Not what I am looking for

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<DK>
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Re: Not what I am looking for

Unread postby <DK> » Sat Jun 30, 2018 3:07 am

You seem to have a good grasp on how to hunt bucks all season and like getting intel via trail cams. I am curious what lead you to the tactics you use - running from doe bedding to doe bedding during the rut? Is this a last resort tactic or just bc its rifle season?

I think it makes sense, is a cool idea and want to get better at it. Tried a little last year but not really moving too fast due to small property (100 acres). Crept into a couple bedding areas, bumped some does off of a point. I started getting short tempered, decided to slow down take a break and right when I sat down a buck took off. He was bedded w the does and I didnt even see him laying there at all. I learned alot about how they bail off of points and escape danger. They still eluded me though... Iv also noticed a HUGE difference in how deer escape based on pressure per area and different terrain types. These were very high pressured deer and steep hill country.


RidgeGhost
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Re: Not what I am looking for

Unread postby RidgeGhost » Sat Jun 30, 2018 3:47 am

Killtree wrote:I would rather find a bed and look for the nearest oaks , not find oaks and look for the nearest bed.


Yep, that's what I meant too. Finding the preferred oaks nearest to a pre-scouted bed, then hunting that bed in that direction.

I don't use cameras the way you do, but I find it interesting that you manage to get it done that way. I err on the side of caution when it comes to hunting close to the beds. I'd rather just pop in and catch him by surprise vs leaving scent hanging/checking a cam. But pretty cool that it's working out for you. Maybe we can get away with more than we think at times.
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Re: Not what I am looking for

Unread postby Killtree » Sat Jun 30, 2018 10:26 am

Darkknight54 wrote:You seem to have a good grasp on how to hunt bucks all season and like getting intel via trail cams. I am curious what lead you to the tactics you use - running from doe bedding to doe bedding during the rut? Is this a last resort tactic or just bc its rifle season?

I think it makes sense, is a cool idea and want to get better at it. Tried a little last year but not really moving too fast due to small property (100 acres). Crept into a couple bedding areas, bumped some does off of a point. I started getting short tempered, decided to slow down take a break and right when I sat down a buck took off. He was bedded w the does and I didnt even see him laying there at all. I learned alot about how they bail off of points and escape danger. They still eluded me though... Iv also noticed a HUGE difference in how deer escape based on pressure per area and different terrain types. These were very high pressured deer and steep hill country.


I stumbled on the Doe bedding thing by accident.
I snuck into a thicket one time and caught a nice 2 1/2 year old tending a doe.
Not so much tending, a better term would be pestering.
He pestered her past me 4 or 5 times before he pushed her off into a different part of the thicket.
Breeding thicket would probably be a better term than Doe bedding area.
I think when peak breeding hits the does go to a thick area so they feel like they are hidden while still being able to zig and zag around playing hard to get until they are ready.
The deer I seen that day were so preoccupied with each other that I got away with more movement than I should have.
I started out sitting stands most of gun season but would always try sneaking through some thickets as a last resort.
I tweaked and perfected this tactic over the years and now rarely sit in a stand during gun season.
Two things you need to pull it off,
Lockdown, and a thicket open enough for you to sneak through without making noise, but thick enough for the deer to feel safe.
:violence-bowandarrow:
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Killtree
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Re: Not what I am looking for

Unread postby Killtree » Sat Jun 30, 2018 10:30 am

RidgeGhost wrote:
Killtree wrote:I would rather find a bed and look for the nearest oaks , not find oaks and look for the nearest bed.


Yep, that's what I meant too. Finding the preferred oaks nearest to a pre-scouted bed, then hunting that bed in that direction.

I don't use cameras the way you do, but I find it interesting that you manage to get it done that way. I err on the side of caution when it comes to hunting close to the beds. I'd rather just pop in and catch him by surprise vs leaving scent hanging/checking a cam. But pretty cool that it's working out for you. Maybe we can get away with more than we think at times.


Keep in mind, where I had my camera hung South of his bed was near a people trail and he was used to smelling people there.
When I had my camera hung east of his bed I had a bullet proof entry and exit.
:violence-bowandarrow:
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Killtree
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Re: Not what I am looking for

Unread postby Killtree » Sat Jun 30, 2018 9:01 pm

Image

Notice how this pic here looks like it was took from a bit of an elevation?
So after he quit showing up on my cam where he was heading South, I figured he was hitting this acorn flat on the east side of his bedding area.
It was a drought that year and the closest water to his bedding area was over the hill straight east of his bedding area. I figured he would hit that particular acorn flat because it was on the way to the water.
The water is a spring in the bottom of a ravine that never goes dry no matter how dry it gets.
I went straight down, and I mean STRAIGHT DOWN one side of the ravine and STRAIGHT UP
the other.
Before I got to the top I grabbed a tree and started climbing,
I climbed the tree until I could mount the camera at a downward angle to the acorn flat, then I climbed down and got the heck out of there.
I know, I know, sounds like a lot of trouble, and it was, but it was worth it.
The moral of the story, it ain't just about where the buck is at.
Its about having the buck in the right situation.
:violence-bowandarrow:
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Killtree
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Re: Not what I am looking for

Unread postby Killtree » Sun Jul 01, 2018 6:46 am

I would also like to point out that the hill was was pretty much straight up and down from the bottom of the ravine to the bench that the acorn flat was on. The hill was fairly gradual from the bench to the top.
The buck was bedded between the bench and the top of the hill.
At the time I killed the buck I had never heard anything about military crests or 1\3 elevation.
Once I found the Beast I realized that buck had indeed been doing exactly that.
I had found several primary beds over the years and realized that all except two that i can think of were also at the 1/3 elevation.
Of those two, one is in the bottom of a hollow, and the other is at the base of a cliff.
The Beast has really enabled me to look back on past experiences and put together the rest of the puzzle.
:violence-bowandarrow:


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