The j-hook

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treeroot
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Re: The j-hook

Unread postby treeroot » Tue Nov 20, 2018 10:01 am

I've seen what I suspect to be does not quiet in heat j hook. They bed watching their back trail. Everytime I've seen it a few minutes to hours later a buck will come through noise to ground and the doe will vanish. When I can I try to sneak into range when I see a doe j hook.

I've had a few encounters with mature bucks doing this. Usually a younger buck will come through first. But it's a decent all day sit if you see it in the am.

I should specify these are loan does. I have seen doe and fawn do this too. Which I speculate they are trying to stop getting harassed by the little bucks that chase everything.


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Re: The j-hook

Unread postby Out Hunting » Sun Jul 19, 2020 1:20 am

peteinvermont wrote:I've tracked multiple deer that made a very small, (30yd) J hook into the bed. Then, when they get up from that bed because they somehow knew I was on their track, they leave the bed - only to make a much larger hook (75yrds) to watch the backtrack. I don't know how to interpret that, other than the possibility of pressure changing the size of the J hook.



When snow tracking and you bump a buck he will sometimes go a ways then make a huge j hook to watch his back trail to see what you are. That way to combat that is to stop and wait 30-45 minutes before continuing the track. If done right you’ll follow the j hook and find where the buck stood and turned and stood and there will be lots of tracks where he was waiting anxiously for the danger that’s following him, and hopefully you waited long enough because if you did he will have walked away from there. Then it’s back to the tracking game of identifying when he’ll feed and then bed again.

As far as hunting a pressured deer in a treestand application, I’m not sure that they make bigger j hooks into their beds rather then move areas. With tracking it’s different because the danger is hot on their trail vs pressure over a longer time period.


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