Need a little with public land topo reading

[hoosierbowhunter90]

Hi guys,

I have debated hunting these areas for awhile now. But have done zero scouting, I know the area has giant bucks but I need help with some stand locations. strictly based off the topos. I am basically going in blind and it will most likely be the first weekend of muzzleloader because I doubt anyone will be in there. See attached photos. I know you all are busy, but if you could just mark me a few spots where you would go if you were going in blind. I have one stand location in mind, its marked blue. There are crops within a mile or closer to this piece. I don't think I will see anyone back here during muzzleloader honestly. Maybe someone on here hunts these idk!

[headgear]

Looks to be lots of bedding options for them there, gravitate toward any logged out hills and thick cover you are more likely to find the buck sign. Also be extremely warry of how they will bed to smell your entrance trail or have a great view of access trails. Before this year I probably spend the previous two years just walking by them or blowing them out without even knowing they were there. Too much swamp hunting over the past decade has me use to pushing the limits but that can backfire in the hills.

Still kind of Hill Country novice but things really started clicking for me this year when I learned to back off a bit and try and better understand how they stay alive. A lot of times they will bed on the downwind side of thick cover, sometimes out in the open with a view and the cover not far away, other times just on the edge of the cover and other times way back in the middle but it all depends on the immediate area and what is available for them. Several times I bumped a large tracked deer bedding within 50 yards of an access trail, not easy to figure out they are in the area and setup on them when they are that close to areas you are trying to scout or have to walk by to get to other areas you might be hunting. Sometimes the best stuff has roads/trails all around it, they are there but you have to figure out how they are busting you before you can get an arrow in them.

I would say scout those leeward hills near thick cover and if you find some sign maybe just setup and see what happens. Try and and learn a little every single trip to the woods, lots of information out there if you are paying attention to detail. Eventually you start to figure out the areas they like to hang out and it becomes a little easier to pick spots off a map and or scout the better areas and find the bucks a little faster than just walking miles and miles but you might have to do that too. They need some escape cover too, with any kind of pressure in the area they need something big and safe to be able to hide when pushed. Sometimes even when pressured they won't leave these save zones. Try and push them out and they just circle around you, those can be the best areas to hunt once you figure them out but they can take some time.

[<DK>]

Just a general mark up of spots I like, nothing exact. Alot would depend on what a winter ariel looked like. For rut spots I like the saddles on the long running ridges. Id still try to find some thick cover bc thats where the does will run to. I like the large red dot a lot for a blind morning hunt, then scout my way deeper midday for the eve hunt.

Red - Sets (Lower Elev = AM / Higher Elev = PM)
Yellow - Buck Bedding



Edit - I like the large red dot on the left as well for a morning bed hunt.

[hoosierbowhunter90]

thanks for the replies guys. Think im guna do one of those sits weekend of muzzlerloader. Much appreciated!!!!