Public land. I scouted my tail off last year and along the way I found a pretty promising ridge flanked by an absolute mess of a thicket. It contained a tremendous amount of deer sign and from all accounts, it didn't appear anyone was hunting it with any regularity. I walked the perimeter of the thicket (as noted on the topo) and marked two spots as they contained a tremendous amount of buck sign. More than likely I'll be getting north to northwest winds at the time of year I plan on hunting it. I'm gonna wait til the time is right before I move in for an afternoon hunt, then will more than likely hunt it all day the following day. Any advice on how you would attack this thicket? Thanks.
Game cams to pattern some travel might be a place to start. Any food sources nearby other than mast? Any observations regarding the stream to the North? E.g. Crossings? I'd assume the thicket is a sanctuary and they may be moving parallel to the road for water at the spring or stream. Damming up a spot near where you hiked might provide an interesting spot to sit. Final question, what sort of access do you have? From the south or east, it appears...
I can't use game cams as it is federal property. I can access it from that road or from several other locations not seen on the map I provided. There are 0 crop fields nearby. I need to go scout it again in more detail to see where they cross the creek and make entrance from other parts of the terrain. Good advice, thanks.
Lots of good looking options there but if the deer aren't using the same map that you are, it isn't going to work. I'd say that it is time to put some boots on the ground.
Here are the 1st 3 spots that pop out to me with the limited data. Left - I'd guess theres a crossing close to here. I think that finger ridge on the E side might create a nice funnel there. Center - I'm liking the looks of that bench. Close to the thick stuff, but not quite on top of them. Right - nice looking saddle and should give you a good cross wind for approaching deer. If I had to guess by the terrain and road, they'd pass by on their way ENE. Take it with a HUGE grain of salt, but I'd scout those areas first.
On a NW wind I'd expect a buck to be bedded across the valley, so I'd walk these areas and expect the thicket to be a doe bedding and staging area for bucks. Did you see any scrapes, if you did I'd move in late October and setup over those scrapes in or around that thicket.
I wont be able to get back in there until early September. They don't allow scouting from like mid April until Sept. I'll hit all those spots guys and give you a rundown of what I find. Thanks a bunch! I scouted a ton but for whatever reason this spot keeps pulling me back as somewhere to give 2 to 3 days when the weather and time is just right. Tremendous amount of buck rubs and scrapes.
If you can't get back in until Sept I'd stay out until late October, try to time a front and head in early afternoon with stand on back and setup on sign.
That was my original plan. Head in around noon and scout my way in slowly. Then hunt it for a couple of days.
I'd look at the end of that ridge about 1/4 of the way down on the edge of that thicket. I'd bet there's a trail there leading in and out of the thicket. Deer like to travel the military crest (top 1/4) of ridges. I think in terrain like that setting up down in the bottom of hollers means swirling winds and the possibility of deer coming in from above and being above you looking down on you.
Listen to Mike he has the same thinking that I do on this matter. If you have your heart set on the ridge top only hunt it in the morning.
Thanks guys, much appreciated. I did quickly move through that saddle when I scouted it in March. There is a little foot path and there was a decent sized scrape in the saddle. The saddle wasn't real neatly defined and there wasn't any cover to force movement, thereby leading to a million ways a buck could move through there. On the northeastern part of the thicket, near the end of the ridge, was an old homestead area with some nasty cover and a solid deer trail moving through it.
I would not bother with that thicket until bucks are heavily seeking. It is for sure doe bedding, perhaps 1 year old bucks use it also. Without knowing the canopy or what browse may be present I would likely head to the bench / point just downhill from Fitz's middle yellow dot to setup of cruising bucks. However, across the ravine WNW of your crosshair lies a crowsfoot on the ridge side with a bunch of points on either side of it on that same ridge side. Find an area within that crows foot that restricts travel and access it from the bottom (if canopy allows a covert entry) in the evening with the NW wind and get yourself a good buck. Be careful to not go up hill past good sign as your stink will be all over it from the dropping evening thermal. This is a setup you could hunt anytime during the season, pending weather conditions.
That is the crows foot I was talking about. I'd let the canopy / topography in person dictate where I would setup on it. I like where you picked because it ties in well to where the ridges starts running more north and south. A point where a ridge bends can be great buck bedding. The crows foot has a couple areas where it necks down especially on the west side of the foot where the topography gets steeper a bit quicker. Have to be careful to not get to close to those points or the hunt could be over on your walk in. The spot you marked has a lot going right for it to be used for bedding. As for access, it would have to be the way you drew or around the other end of the area he circled. I would not want to disturb any of those points as any of them could be buck bedding. Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk
Good stuff guys, thank you very much. As for the crows foot, what kind of elevation would you think is ideal for an afternoon hunt?
Deer sign will tell you the correct elevation. Deer take advantage of wind and thermal currents and once you hit sign setup when entering from below.
