Opening Day Set-up

[fishlips]

With Wisconsin's gun opener right around the corner, I was wondering if I could get some help on setting up on a spot of public land that I hunt for gun season. I came across this spot last fall when I was out scouting with my dog. I never would have found it, but my dog got onto something in the cedar swampy area we were walking through and kicked up a deer. I never saw the head but found where it was bedded and the area had plenty of rubs in it.

Right now I want to sit to the southwest of the bed over an escape route that I believe the deer might use. The pressure on the deer will mostly be from the north and east. Wind is supposed to be S / SSE on opening day, making getting in here really early probably a bad idea as my scent will blow right to where I expect the deer to enter the bed. My other thought is to hunt somewhere else in the morning and then set up to the north of this spot in the afternoon and wait for him to come out (if he is in there). There are trails leading to the ag field to the north that are rubbed up and there is a trail parallel to the field that is loaded with rubs. I wish I could hunt this in bow season, but this spot is closed until the gun opener.

So here is my rough drawing. The yellow spot is an ag field, which is pretty much the only ag field for miles. The dark green is very thick evergreen swamp stuff with blowdowns. This is where I know there was a bed last year. the red trails show the trails that I believe go into and out of this bed (minus the one trail parallel to the field), the light green is more open hardwoods and the orange is an open field that hunters sit over. There are also hunters setup along the ag field edge and also to the east of the bedding area. I marked my spots with pink. The spot to the south is my ideal spot, but the wind is going to be bad for an early set up there I think. I am interested to hear some thoughts on this spot.



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[dan]

I would likely get there well before daylight and be right in the thick bedding area, high in a tree, as far north (with a south wind) as possible still being able to cover the whole bedding area.

[fishlips]

So you would still hunt this spot with a south wind? My main concern is that if he is using this bed this weekend, he will wind me before he gets there and will bed elsewhere.

I have a couple other spots that I can hunt that will work with a south wind, but this one really gets me excited due to the sign I found last year and saw that it was refreshed earlier this year.

[dan]

So you would still hunt this spot with a south wind? My main concern is that if he is using this bed this weekend, he will wind me before he gets there and will bed elsewhere.

I have a couple other spots that I can hunt that will work with a south wind, but this one really gets me excited due to the sign I found last year and saw that it was refreshed earlier this year.

With a gun, I often get high enough, and far enough back to not get winded at the bedding area... Guess it depends on how high your trees are, and how thick the cover is.

[fishlips]

Thanks for the help. The spot I was going to set up on is also on a smallish ridge, so that will probably give me extra height over the bedding area. I have LW stand with four sticks so I think I can get fairly high compared to where I suspect the deer will bed. Only problem is seeing in there will be difficult. There is one other spot that I think I could set up on that I did not mark that would allow me to look into the bed better, but will be more difficult to set up in.

Thanks again. Hope I have pictures to post after this weekend!