The Hunting Beast

ghoasthunter wrote:

checkerfred wrote:For example, many many hunters can pick saddles out on a map. I find most of them aren’t worth hunting because they’re getting hammered. BUT, if you find the right ones they can be money.

try finding benches on super steep grade that feed into saddles that where i find the best bucks a lot of times it its like a highway threw the laurel. one of my best spots is a bench with several points drainage above this bench feeds into a big saddle full of big oak trees. the saddle itself has a big hiking trail threw it so its mostly night time feeding ground but the deer really like slipping threw below using that bench.

funderburk wrote:

dan wrote:I have not read the book, but from what I have heard of it, he preaches the same things I do about hill country rut travel and elevation set ups in rut. I have said the same things many times. The biggest difference is I key in on bedding, and feel mature bucks don't cruise those hills in daylight as much as the middle aged bucks and the bedding, or features close to bedding will create more daytime action for mature bucks...

Lets examine the mature 8 pointer I shot at Andraes place a few years back during rut. Being that it was managed land I felt it "might" be easier to catch him cruising and tried many of the leeward ridges especially near bedding. I ended up getting a tip from Andrae from his trail cam pic's in relation to daylight. Looking at where he was seen on camera and what time it was greatly helped.

There were no recent daylight pictures, but there were just after dark, well after dark, and just before daylight pic's on his many cameras that singled out a particular leeward ridge I expected him bedding on and a short thick area within a 1 or 2 hundred yards from his bed.
Shot him on the last day of my 10 day hunt for him, the 1st time I seen him in person by putting that info together.

I used the leeward cruising ridge, a ridge so thick it was hard to hunt, and hunted close enough to his bed to catch him in daylight... And thats how we "harmonize" differing tactics...

Thanks, Dan! That confirms what I’ve been thinking. So, do you ever take into account travel routes like saddles, corners, or benches in relation to how a buck would travel to or from bedding? If I’m hearing you correctly, you’re saying that the big boys are mostly under the cover of dark by the time they’re cruising these natural funnels, correct? That’s why we gotta catch them in the bedroom...??

Thanks for chiming in! Super helpful

funderburk wrote:

BBH1980 wrote:I've read Herndons book and to me it was all about deer travel.. really great usable info but in PA there's lots of pressure. I've used this info quite a bit and based on my experiences it works for bucks up to 2.5 years old and an occasional 3.5 year old. By the time a deer makes it to 3.5 around here they are pretty well educated. I didn't see this type of tactic working on a consistent basis in my highly pressured area and knowing what I know now I'm sure I blew deer off of points trying to hunt them. I'm still really green to bed hunting, so I don't feel as though I have anything of value to add here on that topic just yet but I have always wanted to bed hunt and tried over the years only to get frustrated and give up. I have also used extreme scent control .. still got winded. I have been doing a ton of scouting and next year will be my first year beast hunting with 0 "scent control' using the wind and thermals. Dan's DVDs made sense of everything. I have talked to several guys on here that find beds then tie in info about how deer travel and they are consistently putting mature deer on the ground in hard to hunt highly pressured areas. I'm hoping to get to that point myself no matter how long it takes. Thanks again for another great thread!

Man. We could not be more of the same person if we were twins. I’m in the exact same season you’re in, trying the exact same changes. It’s tough, but post-season scouting beast-style is already making me think, “What have I been doing all these years?!” So thankful for the guys here and the wisdom they so graciously extend.

Our takeaways are the same concerning Herndon. He’s focused on deer travel. But pressure and maturity changes everything.

Enter Dan Infalt.

I’m learning that if I’m ever going to kill a 5, 6, or 7 year old buck, I gotta get in the beast game

funderburk wrote:Based on several beasts recommendations, I picked up a copy of Mapping Trophy Bucks by Brad Herndon and really enjoyed it. It seems that Herndon focuses primarily on terrain-specific travel routes (saddles, inside corners, hilltop field funnels, etc.). But I don’t remember him mentioning how all of that, as useful as it is, relates to buck bedding. On the other hand, Dan, as we all know, starts with bedding and then works his way out - or better yet - IN!

As both are clearly big buck killers who understand terrain and deer movement extremely well, how do I harmonize the terrain-driven content in Herndon’s book with big buck bedding-driven content that I’m learning everyday on the beast? Both tactics are obviously working, so how should I harmonize the two approaches? Dan, I’d really love your thoughts on this!

SidewayZ wrote:

funderburk wrote:Based on several beasts recommendations, I picked up a copy of Mapping Trophy Bucks by Brad Herndon and really enjoyed it. It seems that Herndon focuses primarily on terrain-specific travel routes (saddles, inside corners, hilltop field funnels, etc.). But I don’t remember him mentioning how all of that, as useful as it is, relates to buck bedding. On the other hand, Dan, as we all know, starts with bedding and then works his way out - or better yet - IN!

As both are clearly big buck killers who understand terrain and deer movement extremely well, how do I harmonize the terrain-driven content in Herndon’s book with big buck bedding-driven content that I’m learning everyday on the beast? Both tactics are obviously working, so how should I harmonize the two approaches? Dan, I’d really love your thoughts on this!

I have read Brad's book and thought it was rather informative and I did find it be true in most cases.

I have kinda of done the same as what you refer to. Many spots I hunt in the northeast don't have as predictable bedding as the terrain Dan hunts, but there is still bedding. I try to find bedding then evaluate the surrounding terrain and food sources to try and setup in between the two. Some spots have better bedding and sign to use to setup and some have less sign or lessor bedding and I try to use terrain travel more. Really it just depends on the spot.


My point is put in enough work to decide which tactics you think work better for that spot and try something, then adjust as you go.

Also the beast style and tactics are to try to get on Mature bucks, not just deer. I found that Brad's tactics definetly get you on deer, but I have not seen many mature bucks setting up on travel routes epecially in areas with strong or soild populations, it mostly does and 2.5 yrs or younger bucks.