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Best advice early rut

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That blue circle. Looks like thick bedding type cover to the east of it. I’d look around the southern side of that thicket or as close as you can get for bucks on the downwind side of it on north wind. Access by walk-in for all that southern portion with a north wind is somewhat problematic. Gonna be some longer walks possibly. I try to play the wind, and won’t do something that I think is really dumb, but at some point just go for it. Especially on a short trip. Waiting for perfect conditions may Never let you hunt where you want. Those swirling winds in hill country make it tough too. Don’t overthink. Walk it for at least one full day or two then make you best assessment go kill em!


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Some great advice from some very experienced hunters on here but the older I get the more emphasis I put on entry and exits from my hunting spots so don't forget you can't kill em if they know your there. The hottest stand site does little good if you aren't careful with getting in and out. Just a friendly reminder:smile:
 
I like that blue circle. I marked six spots I'd check out. I like the wooded draws around the fields even if they are tough to hunt, and you can access them from the south. I didn't see anything the guys pointed out that I wouldn't take a peek at. I hunt a few bottoms,( killed my buck last year in a bottom spot). Winds are always tough there. The ground sign is really what you'll be looking for. Saddles will make the in season scouting easier, but I don't think it's reasonable to think you can get away without any scouting. It would be ideal to be able to show up blind and pick the right spot but I think it's rarely the case, but you have to start somewhere.
 
I like that blue circle. I marked six spots I'd check out. I like the wooded draws around the fields even if they are tough to hunt, and you can access them from the south. I didn't see anything the guys pointed out that I wouldn't take a peek at. I hunt a few bottoms,( killed my buck last year in a bottom spot). Winds are always tough there. The ground sign is really what you'll be looking for. Saddles will make the in season scouting easier, but I don't think it's reasonable to think you can get away without any scouting. It would be ideal to be able to show up blind and pick the right spot but I think it's rarely the case, but you have to start somewhere.
Hey Kurt, did u mark the 6 spots on here? Not seeing it if u did. I agree he will probably have to push into the property a little. I figure tell him to get him on day one and then move to where hes seeing the movement. Its his hunt ultimately so if he wants to scout and trek all over than im good with it. The spots guys have pinned are solid though.

The blue circle had a rub line in it year after year when i was a kid. I think the rub line is the neighbors but it doesnt get hunted. You guys are rigbt though, that hillside where the blue circle is is thick!!!!
 
I know it’s a decent ways out, but please comment back to this thread and update us on action/kills and where abouts. Happy hunting!


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Sure will, i wish i lived back there. Got 10 years till i can retire, chasing mulies and coues for the time being
 
Sure will, i wish i lived back there. Got 10 years till i can retire, chasing mulies and coues for the time being

Not a bad gig. Born and raised and live in FL, but love to hunt the Midwest. I got 11-16 years to go. Prob won’t move but I’ll damn sure live in a camper for a few months a year and bounce through a few states. Cous, muley, and an elk are on the list too, prob gotta wait for retirement though


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I see a lot of "good news/bad news" to this property.
The bad news is that the terrain is fairly complex. It has drainages and steep drop offs that face in every direction which can really complicate surface wind patterns.

And it's also good news that the terrain is complex. Given a certain direction (and speed) of the prevailing wind on a given day, there will almost always be locations on that property that produce up-drafts. I love to find up-drafts. The odds of being winded go way down when you are set up in an area of high air pressure that produces stable winds in an up-draft pattern. If that same stand location had a prevailing wind that was 180 degrees in the opposite direction, the end result would be a down draft. I hate those.

Another thing that complex terrain produces is complicated thermals. Go onto Google Earth and use the function that shows how the sun shines on the terrain over the course of the day. There is a slider that allows you to see which slopes are in the sun and which are still in the shade at any given time of the day. You'll be able to see which slopes are shaded and still in a cooling pattern and which slopes are exposed to the sun and would be in a warming pattern. And you'll also see the lines of contrast of those zones...one zone warming and the adjacent zone is still in a cooling pattern. The areas where those contrasting zones interact can be very tricky for wind. Thats a situation when there can be a world of difference between a cloudy day and a sunny day. Thermal patterns are much more stable on cloudy days.

That property has a ton of headers. Headers are the top of drainages where the steepest part of the drainage terminates. Headers are excellent places to look for stand locations. And where one header is adjacent to another header, so much the better.
I generally don't put a lot of faith that cyber scouting will be a slam dunk on stand placement, but cyber scouting is a good place to start. Nothing beats boots on the ground but looking at it on maps and imagery is a good way to narrow things down.

Looking at your map, if I were to go hunt it, I'd 1st go to some of those headers. One in particular that grabs me is that one in the NW corner that I pinned. It looks like it has a lot going for it. Access may be a challenge but there is a drainage that leads up to it...that drainage that meets Sharps Run Rd at the 90 degree bend might be a decent access to get up to where I placed that NW pin. Drainages can be good access routes if they keep you hidden. And in the pre-dawn morning when the air is still and under a falling thermal, you will be traveling thru the safest area to avoid odor busts. If there is a shallow creek to walk, it's even better. The flip side to access via drainage is there is often a lot of obstacles. Logs and stuff tend to accumulate in drainages.
I have a great access route up a drainage. It's a narrow slot 75 feet deep below the woods above. I can walk it and no deer above me knows I'm walking past. The only problem with that route is along the way, there is a 10 foot waterfall. It's under-cut, and basically a dead-end box canyon with no way around it. I built a ladder. I've used that access for years. I really feel sneaky when I'm creeping up there in the pre-dawn...down low and out of sight, no ground scent left behind, and at the lowest point in the thermal air flow. I love it!




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Thanks a bunch for the write up! A lot of you guys seem to think alike with that southernmost pin. Any idea what kind of prevailing wind u would sit it on. SE and SW? Would you access it from the south and drop off the south hill to it or walk that drainage from sharps run? The southernmost hill definately has doe bedding so would it be his best bet to use Sharps run to get in? Kind of wish i was hunting this, its cool because we can let each other know when we see a big boy moving toward one another as ill be half mile away give or take.

One note, the southeast hill along the road, ive seen multiple 150 class bucks crossing at the top to the other side of the township road, SE corner on the map over the years, based on their general direction and its just a hunch but im thinking that southern pin may be a money area where they would come down and split off. Also every darn year there is always a brute standing during the early morning in the western field.

Never even thoight about the google earth shading.....sighhh

Also the northern hill system, i really doubt the family ever hunts that. Thats good news for my buddy, seen some giants working that hill over the years too.

Cant thank you guys enough
 
Hey, got one more? How bout a prevailing west, we do get the that time of year and it usually runs wsw or wnw.
 
Never trust prevailing wind information that you get from anecdotal evidence. For a quick reference look at the nearest county airport and check the runway orientation. Pilots live and die by wind direction.

There’s websites available where you can check wind direction averages by month for any location. These sites use the nearest runway with data logging, btw.
 
I see a lot of "good news/bad news" to this property.
The bad news is that the terrain is fairly complex. It has drainages and steep drop offs that face in every direction which can really complicate surface wind patterns.

And it's also good news that the terrain is complex. Given a certain direction (and speed) of the prevailing wind on a given day, there will almost always be locations on that property that produce up-drafts. I love to find up-drafts. The odds of being winded go way down when you are set up in an area of high air pressure that produces stable winds in an up-draft pattern. If that same stand location had a prevailing wind that was 180 degrees in the opposite direction, the end result would be a down draft. I hate those.

Another thing that complex terrain produces is complicated thermals. Go onto Google Earth and use the function that shows how the sun shines on the terrain over the course of the day. There is a slider that allows you to see which slopes are in the sun and which are still in the shade at any given time of the day. You'll be able to see which slopes are shaded and still in a cooling pattern and which slopes are exposed to the sun and would be in a warming pattern. And you'll also see the lines of contrast of those zones...one zone warming and the adjacent zone is still in a cooling pattern. The areas where those contrasting zones interact can be very tricky for wind. Thats a situation when there can be a world of difference between a cloudy day and a sunny day. Thermal patterns are much more stable on cloudy days.

That property has a ton of headers. Headers are the top of drainages where the steepest part of the drainage terminates. Headers are excellent places to look for stand locations. And where one header is adjacent to another header, so much the better.
I generally don't put a lot of faith that cyber scouting will be a slam dunk on stand placement, but cyber scouting is a good place to start. Nothing beats boots on the ground but looking at it on maps and imagery is a good way to narrow things down.

Looking at your map, if I were to go hunt it, I'd 1st go to some of those headers. One in particular that grabs me is that one in the NW corner that I pinned. It looks like it has a lot going for it. Access may be a challenge but there is a drainage that leads up to it...that drainage that meets Sharps Run Rd at the 90 degree bend might be a decent access to get up to where I placed that NW pin. Drainages can be good access routes if they keep you hidden. And in the pre-dawn morning when the air is still and under a falling thermal, you will be traveling thru the safest area to avoid odor busts. If there is a shallow creek to walk, it's even better. The flip side to access via drainage is there is often a lot of obstacles. Logs and stuff tend to accumulate in drainages.
I have a great access route up a drainage. It's a narrow slot 75 feet deep below the woods above. I can walk it and no deer above me knows I'm walking past. The only problem with that route is along the way, there is a 10 foot waterfall. It's under-cut, and basically a dead-end box canyon with no way around it. I built a ladder. I've used that access for years. I really feel sneaky when I'm creeping up there in the pre-dawn...down low and out of sight, no ground scent left behind, and at the lowest point in the thermal air flow. I love it!




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Great advice on those thermals and access routes. I struggle with thermals sometimes and never thought of using that feature on google Earth even though I knew it was there.
 
That’s the two airports that bracket your land. Notice any similarities?
 
Hey, got one more? How bout a prevailing west, we do get the that time of year and it usually runs wsw or wnw.
I'm strictly talking about wind patterns and not really talking about movement patterns, but in general, windward sides of slopes are high (air) pressure zones and tend to have stable, up-drafts. It's more pronounced at the top of headers because all that wind gets compressed as it blows up the slope. It rises to get over the ridge. The other side of the ridge (the leeward side) is a low pressure zone, kinda like an eddy in a stream. Wind swirls and tends to drop. Hunting it can be a frustrating challenge. I do think that deer like those areas because it allows them to monitor more wind. The leeward slope often has a wind tunnel just down from the ridge. Those areas maximize the amount a area that deer can monitor. If you can find and hunt the seams of those reversing air flows is can be gold. But it's easier said than done. A slight change in cloud cover or wind speed can alter a wind tunnel.
My home sits in a good example of a wind reversal. I sit towards the bottom half of an East slope. Our prevailing wind here tends to be from the west, but the wind, at my house, is almost always blowing East to West...even though the prevailing wind is blowing from the west. If I climb the hill toward the ridge, there is a wind tunnel...the east wind is being drawn up the hill by the stronger West prevailing wind coming over the ridge. It's a common pattern here. And there's a lot of deer activity in that wind tunnel.
That south pin at the top of that header...it would have the most stable wind when it's blowing NEN....up slope through that drainage and producing an up-draft around the pin.
 
I'm sorry. I did take the time to mark them but I'm so computer illiterate it seems whatever I did didn't stick. These dang things are a never ending source of frustration for me.
 
I'm sorry. I did take the time to mark them but I'm so computer illiterate it seems whatever I did didn't stick. These dang things are a never ending source of frustration for me.
I thought the same thing would happen with me, but here's what I did...
Click on the link the OP provided and it will open the app. On the top of the screen, click on "Add waypoint", then put the cursor at the spot on the map and click. It will add the waypoint to your screen. I did a screen shot and that is what I posted. If I can do it.....
 
I thought the same thing would happen with me, but here's what I did...
Click on the link the OP provided and it will open the app. On the top of the screen, click on "Add waypoint", then put the cursor at the spot on the map and click. It will add the waypoint to your screen. I did a screen shot and that is what I posted. If I can do it.....
How do you do a screen shot? I did the rest and actually had a half dozen spots I'd marked but they didn't stick.
 
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