Unread postby Ghost Pointer » Tue Sep 18, 2018 1:52 pm
Productive Beast scout:
With a favorable wind and impending Hurricane Florence rain beginning after dark, I went in to a suspected buck bedding area and found what I hope is a mature buck bed. I went in blind off of a map with only a little knowledge of the ridge. The spot is about 1.5 miles in on big mountain woods
I was climbing the ridge and noticed a decent rub about waist height. When I got to the rub(maybe a day or 2 old), along with about 8-10 here and there other rubs, I was around the 1/3 elevation from the top. Followed the elevation contour a bit, there was a dark shady area clustered with saplings, hard to see into, but easy to see out. Above that was a lot of oaks. Low and behold right in the middle was a solitary bed w/ hair in it. Standing there, I am looking around thinking, how in the world can I hunt this thing? It’s a bed for multiple winds (W/NW/N/NE) maybe even a WSW wind as the ridgeline bends around the area. The bed measured roughly 45” across. Tons of old rubs in the area.
On the way down, I may have found what I needed and that was where he likely heads when he gets up. Found the biggest scrape I have ever seen (prob. 15’x15’) deer tracks all over it. Saw several fresh rubs heading off the ridge before and after the scrape.
Now the question...with the correct wind, do I setup just out of sight of the bed on about equal elevation, expecting him to feed around before heading down? With the scrape being below, sit out and wait for thermals to flip and set up before he would get to the scrape?
3 great takeaways...1. found what I believe to be a mature buck bed from a map 2. My son was with me and couldnt believe what he was seeing. 3. The skies opened up as we made it back to the vehicle and poured all night.