Being Aggressive In Hill Country?

[HunterBob]

Hey guys, I have heard Dan and others talk alot about being aggressive and pushing in farther than you might think you should. I hunt primarily public Hill country and am confused about this. Every time I have scouted with the intent of hunting, all I do is push deer away from me. With little wind and crunchy leaves, going up hills or walking along a ridge makes a ton of noise. Deer can easily hear me from 150 yds away.

Which brings me to the question of how to be aggressive in hill country? This seems easier to me if you have some bedding locations and set up near them for a morning hunt, but the only mornings I have available are Saturdays. Any advice or tips for being aggressive in the afternoon?

[JTH]

Hearing is one thing. Seeing you or smelling you is a different story. All kinds of critters walk in the woods and if a buck jumped up and ran every time he heard something walking, he would run himself to death. If you can keep them from seeing and smelling you then you have a chance. I try to use terrain and cover, the thicker the better. I also try to enter at an angle to which they are bedding.

I wouldn’t try to enter directly down a ridge from a known bedding area but it’s hard to give an exact answer because every place is different and situational. The only thing about catching them dropping down off of a ridge is that you need to have the thermals in your favor. That’s the tricky part because then your pressed for time to get in and set up before he gets up and starts moving.

[<DK>]

I agree w JTH. Also 150 yards is a good spot. Take note of the spot you jump them and you know how close you can get. If you bump them at 150 in the winter you can get closer early season until the leaves fall. Sometimes they bail quickly and sometimes they will let you get close. Walking a ridge with a cross wind, walking towards the deer on the 1/3 you can get pretty close. In the winter its dead in the woods so yeah they can pick you off quick.

As far as hunting season goes youd be surprised how close you can actually get when approaching your stand location slowly and properly. Gotta learn how to walking quiet as possible and really take your time. I plan an extra 30 mins access time for that last 100 yards. If its a spot you just can't access w crunchy leaves then pick wet or windy days. n

Early season the leaves are full so he can't see that far. Also the bugs, birds squirrels are always making plenty good amount of noise. When a plane flies over or wind blows then pick up the pace. When you setup keep tree between you and the beddindarea. No metal on metal contact and if you break a branch or take too noisy of a step then need to stop for few minutes.

[elk yinzer]

To me it means making mistakes and learning from real world experiences as opposed to sitting back waiting for the perfect conditions to test hypotheticals you read somewhere. You are going to screw up some setups. Dont put a distance on it. Just go a little tighter than you think it should.

[Twenty Up]

What I do is snake the ridges and find the elevation and foliage cover they’re using at that time. Tracks, droppings, rubs are clues here. Scrapes will be above or below, generally above.

Then I’ll either stage and sneak my way in with the wind or I’ll intentionally bump the deer to see what’s there and see exactly where they’re at. If the winds right and it’s thick enough they’ll just hear you and IMO is a soft bump.

Find what you want and spook one? Quietly hang a set. If not throttle through and onto the next area.

The Southerly facing slopes generally have the thickest underbrush and harbor doe bedding. The fingers and benches off of these will pan out great for our North/NW prevailing winds as well. Find them, find the ridge with the buck and hunt your way in.

Good luck

[E72]

I think a huge part Is giving yourself time , which I struggle with . Always seem like l’m running late getting out because of some other obligations . When you do get in ,That last 100 - 150 yards you have to really slow it down . You can’t feel rushed getting to that tree or you’ll make mistakes ....but I always get in clean ...

[brancher147]

Slow down and walk quietly and use the terrain to your advantage to keep noise down. Windy and rainy/snowy days are also good for this. Bumping a deer or a good buck with noise is not that bad especially if you can learn a bedding location. If they see you/ smell you that’s when it is bad.

[andy]

It's surprising how much you can get away with noise-wise. I went in last night, crashed through a bedding area trying to verify that it was, in fact, a bedding area, and then started tromping my way back up the ridge. As I neared the top 1/3 of the ridge, I stopped for a second to orient myself. I wasn't standing still for 30 seconds when I heard something marching up the ridge alongside me, maybe 50 yards off. It was getting toward dusk and my eyes aren't great at a distance: I saw something march on by up the hill into some firs and couldn't tell what it was. It didn't look or move like a deer - very deliberate, not cautious at all. I tried to spot it with binoculars, but couldn't. I was certain it was anything but a deer: I had been smashing my way through leaf litter, breaking tangled dead branches, making all kinds of noise. So, I took one step to change my angle and maybe get a better look, and two does went blowing and crashing out of there. They were only about 35 yards at that point. I was shocked that they hadn't heard me busting brush uphill for the past 20 minutes, but the thick brush must have deadened the noise enough that they either didn't hear or weren't concerned.

I almost wanted to be discouraged, but couldn't: I had verified bedding with at least some buck sign, and seen deer (which isn't all that common for me). I kept telling myself to be aggressive, and it paid off by filling in some holes as to how the deer are using that area.

[HunterBob]

Thanks guys, I guess this is where knowing exactly where the bed is located is important. I am enjoying the scouting with an intent to hunt if I find fresh sign, but I may have to just scout and plan to bump some deer with hopes of finding their exact bedding spot, with the intent to hunt another day. Hard for me as my time is usually limited.

Also like the thoughts about taking it slow. Most of my hunting is on afternoons after work, which doesn't make it impossible to go slow, just more difficult. Thanks for the tips.

[kfili]

Thanks guys, I guess this is where knowing exactly where the bed is located is important. I am enjoying the scouting with an intent to hunt if I find fresh sign, but I may have to just scout and plan to bump some deer with hopes of finding their exact bedding spot, with the intent to hunt another day. Hard for me as my time is usually limited.

Also like the thoughts about taking it slow. Most of my hunting is on afternoons after work, which doesn't make it impossible to go slow, just more difficult. Thanks for the tips.

One thing Im going to be doing next weekend is plan on hunting from the ground. Im going to leave my stand in the car so I dont 'feel' like I have to get set up. Im hoping by going in lighter I will be willing to go into thicker stuff since I will be able to be quieter and more comfortable going further. Still hunting through will also allow me to be mroe observant all the way through rather than just picking a spot and bushwhacking into it

[bowfreak8]

It can be very hard to move in deep/close to bedding without blowing it. Honestly your probably going to blow more hunts than not. Really gotta slow down, take your time and sometimes that's not enough. But the risk is worth the reward.

[E72]

Slow down and walk quietly and use the terrain to your advantage to keep noise down. Windy and rainy/snowy days are also good for this. Bumping a deer or a good buck with noise is not that bad especially if you can learn a bedding location. If they see you/ smell you that’s when it is bad.

Good point on the weather . ....sometimes it’s better to wait for windy or wet conditions for hard to access spots .

[HunterBob]

Thanks guys, I guess this is where knowing exactly where the bed is located is important. I am enjoying the scouting with an intent to hunt if I find fresh sign, but I may have to just scout and plan to bump some deer with hopes of finding their exact bedding spot, with the intent to hunt another day. Hard for me as my time is usually limited.

Also like the thoughts about taking it slow. Most of my hunting is on afternoons after work, which doesn't make it impossible to go slow, just more difficult. Thanks for the tips.

One thing Im going to be doing next weekend is plan on hunting from the ground. Im going to leave my stand in the car so I dont 'feel' like I have to get set up. Im hoping by going in lighter I will be willing to go into thicker stuff since I will be able to be quieter and more comfortable going further. Still hunting through will also allow me to be mroe observant all the way through rather than just picking a spot and bushwhacking into it

Haha, I have to get myself to do this a number of times this season, but always end up going out with my stand on my back. I think this is good advice and something I hope I can bring myself to do so that I can access those areas more easily.

[PK_]

It depends on the terrain. True hill country bedding you can only push so far, I mean if it has the bedding features you pretty much know where they are going to be. I think it is more for swamps/marshes that you need to push the envelope. A lot of times guys get to the edge of the first transition and setup when in reality the bucks are bedded far beyond that in many cases.

[HunterBob]

It depends on the terrain. True hill country bedding you can only push so far, I mean if it has the bedding features you pretty much know where they are going to be. I think it is more for swamps/marshes that you need to push the envelope. A lot of times guys get to the edge of the first transition and setup when in reality the bucks are bedded far beyond that in many cases.

That is exactly what I have been wondering. Most of the videos where I have seen the "aggressive" approach has been on swamps and marshes, or some type of transition into a field. I have no such terrain where I hunt, it is all hills and woods, with some river bottoms. Trying to figure out the smartest ways to hunt this in close proximity to bedding, which seems to be quite difficult.