A couple of questions from experiences.

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Crazinamatese
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A couple of questions from experiences.

Unread postby Crazinamatese » Mon Aug 15, 2016 7:07 am

I have a couple scenarios that have been chipping away at my mind. Both scenarios are from my actual experiences over the last few years and I could really never figure them out. So they raise some questions and now I think is the time to ask them.

Scenario #1.
A buck bed located 1/3rd down a north facing (non-leeward) hill side. This bed is in some serious thick briar thickets and is well dug into the dirt. Its the best bed I have ever found. Why is he bedding there? Is it possible there is primary doe bedding on top of the ridge and he beds there to scent check falling thermals sinking onto the north facing slope? The buck cannot see anything from that bed. He can certainly hear everthing, and there are no rising thermals. He obviously beds there often but not sure if he beds there all year. But seeing if there is doe bedding on top of the ridge, he is't going to be able to scent check rising thermals. thoughts?

Scenario #2.
Its almost mid-November. The rut is in full swing. I find a group of fresh doe beds on a point on a ridge. Bucks are seeking does this time of year. Should I stop and set up near those fresh beds? Do you think bucks will come along and check the area for those does? Or No?


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Crazinamatese
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Re: A couple of questions from experiences.

Unread postby Crazinamatese » Tue Aug 16, 2016 8:02 am

Bump
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Re: A couple of questions from experiences.

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Tue Aug 16, 2016 9:09 am

"Crazinamatese"
Scenario #1.
A buck bed located 1/3rd down a north facing (non-leeward) hill side. This bed is in some serious thick briar thickets and is well dug into the dirt. Its the best bed I have ever found. Why is he bedding there? Is it possible there is primary doe bedding on top of the ridge and he beds there to scent check falling thermals sinking onto the north facing slope? The buck cannot see anything from that bed. He can certainly hear everthing, and there are no rising thermals. He obviously beds there often but not sure if he beds there all year. But seeing if there is doe bedding on top of the ridge, he is't going to be able to scent check rising thermals. thoughts?


Definitely a tough one. I would make sure and backtrack weather to see how often the wind blows out of the south in that spot which would make it leeward, it may be more often than you think.

It may be that it is much more secure for bedding than anywhere else on the hill, being in a briar thicket it would be hard for anything to get close to him without detection.

On calm days the thermals on the north side may well overpower the wind.

Scenario #2.
Its almost mid-November. The rut is in full swing. I find a group of fresh doe beds on a point on a ridge. Bucks are seeking does this time of year. Should I stop and set up near those fresh beds? Do you think bucks will come along and check the area for those does? Or No?


That's a pretty classic scenario and there's a great chance that bucks will check on those does if they haven't already taken care of business. At that time of year, watching your approach and exit, setting up to catch a buck checking on them makes a lot of sense.
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Re: A couple of questions from experiences.

Unread postby Southern Man » Tue Aug 16, 2016 9:19 am

Crazinamatese wrote:
Scenario #2.
Its almost mid-November. The rut is in full swing. I find a group of fresh doe beds on a point on a ridge. Bucks are seeking does this time of year. Should I stop and set up near those fresh beds? Do you think bucks will come along and check the area for those does? Or No?


Around Doe bedding is one of my favorite ways to hunt in Mid November. Not far away is where the boys are gonna be.
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Re: A couple of questions from experiences.

Unread postby mheichelbech » Tue Aug 16, 2016 10:50 am

About #2, if possible, I'd look for a nearby buck trail...if possible and of course they can be hard to find but it would most likely be the most advantageous way for him to scent check them. If he can scent check them, he could scent check you...but I'd speculate that you know that already.

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Crazinamatese
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Re: A couple of questions from experiences.

Unread postby Crazinamatese » Tue Aug 16, 2016 11:05 am

On scenario 1, that north slope bed has been a brain buster for me. If I had a trail camera at my disposal, that is the one bed I would set it up on. There is a trail that leads from that bed out to the top of the ridge and goes down the south facing (leeward) side and it goes for a long way in a South westerly direction, all the across a highway into a swamp. There are some big rubs along that route as well. I haven't laid eyes on the buck, but the bed suggests he might be a big boy. But who knows?

Thanks for the response on scenario #2. I figured that was a no-brainer. I usually stumble on fresh doe beds (literally with steam coming off them fresh) when Im heading in deep. And I never really stopped to think that, hey, it probably wouldn't be a bad idea to set up close and see if any bucks will come in looking for them.
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Re: A couple of questions from experiences.

Unread postby seazofcheeze » Tue Aug 16, 2016 11:15 am

Is there a decent size water source nearby in scenario #1? I found a similar bed once and it was just off a medium size creek just above an oxbow.

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Re: A couple of questions from experiences.

Unread postby Crazinamatese » Tue Aug 16, 2016 11:26 am

There is a creek to the north, about 500-600 yards or a little more, and a swamp/marshy creek bed in where that trail heads to. Thats at least a half mile though. There is no agriculture in the area. Mostly hardwoods and marsh.
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Re: A couple of questions from experiences.

Unread postby TNstalker » Tue Aug 16, 2016 1:07 pm

U dropped any milkweed on number one to see if there is something else going on ur not seeing?

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Re: A couple of questions from experiences.

Unread postby DaHunter » Tue Aug 16, 2016 1:55 pm

What state? Southerly winds are more common than people think, and it sounds like he exits and heads to the SW which would be into the wind. Hard to say without a topo/aerial. In SW Mich, we get far more Southerly winds than North during Oct/Nov. I expected more W and NW.

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