How to hunt a brush pile

[treeroot]

I got a call from a farmer where I have permission to hunt that he keeps seeing a buck in his field. (I'm the only one allowed to hunt the property and he doesn't hunt). Usually I try to hit his 100 acres 2-3 times a year. It's mostly all open hardwoods, but the neighboring properties are all leased. So I like to wait until they get pressured up. Otherwise it's usually pretty vacant for deer.

I'm tagged out so I've been letting everything sit until gun opens up. Anyways, after working most of the day I decided to go glass his 40 acre hay field for the last hour. The field is rolling hills with a few old brush/ rock piles out in the middle. 45 minutes before dark the biggest buck I've ever seen steps out of the top brush pile and just hangs out on the back edge until I lost light to see. I'm guessing he's in the 170+ range.

Gun season is 2 weeks away so it's very possible he will move on. But I will keep an eye on it leading up to season. He said he's seen him daily for the last 3 or 4 days.

Perfect buck bed location. He has vision of the whole field, plus wind and thermal advantage. The only way I can see getting him even in gun season is to try to stay out of his thermal and crawl within range and hope to beat his vision using the little rolling hills.

What are your thoughts on sealing the deal in the middle of a field?

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[Jurist]

Crawl within range?

I would use a range finder and know the distance.
Then I would make sure my rifle is sighted into that distance, and fire a few boxes of shells and buy good shells.

I would shoot him from as far away as I could make the shot.

Shot a doe a few years back hunting a farm at 267yard with a .243. I new where the deer were coming out so I set up where they would not smell me and dropped her in her tracks.

[treeroot]

I could drill him from where I observed him from the top left hand corner of the picture. The problem is I'm not going to shoot up hill towards the hunting camps along the road in the picture. So that is another part of the problem.

I'm assuming he is bedded wind to back looking at that road. I could be wrong.

[Huntress13]

Could you sneak in to that lower right brush pile on a favorable wind so you wouldn't be shooting toward the road? Or is there contour where you couldn't see him from there?

[treeroot]

The south brush pile is roughly 25' lower than the top.
The brush pile to the east is where I'm thinking about trying to get to. There is a small valley between them, but they are very close to the same elevation. But I'm not sure if he will spot me on the road coming in.

20191104_073929.jpg

That doesn't really show the rolling hill nature of the field.

I could bump him out of there and go look. However he feels no pressure there and is stepping out during legal light.