1 week, 2 states, 2 bucks down beast style!
- Bowhuntercoop
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1 week, 2 states, 2 bucks down beast style!
Figured I would write a post about my season and some background about myself and bed hunting. Ive been successful in the past with bowhunting close to doe bedding areas in the rut but I guess I never understood the aspect of buck beds and why I had success. In 2015 in late march I was scouting a large tract of public here in PA. The tract is a state forest and around 9k acres in size. I tried hunting high, middle, and low and started taking notes that in late oct I would see bucks cruising above me on what appeared to be the top ridge. This was in 2014 so I knew I had to put boots on the ground. Once I got on top I jumped sone deer below me on the military crest. It clicked! I found a primo buck bed just like dan describes in his videos. It was a north wind and I was on the south side of the mtn. It was super thick Laurel above him and he could see below him and smell the thermals. Things started to go off in my head.
That winter I discovered the beast and started reading about buck beds. Thinking back on previous years and the success I had it stared to make sense, I was hunting staging areas and transition areas adjacent to doe and buck bedding and just never realized what the I was doing. I always paid attention to wind but wasn't on top of my game with access and exits. I had no idea about j hooking and buck exits routes. Over the course of 2015 and 2016 winters I found a pile of beds on both sides of the mtn, a majority of them on the military crest. One spot was at the base of the mtn but that was due to the cover and pressure from other hunters. Il get back to that later in the post.
So last year I end up killing a beautiful 125-130 class 8 on public about 150 yards from where I jumped a buck in march. He lost his rack when I jumped him but I knew from his body and the bed location it was a buck. I hunted the bed one time this year and saw a decent 100 inch buck get up out of the bed and take an exit route with no shot. Leaving the area I found 4 different trail cameras within 300 yards of where I was hunting so I knew the pressure was high.
Last Tuesday I set up on some doe bedding I found that is within 200 yards of the parking lots. Its overlooked, extremely thick and I have never seen anyone hunting it. At 840 in the morning I see a nice buck trailing a doe. I bleat and grunt at him and he could careless. He chases her into the thick nasty jungle. I hunt till 12 and get down because I wanted to relocate to the other side due to the wind shift. I pack my climber over there and its only about 175 yard difference from where I am. I get set up around 130 pm. 145 a small 6 comes out of the bedding area and works the fringe scent checking it. He dives into it. 10 mins later a 4 pointer does the same exact thing. Im thinking now that the 8 point and that doe are still in there. I did 2 doe bleats and 3 tending grunts. Mind you it's pouring snow now and we have about 2 inches on the ground. Not even 5 mins later here he comes to investigate. I was able to get a 25 yard shot and was on cloud nine. My plan worked by simply moving 175 yards due to seeing the activity and using the morning as an observation hunt.
I left at 4 am Sunday morning to go to Ohio and hunt with a fellow Marine I served with that lives in tuscarawas county and has been inviting me to hunt with him for years. His family has some farms and he told me about some public in the area I could also hunt. I spent Sunday afternoon scouting and had a general idea of where I wanted to hunt from looking at topo maps. Monday saw one lone doe. Tuesday morning saw a small buck leaving what I assumed to be a doe bedding area. At 1237 I saw a nice buck also coming out of the bedding area but I was about 100 yards away set up to far. I tried the grunt and he could careless. I got down at 2 and moved closer to the bedding area. At 430 I caught movement to my left and saw a doe. Start glassing and see a small buck behind here. Then another small buck and another small buck. All feeding and not showing any rut signs at all. They continued feeding down the mtn. Right at last light I heard some grunting from the same area. I glass it and sure enough a nice 8 is grunting his head off. I didn't realize there was a doe bedded 60 yards from me in that thick stuff and he was scent checking her from the down wind side. I watched him chase her over the top. The following morning was calling for a south wind and this spot wasn't going to work.
That night I check the topo maps again and thought the north side might also be thick or the bucks would cruise that ridge so they could still scent check the bedding area. I woke up at 3 am. Left the parking lot by 4 to hump in over a mile. Set up completely blind just using topo maps and from my general sightings the night before. Day light breaks and I just know this is gunna be a kill spot. I start ranging trees and shooting lanes at 645 am. At 655 I hear movement to the north, glass and see a buck coming working the ridge with the wind in his face scent checking the area. I knew if he got directly in front of me he might wind me. He was working left to right. He stepped into a lane at 32 yards and I was already at full draw waiting. I think he stopped as soon as he caught a smell of something he didn't like. I shot and knew it was a good hit. Instant pass through. He jumped, went 40 yards and fell over. It worked! He was using the top 1/3 working that elevation scent checking the bedding area on the down wind side.
I cannot thank Dan enough for all of the knowledge he puts out. I've listened to every pod cast and watched all the videos. The hill country bedding really hit home and opened my eyes to how to hunt my home state of PA and the big woods. I can not say thank you enough to the guys on this website for what you post and how much you have taught me. I was a lurker for years but will continue to post on here and be a part of the beast. So to all my fellow beast members, Thank You. You guys are awesome. My goal is to continue learning and enjoying this way of hunting. My man cave is slowly starting to fill up and I'm loving every minute of it!
That winter I discovered the beast and started reading about buck beds. Thinking back on previous years and the success I had it stared to make sense, I was hunting staging areas and transition areas adjacent to doe and buck bedding and just never realized what the I was doing. I always paid attention to wind but wasn't on top of my game with access and exits. I had no idea about j hooking and buck exits routes. Over the course of 2015 and 2016 winters I found a pile of beds on both sides of the mtn, a majority of them on the military crest. One spot was at the base of the mtn but that was due to the cover and pressure from other hunters. Il get back to that later in the post.
So last year I end up killing a beautiful 125-130 class 8 on public about 150 yards from where I jumped a buck in march. He lost his rack when I jumped him but I knew from his body and the bed location it was a buck. I hunted the bed one time this year and saw a decent 100 inch buck get up out of the bed and take an exit route with no shot. Leaving the area I found 4 different trail cameras within 300 yards of where I was hunting so I knew the pressure was high.
Last Tuesday I set up on some doe bedding I found that is within 200 yards of the parking lots. Its overlooked, extremely thick and I have never seen anyone hunting it. At 840 in the morning I see a nice buck trailing a doe. I bleat and grunt at him and he could careless. He chases her into the thick nasty jungle. I hunt till 12 and get down because I wanted to relocate to the other side due to the wind shift. I pack my climber over there and its only about 175 yard difference from where I am. I get set up around 130 pm. 145 a small 6 comes out of the bedding area and works the fringe scent checking it. He dives into it. 10 mins later a 4 pointer does the same exact thing. Im thinking now that the 8 point and that doe are still in there. I did 2 doe bleats and 3 tending grunts. Mind you it's pouring snow now and we have about 2 inches on the ground. Not even 5 mins later here he comes to investigate. I was able to get a 25 yard shot and was on cloud nine. My plan worked by simply moving 175 yards due to seeing the activity and using the morning as an observation hunt.
I left at 4 am Sunday morning to go to Ohio and hunt with a fellow Marine I served with that lives in tuscarawas county and has been inviting me to hunt with him for years. His family has some farms and he told me about some public in the area I could also hunt. I spent Sunday afternoon scouting and had a general idea of where I wanted to hunt from looking at topo maps. Monday saw one lone doe. Tuesday morning saw a small buck leaving what I assumed to be a doe bedding area. At 1237 I saw a nice buck also coming out of the bedding area but I was about 100 yards away set up to far. I tried the grunt and he could careless. I got down at 2 and moved closer to the bedding area. At 430 I caught movement to my left and saw a doe. Start glassing and see a small buck behind here. Then another small buck and another small buck. All feeding and not showing any rut signs at all. They continued feeding down the mtn. Right at last light I heard some grunting from the same area. I glass it and sure enough a nice 8 is grunting his head off. I didn't realize there was a doe bedded 60 yards from me in that thick stuff and he was scent checking her from the down wind side. I watched him chase her over the top. The following morning was calling for a south wind and this spot wasn't going to work.
That night I check the topo maps again and thought the north side might also be thick or the bucks would cruise that ridge so they could still scent check the bedding area. I woke up at 3 am. Left the parking lot by 4 to hump in over a mile. Set up completely blind just using topo maps and from my general sightings the night before. Day light breaks and I just know this is gunna be a kill spot. I start ranging trees and shooting lanes at 645 am. At 655 I hear movement to the north, glass and see a buck coming working the ridge with the wind in his face scent checking the area. I knew if he got directly in front of me he might wind me. He was working left to right. He stepped into a lane at 32 yards and I was already at full draw waiting. I think he stopped as soon as he caught a smell of something he didn't like. I shot and knew it was a good hit. Instant pass through. He jumped, went 40 yards and fell over. It worked! He was using the top 1/3 working that elevation scent checking the bedding area on the down wind side.
I cannot thank Dan enough for all of the knowledge he puts out. I've listened to every pod cast and watched all the videos. The hill country bedding really hit home and opened my eyes to how to hunt my home state of PA and the big woods. I can not say thank you enough to the guys on this website for what you post and how much you have taught me. I was a lurker for years but will continue to post on here and be a part of the beast. So to all my fellow beast members, Thank You. You guys are awesome. My goal is to continue learning and enjoying this way of hunting. My man cave is slowly starting to fill up and I'm loving every minute of it!
- <DK>
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Re: 1 week, 2 states, 2 bucks down beast style!
Welcome!!! Cool write up and great looking bucks! The smile says it all man!
Btw, awesome man cave!! Is that 2 seprate bear mounts in the pics? The one w the white chest is beautiful
Btw, awesome man cave!! Is that 2 seprate bear mounts in the pics? The one w the white chest is beautiful
- john1984
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Re: 1 week, 2 states, 2 bucks down beast style!
Congratulations
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Re: 1 week, 2 states, 2 bucks down beast style!
You had a great week, very well done! Cool man cave too!
- Edcyclopedia
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Re: 1 week, 2 states, 2 bucks down beast style!
Thank you for your service!
Spectacular!
Spectacular!
Expect the Unexpected when you least Expect it...
- Bowhuntercoop
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Re: 1 week, 2 states, 2 bucks down beast style!
Thanks gents! Man cave was my winter project last year. I have my bow shop on the other side that’s unfinished. Have a bow press, draw board, arrow saw, etc. Not to many good shops around me and I’m ocd with my gear. If anyone in northeastern or central pa ever has any tuning needs or bow set up help let me know. Make the drive to my house and you can use the stuff for free. Il gladly help out another beast member.
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Re: 1 week, 2 states, 2 bucks down beast style!
Nice bucks! And nice man cave! Congrats!
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Re: 1 week, 2 states, 2 bucks down beast style!
Congrats great deer
- Eddiegomes83
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Re: 1 week, 2 states, 2 bucks down beast style!
Double post
Last edited by Eddiegomes83 on Fri Nov 17, 2017 2:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Am I the Only One" - Aaron Lewis
EGOutdoors youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UClk54pzxS6MsnSTCOtTvKJg
EGOutdoors youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UClk54pzxS6MsnSTCOtTvKJg
- Eddiegomes83
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Re: 1 week, 2 states, 2 bucks down beast style!
Awesome stuff man. Love the set up. Look forward to hearing more from you.
"Am I the Only One" - Aaron Lewis
EGOutdoors youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UClk54pzxS6MsnSTCOtTvKJg
EGOutdoors youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UClk54pzxS6MsnSTCOtTvKJg
- <DK>
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Re: 1 week, 2 states, 2 bucks down beast style!
Bowhuntercoop wrote:Thanks gents! Man cave was my winter project last year. I have my bow shop on the other side that’s unfinished. Have a bow press, draw board, arrow saw, etc. Not to many good shops around me and I’m ocd with my gear. If anyone in northeastern or central pa ever has any tuning needs or bow set up help let me know. Make the drive to my house and you can use the stuff for free. Il gladly help out another beast member.
Alright now im real intrigued! Thats awesome! Guess i have a new goal
- Jackson Marsh
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Re: 1 week, 2 states, 2 bucks down beast style!
Outstanding!
Great looking bucks!
Love the man cave too! Lots of wall space to fill up
Great looking bucks!
Love the man cave too! Lots of wall space to fill up
- Bowhuntercoop
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Re: 1 week, 2 states, 2 bucks down beast style!
Alright now im real intrigued! Thats awesome! Guess i have a new goal [/quote]
Il take some pics for ya tomorrow and post em up. Nothing special but I have everything a pro shop has plus a lot more junk laying around....and the wife’s tanning bed Incase ya wanna fling some arrows on my 20 yard indoor range then catch some rays!
Il take some pics for ya tomorrow and post em up. Nothing special but I have everything a pro shop has plus a lot more junk laying around....and the wife’s tanning bed Incase ya wanna fling some arrows on my 20 yard indoor range then catch some rays!
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