Getting to the stand

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rswell2
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Getting to the stand

Unread postby rswell2 » Sat Oct 19, 2013 4:01 am

After watching the Hill Country DVD again this morning, I've got a question about one section of the video that I was wondering if someone could help me understand. In chapter 7, it's talking about staging areas and how we need to "encroach" onto his safe zone.

I've poorly recreated the section of the video on the picture below that I'm wondering about. It shows the winds coming down to the point (WNW) and the thermal's rising up the point toward the bedding (Red X). Based on the video, Jarrod places a stand where I have the black circle. My first questions is how do you get to the black X? Do you walk down the ridge and cut down the hill (doesn't seem right)? Do you come down the draw along the hillside (gray line) and cut up the side of the bank, hunting below the thermal mix so your sent doesn't travel down the mixing zone to the point? Do you come in perpendicular to the ridge and climb up the bank (black line )?


The situation involving the Joe Rundy (sp) buck appears that they set up below and waited for him to come down. I've put a Blue circle in a spot that closely resembles their choice. They also had a few draws that were creating a "tumbling" effect that pulled the wind up the draws. I guess this would be a similar question. I think with this option (using my picture) you would still need to come down from the north (light blue). I would be afraid to cut across a bottom in the middle of the field where I'm assuming the thermals could pull my scent up that point (dark blue).

My last thought, in order to try to miss both the wind direction and the thermals, would actually be to set up lower on the point directly across from the suspected bedding (yellow circle). I guess my question with this would be, do any of you every set up at the bottom of points across from a buck bedding point? I think in the picture I've posted here, the yellow circle (or at least on somewhere on that point) would be a reasonable choice since it appears to be a good pinch point between the two hills. I do know that I have a lot of doe movement through this area.



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rswell2
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Re: Getting to the stand

Unread postby rswell2 » Sat Oct 19, 2013 4:04 am

One other problem I see with using the blue line crossing the low spot would be the buck watching me come in.
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Re: Getting to the stand

Unread postby dan » Sat Oct 19, 2013 4:28 am

I would rarely come in from the bottom... The black or grey line would be my approach
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Jay
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Re: Getting to the stand

Unread postby Jay » Sat Oct 19, 2013 1:02 pm

When Jarrod shot that buck it was early season at a water hole but didn't tell access. When Joe shot the buck it was low in a swamp and the wind was blowing up the draw. I've killed bucks in a similar situation like the one on your map but not with a bow. In 2011 and 2012 I killed bucks in the exact same spot with a rifle coming in from below and shooting uphill. Once thermal starts to switch you gotta move if he isn't there.
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Buckfever
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Re: Getting to the stand

Unread postby Buckfever » Sat Oct 19, 2013 1:08 pm

I think it's great that you're thinking about the thermals and the prevailing wind and how that in conjuction with topography dictates bedding choices. I think once you get there though it's too early to think about the wind, stand setup and route in. I think you need to think about what the buck is going to do, what's the story? So I think this is where we think about staging, depending on the time of year food sources, routes towards doe bedding.

Does he drop down to the bottom, does he stay up high, is there evidence of consistency? Once you have the picture then the rest of where you want to set and the thermals and prevailing winds figure on your route and how you set up.
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Re: Getting to the stand

Unread postby trapper57 » Sat Oct 19, 2013 1:13 pm

Is the buck going up in elevation to feed or is the lower elevation in crop fields or food plot?
Also what says the buck won't drop down in the bottom and head up the the other side?
Especially during the rut or pre rut?

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Re: Getting to the stand

Unread postby Beason » Sat Oct 19, 2013 3:33 pm

How much drop in elevation is there from top to bottom? Hug the rim of the draw from top for approach towards point/bedded buck.
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Re: Getting to the stand

Unread postby whitetail4ever » Sun Oct 20, 2013 4:04 am

So...barring any of your scent that gets to the buck....you basically have less than a 33% chance of even seeing the buck due to all the various directions he can go. With that NW wind, wouldn't he follow dropping thermals off point straight down? Or, lets say there is a preferred food source that surrounds the point, what would he instinctively do? This is tough...

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The woods has so much to offer to the human soul...
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Re: Getting to the stand

Unread postby whitetail4ever » Sun Oct 20, 2013 4:12 am

Rswell, great post and question by the way...

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Re: Getting to the stand

Unread postby dan » Sun Oct 20, 2013 4:26 am

whitetail4ever wrote:So...barring any of your scent that gets to the buck....you basically have less than a 33% chance of even seeing the buck due to all the various directions he can go. With that NW wind, wouldn't he follow dropping thermals off point straight down? Or, lets say there is a preferred food source that surrounds the point, what would he instinctively do? This is tough...

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Scouting should answer those questions... In the spring you can see the staging trail(s) and in the fall you can check the surrounding food sources for sign. You can usually see old rubs and a trail coming out too.
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rswell2
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Re: Getting to the stand

Unread postby rswell2 » Tue Oct 22, 2013 2:23 am

First of all, thank you all so much for the discussion. The posting on this site never lacks great info. After reading through this posts I now have two separate thoughts...I think.

1. The intent of my original question, before my rambling, was how do you use the prevailing wind vs. thermals to actually determine your path to the stand? With more thought about basic approaches than my specific hunting spot.

What Jay hit on above is exactly right, Jarrod didn't actually mention his access. I think what I was trying to get at is how do you actually get to a stand that is positioned behind or sort of off-set upwind? Not so much with my specific picture example which I was trying to use as a reference, but in similar situations. I felt like the stand position Jarrod would be tough to get in to. It seems like the prevailing wind coming down off the ridge toward the point would make it a hard approach. If you come down the high point of the ridge and cut downhill to a stand, your scent would still theoretically wash down the front of the point. If you walk along the side of the ridge (anywhere in the top 1/3), I would think you would still have the same issue of the wind carrying the scent right toward the point bedding location.

Dan pointed to one of the lines I had drawn (gray). As I have it drawn you would actually follow the draw (in this case it's a creek-bed) down to a point that you could cut up the side of the hill a short distance and set up. I can see where this might be a good idea as you're approaching below the top 1/3 and, I assume, finding a tree on the low side that you could climb high enough to not be winded/seen by deer traveling in the wind tunnel. Which after thinking about Dan's post may not actually be what he meant since he said he wouldn't approach from below. The other approach is the perpendicular approach, which would be very similar...come in low and climb up.


2. As for all of the input as to how it would directly relate to my spot...it is very much appreciated. I'm still very up in the air as to how I would hunt this particular corner. I've actually hunted this property for several years, but this is my first Beast Hunting style season.

The lowest point on that map (~780ft) is a somewhat open field that is not maintained in any way (no food plots, ag crops, etc.). It is actually composed mostly from an invasive species we have in this part of Kentucky called Japanese Stiltgrass - VERY thick and from what I can tell, not really utilized by deer for grazing. From the base of the point up the hill to about the 920-940 ft mark is think brush/sumac type stuff then it turns to hardwood back to the back of the ridge (~1060ft) and down along both sides. The creek actually hugs the front of the point most of the way around. The creek-bed in this spot has very steep walls, anywhere from 6-8 feet deep with an overall gap from side to side measuring probably 10-12 feet. So, I don't think the buck would come straight down of the point (path of least resistance, lazy bucks, etc.). He may drop down off the left side (bottom or south in the picture) and onto the neighboring property (thin red line is property line). The creek-bed is still somewhat deep in that area, but it's not nearly as wide. However, I'm hoping/relying more on him wrapping back more on the northern side and down into the funneling/pinching area between the two points. From what I've seen in the past, I think that back side would be considered the staging area. There is a lot of traffic coming through that funnel as it is. In years past there have always been scrapes and rubs outlining the area. There are also lots of doe bedding areas that are used quite frequently. I was there last December looking around and the doe bedding actually shocked me, they had to be 10 inches deep, completely bare dirt.

I'm really starting to think that this area of the property might just make a better rutting spot, avoid pressure on the point and set up overlooking the trail that runs between the base of the two points, but I'm not sure. Also, as Jay pointed out, the point might be a spot that would be good to wait for rifle season and come in from below/the front and maybe set up a little farther away downwind.


Also, thanks again. You guys are truly awesome!!!


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