside of the rut daytime travel/bedding for mature bucks seem to follow a trend of using the middle 1/3 of elevation. The last 3 years I’ve ran trail cameras year round on the areas I have been hunting. Back tracking bucks from food source to bedding I never could get much daytime travel images until I started putting the cameras in areas I never thought to put them. The middle 1/3 of elevation between the food source and bedding, particularly the top portion of the steepest section. They would either follow out down/up semi rocky draws and drainages and back down/up to the similar 1/3 elevation on the connecting ridge or they would flip over saddles and quickly find the same 1/3 elevation. Wind direction doesn’t seem to effect this travel much. Finding several bedding locations I know that wind direction had to play apart in the specific area but the elevation stayed the same. Cover types run the gamut from cutover to open hardwood. They seem to travel this middle 1/3 elevation year round outside of the rut. My suspicion is this elevation is optimal due to wind stirring. Wind rolling over the top or coming across mixing with wind/thermals rising from below.
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Elite
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Re: Bucks and 1/3 elevation daytime usage

Unread postby Elite » Fri Jul 23, 2021 6:29 am

What hunting map is that?
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Re: Bucks and 1/3 elevation daytime usage

Unread postby Buckslayer#13 » Fri Jul 23, 2021 7:54 am

I hunt hill country Louisiana and it is a bit different then most super steep rockier hill country in other states. But I’ve noticed that bucks in daytime will move and make rubs /cruise for does in the lower 1/3 of the ridge (Basically about 15 yards up the ridge from where the bottom meets the ridge). I’ve noticed this mainly because if a prescribed burned or understory mulching hasn’t happed in 5+ years the tops of the ridges get a very brushy and thick understory. I think the deer bed closer to the top of the ridge also because I do believe they can catch the wind coming over the hill and smell thermals better in the morning. But I do believe that the thick cover closer to the tops of these ridges funnel the deer closer to the bottom when they are up and walking. I try to zone in on the bottom 3rd of the ridge when I’m scouting and the ridge has thick brush on it. I like ridges with thick brush because it gives the deer browse and security. I also key in closer to the tops of ridges in early season if they have small pine plantations and the understory is about waist high and even a little higher, here in Louisiana deer love beauty berry and sumac which grow in that scenario. But 2 years ago i shot a nice 9 point checking a rub line on the lower 1/3 of a ridge and he was even in the bottom when I shot him. The bottom was thick aswell.
“And there came a voice to him, rise Peter; kill and eat”- Acts 10:13
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Twenty Up
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Re: Bucks and 1/3 elevation daytime usage

Unread postby Twenty Up » Fri Jul 23, 2021 9:50 am

Agreed.

The bedding seems to be more pressure and foliage based than specific elevations though in my experiences. They’ll bed at the bottom, all the way up to the ridge points. I’m guessing weather conditions, hunter pressure, does, etc all play factors here.

Hardest thing hunting the hills is playing Russian roulette with the thermals and wind swirls. My best luck has been during the rut when a cold front is pushing through, but before the winds really kick up.
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OldFarmBuck
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Re: Bucks and 1/3 elevation daytime usage

Unread postby OldFarmBuck » Fri Jul 23, 2021 10:39 am

I get a lot of travel on cam year round down low it’s just 90% of it is at night. That’s where 70 of the pre rut buck sign will be also. The rest of the sign is higher up. Leaving the middle 1/3 devoid of just about all sign that would lead you to believe a mature buck is using it. I’m finding most of the daytime buck bedding areas snugged up tight to cover but not in the cover and that’s holding true year round. If we find bucks bedding down low it’s usually in mtn laurel or short pine thickets and typically when the weather is nasty.
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Re: Bucks and 1/3 elevation daytime usage

Unread postby Buckslayer#13 » Fri Jul 23, 2021 12:33 pm

Yes. Here it seems that bucks will bed oriented to cover on the ridge. Where the thick line meets a more open spot, that’s where a buck will probably bed around. But I feel that early season they bed on the best food source whether that be on top of a ridge or on the side of a ridge.
“And there came a voice to him, rise Peter; kill and eat”- Acts 10:13
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Re: Bucks and 1/3 elevation daytime usage

Unread postby Buckslayer#13 » Fri Jul 23, 2021 12:35 pm

And Here the leaves stay on the trees until early November so I’m sure a buck would feel more comfortable in daylight further down the ridge next to an open bottom here in rut because there is still enough acceptable cover.
“And there came a voice to him, rise Peter; kill and eat”- Acts 10:13
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Re: Bucks and 1/3 elevation daytime usage

Unread postby A5BLASTER » Fri Jul 23, 2021 2:49 pm

OldFarmBuck wrote:Something I’ve learned/discovered over the years of hunting in hilly terrain: outside of the rut daytime travel/bedding for mature bucks seem to follow a trend of using the middle 1/3 of elevation. The last 3 years I’ve ran trail cameras year round on the areas I have been hunting. Back tracking bucks from food source to bedding I never could get much daytime travel images until I started putting the cameras in areas I never thought to put them. The middle 1/3 of elevation between the food source and bedding, particularly the top portion of the steepest section. They would either follow out down/up semi rocky draws and drainages and back down/up to the similar 1/3 elevation on the connecting ridge or they would flip over saddles and quickly find the same 1/3 elevation. Wind direction doesn’t seem to effect this travel much. Finding several bedding locations I know that wind direction had to play apart in the specific area but the elevation stayed the same. Cover types run the gamut from cutover to open hardwood. They seem to travel this middle 1/3 elevation year round outside of the rut. My suspicion is this elevation is optimal due to wind stirring. Wind rolling over the top or coming across mixing with wind/thermals rising from below.


Looks like Dewy Wells :D
Buckslayer#13
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Re: Bucks and 1/3 elevation daytime usage

Unread postby Buckslayer#13 » Fri Jul 23, 2021 3:36 pm

Dewy has ridges?
“And there came a voice to him, rise Peter; kill and eat”- Acts 10:13
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Re: Bucks and 1/3 elevation daytime usage

Unread postby A5BLASTER » Sat Jul 24, 2021 12:32 am

Buckslayer#13 wrote:Dewy has ridges?


Sorry meant tunica hills. Not sure why I posted dewy Wells.
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Re: Bucks and 1/3 elevation daytime usage

Unread postby Buckslayer#13 » Sat Jul 24, 2021 5:55 am

Oh ok Yeah it does look like tunica hills.
“And there came a voice to him, rise Peter; kill and eat”- Acts 10:13


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