New Beast Piecing It Together....

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rthunter
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New Beast Piecing It Together....

Unread postby rthunter » Mon Jul 24, 2017 8:57 am

I am still fairly new to the Beast style and this will be my first season utilizing a lot of what I have learned so far - I feel as though I put some big pieces together but wanted to get some of your thoughts and expertise on some of the details throughout the season. If there is a good thread that I missed that summarizes this already, please let me know otherwise I look forward to hearing all your thoughts and preferences. If I am missing something or should reconsider parts or all of this I apprecaiate the feedback.

Scouting - find the beds, find the beds, find the beds. Find the buck and doe beds and if possible figure out if they are seasonal based on food sources, other pressure, or if they are primary and therefore can be counted on in multiple scenarios and times of the year. After finding the beds and determining the best time of year to hunt them individually, nail down the best wind directions, stand sites, and access routes.

Pre-Rut - analyse the beds locations and determine where the food is then try to pin point bucks routes from bed to food to set up on a cross or down wind side as close to bedding as possible without notifying the buck I am there. Assumption is that the buck will leave his bed to go toward the food.

Rut - determine beds and routes to doe beds or transition trails where bucks may scent-check a bed, field, or area based on wind. Set up between these points and the bucks bed as close to bed on cross or down wind side of bucks access routes to these areas. Do you all focus on travel corridors, pinch points, inside corners, funnels, further away from bedding during the rut? Seems like focusing on these without a connection to good bedding (both doe and buck) would be less beast style and seemingly less likely to produce good sightings/options but I have never had a lot of time to hunt the rut so I don't have a lot of infield experience to go on here. Plus hunting in PA the pressure seems to make our rut less crazy than surrounding states which to me means the bucks are staying tighter to their bedding or in heavy coverage if roaming.

Post Rut - switch back to pre-rut style areas and focus.

I am super excited about the potential for this season - I feel like this is the first season I am truly hunting versus just sitting in the woods hoping. I may not be successful but based on a few successes scouting and seeing the woods with a different perspective, I already fell like this entire season is a success.

A few questions:

1. How long are you staying in the stand? If you are planning an all day hunt, are you staying in the same spot or planning on moving to a different spot in the afternoon?

2. Access routes - are there any suggestions you all have for determining access routes? Any terrain features you find are consistently helpful? I am planning to utilize a few horse trails, walking trails, and roads to get as close as I can before jumping into the areas that contain my target spots.

3. Are any of you using scents (drags or drips) to stop bucks in shooting lanes or to get them in closer? My assumption is no but I don't recall seeing a lot of discussion on this topic which leads me to believe its fairly obvious as it would potentially impact the area more negatively due to walking around more to set it up but there are some really good hunters out there that like to use them....just hoping for some clarification on my assumption.


Rich M
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Re: New Beast Piecing It Together....

Unread postby Rich M » Mon Jul 24, 2017 10:21 am

1 - depends on the stand but typically have an am and a pm spot. Depends what goals I have for that hunt - thermals, winds, diff deer, etc. Some funnel stands may be good for all day sits - I will sit all day when I'm watching a funnel.

I've done better in AM on some properties and PM on others. The deer will tell you the best times to hunt.

2 - every stand is diff - if you can access off a frequently used walking trail it will be less noticeable to the deer cause they'll be used to the scent. Any trail where you can avoid the areas the deer use is your access route.

3 - when you go to spread your scent, drag, etc. You leave human scent - some deer will follow the drags but I'm thinking that these big public land bucks will smell human and decide to do some scent checking as opposed to following the scent.

I gave up scents years ago after watching my father using cotton balls with Tinks on them - he NEVER saw a deer on the scents. I think they spook deer, or just put them on edge.


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