The map is at the bottom of the post. Last night I set up close to a nice thicket on our farm. Around 5:15 I heard a deer start moving fairly close to me. I wasn't sure if he was bedded on the hillside above me, or not. He eventually showed himself to be a very solid mid 120's 10 pointer. He just seemed to vanish though in the heavy cover he moved through. This afternoon, with similar conditions, I took my Lone Wolf and set up just east of my previous stand. I thought this was the way the buck was headed last night, and my suspicions were confirmed tonight. Again around 5:15, he moved in the creek bottom below me. He wasn't close enough for a shot, but he worked some scrapes, before eventually entering the cut corn field. He worked some field edge scrapes while walking the edge, then began eating until darkness fell. My question is simple. Where do I set up to kill this buck tomorrow? The wind will again be coming from the south tomorrow. Where he is bedded though, he can see everything that enters the lower field. It is pretty much just a bowl down there, and surrounded by higher ground all the way around. I believe the buck is bedded where the light blue dot is. The area outlined in white is some of the thickest cover you will ever find. The area outlined in green is an old grown up pasture, with at least a dozen scrapes and rubs in it. This is where the buck has traveled through the last 2 nights, as he overlooks it off that ridge. The red dot is where the buck entered the field tonight. The yellow dot is my stand last night. The pink dot is my stand tonight. The red line to the South is our property line. The arrow at the bottom shows the wind direction the last 2 nights. Hopefully that all made sense to you guys. He's not a monster, but he will do after the less than stellar year my trail cameras have been having.
What about sneaking into where he's entered the corn field? Or do you think he can see you from where you think he's bedding if you tried that?
You can't see it from the map, but there is a dry creek bed with steep sides on it that borders the south end of the corn field. I have thought about sneaking in from the east this way, but I'm almost positive he would spot me if I got to close to his trail into the field. Last year I had a stand just outside of the green area, but never saw a deer out of it. As soon as I moved it south a little out the view of that hillside, I saw several bucks and does moving through that spot. To me that means they bed off that point and overlook that area before moving out to the field.
I would get within a reasonable distance of that trail maybe 30-40 yards away. I think moving in on him now is the best because the rut is coming up and who knows where he will be.
