How do you set up on this buck ?

[dreaming bucks]

Question for ya Dan, or anyone else that wants to chime in... Lets say you have this buck bedded on this hillside, 1/3 of the way down. Now, you have a prevailing west wind and thermals coming up the hill from the east...
My question is, how do you set up on him with the thermals going right up the hill towards him ? Are you suppose to wait till the thermals stabilize or until they start coming back down the hill, before you get in the tree ? I'm just thinking if you set up too early, your scent from the thermals will be going right at him, and bang, your busted !

One other question....
If the buck is bedded where I marked him... and there is crops on both sides of the hill, will they tend to go to the side that they can walk into the wind for their feed for the night ? or will they take the least resistance, and just go down the hillside that they are bedded on ? Or, is it a total crapshoot and they could go down either one ?

Just some things running through my head today at work... I did watch your hill country dvd Dan, but I don't know if I missed something ( which I probably did), or if you guys didn't touch on this perticular scanario...
Thanks in advance......

[AC Rider]

Can you set up just to the side (side hill) of him - say 50, 60 yards away and catch him leaving his bed? This would work if you can determine which way he's going and if he doesn't head straight up or downhill.

[dan]

Check out the map below...

My question is, how do you set up on him with the thermals going right up the hill towards him ?

No

Are you suppose to wait till the thermals stabilize or until they start coming back down the hill, before you get in the tree ?

In some cases yes.. If that is a valid technique that works. If you look at the green X on your map as where you intend to kill the buck, sitting where the pink X is till the thermals change and then rushing over and setting up works if the buck does not move to early.

I'm just thinking if you set up too early, your scent from the thermals will be going right at him, and bang, your busted !

Correct.

One other question....
If the buck is bedded where I marked him... and there is crops on both sides of the hill, will they tend to go to the side that they can walk into the wind for their feed for the night ? or will they take the least resistance, and just go down the hillside that they are bedded on ? Or, is it a total crapshoot and they could go down either one ?

Its my opinion that the buck won't use wind direction to determine where he feeds or how he accesses it. He is going to go to the food source he prefers. If the wind is not right for him to travel to that food source he may head that way a little later than if the wind was in his favor, but my observations tell me that bucks don't use wind direction as a factor when traveling to food.

Most of the bedding spots are not located on hill sides as you drew, some are, but most will be on points along the hillside as I detailed at the bottom of your drawing in blue. As Greg has already mentioned, getting off the side of the point at the same elevation can be a really good tactic.
In most cases you can use the curves in the terrain to conceal your entry.
I do think gregs comment about 50 to 60 yards is a bit close for hill country and more doable in the marshes. I would say 100 yards is about right, and even that is pushing it sometimes depending on how thick the woods is. I have noticed that often bucks on hillsides or points will stage staying on the same elevation walking along the ridge a short ways before dropping or rising. They don't always do this, but I have seen it enough to recognize it as a pattern. So hunting off to the side where they stage is recommendation #1.... If they are dropping strait down playing the waiting game till the thermal change happens works. If they are heading up to the tops for crops they usually follow the elevation long enough to give you a spot off to the side, if not all you can do is set up as close as you can with your wind not hitting him. Wind seldom blows straight to the bed... So a smart hunter would use the slight left or right direction and set up appropriately rather than having a pre-hung stand in a position that likely ain't the perfect spot for that wind.

[dreaming bucks]

Thanks alot guys, It makes more sense to me now... I really don't have the situation with the deer bedded where I marked on the map, I'm just trying to learn the what-if's... I mean, there could be a deer bedded where I marked on the map on our land, but I have not did the whole "searching for the buck beds" this year. I just learned this great technique from you guys late this spring, so I fully intend to put it to use next year.. And yes, I agree with you Dan on what you said about the bucks useing the points to bed, I just wanted to keep my map simple..

I tell ya, after learning from this site and learning from your DVD Dan, I've really been P*ssing against the wind in my hunting techniques the past years... It's nowonder I don't see crap for deer... When you watch your DVD it all really makes sense to me, alot of great tips, I need to watch it again and pick up on some things that I probably didn't catch the first time....

The only problem I have with our land is, I only have access to it from the North. I can't use the neighbors land to the south, which would really be nice to set up on some of our south side bedded bucks.... but oh well, can't have everything I guess....

I really would like to try the public hunting thing too... Dan, is there a website for finding public hunting ? DNR ? I have never looked for it before, so I have no idea...

[Black Squirrel]

I really would like to try the public hunting thing too... Dan, is there a website for finding public hunting ? DNR ? I have never looked for it before, so I have no idea...

WI DNR has maps of most of their state land http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/wildlife/hunt/
there is a box on the right side of this website "where to hunt", check it out.

[dreaming bucks]

Thanks squirrel, I will be sure to look that up....

[dan]

I really would like to try the public hunting thing too... Dan, is there a website for finding public hunting ? DNR ? I have never looked for it before, so I have no idea...

I hate to do this because I hunt the Spring Green are a bit
But I will let you in on a little secret... Go to www.scmaps.com
and buy the "Southern Wisconsin all outdoors atlas and field guide"
It will show you not only every pc of public land, but also all the MFL private land that is open for the public to hunt on.

[dreaming bucks]

Thanks alot Dan, I really appreciate it ! Not sure how much time I will have to get out there and explore this year, but I really don't want to overhunt my little 60 acres of private that I have... I will try to stay out of your way.

[dan]

I will try to stay out of your way.

Maybe we can team up on a hunt or two out that way.

[dreaming bucks]

I will try to stay out of your way.

Maybe we can team up on a hunt or two out that way.

Hey, that sounds good to me...