The Hunting Beast

Back in 1989 Myles keller told me something that has made a big difference in hunting my sets. He said, "If the wind is 100% right for your stand then its 100% wrong for the buck. Sometimes you have to cut the wind angles close to even get a mature buck to think its alright to use a certain route". Later that year I took his advice and cut the wind close on an exit route out of a public land bedding area.Oct.31st,1600hrs,the wind was strong and gusty, it was spitting rain. He came out of the cedars and started working his way around the ridge. He stopped in front of me @ 17yds, he was jumpy and knew something was up but I was already lining him up at that point and dropped the string. He also dropped and I took him through the top of his right lung and down through his left lung. He ran downhill and curled to the right making it 200 yds. Most of the tracking I did in wet leaves because of the rain. He was my first good bow buck @ 110", #184 dressed. There is always some risk in any setup,I would rather go down swinging. M.P.

Good point, I'll have to remember that. Dan, thats cutting it way too close for me even though its easy for me to setup quickly.

Casper wrote:Good point, I'll have to remember that. Dan, thats cutting it way too close for me even though its easy for me to setup quickly.

Don't take the statement wrong... Its not like I endorse just hunting the last 20 minutes of light. Its just in hill country your going to run into a few bucks that bed on points and wait till just before dark and drop down to the valley below them because all day they could smell it was safe there.
Sometimes in some cases you have to do things a little different to have success. If thats what the buck does day in and day out staging at the base of the ridge where you can't get before the wind thermal change, it just might be the trick to pull out to kill the beast. Every hunt, and every buck bedroom is different. You have to find the weakness and capitalize on it.

Lots of good info here (i think) I just wanted to bump it to the top for others, but more importantly so I can find it again in the morning when I'm more awake and can make sense of it better.