Hunting parallel field trails

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BigHills BuckHunter
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Hunting parallel field trails

Unread postby BigHills BuckHunter » Wed Aug 29, 2012 3:00 am

I was wondering what your guys take is on hunting parallel field trails. Basically they are trails that run along the field edge or parallel to them about 30-50 yards in. Ive heard deer use these trails to circle the field edge to scent check the field before entering it. Do they actually do this? I was thinking about hunting this field edge trail which I have seen over the years on my land instead of the edge. I always thought it was a rut trail for bucks.


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Re: Hunting parallel field trails

Unread postby kwaldeier » Wed Aug 29, 2012 3:23 am

I seen where Dan mentioned this earlier and i got curious lol I am also curious to which wind to hunt? Usually on a field edge you want your scent out in the field away from the bedding, but in this case if a buck is checking for does in the field, wouldn't your scent have to be blowing away from the field? Towards the bedding?
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Re: Hunting parallel field trails

Unread postby Bowhunting Brian » Wed Aug 29, 2012 3:27 am

rut tactic.
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Re: Hunting parallel field trails

Unread postby BigHills BuckHunter » Wed Aug 29, 2012 4:07 am

kwaldeier wrote:I seen where Dan mentioned this earlier and i got curious lol I am also curious to which wind to hunt? Usually on a field edge you want your scent out in the field away from the bedding, but in this case if a buck is checking for does in the field, wouldn't your scent have to be blowing away from the field? Towards the bedding?


Good point. I would think if the filed is to your south and the wind is from the south the deer will walk that parallel trail to scent check the field for predators, humans etc. I dont think its just a rut tactic. Im thinking you would sit on the downwind side of the trail or wind in your face and the trail in front of you. Just make sure there isnt a bed directly behind you. Although you would have to be careful not to set up on a trail coming from behind you as well. Maybe Dan or someone else can enlighten us on this. Im no expert.
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Re: Hunting parallel field trails

Unread postby dan » Wed Aug 29, 2012 4:31 am

There is a lot more to parallel trails than just field edges... They are something I discovered early on and have had good luck with. I heard my "ex-partners" did an attempt to steal that tactic in there new DVD... And we figured they would when they refused to give me footage of a hunt where I missed a monster buck in Iowa years ago hunting parralel trails. I still have the bow cam footage though... I have no idea whether they portrayed the tactic correctly, I doubt it, but don't know cause I refuse to watch there DVD.
Parallel trails are only used during the rut. They are for checking doe hang outs with out entering them. They are usually very faint trails because they only get used during the pre-rut. You generally find them 50 to 75 yards from the edge of bedding or a food source where does hang. Its not really wind dependent like some think... The cross the trails the does use to enter the area and smell each trail to see if a hot doe has passed by. They usually mark the cross trails with rubs and scrapes.
This often confuses new hunters cause the cross trail is so faint its hard to notice sometimes and the doe trail is well established, so the hunter often thinks the rub is on the doe trail and that the buck is using that trail. Th give away is usually if you go over to the next doe trail there will be another rub or scrape... I will detail this tactic a little better in the next DVD we are releasing.
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Re: Hunting parallel field trails

Unread postby utica19 » Wed Aug 29, 2012 4:36 am

We have a trail like this on our land. It runs about 35-40 yards inside the woodline along a 20 acre crop field. It's been where we have killed our biggest bucks over the years, esp. during rut time. The trail runs N/S and we try to hunt it with a north east/east or south east winds since we setup on the west side of the trail. Has worked well for us, even though that wind direction isn't all that common here. We like to setup between the woodline and the trail (about 15 yards off the trail.

We can only hunt it in the afternoons (or lgo in at mid morning) since we have to access it from the field. Have heards lots of deer blow at us over the years as we foolishly used to cross the open field in the mornings! :naughty:
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Re: Hunting parallel field trails

Unread postby BigHunt » Wed Aug 29, 2012 4:43 am

dan wrote:[glow=red]I have no idea whether they portrayed the tactic correctly, I doubt it, but don't know cause I refuse to watch there DVD.[/glow] .



dont waste your time dan , i seen the movie :roll: :lol: they basicly sit at a table and talk over each other, when the other guy is trying to talk :roll: :lol: i told my freind that he wasted his money , when he could of joined the beast fourm and learnd that from a real expert ;)
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Re: Hunting parallel field trails

Unread postby BigHills BuckHunter » Wed Aug 29, 2012 4:51 am

BigHunt wrote:
dan wrote:[glow=red]I have no idea whether they portrayed the tactic correctly, I doubt it, but don't know cause I refuse to watch there DVD.[/glow] .



dont waste your time dan , i seen the movie :roll: :lol: they basicly sit at a table and talk over each other, when the other guy is trying to talk :roll: :lol: i told my freind that he wasted his money , when he could of joined the beast fourm and learnd that from a real expert ;)


Thats where I got this idea from watching that movie. I figured why not check it out but most of the things they talk about are covered in hill country bucks. Sorry to hear they stole another thing from you Dan.

Bighunt I know exaclty what you mean by talking over eachother.....it was kind of awkward to watch..... :lol:
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Re: Hunting parallel field trails

Unread postby Sweet Shot 7 » Wed Aug 29, 2012 5:16 am

BigHills BuckHunter wrote:
BigHunt wrote:
dan wrote:[glow=red]I have no idea whether they portrayed the tactic correctly, I doubt it, but don't know cause I refuse to watch there DVD.[/glow] .



dont waste your time dan , i seen the movie :roll: :lol: they basicly sit at a table and talk over each other, when the other guy is trying to talk :roll: :lol: i told my freind that he wasted his money , when he could of joined the beast fourm and learnd that from a real expert ;)


Thats where I got this idea from watching that movie. I figured why not check it out but most of the things they talk about are covered in hill country bucks. Sorry to hear they stole another thing from you Dan.

Bighunt I know exaclty what you mean by talking over eachother.....it was kind of awkward to watch..... :lol:



Yes^^^^^ and mostly just hunting footage. I killed my buck last year Nov 8th cruising a parallel trail on a clover field. Doe bleated him in! I was 70 yds in the woods.
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Re: Hunting parallel field trails

Unread postby BigHunt » Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:10 am

BigHills BuckHunter wrote:
BigHunt wrote:
dan wrote:[glow=red]I have no idea whether they portrayed the tactic correctly, I doubt it, but don't know cause I refuse to watch there DVD.[/glow] .



dont waste your time dan , i seen the movie :roll: :lol: they basicly sit at a table and talk over each other, when the other guy is trying to talk :roll: :lol: i told my freind that he wasted his money , when he could of joined the beast fourm and learnd that from a real expert ;)


Thats where I got this idea from watching that movie. I figured why not check it out but most of the things they talk about are covered in hill country bucks. Sorry to hear they stole another thing from you Dan.

[glow=red]Bighunt I know exaclty what you mean by talking over eachother.....it was kind of awkward to watch..... :lol:[/[/glow]quote]

yep :? very awkward
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Re: Hunting parallel field trails

Unread postby Stump » Wed Aug 29, 2012 7:38 am

Definitely an interesting concept I'd love to hear more about!
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Re: Hunting parallel field trails

Unread postby metropig » Wed Aug 29, 2012 8:44 am

I have to agree with the others that saw the video. I am new to the hunting beast and don't really know anything about the history or relationships people with this site have had with others in the hunting industry. I got turned on to this site by a friend that turned me on to Hill Country and Marsh Bucks. I watched the movies and then had to watch them again to take in all of the knowledge and information. When the other DVD came out I bought it hoping for some more of the educational stuff. I was disappointed in the video. Most of the stuff had already been covered in the the other two videos and it really became more of a show and tell session. I have recommended the Hill Country and Marsh Bucks video to a couple of my friends. I told them not to waste their time with the other video.
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Re: Hunting parallel field trails

Unread postby ozzz » Wed Aug 29, 2012 10:57 am

They tried hard in the video and there are some good parts but most of their pro staff seem like amateurs.

The parallel trail was decent and Lee was hunting a 160 on his land using the method but didnt get it because of pressure from a neighbor, he eventually got it off his water hole.

Again, there are good and bad aspects to the video. The profile of Paul Ranft is pretty good.

Still better than most hunting videos out, bad blood with Dan or not.
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Re: Hunting parallel field trails

Unread postby Bucky » Wed Aug 29, 2012 12:53 pm

I hunt these often late October... Joe Gizdic at Tall Tines had a killer set hung on a parallel trail that I sat. The key to a good one is thick cover along the edge... mature bucks feel much more secure running those parallel trails when the woods is not wide open...

The set at Joes with THICK with Russian Olive... a human could not even get through it, they mowed a shooting lane with a brush hog perpendicular to the parallel trail. If you look at his website one of the biggest bucks shot at TTs came off that stand... close to a 200"er. When hunting these I typically try to set with my wind blowing into the field or even better a cross wind blowing down the field edge. At an inside corner typically two of these parallel trails will come together and that is a killer spot to hunt with the wind blowing parrallel to the field edge. To sweeten the set sometime I will make a blockade where the two trails come together in the inside corner... say a fallen tree, brush pile, etc

One of my super rut funnels is this exact set up leading to a an ag field with a creek
white is creek
red = hog deer trails

Image

As you can see everything comes together in that one inside corner (the other one is not bad either)... I did not even hunt the spot last year but I stuck a camera in there just to see how many bucks cruz'd through during daylight... lets just say I will likely be killing a deer out of it this year :D If I put up the topo the spot gets even better as you would expect from the crop field to the creek there is a 10ft drop... so when I hang a stand in that inside corner I will hang it high on the slope and then set the stand at 15-18ft which puts me 20-25ft above deer = helps with being winded. A North wind would blow straigh down corn field edge, NE ideal, E okay as well

Parallel trails can be found along all types of edges... logging roads, creeks, ag fields, marsh or CRP/timber transition, fence rows, etc etc.
Last edited by Bucky on Wed Aug 29, 2012 1:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Hunting parallel field trails

Unread postby Bucky » Wed Aug 29, 2012 1:10 pm

utica19 wrote:We have a trail like this on our land. It runs about 35-40 yards inside the woodline along a 20 acre crop field. It's been where we have killed our biggest bucks over the years, esp. during rut time. The trail runs N/S and we try to hunt it with a north east/east or south east winds since we setup on the west side of the trail. Has worked well for us, even though that wind direction isn't all that common here. We like to setup between the woodline and the trail (about 15 yards off the trail.

We can only hunt it in the afternoons (or lgo in at mid morning) since we have to access it from the field. Have heards lots of deer blow at us over the years as we foolishly used to cross the open field in the mornings! :naughty:


Wait until 7-8AM, then sneak into stand after the fields have cleared... my observations show slow early AMs during rut 6-8AM, but around mid morning 9-11AM a flurry of activity typically occurs. I think the reason for this is big bucks are bedded at 1st light after running all night, they rest for a few hours, let the does bed down in known bedding areas and they bee line for them searching for a hot one... typically using edges and parallel trails to go from doe bedding area to doe bedding area (sniffn cross trails as they cover ground)
"When a hunter is in a tree stand with high moral values, with the proper hunting ethics and richer for the experience, that hunter is 20 feet closer to God." Fred Bear


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