when to get aggressive with stand placement?

[raisins]

I've done more scouting than ever before this year. These are hill country deer (bucks) on public land. I don't expect high pressure during bow season.

in one area, I have found a wide hilltop (almost a plateau) that is around 40 acres. It was patchily clearcut years ago and is an amazing mix of very dense to patchy to open woods. A lot of interior, soft transitions/edges where the forest composition quickly changes. Not all of it, but certain areas interwoven across the entire 40 acres have a lot of sign (rubs, trails, scat). I am not yet good at identifying beds, but there are obvious bedding areas (incredibly dense areas with heavy trails weaving out) and I kicked does out of their beds while scouting (maybe some shed bucks). The trails in and out of this 40 acres are not well defined and are close enough to one field that I don't think many deer are going to be travelling out of this 40 acres during the day. I think the 40 acres contains bedding, staging, and some feeding (overgrown field edge, white oaks, etc).

The best areas are in the middle of this 40 acres as far as intensity of sign, but of course I'll have the best chance of spooking them and giving my presence away in the center as well.

In a situation like this, is everyone more likely to hunt the best areas along the periphery or try to get in the middle where the best odds per day are found?

This particular piece has 3 separate areas that are promising that are 700 yards from the next closest area, so I can rotate. I also have a small piece of private I hunt.

Thanks-R

[backstraps]

For me thats tough to anwer. Without having boots on the ground and getting first hand sightings of what the land actually looks like...

That being said, since you have scouted it and feel comfortable getting within a 100yds or ao of where you suspect the bucks are bedding, id opt for getting as close as possible (without tipping my hand) and throw a few sets at the confirmed bedding areas???

[PK_]

Limited time, tons of different options of areas to hunt, be as aggressive as possible.

Lots of time, maybe not so many other options, lay back, observe and then capitalize...

I think your assumptions seem pretty accurate.

[dan]

If your goal is to kill big bucks, you need to be aggressive in every hunt... Hunting passively and killing big old bucks really don't go hand in hand. Despite what people are lead to believe its rare that mature bucks wander far in daylight or expose themselves to danger. Killing them is not like killing 1.5 or 2 year olds, you need to get within the movement window or get lucky. Bottom line is the more you do right, the luckier you will get. Most guys shoot 2 or 3 mature bucks in a lifetime and its either cause there on cushy land that's full of them, or they "accidentally" set up unknowingly within that movement window.

A lot of people think that 5 or 6 year old bucks run around crazy during the rut and its just a matter of sitting in a funnel or over a food source but the truth is there may only be a day or two a season a big buck on pressured land lets his guard down and wanders in daylight. what are the odds thats the day your in the funnel? How many people do you know that hunt funnels, food, trails, or sign? And... How many of those guys have walls full of big buck racks?

Keep hunting like everyone else, and you will continue to get results like everyone else.

[rutnbuck]

I haven't found the chance not too. Im only hunting it once maybe twice if he allows me too. You can't get them all but I will try every time. I'm hunting...not observing. Its my style that works for me. There was a time when I didn't push the envelope far enough...the results were not that great.

[Boogieman1]

My aggressiveness is a bit odd do to several factors, biggest being small properties. Most under 25 acres, in many cases I only get one crack on a given property. So I want the most odds in my favor b4 I storm the gates.

But the best intell I could ever hope for is the current location of a buck I care to shoot. If I have that and as long as it's not just a suicide mission I will give it my best shot.

[218er]

Find an edge of the travel corridor and pick out a few spots for possible winds. Get as close as you think you can without jumping him out of his bed and set up there. Based on Andreas method jumping him out of his bed maybe the most 100% method to determine the exact bedding area.