Primary bedding area and active thermal hub

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tbunao
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Primary bedding area and active thermal hub

Unread postby tbunao » Fri Apr 20, 2018 1:38 am

If life could stop throwing me things that are keeping me away from the woods on the weekends it would be greatly appreciated! :lol: I was finally able to get out and use the new camera on a piece I looked at last year but never made it scout. I would also like to add that scouting a new piece, putting it all together, self filming it and making it make sense isn't as easy as it may seem. Kudos to those who do it :clap: I'm used to scouting then going back home to make better sense of the findings. If anything doing this from here on out will only help when it comes time to do another out of state hunt 8-)

I am so behind on scouting it's not even funny so finding a spot like this is HUGE!!

https://youtu.be/4smLYHxD2e8


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Re: Primary bedding area and active thermal hub

Unread postby headgear » Fri Apr 20, 2018 1:45 am

I haven't even started scouting yet so don't feel too bad, way too much snow on the ground up here. :lol:
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Re: Primary bedding area and active thermal hub

Unread postby tbunao » Fri Apr 20, 2018 1:55 am

headgear wrote:I haven't even started scouting yet so don't feel too bad, way too much snow on the ground up here. :lol:



Yea I complained about our reoccurring snow and then saw what happened to you all... I will stop complaining about that :lol:
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Re: Primary bedding area and active thermal hub

Unread postby tgreeno » Sat Apr 21, 2018 4:53 am

Solid work as always Tim. Would you be able to access/observe from that horse trailer parking area? Do you typically always monitor your new bedding areas prior to hunting them?

How many time do you hunt these type areas in a season?
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Re: Primary bedding area and active thermal hub

Unread postby tbunao » Sat Apr 21, 2018 5:52 am

tgreeno wrote:Solid work as always Tim. Would you be able to access/observe from that horse trailer parking area? Do you typically always monitor your new bedding areas prior to hunting them?

How many time do you hunt these type areas in a season?


Thanks for moving the question over to the forum. I would much rather get into a tactical discussion on here than on FB. I feel anyone that truly wants to learn will take the step and join the site and they will be the ones who are willing to put in the work IMO.

What I didn't mention in that video is that is actually 50 yards deep of clear cut waste piled up 6 feet high and it also creates about a 1/4 mile barrier around that point. The parking is dead up wind of the bedding. That road also closes during hunting season making the only parking a little over a mile away. A simple stroll down the road in a "I love Wolfs" shirt in a pair of mandals with the dog I should be able to monitor the road. I don't feel as if a buck would want to go that route for 2 reasons. 1 better food below and to the north and 2 the south has the most hunter sign and can we guess where?? Field edges :lol: I never once saw and hunter sign in the woods but as soon as I got close to those fields bam! All over.

For me if a situation will allow me to monitor what's using the bedding area without ever tipping them off I will. If not I would relay on glassing or shining. This situation I can get into that creek from a highway parking lot (also hunter access to the side of the creek that leads to the other bigger woods) and never even lay a foot print on the actual ground. The tree I have picked out for the scrape is actually half way in the creek.

Another thing I did not mention is an group of 8 white oaks at a lower elevation a little farther back than my set up (we will call it the bed set). My access route to the bed set runs right below this group of oaks in a feeder creek. The years have carved out a 20ft high steep embankment. I can give this spot an evening sit before I move to the bed set without ever setting foot on the actual ground they are walking on.

The steep banks from the different points make funnels here which lead to that scrape area. If they want to hit those rich ag fields away's away they more than likely will use these ridges and points. It's also far enough back where they wouldn't be hitting those fields until well after dark, fields that have box blinds in them as well :snooty: :lol:
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Re: Primary bedding area and active thermal hub

Unread postby bigbucks1234 » Sat Apr 21, 2018 7:09 am

Thanks for sharing this on the beast!! Im not on fb so this was great. I hunt alot of hills just like yours and got some good info. Sounds like your putting alot of stock in old rubs. The more im doing this style of hunting the more they make sense especially when you pair them up with bedding and food. Anyway great video and can't wait to follow your channel :handgestures-thumbup:
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Re: Primary bedding area and active thermal hub

Unread postby RidgeGhost » Sat Apr 21, 2018 7:14 am

Good work man. I think those hubs are really a powerful tool if you can figure out how to get into them. And it looks like you have that one nailed down.
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Re: Primary bedding area and active thermal hub

Unread postby tgreeno » Sat Apr 21, 2018 8:03 am

That really sounds like a great set-up Tim! I don't have that many set-ups that allow me observe, without actually getting up in a tree. Swamps can be tougher that way.

I'm really looking forward to see how this set-up works out for you this season!
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Re: Primary bedding area and active thermal hub

Unread postby tbunao » Sat Apr 21, 2018 10:12 am

bigbucks1234 wrote:Thanks for sharing this on the beast!! Im not on fb so this was great. I hunt alot of hills just like yours and got some good info. Sounds like your putting alot of stock in old rubs. The more im doing this style of hunting the more they make sense especially when you pair them up with bedding and food. Anyway great video and can't wait to follow your channel :handgestures-thumbup:



Old rubs mixed with new rubs all in a concentrated area really get me going :L: . Especially when beds are found mixed in

Thanks!
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Re: Primary bedding area and active thermal hub

Unread postby tbunao » Sat Apr 21, 2018 10:14 am

RidgeGhost wrote:Good work man. I think those hubs are really a powerful tool if you can figure out how to get into them. And it looks like you have that one nailed down.



I’ve been working on one for the past 2 seasons and still can’t figure out how to hunt it properly. This one everything just works.

Any tips?
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Re: Primary bedding area and active thermal hub

Unread postby tbunao » Sat Apr 21, 2018 10:16 am

tgreeno wrote:That really sounds like a great set-up Tim! I don't have that many set-ups that allow me observe, without actually getting up in a tree. Swamps can be tougher that way.

I'm really looking forward to see how this set-up works out for you this season!


I struggle with observations honestly. Most involve the stand and binos. I’ve turned my cyber scouting into looking for areas that observing might be possible. Trying to find pieces that work for them and myself.
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Re: Primary bedding area and active thermal hub

Unread postby mike perry » Sat Apr 21, 2018 12:20 pm

Great job on the video Tim, that’s hunting right there. And as far as snow goes we are one inch shy of 200 inches this year so I feel your pain!
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Re: Primary bedding area and active thermal hub

Unread postby RidgeGhost » Tue Apr 24, 2018 5:22 am

tbunao wrote:
RidgeGhost wrote:Good work man. I think those hubs are really a powerful tool if you can figure out how to get into them. And it looks like you have that one nailed down.



I’ve been working on one for the past 2 seasons and still can’t figure out how to hunt it properly. This one everything just works.

Any tips?


I'm just learning all this stuff too man, so I'm hesitant to say that I know anything about them. But, I feel pretty good about one that I spent some time in this winter. Basically what I found was:

- There are about 7 or 8 points that drop into the hub, some prominent, some less noticeable
- The only places I found beds were on points that had a military crest. Gently sloping points had nothing.
- Of the points with military crests, the best beds were on the thickest of those. A point with a military crest probably will have a bed, but the best were only on the thick points.
- Most of the beds are unhuntable for access reasons. Which is why they are there. Of the beds I found, I can only hunt one in the evening. I may be able to pull off a morning sit lower into the hub, but it will be a huge risk. The morning hunt will be a last resort type hunt.
- As usual, I'm going against the grain as far as setting up on the evening hunt. I expect him to move from the point back up the ridge, not down into the hub. I think he loops into the hub in the morning before climbing the ridge up to his bed from downwind. In other words, this hub is not a destination, but rather a central area where he feels safe and can gather intel on other deer in the area on his way back to bed in the am.

I have no idea if any of that applies to all hubs. But I do intend to look for the same concepts on some of the other hubs on my list(won't get to them until next off season now). Something else I'll mention - What I thought were going to be the best points while map scouting turned out not to be. The military crest and thick cover trumped all other factors. That may seem obvious, but looking on the map, most would probably not pick out the spots where I found beds. It surprised me, but it also makes sense.

Bedding between the hill country(where I'm talking about finding this hub) and the mountain terrain that I'm used to hunting are quite different from what I've found so far. Hill country provides many more options and less defined bedding.

I have a feeling that wall of brush in your video is going to be killer :twisted:
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Re: Primary bedding area and active thermal hub

Unread postby tbunao » Tue Apr 24, 2018 12:41 pm

RidgeGhost wrote:
tbunao wrote:
RidgeGhost wrote:Good work man. I think those hubs are really a powerful tool if you can figure out how to get into them. And it looks like you have that one nailed down.



I’ve been working on one for the past 2 seasons and still can’t figure out how to hunt it properly. This one everything just works.

Any tips?


I'm just learning all this stuff too man, so I'm hesitant to say that I know anything about them. But, I feel pretty good about one that I spent some time in this winter. Basically what I found was:

- There are about 7 or 8 points that drop into the hub, some prominent, some less noticeable
- The only places I found beds were on points that had a military crest. Gently sloping points had nothing.
- Of the points with military crests, the best beds were on the thickest of those. A point with a military crest probably will have a bed, but the best were only on the thick points.
- Most of the beds are unhuntable for access reasons. Which is why they are there. Of the beds I found, I can only hunt one in the evening. I may be able to pull off a morning sit lower into the hub, but it will be a huge risk. The morning hunt will be a last resort type hunt.
- As usual, I'm going against the grain as far as setting up on the evening hunt. I expect him to move from the point back up the ridge, not down into the hub. I think he loops into the hub in the morning before climbing the ridge up to his bed from downwind. In other words, this hub is not a destination, but rather a central area where he feels safe and can gather intel on other deer in the area on his way back to bed in the am.

I have no idea if any of that applies to all hubs. But I do intend to look for the same concepts on some of the other hubs on my list(won't get to them until next off season now). Something else I'll mention - What I thought were going to be the best points while map scouting turned out not to be. The military crest and thick cover trumped all other factors. That may seem obvious, but looking on the map, most would probably not pick out the spots where I found beds. It surprised me, but it also makes sense.

Bedding between the hill country(where I'm talking about finding this hub) and the mountain terrain that I'm used to hunting are quite different from what I've found so far. Hill country provides many more options and less defined bedding.

I have a feeling that wall of brush in your video is going to be killer :twisted:


Sounds like you are on the 2 year plan. Imo these are the spots that take time but once you figure them out they will be a go to. You will only have to swing by to see if they are active allowing you to focus on other areas the same way.

I think that wall is giving them a false sense of security
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Re: Primary bedding area and active thermal hub

Unread postby NYBackcountry » Wed Apr 25, 2018 2:00 am

Great post and video Tim. Some great insight on actually picking a tree and using the thermal hub as an observation point. It opens up a few spots I had in mind, I was thinking a little bit to linear and never really considered using those hubs as an observation point. When you decide to try and inventory bucks using that scrape what is your method? I know you mentioned cameras in the video, would you throw observation sits at it during season?

The video is huge for me, I absorb so much more information visually, really appreciate it.


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