Need help with a hill country buck bedding area

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Denisboyko22
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Need help with a hill country buck bedding area

Unread postby Denisboyko22 » Mon Jun 29, 2020 3:48 am

I scouted this hard in spring . I looked the whole leeward side of the ridge and only found 1 bed 20 yards under a human trail but super thick cover between the bed and human trail and it was almost on a little cliff but I on the other side of the ridge I found about 6 beds filled with deer hair with thick cover behind them on the top 2/3rds of the hill. First off is the lone bed the best bed? Also the wind switches in this area i remember standing and scouting and it switched twice on me while I was scouting any recommendations or ideas on how to hunt this without being smelled? Definitely any deer bedded here has it for him , i have no idea how to beat this wind other then play the thermals.
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Re: Need help with a hill country buck bedding area

Unread postby Denisboyko22 » Mon Jun 29, 2020 3:49 am

If it helps at all this is public land out west in Wisconsin
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Re: Need help with a hill country buck bedding area

Unread postby Denisboyko22 » Mon Jun 29, 2020 3:50 am

also the picture tags I have on the map are deer beds
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Re: Need help with a hill country buck bedding area

Unread postby Quest1001 » Mon Jun 29, 2020 4:57 am

I’m also interested in hearing from others.
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Re: Need help with a hill country buck bedding area

Unread postby brancher147 » Mon Jun 29, 2020 6:47 am

Most the windward buck bedding I see is where wind swirls. The best time to hunt these is either calm wind and setup for thermals or a stronger wind that’s more consistent from my experience.
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Re: Need help with a hill country buck bedding area

Unread postby Denisboyko22 » Mon Jun 29, 2020 9:17 am

So basically just sit out on the human trail until thermals start dropping and then sneak in?
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Re: Need help with a hill country buck bedding area

Unread postby headgear » Mon Jun 29, 2020 10:14 am

Go there will a pile of milkweed on some different winds and see what you can learn, it might take a few mistakes to figure everything out but where there is a will there is a way.
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Re: Need help with a hill country buck bedding area

Unread postby brancher147 » Mon Jun 29, 2020 10:29 am

Im just saying if you’re dealing with swirling winds then it is less likely to be swirling on calm or windy days. You can then setup accordingly.

But it depends on many factors and sometimes it takes a little trial and error.
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Re: Need help with a hill country buck bedding area

Unread postby headgear » Mon Jun 29, 2020 11:32 am

Wind speed can also throw a wrench in your plans, the wind does different stuff at 7mph than it does at 15 or 20mph, it can be frustrating but also fun to learn and figure out. I have spots that still confuse me after hunting them for ten years.
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Re: Need help with a hill country buck bedding area

Unread postby Denisboyko22 » Mon Jun 29, 2020 12:55 pm

Oh boy alrighty just gonna have to dive in :lol: this is my 3rd year hunting and 2nd year hunting beast style so I got alot to learn still but thanks guys :whistle:
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Re: Need help with a hill country buck bedding area

Unread postby Motivated » Mon Jun 29, 2020 3:05 pm

I like the spot where your "W" is, on the SE edge of the creek (assuming North is up). I would try to sit there in the early season, with a steady North or Northwest wind. If the thermals fall or if there is swirling, then there's a good chance that the warm water will send your scent upwards, hopefully it will travel far enough up to be dispersed. Also assuming that there is thick enough cover to wear a deer to your North in Northwest would not see you setting up. I would try to access from the East if possible, trying to stay out of site.

I would look for a scrape opening up in the bottom, near the pond in September. That may be a good spot for your cameras also. The pond could also be a good thing for a hot day early season with light wind or dead calm days.

Hopefully that is helpful.
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Re: Need help with a hill country buck bedding area

Unread postby Denisboyko22 » Tue Jun 30, 2020 12:17 am

Motivated wrote:I like the spot where your "W" is, on the SE edge of the creek (assuming North is up). I would try to sit there in the early season, with a steady North or Northwest wind. If the thermals fall or if there is swirling, then there's a good chance that the warm water will send your scent upwards, hopefully it will travel far enough up to be dispersed. Also assuming that there is thick enough cover to wear a deer to your North in Northwest would not see you setting up. I would try to access from the East if possible, trying to stay out of site.

I would look for a scrape opening up in the bottom, near the pond in September. That may be a good spot for your cameras also. The pond could also be a good thing for a hot day early season with light wind or dead calm days.

Hopefully that is helpful.


I love the idea but the problem is below that red line its private and if i tried crossing through the valley I might bump whatever is bedded right off the human trail but then again then ill know thats the bed the big 1 is using , I thougjt about putting up a cellular trail camera at the end of the W so that way its about 100 yards from the bed so I dont freak them out but still hopefully catch movement right at dark or earlier
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Re: Need help with a hill country buck bedding area

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Tue Jun 30, 2020 5:52 am

The bedding for main wind you chose I doubt is going to be where most of your sign is. East wind bedding doesnt fit that spot. At least it doesnt appear too Topos arent always showing the small slopes though.

North wind or west does as far as your thermals.
Its gonna pull to the top of the hill then swirl and drop before dark. When it drops it's going to go to the lowest spot. Which is why alot of mature bucks will go low after they get up and hook uphill walking nose into thermal.

I would think as far as what wind a bucks using would look like this based upon the markers you have on this map. Light blue wind dark blue the deer's thermal at midday will drop down his entry trail to bed before dark. The pink I would think is how a buck would in am go up to bed.

Milkweed or cottonballs will help you learn the thermals. The buck is probably bedded their on a wind that allows him to smell those trails for human activity. He wants that advantage.

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Re: Need help with a hill country buck bedding area

Unread postby G-Patt » Tue Jun 30, 2020 8:31 am

Looks like the highest elevation is north of where the beds are. I would try setting up on this higher elevation with a southerly wind between 7 and 10 mph in the evening and hope the thermals and the wind move my scent northerly. I'd look for some white oaks (early season) or other early season browse and set up north of a trail heading from those beds to the oaks. Go back in there this summer to see if you can locate the trails at a point where the thermals would pull your scent north (with a little help of a south wind) once it starts falling. Also check the wind with milkweed to see how bad the wind swirls there or how true it is to the wind that day. The bucks will likely move to higher elevation after the does and young bucks move to the oaks, plus they will have the thermals in their favor. Hopefully all of this happens within legal light. Good luck to you!
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Re: Need help with a hill country buck bedding area

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Tue Jun 30, 2020 10:47 am

G-Patt wrote:Looks like the highest elevation is north of where the beds are. I would try setting up on this higher elevation with a southerly wind between 7 and 10 mph in the evening and hope the thermals and the wind move my scent northerly. I'd look for some white oaks (early season) or other early season browse and set up north of a trail heading from those beds to the oaks. Go back in there this summer to see if you can locate the trails at a point where the thermals would pull your scent north (with a little help of a south wind) once it starts falling. Also check the wind with milkweed to see how bad the wind swirls there or how true it is to the wind that day. The bucks will likely move to higher elevation after the does and young bucks move to the oaks, plus they will have the thermals in their favor. Hopefully all of this happens within legal light. Good luck to you!



If you havent watched Dan's hill country dvd you should check it out. A mature buck is not going to be bedded on a southern slope with a wind out of the south blowing torwards the North.

He would have no wind over his back or protection from hunters coming from those trails to the North. Also a high setup is only good if the sun is hitting the forest floor when the buck gets up. This might work in rut not likely early season.
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