I've been contemplating the approach to one of my new spots. I have a leeward hillside facing east/south east, with the predominant November winds blowing from the west/north west, so it sets up nicely for rut cruising. I scouted in March and found the 1/3 elevation line littered with doe bedding and sign with a plenty of historical rubs and a few rubs from this past fall.
There is a hiking trail that I see as offering me access with the least amount of disturbance. It comes up the hillside so I would be traveling from east to west up the hillside which is fairly steep in spots. I'm not expecting deer to be traveling this trail but they do cross it. Now I'm a newbie when it comes to playing the wind in the hills so I'm wondering about the effectiveness of this approach.
I'm planning on climbing the hill in the predawn darkness and I know I'll leave ground scent on the trail but figure it will be in a place where the deer are accustomed to smelling it and figure it shouldn't be too much of a disturbance. Once at the proper elevation I plan on waiting just off the trail so the thermals that would be falling would be pulling my scent back down where I came from. Once it begins to get daylight I plan on moving in from the side and slipping into my spot. This will be a gun hunt so I figure I'll be able to get a shot at any potential cruisers before they hit the trail I came in on.
Can this approach work or is my thinking flawed. The only other option would be to access the ridge line from the north where there is a point at the end of the ridge, however I've run a camera over there and know that is one of the ways the does make their way up the hill in the morning and exit in the evening. If I wait until about 8 - 8:30 a.m I could approach this way and the rising thermals would keep my scent off the leeward side but that would come at the expense of leaving my ground scent in an area where they normally wouldn't be smelling it. In addition the under story is a thicker this way so it would be a bit noisier. But i could just slow it way down and take my time. If i go this way I would hit the trail about 50 yards below my spot and could then just go up the trail quietly then slip into my spot from the side.
So I guess the question is which offers me the best access with the least amount of disturbance to the deer. Am i pushing my luck wanting to access the hill side in the morning darkness? I feel I cant use the trail as access after daylight because any bedded deer would be able to see me coming. Which access would you use?
Leeward hillside approach
- rempse2
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- Ognennyy
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Re: Leeward hillside approach
Obviously you put a great a deal of thought into both approaches and I appreciate both of them. I feel like the approach from the hiking trail lends itself more to a repeat hunt if necessary. The second approach doesn't seem to bring anything additional to the table, but sacrifices on the repeat hunt. I like the hiking trail approach, but go with your heart man.
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Re: Leeward hillside approach
I WOULD COME UP THE HUMAN TRAIL, and I would walk to the hunt tree not crossing deer trails.
- rempse2
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Re: Leeward hillside approach
Thanks for the feed back guys. Looks like the the hiking trail is the way to go. Figured it was but wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.
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