Hill country bottoms success

[dreaming bucks]

The winds are also a lot more consistent if you get really high in the tree. If possible, I try to set up between 30 - 35 feet.

[ Post made via Android ]

Nose bleed section! Lol... I can't go that high. Too far from my feet on the ground. Lol

[ Post made via Android ]

[dreaming bucks]

I honestly don't even try to hunt bottoms of Valley's anymore, I've been winded way too much to think it's worth it. I would get all kinds of pics of nice bucks while I wasn't there, but nothing doing while trying to hunt these areas. I will stick to hunting high on the ridges, but you still have to get there without them seeing you walk in. I'm a firm believer those bucks sit there on those military crest watching for us to walk in. If they see you, game over!

[ Post made via Android ]

Narrow bottoms I agree. I can't hunt down low in tight bottoms. Bigger bottoms, wide, say 75-100 yards I can get some pretty consistent winds. Just takes some experimenting . To your point though I won't attempt to hunt low unless it has the characteristics like my example above. In this example it's in before light, out after dark, all day sit. Coming in at midday won't work in most cases, you're busted.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

That's what I'm doing now with as many sits as possible in hill country, get in the tree in the dark, and get out in the dark. Pack a lunch. It's a long day, but we'll worth it.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Singing Bridge]

Holy moly, awesome buck!

A couple of days after finding this buck I had quite the encounter. I was on a dirt road just a couple of miles from there after I finished hunting, not long after dark. The dirt road passed through the base of where several bluffs had points coming down. I hit my brakes as a giant walked out, all my gear went flying. He strode right in front of my truck for well over a minute. He was bigger than this buck in every way (I had the rack in my truck for comparison ). He had twice the mass, longer tines and was every bit as wide, his main beams were longer- way over Boone. He was solid muscle, little fat and would easily dress over 300#. It was one of my most amazing encounters and I've hunted a long time. I've got to get back up there!
Anyway, those bottoms in bluff country can certainly produce.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

What are your feeling about hunting right next to a road in these situations? I found 2 cyber scouting today, but both of them have a forestry road running at the bottom.

[ Post made via Android ]

I was just wondering the same thing about the forest rds, seems a lot of times around here every good wide bottom or ridgetop saddle has a forest rd running through it which can be a little frustrating. also a few examples of this on some maps would be great, Im having a little tougher time seeing these areas on my maps than some more obvious terrain features.

Here is one of the areas I found.

The red circles are just areas I want to look at. The black is a potential stand sight for the rut. I noticed a steep area to the right of the black circle which could funnel deer through there. I drove the roads around this area and cut good tracks in the snow crossing the main forestry road a 1/4 mile away to the North -north west. I think the road cutting through the bottom is gated at the main road, but I will have to confirm that in the field.

I find that hunting pressure is the greatest influence on whether or not bottoms can be productive in the situation you describe. I've hunted areas where the pressure is so light it didn't restrict the travel of buck / bear / wolf in the bottoms. I've also got hill bottoms that are overrun with hunters and stands, road traffic... these areas are far less productive.

[JoeRE]

The winds are also a lot more consistent if you get really high in the tree. If possible, I try to set up between 30 - 35 feet.

[ Post made via Android ]

That is true. If I am hunting down in a valley its very rare I am below 20'. I also avoid narrow bottoms or ones with lots of bends. Recipe for disaster. I still find lots of bottom setups that work, just have to be picky. I have one area that is a big bowl with points dumping down into it from every direction that I just can't hunt, put a trail camera down there every year and get slobs in daylight but never can get a consistent air current when I climb a tree spring scouting to test it. I go down there to give it a try every stinking spring. Maybe I need to go higher than 30 feet, but I start getting light headed.

[BassBoysLLP]

The winds are also a lot more consistent if you get really high in the tree. If possible, I try to set up between 30 - 35 feet.

[ Post made via Android ]

That is true. If I am hunting down in a valley its very rare I am below 20'. I also avoid narrow bottoms or ones with lots of bends. Recipe for disaster. I still find lots of bottom setups that work, just have to be picky. I have one area that is a big bowl with points dumping down into it from every direction that I just can't hunt, put a trail camera down there every year and get slobs in daylight but never can get a consistent air current when I climb a tree spring scouting to test it. I go down there to give it a try every stinking spring. Maybe I need to go higher than 30 feet, but I start getting light headed.

I'd rather climb 40 feet up with the gear I have today than the old days of shimmying up to the first limb followed by hanging a stand one armed...all without a harness. You need to trust your gear and practice with it. 35 feet doesn't seem that bad if you practice at 50 feet.

[Singing Bridge]

Count me out- this old boy won't be practicing at 50 feet.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Bucky]

Great spot for a rifle

[isitseasonyet?]

Correct me if I am wrong but it seems to me you guys are hunting these spots, like mentioned with hills coming together around a river making a funnel, with a wind perpendicular to the direction of the cruising trail. So if the bucks trail is going East to West you are hunting it with a North or south wind That makes sense to me as the bucks could then scent check all the doe bedding on the points. So to hunt it you would access perpendicular to the trail with the wind in your face and hunt on the hill above the trail, but only in the morning as the sun heating the bottoms would cause the thermals to rise up the hill and as the day progresses you would move up to that top 1/3 elevation and hunt the thermal tunnel? I'm slightly confused, in my own hunting I have been busted trying to hunt the bottoms because the winds have a tendency to swirl, and from what I gather you need a stronger wind or to take advantage of the thermals to pull this off. I cant grasp how you could hunt an area with hills converging into a "bowl" without getting busted as the deer could come from any direction?

Edit: The whole post is meant to be a question. Don't know of that came across as a statement or not haha.

[Ridgerunner7]

Correct me if I am wrong but it seems to me you guys are hunting these spots, like mentioned with hills coming together around a river making a funnel, with a wind perpendicular to the direction of the cruising trail. So if the bucks trail is going East to West you are hunting it with a North or south wind That makes sense to me as the bucks could then scent check all the doe bedding on the points. So to hunt it you would access perpendicular to the trail with the wind in your face and hunt on the hill above the trail, but only in the morning as the sun heating the bottoms would cause the thermals to rise up the hill and as the day progresses you would move up to that top 1/3 elevation and hunt the thermal tunnel? I'm slightly confused, in my own hunting I have been busted trying to hunt the bottoms because the winds have a tendency to swirl, and from what I gather you need a stronger wind or to take advantage of the thermals to pull this off. I cant grasp how you could hunt an area with hills converging into a "bowl" without getting busted as the deer could come from any direction?

This is a risky set up and one that needs several qualities to work in my opinion. This is my opinion and a setup that has worked for me time and time again. This is just one example of it. I think you need several points feeding into a relatively small area. Imagine these as multiple deer trails all converging. Almost any deer on that ridge coming to the next ridge will filter through that area. The wide bottom is key for me as allows for less swirling winds. Tight bottoms = swirlly winds and I haven't figured that puzzle out. Maybe some other members have. I like my wind blowing down the wide valley, away from the bulk of the travel and in this case to only one converging point. Basically I'm giving up that route with my wind. Can I get busted there? Absolutely and I have. But I usually hunt this set up when the bucks are really moving. Nov 6-10 with cold temps, enter and exit in the dark (all day sits) maybe 1-2 times per year. I killed a buck in this set up recently 30 minutes after coming to full draw on a giant that just passed out of range. 20 minutes after that another shooter stud buck came down the point that was down wind and busted me. My buddy came back to this bottom 3 days later to shoot a mid 150s non typical buck. It flat out produces. Between this an another bottom set with similar characteristics I have 5 total sits with 4 bucks that I'm proud of. A couple of old timers too.

It wouldn't be my choice if I was chasing one specific buck outside the rut but during the time frame and conditions I stated above it sure has been good to me.

I don't consider myself a hill country expert at all. Couple of guys on this thread would hunt circles around me and I'm sure a few others could as well. Maybe they will chime in with a little more advice. I just know I look for a few certain things in hill country and this is one. I don't find it often but when I have they have been great.

[isitseasonyet?]

[/quote]
I like my wind blowing down the wide valley, away from the bulk of the travel and in this case to only one converging point. Basically I'm giving up that route with my wind. Can I get busted there? Absolutely and I have.[/quote]
So do you use the same point you give up to the wind for your access? Rather than burning two points?

[ Post made via Android ]

[hunter10]

I have a couple concerns with this approach after doing a scout for this type of spot. Usually the high ridges don't have tha much ground cover.. Will majority of bucks still feel safe cruising from top down to these bottoms? Second any of my spots I need to access from the top ridges to get into position.. My wind may be blowing much different then once I'm in the bottom and up a tree. How can I tell if I have polluted this whole area wit swirling winds before I even make it into position, besides little or no movement

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Ridgerunner7]

I like my wind blowing down the wide valley, away from the bulk of the travel and in this case to only one converging point. Basically I'm giving up that route with my wind. Can I get busted there? Absolutely and I have.[/quote]
So do you use the same point you give up to the wind for your access? Rather than burning two points?

[ Post made via Android ] [/quote]
Ideally yes. In this case I can't drop in from that point as there is a big destination food source up top. I do come in from a round about way in that general direction of the point and come in low. Otherwise I come in from the NW at dark 30, way before it's even thinking about cracking light. Never busted a deer. They are all on the tops feeding. Sneak right in and wait for the action to start.

[Ridgerunner7]

I have a couple concerns with this approach after doing a scout for this type of spot. Usually the high ridges don't have tha much ground cover.. Will majority of bucks still feel safe cruising from top down to these bottoms? Second any of my spots I need to access from the top ridges to get into position.. My wind may be blowing much different then once I'm in the bottom and up a tree. How can I tell if I have polluted this whole area wit swirling winds before I even make it into position, besides little or no movement

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Have you experimented with milk weed to see what your wind does? Are the deer on the tops feeding before light? If you are accessing in the dark early morning and sitting all day? If so you shouldn't be spooking much. Every property is different. I'm just showing you a couple of examples that work good for me. They are unique in that they have the characteristics stated above, relatively low pressure (compared to what I'm used to) and high competition between the bucks. You may have to dive in an experiment with different sets. Took me 5 years to zero in on this spot.

[BigHunt]

The winds are also a lot more consistent if you get really high in the tree. If possible, I try to set up between 30 - 35 feet.

[ Post made via Android ]

That is true. If I am hunting down in a valley its very rare I am below 20'. I also avoid narrow bottoms or ones with lots of bends. Recipe for disaster. I still find lots of bottom setups that work, just have to be picky. I have one area that is a big bowl with points dumping down into it from every direction that I just can't hunt, put a trail camera down there every year and get slobs in daylight but never can get a consistent air current when I climb a tree spring scouting to test it. I go down there to give it a try every stinking spring. Maybe I need to go higher than 30 feet, but I start getting light headed.

I'd rather climb 40 feet up with the gear I have today than the old days of shimmying up to the first limb followed by hanging a stand one armed...all without a harness. You need to trust your gear and practice with it. 35 feet doesn't seem that bad if you practice at 50 feet.

50feet !?!?!?!?!?!?!?! your insane dude!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[I_Love_Scotch]

The only time I hunt bottoms is the 1/2-hour of daylight or that last 1/2 hour. Anything after that and the thermals start mixing with the prevailing winds sucking through the bottoms and the wind starts whipping right back around. All of the sign is in those bottoms because deer use them to their advantage and travel them because they have a wind advantage. I've tried to beat the wind in those areas by hanging high 30', ground blinds, nose jammer (LOL)....j/k. Even hanging high the wind is whipping around so much and pushing down its just not worth it. I always get beat. 1/3 down from the top on ridges on the faint buck trails downwind of the heavy does trails is where you'll find me.