Trying to apply HB tactics...need some help, please.

[KPnorthdakota]

I agree that hill country tactics should put you on the east side of a coolee with a west wind for bedding or rut setup. I have limited experience hunting this terrain, what I did was in western ND early season. In my experience the deer came out of the coolies and traveled across wide open terrain to feed, very little travel down the coolies themselves. Also the only trees were more towards the bottom so getting high on the edge to have your wind travel over the deer wasn't an option. The best advice I can give is glass them bed and figure out how to setup from there, without solid observation is going to be tough. Don't rule out hunting from the ground taking advantage of the bed to food travel. My best setup was watching 3 bucks bed and slipped in through a river and setup on the bottom below them and they came to water when they got up.

Thanks for the info. So, I'm hunting a cooley that runs N to S. And I have woods on the East & West side of the cooley. Outside the woods are harvested wheat fields (harvested last week). So, I sat on the East side of the cooley at the top of the woods because there was a W wind (10-14mph). This is a pretty heavy travel corridor.

Questions...
1) Is this the right side of the cooley to hunt with that wind?
2) I'm hunting evenings so how will the thermals affect me? (milkweed showed very little movement)
3) How will the crops being harvested typically affect their pattern? (I'm sitting in white oaks but they're all over the place)
4) The woods are pretty thick so glassing more than 50 yards is impossible. How can I glass them bedding and at what time?

Thanks.

[purebowhunting]

I agree that hill country tactics should put you on the east side of a coolee with a west wind for bedding or rut setup. I have limited experience hunting this terrain, what I did was in western ND early season. In my experience the deer came out of the coolies and traveled across wide open terrain to feed, very little travel down the coolies themselves. Also the only trees were more towards the bottom so getting high on the edge to have your wind travel over the deer wasn't an option. The best advice I can give is glass them bed and figure out how to setup from there, without solid observation is going to be tough. Don't rule out hunting from the ground taking advantage of the bed to food travel. My best setup was watching 3 bucks bed and slipped in through a river and setup on the bottom below them and they came to water when they got up.

Thanks for the info. So, I'm hunting a cooley that runs N to S. And I have woods on the East & West side of the cooley. Outside the woods are harvested wheat fields (harvested last week). So, I sat on the East side of the cooley at the top of the woods because there was a W wind (10-14mph). This is a pretty heavy travel corridor.

Questions...
1) Is this the right side of the cooley to hunt with that wind?
2) I'm hunting evenings so how will the thermals affect me? (milkweed showed very little movement)
3) How will the crops being harvested typically affect their pattern? (I'm sitting in white oaks but they're all over the place)
4) The woods are pretty thick so glassing more than 50 yards is impossible. How can I glass them bedding and at what time?

Thanks.

I think you're applying the tactics slightly incorrect in relation to wind. They'll bed with the wind over their back in the thermal tunnel and travel this during rut but now they're going to simply travel to food, this travel can on either side of the Cooley or on the flat to, just point a to b. Thermals will rise in the evenings but this is effected by the amount of temp change and will generally be after sunset so a short window of thermals rising. If you're targeting white oaks best is to focus on the oaks closest to bedding. Crops or not when oaks drop in my experience they'll be preferred of at least the first food they'll go to since they're in cover. I found vantage points and glasses first light, I'd glass and crop fields or the Cooley if you can see them without having any ground scent effect movement. I've never seen areas in ND that sound as thick as you describe.

[KPnorthdakota]

I think you're applying the tactics slightly incorrect in relation to wind. They'll bed with the wind over their back in the thermal tunnel and travel this during rut but now they're going to simply travel to food, this travel can on either side of the Cooley or on the flat to, just point a to b. Thermals will rise in the evenings but this is effected by the amount of temp change and will generally be after sunset so a short window of thermals rising. If you're targeting white oaks best is to focus on the oaks closest to bedding. Crops or not when oaks drop in my experience they'll be preferred of at least the first food they'll go to since they're in cover. I found vantage points and glasses first light, I'd glass and crop fields or the Cooley if you can see them without having any ground scent effect movement. I've never seen areas in ND that sound as thick as you describe.

When I say too thick to glass more than 50 yards I mean up in the stand due to branching from trees. I could glass farther from the ground (in the woods I'm speaking about).

I've always understood thermals to rise in the morning and fall in the evening.

When you glass the crop fields are you looking for their exit and entry point? If so, do you then glass from that point of entry/exit to see where they're bedding. In other words, what good does it do to glass from the crop field in order to find their bedding?

Thanks for your help.

[justdirtyfun]

I'm reading some mixed messages and want to help the confidence and conversation along..

The bucks bed where they have as many advantages as possible. Smelling the wind behind them and watching in front is the traditional Hill bedding. Commonly that also sends thermal scent up to them as well.
Evening shade kills the thermal tunnel effect and night fall comes. The buck loses the scent advantage from below but he is going mobile around that point in time.

A hunter walking past a buck on the same side of a coulle will be sending scent to him The opposite side will have the buck spot you. Early in the afternoon coming in from below USUALLY gives the buck warning from thermals. So now what?

[KPnorthdakota]

I'm reading some mixed messages and want to help the confidence and conversation along..

The bucks bed where they have as many advantages as possible. Smelling the wind behind them and watching in front is the traditional Hill bedding. Commonly that also sends thermal scent up to them as well.
Evening shade kills the thermal tunnel effect and night fall comes. The buck loses the scent advantage from below but he is going mobile around that point in time.

A hunter walking past a buck on the same side of a coulle will be sending scent to him The opposite side will have the buck spot you. Early in the afternoon coming in from below USUALLY gives the buck warning from thermals. So now what?

Yep. I'm asking now what because this is where I'm confused...along with accessing the right spot.

[justdirtyfun]

Well, picking apart his advantages is what we all lose sleep at night figuring out.

A winter/spring scouting trip can expose his weakness at a specific bed. That is the ideal but getting things lined up for this season is priority at the moment.

You have crops above and he might want to go there in the evening. Sitting above but with wind angling towards him sounds like a complete bust. BUT off to the side your scent can pass safely like cars on the highway. If a side cut/erosion is pulling down into the main coulle it can do weird things to your scent. Instead of reaching him your scent from above might hang a left or right.

That scenario is a just off wind hunt. He expects safety but well thought out attack negates his advantages.

[KPnorthdakota]

Well, picking apart his advantages is what we all lose sleep at night figuring out.

A winter/spring scouting trip can expose his weakness at a specific bed. That is the ideal but getting things lined up for this season is priority at the moment.

You have crops above and he might want to go there in the evening. Sitting above but with wind angling towards him sounds like a complete bust. BUT off to the side your scent can pass safely like cars on the highway. If a side cut/erosion is pulling down into the main coulle it can do weird things to your scent. Instead of reaching him your scent from above might hang a left or right.

That scenario is a just off wind hunt. He expects safety but well thought out attack negates his advantages.

Thank you. I'm going to chew on that helpful info and see if I know how to apply it.

[justdirtyfun]

Ok. Best of luck. And also hoping you won't need luck.

[KPnorthdakota]

Ok. Best of luck. And also hoping you won't need luck.

Yes. I'm hoping that I can get the hang of the HB Tactics and have success from the smart work put into it. I thought that the last two weeks I was doing it. But, I can now see that I have misunderstood some critical things.

[purebowhunting]

Thermals fall in the evening, correct. I was trying to throw that post together quickly as my phone battery was almost dead and messed up. I'll try to throw up some maps tomorrow of the area I hunted and see if any of the terrain I was in will be similar to what you're in.

[Uncle Lou]

Ok. Best of luck. And also hoping you won't need luck.

Yes. I'm hoping that I can get the hang of the HB Tactics and have success from the smart work put into it. I thought that the last two weeks I was doing it. But, I can now see that I have misunderstood some critical things.

Try to have some fun too. Almost sounds like you are putting some pressure on yourself by bringing dad in to it . Just hunting with dad should make it fun. Now, don't be afraid to roll the dice, like PK said.

You might want to hunt an observation stand for a sit or two and then dive in. You will definitely learn something when you attack. You either did it right, or you didn't. If you get busted then you get to disect what happened. That can be fun as well

[KPnorthdakota]

Thermals fall in the evening, correct. I was trying to throw that post together quickly as my phone battery was almost dead and messed up. I'll try to throw up some maps tomorrow of the area I hunted and see if any of the terrain I was in will be similar to what you're in.

Thanks, my friend.

[KPnorthdakota]

Ok. Best of luck. And also hoping you won't need luck.

Yes. I'm hoping that I can get the hang of the HB Tactics and have success from the smart work put into it. I thought that the last two weeks I was doing it. But, I can now see that I have misunderstood some critical things.

Try to have some fun too. Almost sounds like you are putting some pressure on yourself by bringing dad in to it . Just hunting with dad should make it fun. Now, don't be afraid to roll the dice, like PK said.

You might want to hunt an observation stand for a sit or two and then dive in. You will definitely learn something when you attack. You either did it right, or you didn't. If you get busted then you get to disect what happened. That can be fun as well

Well, you're probably right about pressuring myself. But, I would do that if I was hunting alone.

I will start to take some risks and observe some. I've never sat to just observe. But, it makes sense and I would love it because I like being out in the woods even if I'm not hunting.

Thanks.

[UofLbowhunter]

I read you had a lil trouble understanding the hill tactic set up! I hope this isnt to blunt, but in your other post you were not set up right, and others pointed that out, just trying to help!
The lee side is the oppisite side of a ridge line the wind is hitting first. If you set a stand in the wind tunnel( 1/3 of the way down the ridge top) and have a west wind, with the wind in your face, you should be looking up or at the ridge top, and behind you is down hill. This is what the basic rule in hill country.
In dans newest hill dvd there is a small part where he talks about terrian like yours but he was in illinios, but what he describes should be the same type of hunting your in. I would try to watch that part again, if i remember right its on disc two of the hill bedding!

Hope all goes well this year for you and your dad! Hope to see a pic in the kill thread! Goodluck!!

[purebowhunting]

I'll post three different spots separately. Below is the first spot which I feel is a classic cooley situation.



This situation had feed at the bottom with trees and brush in the cooleys along the drainage and grass and pockets of brush outside the drainage. If you understand hill country bedding in this situation you can picture the cooley topo map inverted and the deer bed at the tips. This sets up almost like a crow's foot in hill country. My setup was at the X just above a water hole. Probably the dumbest mistake I ever made hunting cost me a 125-135 class buck on the last day of my trip in this spot. In this case he did travel down the tree line which was oaks and mixed brush. I was setup with a SW wind, when thermals kicked in they'd move south to north or at the deer back as he traveled to feed. I picked this spot with maps, it was a first time sit unscouted. If I could do it over I'd setup about 50 yards south where everything merges with a straight west wind. This hunt was early September.