Hunting off yourself

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cbay
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Hunting off yourself

Unread postby cbay » Thu Feb 06, 2014 7:49 am

Do you ever hunt downwind of one of your set ups? If the first sit doesn't work out and you know the deer will travel through the area on his daily pattern and smell you were there, would you think the buck would get downwind and check for you next time through?
Or would you more often assume the spot is burnt for a while and try your initial spot later?


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Re: Hunting off yourself

Unread postby Stanley » Thu Feb 06, 2014 8:21 am

I normally don't hunt the same stand site twice in a row unless I am certain the buck didn't catch on to me. If the buck did bust me I would not hunt down wind of that stand site to try and catch him skirting me.
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Re: Hunting off yourself

Unread postby Bowhunter4life » Thu Feb 06, 2014 9:53 am

Interesting idea but not a tactic I would try or at least not for a mature buck. In highly pressured public land like I hunt I believe that I can only hunt an area once then it's burnt for a while. Even if the buck doesn't catch my scent while on stand I still think they could catch my ground scent if he moves though the area later that night. Seems like any time I've put pressure on a "mature buck" he just becomes more nocturnal rather than changing his route. 90 percent of the deer I have killed was on my first sit in that general area

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Re: Hunting off yourself

Unread postby dan » Thu Feb 06, 2014 9:57 am

I never hunt in the same spot long enough for them to figure me out... I have found and hunted down wind of spots where other hunters over hunted though.
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Re: Hunting off yourself

Unread postby Crazinamatese » Thu Feb 06, 2014 11:04 am

Didn't Todd from WKP discuss this awhile back?
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Re: Hunting off yourself

Unread postby Southern Man » Thu Feb 06, 2014 11:07 am

Crazinamatese wrote:Didn't Todd from WKP discuss this awhile back?


:mrgreen:
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Re: Hunting off yourself

Unread postby Crazinamatese » Thu Feb 06, 2014 11:44 am

WKPTodd wrote:
If I were you, find an adjacent spot he may move to because of the human intrusion. Better-yet, find a second possible location where he can scent-check the original bedding area for that particular wind. $10.00 he's going to be entering that same bedding area from the downwind side of where you were setting up, and where he caught you. Try to anticipate his next move, it can work. Sometimes I use getting busted as another piece of the puzzle. Worst case, you don't kill him. No biggie, he'll be in the same area next year.

thread: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15313&p=187826&hilit=wkptodd#p187826
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Re: Hunting off yourself

Unread postby Crazinamatese » Thu Feb 06, 2014 11:46 am

The cave you fear hides the treasure you seek!!!
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Re: Hunting off yourself

Unread postby JoeRE » Fri Feb 07, 2014 12:18 am

dan wrote:I have found and hunted down wind of spots where other hunters over hunted though.


X2 If I find sign of stand sites near a location I want to set up, I always look 50 yards or so on the prevailing downwind side of that to see if it seems like a decent spot to set up before moving on. Deer movement tends to be on the downwind side of these spots far too often to be a coincidence.

Now say if you are new to the whole mobile strategy, and up to now have some classic stands that you pound every fall....maybe a good strategy for the next season would be to try a few mobile hunts at places a big buck might cross 50-100 downwind of those spots
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Re: Hunting off yourself

Unread postby cbay » Sat Feb 08, 2014 4:14 am

JoeRE wrote:
dan wrote:I have found and hunted down wind of spots where other hunters over hunted though.


X2 If I find sign of stand sites near a location I want to set up, I always look 50 yards or so on the prevailing downwind side of that to see if it seems like a decent spot to set up before moving on. Deer movement tends to be on the downwind side of these spots far too often to be a coincidence.

Now say if you are new to the whole mobile strategy, and up to now have some classic stands that you pound every fall....maybe a good strategy for the next season would be to try a few mobile hunts at places a big buck might cross 50-100 downwind of those spots


Well said.

We have an old mama doe at the property that hunts for me quite a bit. If we go through the food plot early in the day and bump her out of the area, i can get down wind and closer to where we came from and find her looking for me with her nose before she goes to feed. Enjoyed playing cat n mouse with her a time or so like that. We have sat the plot in the evening with her and other does entering the field and catch a whiff of us but not able to pinpoint us with the swirling wind (valley) - and more than once had them come running towards us at the edge of the plot to get where they could get a better smell and bust us. Really cool to see how much they depend on their sense of smell.
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Re: Hunting off yourself

Unread postby mauser06 » Sat Feb 08, 2014 8:00 am

I think everyone using beast tactics and hu ting buck beds is essentially hunting off themselves to a certain extent sometimes...

Think about it...you hunt his bedroom on day 1...he isn't there or doesn't show...what do you do? Day 2 you go to bed #2..he isn't there or doesn't show or maybe you bust him outta there...day 3 you're in bedroom #3...the last bedroom you think he uses on a SW wind...he walks in and you smoke him...

Was he using bed #3 the entire time? Or did he show up late or did you spook him from beds 1 and 2 and he knew you were there and didn't feel safe going back to those beds so he was essentially pushed to bed #3...where you caught up with him...

Hard to prove and we may never know 1000% but that's how I think bed hunting could be played out...


I known its different that the original post....that's another possibility... he knew you were there but still feels safe...so he raises his alertness and slips out and around his bedding area to check it better...


Like was said going back another day to hope he still uses that bed probably isn't as good as moving onto the next bed and hunting that...

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