The start of a new era

[Rockytophunter]

I got introduced to the website last year and have done alot of reading. Only got to hunt twice last unsuccessfully due to building a house. Now that the house is finished it's time to turn up the knobs this year on hunting. I have read numerous times about more than 1 tract of land to hunt which there is public land close by. I want to start in my back yard though. Apparently where I built my house is a summer time sanction for deer. Bachelor groups come straight through my front yard into the crop field. The past 2 days I have been watching off the front porch and have noticed 4 bucks that will be good deer for the hulls of tennessee once fully developed. I saw one that really caught my eye. Big bodied gray haired buck that stood out from the rest. So the 2 days I have been observing them they have came out into the field very close to the same spot. Then the other "group" comes down from the other mtn into the field a little later. What are some thinges to start paying attention to? Wind upon entrances, time of entrances? I would love to set up on them the first day of bow season. I also know they bachelor groups will break up but how far will they actually go when they break up? I counted 11 bucks the first evening and 8 yesterday. I'm trying to learn some basics before really getting technical with everything, which will have to be done to become a successful beast style hunter like those of you out there. It's still kinda hard for me to grasp everything for hunting in the hills. I know where food sources are but I really need to find the bedding areas of bucks and does. Any reply or suggestions are really appreciated.

[Rockytophunter]

Watching 6 bucks and 3 does right now

[Boogieman1]

Funny thing bout what u r describing that has always fascinated me. Is u can watch them jokers all summer and they could careless, put a weapon in your hand and watch what happens! There's something to it lol.

[Rockytophunter]

It is very strange how it works. And the wind was blowing at my back directly towards them about 350yds and they didn't pay a lick of attention.

[<DK>]

Welcome Rockytophunter! Cool name
So to be clear you plan to hunt these deer or youre watching and learning to apply them elsewhere?

Boogieman makes a good point. Not just a weapon though, velvet to hard antler always amazes me about the noticeable mentality differences. By that I mean what you talked about setting up opening day. We all want that to work out nicely, but one key there is mature bucks tend to shed velvet sooner than younger bucks. So their patterns can change before its time to hunt them, something to really monitor. Your backyard sounds amazing though!

If you are able to watch and observe that much per day these are some easy things to monitor:
What wind directions happened through the day & mph. What weather conditions it was for the day or weather front based movement.
Where they are entering or exiting. When they are entering or exiting. Take note of water sources in the area as well.

You talked about them dropping down off of the ridges down to the field correct? Your already on track to success there! One key is the thermal switch when the sun starts to go down and stand placement. This is very much something to pay attention to bc setting up below a bedded buck can be tough. In that situation you'd want to setup after the thermal switch happens so your scent isnt rising to him. Probably something youre real familiar w if youve been reading on here. In a case w a field and high density this could be tough to be there at the proper time AND not bust deer.

If i was able to see that many bucks consistently just to learn ~ I would study the differences in the mature bucks vs younger. The mentalities, body language, tendencies, alertness, movements, enterances, exits, etc... but mainly bedding area locations and differences. All thats bc I want to see more of it though really. Ask yourself WHY things you're seeing are happening, it will make you better everywhere you go to hunt.

Lastly... Tracks, tracks, tracks! If you have one old grey looking buck then watch exactly how he travels one night and catch his tracks. I would take a pic of a few to keep for in season use. If you have little to no exp doing it there are tons of threads about it. Idk if there is a better situation to learn tracking mature buck tracks than your situation in the backyard!

[<DK>]

It is very strange how it works. And the wind was blowing at my back directly towards them about 350yds and they didn't pay a lick of attention.

Get some milkweed or thistle, throw some off the porch. If its a field opening it may not actually be making it to them like you think. Consider that they are more tolerant this time of season. If it is making it to them then they know youre not any threat or maybe its bc they havent been pressured back there enough to, like you said care one lick. You did say they walk right through your back yard so thats really cool!

[seazofcheeze]

I googled when the TN archery opener is, and it looks like its starts Sept 23rd, if I am reading the regs right. In my opinion, that is right on the edge of when the bucks really start to disperse off their summer patterns. Once the velvet comes off around Sept. 15th, they start to get a little less patient everyday with the presence of other bucks up to and through the rut. My best advice is to keep observing from a distance and make sure you pick out an exact tree (obviously within bow range....or if the deer has a tendency to follow an edge, within range of where you expect him to end up at some point), for an exact wind near where the target buck is coming out, then pray you get that wind the first few days of the season. I would avoid the temptation to set cameras, stands, or otherwise disturb the area prior to hunting it. If you can glass it from a distance, and get a pattern on the buck, you already have the majority of the intel you need. I would really think about your stand entry route as well. Depending on what kind of crop is planted in the field, you may be somewhat or fully exposed getting to your stand. That's bad, as the buck bedded higher on the hill/mountain may have a visual on the field below. You will also have to think about thermals. Which direction does the hillside face that the buck(s) are coming from? If it is a South or East facing slope, there will be rising thermals later into the day than if it is a North or West facing slope, which will cool earlier and see the thermals drop earlier. If you have a later thermal drop, you may want to consider getting into the stand later in the day if the deer are coming from high to low.

As far as how far the bucks will go once they disperse, that's really hard to say for any one particular deer as there are quite a few variables. A few that come to mind are 1. pressure 2. preferred bedding in the area 3. preferred fall food sources 4. proximity to doe groups (mid/late october onward). 5. Age of the deer can impact dispersion as well, with younger bucks generally being more apt to disperse a greater distance.

[Rockytophunter]

The field will have to be an evening hunt for sure. I feel like everything a deer needs is in very close proximity food,water, thickets. I just need to take everything in a make it come together. Where I am at is the very beginning of a deep cove. The cove might be 250 yds wide so that's why I'm saying I have 1 set coming from mountain and the other set coming from the other mountain. Or at least that's how it looks. Tonight the same good looking 3 bucks popped up out of the back corner as they have been between 7:45 and 7:55 then around 8:30 the other good buck pops up with the snailer bucks walking through the yard. I am going to get up before day light and ease out on the porch to see if I can catch them exiting the field. Prior hunting years I really haven't saw many bucks in the woods. Maybe im not in the right spot or just flat out doing it totally wrong idk. I have saw alot of does while hunting just not bucks. I know where a ton of sign is and it's always there. I have never found a bedding area. I'm probably not looking in the right spots. I know this land like the back of my hand but still can't seem to pinpoint a good buck. Guess that's why they are the master of their territory. The mountain that I have always hunted is a east facing mountain so thermals start really early. Which comes to my next question. Am I chosing right stand locations for elevation. If they bucks start coming out later and later do I need to skimper into the woods another 100 or 150 yds to catch him in daylight. There are so many questions I have. Maybe I over think things alot and confuse myself by always asking why. I can email for guys a pic of a topo and show you everything I know if that would help get an idea of how everything is laid out

[Bonecrusher101]

As a fellow tn hunter. I've tried a lot of different things to bag a mature buck during early season with a bow. I've yet to get all those pieces together. August will look promising near soy beans and then almost overnight by mid sept everything changes. Good luck I hope you can make it work and teach me something!

[Fins & Tines]

Welcome to the Beast from Mid TN.

Tip on finding the bedding from the food- follow the trails backwards. They lead to 1 of 3 places, Food, Water, or Shelter. Since you found the food source, follow the trails back to where they came from. That helped me find my first beds. After that, it was like all the puzzle pieces made sense and I was able to replicate what I found on other tracts.

[Rockytophunter]

Food is the big field. The base of the mountain touches a creek that runs year round and across the creek is the field where they come to. I have found some good looking areas where I thought the would bed but have yet to come up with anything. I would love to get a good snow and start back tracking them to find all of the beds. The mountain has a flat about 1/3 of the way up with a good white oak patch. Then around the mountain 250 yards is a lot of limestone rock in a big cedar patch which starts into a holler. That's where I would have thought they would be down but I'm not looking close enough or they just ain't bedding there

[Twenty Up]

Once the acorns begin to fall they'll ditch the soybean fields and key in on acorns. It's a pain to keep tabs on them afterwards, bedding area may stay the same or it could change. I'd focus on the largest oak flat near where they are entering the fields and follow the rubs/scrapes

[Rockytophunter]

Everything that everyone is saying sounds like I have the perfect place then. From the creek in a 300 or 350yds radius is bean field then creek then mountain with the oaks with a cedar thicket on one side then a pine thicket on the other. Everything seems to be in very close range. I just can't pinpoint the small things. Was gonna set up 6 cameras to see if I could get a better camera but after opinions and me reading on here I don't think I want to do that