Help me figure out how to kill this buck

[KyBowHunter14]

Been hunting this track of public land for a few years and there is always great sign along this old horse trail. It’s about 10-15 foot wide and always has scrapes and horn trees through one 100-150 yard section. That section has hardwoods on the uphill side and a thicket on the other. On the pictures where the red icon is located is really where the sign stops because the road gets to thick to walk comfortably and I guess the bucks arent making as much sign in that’s section. I assume most of that sign is made a night but I know it’s thick enough a buck would feel comfortable walking it in daylight and freshening up sign and also cutting doe trails coming in and out of the thicket. With as much sign it’s has to be multiple bucks and hopefully one or some are mature. I’ve attached 3 different aerial images to help better understand what I’m working with and also a couple of the rubs. Where would you assume a buck would be bedded? Where might I be able to set up? Please let me know what else I need to provide so anyone can assist me. Thanks!

[KyBowHunter14]

Also the first time I got to scout this piece this year it was opened up already but that was mid October at that point. If it helps this is in Kentucky and in 4 years I’ve never seen anyone else in this area or saw boot tracks.

[EdC]

see any deer tracks?

if you do maybe backtrack them to get clues of their movements
post season generally shows you what happened past season

[KyBowHunter14]

I’m hoping to get up there in about 2 weeks so I’m excited to scout a little, have a bunch of work to do on the farm so I won’t be able to spend near enough time to scout everything I want. Any ideas where I might need to start? I don’t even know if there will be a bunch of fresh tracks in this area I feel like this is a October/November movement area.

[Bogle]

Sort of hard to tell but I would say the thicket you have marked would be a good starting point. It looks like the scrapes etc.... you are seeing are on the edge of the thicket and hardwoods. In my area I will typically see them bedded on the edge of the "thicket" looking out in to the hardwoods.

[KyBowHunter14]

The only issue is where the thicket is if they were in it looking towards the road they would only be able to see 20 yards max. I’m tried looking at all the topos to see if there are any good points in the hardwoods above the thicket but haven’t see any. Any others? Any advice would be great.

[freezeAR]

Just like Bogle said, I would start walking the clear cut hardwood transition and try to find bed. If you follow your marked rub line to other side of thicket it looks like a bowl that could hold a buck. A least thats where I would start with limited details. Dont rule out a bed near a road. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

[KyBowHunter14]

I walked that thicket last year and ended up finding 2 sheds and 1 buck bed with the shed beside it but it was in the middle of that thicket so I wrote it off. From everything I read on the threads they should be on ridges near thickets with wind to there back instead of in the center of those thickets. Am I missing something do they also bed like that often?

[Divergent]

I find that they like to be positioned above the trails/roads. A lot of the bucks around where I hunt seem to prefer the highest points around. That’s where I’ve found most of the sheds in post season scouting. I’d start there. The highest military crest to the north looks good. If there’s road or trail access on the spine of the ridge then you might find them further down.

[KyBowHunter14]

There is a much larger road about 700 yards up the ridge so I wouldn’t figure they would be bedded near the top 1/3 of it just because during certain times of year there would be more pressure up there. Plus my access is from the south in this picture and to get back to the spot it’s almost a mile back already, this is about as far back as I want to go now. I plan on running a camera on this road near the start of season so I’m curious to see where the bucks are coming through on this road, atleast it will give me a idea on direction of travel.