So I was able to get out and get 2 trees set up over the weekend. On saturday I set up on a bed I found back in January. I had backtracked a nice sized track along the side of this ridge in the snow and after going over/under a bunch of downed trees and rocks on a 45 degree incline I found a big bed full of poop. There really weren't many rubs in the area but it was a big bed, big poop, all alone and based off the track I followed I figured it had to be a buck bed. I got out late saturday morning to set it up and I went over to the bed to check it out and put surveyors tape so I could judge how I could set up so he can't see me come in. I got to the bed and it was still full of poop so he is still using it! Yay! I marked it with the tape and headed back to where I planned to setup. Here is a map of the setup.
There is a big rocky knob in between his bed and where I am setup so he can not see me approach or climb my tree. The knob is marked with the red blob on the map, and my approach is the arrow. I will wait for a west or northwest wind to hunt this spot. I am 130 yards from his bed. The thing that originally intrigued me the most about the beast system is using the wind to be where the deer are at at any given time. I'm really hoping this spot pans out and I at least have a close encounter and can learn something from it.
Here are some pictures. The first one is facing the knob where the deer will hopefully come from from the ground, and the second is from the tree.
This is the tree I am in. I always try to look for a Y in the tree or at least to be right around a decent sized branch if I can for some cover.
This is a photo of the bed.
This spot is completely set up and I will not be back to it until the first time I hunt it.
The second spot I setup is also on a bed I found in January. I did not document it as well, but I am pushing my luck a bit more in this spot. Similar to the other spot I am using a little knob in the topography to allow me to sneak in to this spot, but I can only sneak in while there is foliage. Once it drops he will probably be able to see me. I think this spot will be good for 1 early season hunt due to the location of the bed, and then I should be able to do an all day rut hunt here as well. The reason I set up so tight was because of all the rubs on this little bench about 40 yards from my tree. If I moved any further than where I was I would getting too far away from where they were being funneled through and I don't think they would come through any one spot consistently. This is going to be a really tough spot to hunt just due to the distance. In order to hunt it without spooking the deer in the known bed I have to hike almost 3 miles in. Any other location where I could park would come either right down hill of the bed or directly upwind of the bed. I will probably take my bike in this old rocky road and hopefully take about 1.5 miles off the hike. I did try to film this spot with my go pro on my helmet cam because I want to post a video of how I set up my trees but I wasn't happy with the angle. I will try again on my next tree.
Hopefully I can get at least 2 more set up next weekend!
