Alright guys...I got a bean field bordered by a strip of timber. The timber has some pretty thick and wooly stuff, would make good bedding. I have a bruiser on cam going into the bean field nearly every night at 830. It's already dark and he likely is bedding in the same strip of woods that my stand is in...which is a less than 10 acre patch of timber. What can I do to get that brute out of his bedroom a little early so I can take a crack at him. Rut hasn't began obviously so I don't know if rattling is appropriate. And grunts and bleats might not get him up or have the opposite effect. my stand is about 30 yards off the bean field, and a 20 yard shot to the cam/trail he is using. Just gotta get him there. Acorns are on the ground so I was kinda surprised to see him still on a routine with the beans.
He might not be bedded as close as you think or he knows you've been there if he's hitting the field that late . Our bucks have been hitting the beans between 5 - 7:00 in the evening . Usually with the first good cold front in Oct. I'll start doing a little rattling and have called in some good bucks as early as Oct. 7th . Keep it lite though and makes sure you have something on the downwind side of you that they won't cross to scent check before coming in . An open field will usually work just fine . Good luck !!
I plan on posting a satellite image when I get home with markers to show ya the layout...more info the better. Thanks for the reply
Legend for the Pic is as follows: Blue Dotted Line: My Route to Stand Orange Dot : Stand Red Dotted Line: Deer Trail Purple Line: Property Line Blue Dot: Trail Camera Yellow Rectangle: Possible Buck Bedding area Slope & Arrow indicates the timber slopes downward toward the bean field
I know the acorns are falling here too! I woulda been in the woods tonight but my son got sick. SO...I walked the road and cant find a WELL used crossing, and I have a hard time thinking this mature buck risks crossing the road every day at around 8pm when there is water, food, and bedding on my side of the road. The red dotted line indicates his path of travel TO the beans...I don't have him on camera coming back out. I haven't scouted the trail further out of fear of bumping him out of his bean filed. And I only hunt this stand in evening..because I do have pics of some does and a smaller buck leaving the field around 5:30, and again I don't want to bump them by trying to sneak in while they are roughly 50 yards away in the bean field. I am pretty sure I am not sneaky enough to get in there in the morning...it's pretty cramped especially if he is indeed bedding where I think he is. I put in a small scrape and a rub today...perhaps help motivate him to rise a little earlier and check on who is marking in his turf. Good or bad....we shall see. Don't plan on hunting it till sunday...if the wind is right. Lately the wind has been blowing out of the N/NE ...which is favorable I think
Mock scrape just north of your stand. Go find and dig up the top two inches of a hot scrape not from that area. He will start hunting the deer that's making it. My 2cents Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
If it were me, I would move west. Looks like a small field just North of the trail your taking in just before you hit the woods. Why not hang a climber or put a blind along the western edge of the woodline where you can glass the western half of that bedding area. See if he might move there just prior to dark. Can take a big buck a long time to move a short distance if in no hurry. If you can spend a couple of evenings glassing aroind there for his movement it might give you a glimpse or eliminate some area for you. Just a thought.
I would personally move as close to that property line as you can, you have a field right next to you that you can see. I would ask for permission to hunt that property as well if you can. I say that because if he is coming in that way why not move closer and try and cut him off earlier?? Hang a hang on as far right of your stand as you can without trespassing and ask if it is okay to maybe hunt that little field that is right by your property line. Hope something works for you though, my opinion on mock scrapes is what was stated above, if you can find a fresh scrape, dig up 2 inches of it and before you dump it down to make a mock scrape put down either wax paper or something like that so the scent stays in the top layers of the dirt longer but make sure you dig 2 inches of dirt out before dumping the 2 inches of scrape dirt in. Or just dig 2 inches of dirt out, put down wax paper, put old dirt back in and get some mock scrape dripper and put it in their or just drip some in the evening 1 evening before your hunt so that he may come back the following evening to see who it was that scraped their. Either way best of luck to you!
I would say he is using the north-west portion of the bean field as an exit when heading back to his main bedding area. Imo I would move a stand closer to your yellow box, maybe a little farther north and get in the stand well before sun rise. You may catch him coming off the beans working back to his main bed just at the crack of dawn at first shooting light. Hope this might help your plan and execution and good luck.
First off, bucks have bedding spots not areas. Second, you need to get as close to his bed as possible without bumping him. Third, you need to pay close attention to your wind, if he smells you your hunt will be over before it ever starts. Good luck!!
I've never seen a buck bed in an area of spots.....unless it's a fawn or yearling. I've been hunting beds for a long time and when I find a buck bed it's in a specific spot. Same bed used over and over when the conditions are right.
You can put a mock scrape out, but I would put it near a natural one as to not ruin the spot. To be honest I wouldn't even bother hunting that buck until the temperature drops and the pre-rut starts. Pressuring a mature buck in the early season won't bode well for the prime of the season.
i would drag some dominate buck urine through the field. Go way past your stand and hang the wick up. take a second wick and soak it in the urine. attatch it to the top screen of a thermacell skeeter repeller and light it up. The heat will help the urine scent permiate the woods and start him looking for the other big buck.
Well we got lots of rain today and yesterday. I can't hunt again till Sunday morning...wind will be favorable for a different stand. Gonna do some midday scouting and with the soft earth..hopefully lock in on where he is going after spending the night in the beans. Thanks for all the ideas. I did put up a mock scrape and move my camera to monitor it. I'll see if it made a difference when I chec cams this weekend.
