Can I get some insight from you guys??

[HillCountry]

I understand the basics of hunting hill country when it comes to wind/thermals etc. However I wouldn’t call myself a pro. Hoping some of you guys can look at these pics and give me your thoughts on where you would hunt / come in from. It’s pretty vast land and anything near roads are hit hard. I’m not opposed to walking a couple kms through the bush to get to my spots. Im definitely not a lazy hunter. Anyways. Let me know your thoughts.

Please and thank you!

[thepennsylvanian]

The scale of this looks massive, I think the thing you need to do is narrow it down by identifying terrain features.. look for draws, saddles, mid hill ridges, lowlands that have multiple hills terminating in relative close proximity. Then look at satellite imagery to find edges! Break down your area piece by piece then cross off the areas that you scout and find little sign

[HillCountry]

The scale of this looks massive, I think the thing you need to do is narrow it down by identifying terrain features.. look for draws, saddles, mid hill ridges, lowlands that have multiple hills terminating in relative close proximity. Then look at satellite imagery to find edges! Break down your area piece by piece then cross off the areas that you scout and find little sign

My bad. I knew after posting I should have narrowed it down more first. Trying to adjust from hunting our private ag land back home to this rocky wooded land with acorns on every hill. Thanks for the advice! Much appreciated.

[thepennsylvanian]

It easier to identify some land features using topo as well, but some of the best features can only be found boots on the ground!

[HillCountry]

It easier to identify some land features using topo as well, but some of the best features can only be found boots on the ground!

For sure, couldn’t agree more!

[Boogieman1]

My thoughts are how much time do u have at your disposal? Do u have the time/patience to sit 7 days in a row daylight til dark when it’s the green light? Do u only get weekends to hunt? Are u fidgety and can’t sit in a tree for more than 2 hours at a time? All this comes into play when forming a plan. At least for me.

[HillCountry]

My thoughts are how much time do u have at your disposal? Do u have the time/patience to sit 7 days in a row daylight til dark when it’s the green light? Do u only get weekends to hunt? Are u fidgety and can’t sit in a tree for more than 2 hours at a time? All this comes into play when forming a plan. At least for me.

I hear ya. I save my vacation for hunting season so I generally have access to a week or two.

As far as sit time goes I find that at the 4.5-5 hour mark my back gets brutally sore. But when I am in the stand I don’t fidget and I am patient.

[headgear]

I understand the basics of hunting hill country when it comes to wind/thermals etc. However I wouldn’t call myself a pro. Hoping some of you guys can look at these pics and give me your thoughts on where you would hunt / come in from.

Essentially you need to do the scouting to find the places you want to hunt/setup up on. You absolutely can just pick spots off a map that look good and have success but your success and encounters will go up that much more if you scout the land first to find the beds, then scout around the beds to try and figure out when the bucks are using them or are at least in the area, then finally hunt the beds when the active sign is there.

Now nobody can do this all in a single season so you kind of want to have a 5 to 10 year plan. Hunt, scout, take notes, find the beds even if you just have to guess and hunt blind for a while, take note of the sign you find. After a few years things come together, after closer to a decade you really get a feel for the process. With all that said it looks like you have a ton of killer terrain to work with so the best thing you can do is hit the woods as much as possible (hunting and scouting) and make the best of the intel you find.

[HillCountry]

I understand the basics of hunting hill country when it comes to wind/thermals etc. However I wouldn’t call myself a pro. Hoping some of you guys can look at these pics and give me your thoughts on where you would hunt / come in from.

Essentially you need to do the scouting to find the places you want to hunt/setup up on. You absolutely can just pick spots off a map that look good and have success but your success and encounters will go up that much more if you scout the land first to find the beds, then scout around the beds to try and figure out when the bucks are using them or are at least in the area, then finally hunt the beds when the active sign is there.

Now nobody can do this all in a single season so you kind of want to have a 5 to 10 year plan. Hunt, scout, take notes, find the beds even if you just have to guess and hunt blind for a while, take note of the sign you find. After a few years things come together, after closer to a decade you really get a feel for the process. With all that said it looks like you have a ton of killer terrain to work with so the best thing you can do is hit the woods as much as possible (hunting and scouting) and make the best of the intel you find.

Yeah that’s kind of what I was shooting for. Maybe I didn’t word the post right. That’s my bad. I get the principles of scouting and spending time in the bush etc. I’ve been doing that my whole life. I’m definitely not new to hunting. I spend 100000x more with boots on the ground than looking at maps but the purpose of my post was to see where guys are starting when they look at maps. What’s drawing them to certain areas vs others. I’ve referenced maps when it comes to farm land and swamps and what not. But up north hunting hills/mountains where deer and moose cohabitate is new to me.


I do appreciate the time and responses you guys have given though. Thanks again!

[headgear]

I think the problem is the map is pretty big and I could probably pick 500 spots if I wanted to, I don't think that does you much good. If you could zoom in a bit and maybe post some maps close to a square mile that have more topo detail it might help.

I would probably use historical knowledge to narrow down some spots, you have likely run into bucks and sign in the past that might help you key in on some beds. Once I found the beast I spend days re-scouting my old maps and my head was exploding with ideas.