Leeward point hill beds or south facing slope beds?

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johndeere506
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Leeward point hill beds or south facing slope beds?

Unread postby johndeere506 » Tue Dec 22, 2015 2:43 am

I am not experienced in hill country. I have the hill country dvd, probably should watch it again. Its been a while. I have read a lot, but have little boots on the ground info so far. When still hunting or scouting for buck beds, I believe I should be looking for 1/3 down elevation, on points extending from the main ridge. These should be on the leeward side of the main ridge. Right?

What about late season? Many people talk of south facing slopes, during late season. Is this only on cold days? What if its a windward side of the ridge that day? Which wins that scenario, south facing or leeward wind?

What is the most productive place to scout? Ridges for saddle crossings and points, or look for good benches, or scout down low for where they go at night?

Are any of these features only productive during rut, and I shouldnt look at them now?

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Re: Leeward point hill beds or south facing slope beds?

Unread postby sunset samurai » Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:45 am

Saddles n funnels are better during rut. Beds are more consistant outside of rut. Beds can be used at differebt times of year as food sources change.

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Re: Leeward point hill beds or south facing slope beds?

Unread postby dan » Tue Dec 22, 2015 5:14 am

In my opinion, south facing slopes are great in cold late season days because those cold days are a north wind...
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Re: Leeward point hill beds or south facing slope beds?

Unread postby Stanley » Tue Dec 22, 2015 5:28 am

In my opinion leeward wind is often misunderstood. When checking for slope beds you need to check both sides of the points extending from the main ridge. You can think prevailing wind but that always isn't the present time wind. :think:
You don't want to get stuck in the mud on what wind you think is prevailing in relationship to leeward.

You may find a bed on one side and not the other. You may also find a bed on both sides. :think: You gotta be thorough in your scouting. This really holds true in hill country. The wind is very tough in hill country. So keep an eye open and don't think it is going to be text book all the time.

I agree with Dan the south slopes are often in the sun and out of the wind for cold weather bedding. Sunny day, super cold Super windy, south side slopes can be the ticket.
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Re: Leeward point hill beds or south facing slope beds?

Unread postby JoeRE » Tue Dec 22, 2015 6:27 am

dan wrote:In my opinion, south facing slopes are great in cold late season days because those cold days are a north wind...


X2.

Most places a southerly wind mean warmer conditions and deer will flip back to the leeward side, northerly slopes for thermal shelter late season (on top of the wind-from-above bed preference year round). Even if its -10 out with a strong south wind (just an example) deer will move to get out of the wind...it will feel warmer out of the wind and out of the sun than in the wind and in the sun. If its a light south wind but still extremely cold, yea sometimes they are still one the south slopes but I am not sure big bucks will bed with the wind in their face. If its that cold out deer stay on their feet more just to stay warm. Both those scenarios, bitter cold with south wind, are pretty rare though. It just so happens that cold weather = northerly wind most of the time.
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Re: Leeward point hill beds or south facing slope beds?

Unread postby checkerfred » Wed Feb 03, 2016 12:01 pm

Stanley wrote:In my opinion leeward wind is often misunderstood. When checking for slope beds you need to check both sides of the points extending from the main ridge. You can think prevailing wind but that always isn't the present time wind. :think:
You don't want to get stuck in the mud on what wind you think is prevailing in relationship to leeward.

.

Stanley, so are you saying if say the wind is from the west, the east side may not be the leeward side? Like if the wind is doing something weird with the terrain?

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Re: Leeward point hill beds or south facing slope beds?

Unread postby Southern Man » Thu Feb 04, 2016 1:10 am

checkerfred wrote:
Stanley wrote:In my opinion leeward wind is often misunderstood. When checking for slope beds you need to check both sides of the points extending from the main ridge. You can think prevailing wind but that always isn't the present time wind. :think:
You don't want to get stuck in the mud on what wind you think is prevailing in relationship to leeward.

.

Stanley, so are you saying if say the wind is from the west, the east side may not be the leeward side? Like if the wind is doing something weird with the terrain?



Not to speak for Stanley but hilly country does strange things with the wind. I have seen a north wind turn into an east or west wind depending on how the terrain is layed out. It's not all text book. And those changes seem to be fairly consistant in certian areas, it just depends. I have spots where if a north wind is called for, I know the air will be moving from the east (or west) for that spot. Think of water moving in a creek. Structure in the creek bed will affect how the water flows and create eddies where the water will change course for a bit or be still as opposed to all flowing with the current. I will look at maps, make a plan, and assume how it should be, but I know the only way to be sure is boots on the ground.
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Re: Leeward point hill beds or south facing slope beds?

Unread postby <DK> » Thu Feb 04, 2016 10:12 am

[quote="johndeere506"]
What about late season? Many people talk of south facing slopes, during late season. Is this only on cold days? What if its a windward side of the ridge that day? Which wins that scenario, south facing or leeward wind?

What is the most productive place to scout? Ridges for saddle crossings and points, or look for good benches, or scout down low for where they go at night?

Are any of these features only productive during rut, and I shouldnt look at them now?

I am a newb to BEAST past 2 seasons and been scouting the past 2 weekends - Central MO, Hilly and all woods.

This past weekend I had a S/SW wind w a slight shift and I bumped a buck from the main ridge for bedding. It is best for W/NW/N/NE Winds, I guess he was just going to move around different beds till he found one that worked. My most productive place for finding large buck sign and buck beds has been chain ridges. Also, NOT ALWAYS TRUE, just my rule of thumb, I find the best buck sign on the tallest ridges w very decent incline. I start at the bottom and work my way up if its a place I believe holds a good animal. Im sure dan and some other guys on here are masters of speed scouting, or maybe they can find what they are looking for and move on. But I have found what Dan says is true, Satellite bedding and access in the hills is where the tough part begins.
Last edited by <DK> on Thu Feb 04, 2016 11:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Leeward point hill beds or south facing slope beds?

Unread postby Edcyclopedia » Thu Feb 04, 2016 10:22 am

dan wrote:In my opinion, south facing slopes are great in cold late season days because those cold days are a north wind...


Agreed; in particular I've noticed SE sides of hills to be the best, my guess is it heats up the quickest along with the NW winds coming from Canada for NH Jetstream...
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Re: Leeward point hill beds or south facing slope beds?

Unread postby justdirtyfun » Thu Feb 04, 2016 11:22 am

I consider a deer to be similar to us in regard to being warm blooded and sun loving. So here goes. And I'm just considering hill terrain with Northerly winds.

SE facing slopes will be warmed first and that seems best for a deer lying down for the day. But, early heat is not as needed since they have just been active and will not chill right away. The other assumption is a full belly will carry them for a while too. So early sun and heat is not a high biological need.

SW facing slopes give a benefit later on in the day. When the real chill kicks in after sitting with no activity and an empty belly, the direct sunlight will be a huge benefit. This will help them stay in bedding and prepare them for evening activity. The SE bed at this time will lose almost all advantages because of sun angle and slope angle counteracting each other.

Does this seem reasonable, and have you seen late season examples of this?
A cross wind or something close with a bed that will get sunlight as late as possible into the afternoon.
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Re: Leeward point hill beds or south facing slope beds?

Unread postby justdirtyfun » Thu Feb 04, 2016 11:39 am

darkknight, while out picking up intel in the woods, I believe bedding is highest priority.

The bedding is the main focus during scouting because later reflection on the found beds and trails should help find the GOOD funnels for rut activity. Some saddles or funnels that showed promise might be crossed off by the boots on the ground details.

And they are on different sides of ridges due to changing winds. We hunt during fall and that USUALLY gives cooling North-ish winds. Most beds to hunt will end up on some sort of S or SE or SW side. I mentally prepared for NW winds but was scrambling all season with Southern winds. I didn't know where to find the deer.
Had I scouted the 1/3 down elevation completely I might have had beds to hunt.
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