Hill Country Approach and Set Up

[SMS79]

I'm going to post here because I have basically some of the same general questions regarding how to approach and set up in hill country. The "hills" I am hunting are much smaller than what y'all are referring to...I think the largest ridge on the property is approx. 75' above the adjacent creek bed. The whole property is rolling though...the smallest ridge has probably a 40'-50' elevation change over its adjacent creek bed or draw. And I would say almost none of the property is flat. I'm sure some principles carry over from the higher "Hill Country" y'all are talking about, but I am not sure how similar or different my circumstances are.

I am definitely finding beds on the points of fingers identical to the sketch PK posted. But I'm also finding beds further around the same finger (away from the point) as well as further down the hills (mid & bottom 1/3 elevations). Additionally, if you took the sketch and copy/pasted 3 more fingers pointing off parallel to the one shown, that's what I'm dealing with...parallel fingers with similar terrain features, elevation, slope, cover, security, wind, etc....and they all have similarly located beds. So my question is how do I interpret (and narrow down) the sign I am finding? Would these be a few primary beds and a ton of satellite beds? Or is it that the terrain (low rolling hills) creates such a number of favorable locations for a buck to bed that there are plenty for him to choose from on any given day and plenty to go around among most of the bucks (young and old) in the area? (Side note: we don't seem to have a very high deer density in this area...at least not like what we used to have.)

[RidgeGhost]

Dots, beds. Arrows, wind. X, stand sites. Lines, entry routes.

Ideally you want the water, food or doe bedding (whatever destination) above or along same elevation. Killing a buck that drops downhill out of a bed in hill country is very tough especially with bow.

I have a situation where a buck is bedded on the end of the highest point of a ridge. All food and water sources and doe bedding are below him. How do you attack that situation? Try to catch him coming back on a morning sit?

Oof.

There is just so much working against you in most of those setups. Trying to get under a big buck is usually extremely tough.

Sit in the bed and see how far he can see. If he is on the highest point, he can likely see all around and probably down to the bottom once the leaves drop. You may have to come in side hill behind another point. Hopefully the buck drops down at an angle or turns at the bottom.

Just understand if he can see a long ways from the bed it is not real likely he reaches a spot that he cant see before it's dark.

Check a couple kill trees just out of sight. Use milkweed on the winds you would hunt those exact trees and see where it goes (this will change from day-dusk). The swirling winds and thermals down low are extremely tough to deal with. Some guys slip into the kill tree after the thermals start to drop, this is tough but can be killer. I have never attempted that myself.

If you gun hunt I would save these types of beds for then. The loner range levels the playing field somewhat. Though most older bucks move even shorter distance before dark once the gun pressure hits. So yea, probably won't be easy. Lol

Thanks for the response PK. I'll try that for sure. I have probably half a dozen or more spots similar to this one that I have not hunted and I'm trying to figure out for this year. The issue is the bed is on a north facing point and my predominate winds are N or NW during the season. So it would seem like the bed should be a faint one if he is only bedding there when the wind is at his back (South wind), but the beds on the point are very well used with big rubs in them. Seems to me he has to be bedding there on winds other than south winds to leave as much sign as he has. He has a pretty solid defense at his back, a small rocky ridge that would limit access and he is watching over a walking trail. He can't see the walking trail from his bed, but if anything tried to come up the ridge to him he would see it well before it got to him. Will bucks bed with the wind in their face if they feel safe behind them? I'm wondering if he uses the morning thermals falling down the ridge point to access his bed with the wind in his face, then once he is there, warming thermals rise to him and he can scent below him. I may be grasping at straws, and I'm sure I dove way off topic. But if I can nail down what he is doing, I'll have a game plan for several more spots.

[tuff4x4]

Ghost, if the bed is well worn and has sign that is also well worn I would venture a guess that the buck beds there with multiple winds and often. What I mean by that is if the terrain is so that the winds can "bounce" off other valley sides they can and will come back into the bed. So a NW wind can sometimes turn into a SE wind, or just swirl around the point. Which is why Mr. big would be bedding there in the first place. I have had "West" winds all day long that really are coming from the East when in the stand.

[RidgeGhost]

I went back in a couple weeks ago and checked this spot out again. I found that he has beds all the way around the point from NW to E side of the north facing point. The day I was there was supposed to be a rare SE wind but on the point it was a steady west wind. The surrounding ridges seem to funnel every wind into a W or SW wind which explains the major bedding on the east side of the point.

It's pretty thick, so he can't see too far down the ridge. I marked a tree just out of sight along a secondary ridge coming down from his bed with trails paralleling the ridge and coming off the point down the ridge crossing in bow range. I'll be about 100 to 120 yards downhill of him, so I think I'll have to try to slide in late and catch the thermal switch so he doesn't wind me.

I also wonder if there is a major temperature drop within the day or if it goes from sunny to cloudy if the thermal switch will occur at that time?

This set will be risky for sure. I'm confident in the spot but very aware the odds are in his favor. I'm learning a lot from this and similar spots though, so that's what is driving me.

If I can't get him bed hunting, I have a great looking rut setup I'm hoping he'll use.

[tuff4x4]

I hunt a spot that has a valley that runs E and W, at the very W end the valley rises up to a bowl that has a ridge that runs N and S. With a W wind I have trouble getting in but as the sun sets over the bowl the air in the valley cools and the thermals will pull in the the W direction, almost like having a E wind. The trick, for me anyway, is setting up at the right time and just off to the side enough so my scent slides just off his direction of travel. It has worked 3 times in 8 years. Not great odds but learned alot from it. Good luck. Keep us posted though out the season on this spot.