bowmike wrote:This has been one of the most informative threads I have read on any hunting forum but one thing I did not see was the times that you expect these bucks to get up and move. Here is my hypothetical scenerio.
I find a mature buck bed. I map it out and see the topo, and decide on the wind condition I will need to be able to hunt him. OK i check the forcast and everthing is right to hunt this buck. The valleys will warm and give me the right thermal tunnel. I now no its game time and check out my planned rout to get to this bed.
I am assuming i will have to go in 2 hours before it gets light to get to the tree as quite as I can. I use a climber so all summer I practice climbing to be a quiet as possible. I get up there, get settled, and everything is ready to go.
How long do you guys sit on stand then? Do you sit all day in this spot? Do you just hunt for the first few hours of morning, then leave? Are you going to hunt until this buck gets up from his bed within your sight?
This style of hunting reminds me of roosting turkeys, you have to do you homework to find where they are bedded. With deer you can at least anticipate where they will go off of the "roost" by knowing the wind and how the buck "should" travle once he leaves his bed.
When you find his bed in the early season/winter are you also looking for his trails to his bed. Is this how you determine what tree you will set up in giving what wind direction. od you find multiple trees for different wind instances? Basically you are waiting for "all the planets to allign" to set up on this tree. if one of the factors is not right, you do not hunt this stand.
Bringing this one back to life! I would like to hear more opinions on Mike's questions as well as a couple of my own.
How early can bucks return to their bed? I would assume they are trying to get back at least before it's first light. Would they get back hours before light?