Chasing Tail

[hcooper84]

I am a new member of the Beast forum. I discovered this amazing place through seeing Dan featured on a few episodes of The Hunting Public. The amount of information on this site is incredible. This site seems like one big family and I'm happy to be a part of it.

My hunting style: I hunt almost only private land and predominately bowhunt. In Southern Illinois its very common for people to own 20 acres here or 20 acres there. So I have a few family and friends that have 20-40 acre pieces I'm allowed to hunt. I've always hunted pre-hung stands that usually sit in the same spot year after year. Through The Hunting Public and this forum I am ready to try my hand at Beast style hunting. I believe I'll be able to combine a mixture of "traditional" style and Beast style since I am hunting such small pieces.

The chase: The past two deer seasons I've been chasing a giant main frame 5x5. I've had two encounters with him and a few trail cam pics. The farmer who also hunts next door has seen him and had a few encounters as well, but this buck is slicker than warm butter. The farmer was seeing the buck consistently each morning in his cut field. So he got crafty and decided to lay in the middle of the field in a duck blind. The buck would show up at the other end of the field. Next day the farmer switches sides, the buck now comes out where the farmer previously was. What a tease. Two seasons ago I had my two encounters with the buck. Once I jumped him walking in for an afternoon hunt. The second my dad and I were hunting a ridge. Many deer like to walk the bottom of the ridge while a few others like to walk the top of it. There is no way for one man to hunt the top and bottom so we tag team the ridge. I had the buck at 30 yds behind a big oak. All he had to do was step out from behind it. However, the buck caught my father moving at the bottom of the ridge and he snuck back the way he came. My dad saw him this past season and the landowner believes they saw him this summer already. I am confident he is still alive and will be around this fall as usual.

The property:

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I am allowed to hunt the yellow box. I shown the surrounding land to show what crops and possible bedding could be around that the buck could be using. On the corn side, probably another 300 yd south is a road running E to W. I have permission to cross this field for access. To the E of the property is another road N to S. This is how we normally access, all the way up to the building by the pond ( may be hard to see in this photo).

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(Blown up view)

The two red boxes are bedding. The South bedding is the main bedding that we call the "4 acres" its very gnarly stuff and we constantly see deer going in and out. There is a large amount of does on this small property and I believe they bed here the most, however there are many rubs throughout it as well. The north bedding is seems to be random bedding. There is no real rhyme or reason to where they bed throughout it. Both bedding areas are very diverse. The green lines are the ways the deer like to go in and out of this bedding area. You can see my stands where they're marked on OnX also the yellow dot is a stand as well. I can shoot nice bucks out of these stands and I did shoot a nice one last year.

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However, I want to shoot this specific buck Ive been talking about. He definitely seems to be the smartest of the bunch in this area. The two times I saw him he was on the ridge top by the corn. My dad saw him in between the two bedding areas with a doe during the rut. This buck has us figured out. Winter scouting I walked through the south bedding and from one of the beds he could watch us pull up and walk to our stands.

My "Beast" thoughts: I plan to start parking closer to the road to make less of an impact coming into the stand. I also plan to move most of the stands from the past two years into new locations to try to catch him off guard. What I consider my best idea though is walking North through the corn from the EW road. I plan to put two stands on each end of the ridge top(the ridge top runs E to W just to be clear). I believe with the corn I should be able to sneak right up next to the bedding then only have to walk 5-10 yds into the woods. Being so close to the bedding and on such a small property I feel pre-hung stands will be the most quiet and therefore effective way to try this.

I'm fully accepting of all criticism and breakdown of this area and some of my tactics. All always trying to learn new things. Hit me with your knowledge.

[Huntress13]

I'm rather new here as well and have more to learn, but here are my thoughts... Think about the wind and thermals. The buck will want to bed where he can see a distance in one direction while the wind blows from behind him so he can smell anything coming the other direction. Often about a quarter of the way down a hill, he can see anything coming up the hill while the wind coming over the hill and the rising thermals meet so he can smell anything from more than one direction. He'll use other beds if the wind isn't right for him in that bed. I learned that in one of Dan's Youtube videos, and it holds true on our property. The buck in my profile pic was bedding in the top quarter of a hill and our only access is from the bottom of the hill so nobody was seeing him. My stand was about 100 yards to the side of the bedding, not too close to spook him out of bed, but I didn't have him close enough for bow range until the heat of the rut. Saw him in range on my last evening bow hunting, but it was too dark to shoot. Shot him opening morning shotgun at about 40 yards. Earlier season, I would have had to be closer to the bed to get him close enough in the daylight to shoot, but with only one access direction to get in there, it was to difficult to get close.

So, what is the prevailing wind there? You will want to set up so neither your wind, or thermals are going to send your scent his way. Early season, he may be sticking to the woods if there are oaks or other mast crop there.

[ThePreBanMan]

Oh we're talking about deer.... NM...

[hcooper84]

I'm rather new here as well and have more to learn, but here are my thoughts... Think about the wind and thermals. The buck will want to bed where he can see a distance in one direction while the wind blows from behind him so he can smell anything coming the other direction. Often about a quarter of the way down a hill, he can see anything coming up the hill while the wind coming over the hill and the rising thermals meet so he can smell anything from more than one direction. He'll use other beds if the wind isn't right for him in that bed. I learned that in one of Dan's Youtube videos, and it holds true on our property. The buck in my profile pic was bedding in the top quarter of a hill and our only access is from the bottom of the hill so nobody was seeing him. My stand was about 100 yards to the side of the bedding, not too close to spook him out of bed, but I didn't have him close enough for bow range until the heat of the rut. Saw him in range on my last evening bow hunting, but it was too dark to shoot. Shot him opening morning shotgun at about 40 yards. Earlier season, I would have had to be closer to the bed to get him close enough in the daylight to shoot, but with only one access direction to get in there, it was to difficult to get close.

So, what is the prevailing wind there? You will want to set up so neither your wind, or thermals are going to send your scent his way. Early season, he may be sticking to the woods if there are oaks or other mast crop there.

Majority of our winds are N,NW,S,SW. After more thought I believe that on the first cold front that comes through (N,NW wind) I will walk across the corn field that should still be standing (late seeding with all the rain in the midwest) and setup on the ridge top. WIth my father and I hunting together the other one of us will have to park in our normal access. IF we wait and let the other hunter settle in after walking through the corn maybe the guy sitting will catch that buck if he tries to sneak out the back door when the driver alerts him pulling up.

[hcooper84]

Oh we're talking about deer.... NM...

I tried to make the title catchy. I'll be more forward next time. Sorry to lead anyone on. haha

[Huntress13]

I'm rather new here as well and have more to learn, but here are my thoughts... Think about the wind and thermals. The buck will want to bed where he can see a distance in one direction while the wind blows from behind him so he can smell anything coming the other direction. Often about a quarter of the way down a hill, he can see anything coming up the hill while the wind coming over the hill and the rising thermals meet so he can smell anything from more than one direction. He'll use other beds if the wind isn't right for him in that bed. I learned that in one of Dan's Youtube videos, and it holds true on our property. The buck in my profile pic was bedding in the top quarter of a hill and our only access is from the bottom of the hill so nobody was seeing him. My stand was about 100 yards to the side of the bedding, not too close to spook him out of bed, but I didn't have him close enough for bow range until the heat of the rut. Saw him in range on my last evening bow hunting, but it was too dark to shoot. Shot him opening morning shotgun at about 40 yards. Earlier season, I would have had to be closer to the bed to get him close enough in the daylight to shoot, but with only one access direction to get in there, it was to difficult to get close.

So, what is the prevailing wind there? You will want to set up so neither your wind, or thermals are going to send your scent his way. Early season, he may be sticking to the woods if there are oaks or other mast crop there.

Majority of our winds are N,NW,S,SW. After more thought I believe that on the first cold front that comes through (N,NW wind) I will walk across the corn field that should still be standing (late seeding with all the rain in the midwest) and setup on the ridge top. WIth my father and I hunting together the other one of us will have to park in our normal access. IF we wait and let the other hunter settle in after walking through the corn maybe the guy sitting will catch that buck if he tries to sneak out the back door when the driver alerts him pulling up.

He might not bed on the hillside on a north or northwest wind. He'll like it best when the slope he's on is the leeward side, wind coming over the top of the hill.

[hcooper84]

I'm rather new here as well and have more to learn, but here are my thoughts... Think about the wind and thermals. The buck will want to bed where he can see a distance in one direction while the wind blows from behind him so he can smell anything coming the other direction. Often about a quarter of the way down a hill, he can see anything coming up the hill while the wind coming over the hill and the rising thermals meet so he can smell anything from more than one direction. He'll use other beds if the wind isn't right for him in that bed. I learned that in one of Dan's Youtube videos, and it holds true on our property. The buck in my profile pic was bedding in the top quarter of a hill and our only access is from the bottom of the hill so nobody was seeing him. My stand was about 100 yards to the side of the bedding, not too close to spook him out of bed, but I didn't have him close enough for bow range until the heat of the rut. Saw him in range on my last evening bow hunting, but it was too dark to shoot. Shot him opening morning shotgun at about 40 yards. Earlier season, I would have had to be closer to the bed to get him close enough in the daylight to shoot, but with only one access direction to get in there, it was to difficult to get close.

So, what is the prevailing wind there? You will want to set up so neither your wind, or thermals are going to send your scent his way. Early season, he may be sticking to the woods if there are oaks or other mast crop there.

Majority of our winds are N,NW,S,SW. After more thought I believe that on the first cold front that comes through (N,NW wind) I will walk across the corn field that should still be standing (late seeding with all the rain in the midwest) and setup on the ridge top. WIth my father and I hunting together the other one of us will have to park in our normal access. IF we wait and let the other hunter settle in after walking through the corn maybe the guy sitting will catch that buck if he tries to sneak out the back door when the driver alerts him pulling up.

He might not bed on the hillside on a north or northwest wind. He'll like it best when the slope he's on is the leeward side, wind coming over the top of the hill.

Yes that makes sense. I was thinking along the lines of how I would not be winded. Even if I have the wind in my favor doesnt mean he will be there at that time. I agree with what you said. Wind blowing over the top so nothing can sneak in behind him then eyes forward so he can see us pulling in the access. This seems like a case where I'll have to play a just off wind. I will for sure keep updates on my tactics for this buck throughout the season.