• The SH Membership has gone live. Only SH Members have access to post in the classifieds. All members can view the classifieds. Starting in 2020 only SH Members will be admitted to the annual hunting contest. Current members will need to follow these steps to upgrade: 1. Click on your username 2. Click on Account upgrades 3. Choose SH Member and purchase.
  • We've been working hard the past few weeks to come up with some big changes to our vendor policies to meet the changing needs of our community. Please see the new vendor rules here: Vendor Access Area Rules

Where to ambush: Top of the hill or in the draw?

BlackpowderGuy (AJHS)

BlackpowderGuy (AJHS)

Active Member
SH Member
Joined
Sep 20, 2022
Messages
150
I seek your collective wisdom. Imagine some terrain with hills on either side and a low lying valley in between them. Are the deer more likely to walk along the low lying valley or along the spine of one of the ridges? - I am talking east coast small hills running for a couple of hundred yards in length, not not the rockies! The elevation change between the "ridge" and the "valley" is probably only 100-200 feet at most.
 
My general feeling is that deer will side hill in terrain like that. They seem to cross at saddles in ridges, along the top 2/3 end of points and in the "armpits" of where ridges start to drop off from the top down into the valleys. I also seem to think they cross saddles in a X shape, not straight over the middle. This is all just general impressions on my part from observing deer moving and looking at where trails are.

I do think bucks will run ridges marking trees, but I feel they do this generally at night when they don't have to worry with being sky lit. Also, I think a lot of sign left in the valleys is done under the cover of darkness.
 
Is the food source in the valley or on the hills/ridge? what about cover? I would look for saddles where they will cross from one side of the hill to the next. this is where lidar and 10 foot contour lines shine to identify the little dip that will dictate where they cross. caltopo has shaded relief and a 10 foot contour line overlay that will make lots of details pop if you haven't used it yet. without that knowledge I would focus on the military crest on the downwind side of the ridge, that's where the bucks will cruise, does will be on food, wherever that may be
 

I'll throw this in here since I like what the guy had to say about how to hunt hilly terrain. Micheal Perry got the Alabama State record muzzleloader buck a while back. His tactic of hunting thermal hubs in valleys is pretty interesting. In a nutshell, he is waiting until the 11th hour to slip up a valley at the point in time in the evening when the thermals switch from rising to falling. He maintains that bucks will drop down with this falling thermal and are vulnerable for a short period of time. I've been meaning to try this, but I have gotten off in the swamps this year and have left the hills for a while.
 
Conventional wisdom says top 1/3 of the elevation. I hunted some of that type of terrain but I was much younger and dumber so I can't speak from informed experience. Pay attention to thermals. I imagine if you get in the bottom you'll have swirling winds especially if you have a cross wind.
 
Sit up top and cover the bottom with that little elevation. Bottom will have swirling winds as mentioned, top should be more consistent. Too much unanswered questions to answer the question any better. At my house the deer travel the bottom but I think it's because there's more cover since there are houses on either side up top.
 
krub6b said:
Is the food source in the valley or on the hills/ridge? what about cover? I would look for saddles where they will cross from one side of the hill to the next. this is where lidar and 10 foot contour lines shine to identify the little dip that will dictate where they cross. caltopo has shaded relief and a 10 foot contour line overlay that will make lots of details pop if you haven't used it yet. without that knowledge I would focus on the military crest on the downwind side of the ridge, that's where the bucks will cruise, does will be on food, wherever that may be
Click to expand...
Actually, there is no food source either place, this is a travel corridor between some ag fields and where I've seen both bucks and does go to bed. Their bedding is about a half mile or more from the ag fields. The corridor itself is nothing but cover, trees everywhere...I have been inclined to try what @Gator is saying, hang out basically at the top which enfillades the dip. - I've tried hunting the field edges of the ag fields themselves, but these are large fields, 300 or more yards long by 150 or more yards wide with dozens of trails entering them from all sides. I have had a little luck in firearm season but never in bow season. Yet.
 
BlackpowderGuy (AJHS) said:
I seek your collective wisdom. Imagine some terrain with hills on either side and a low lying valley in between them. Are the deer more likely to walk along the low lying valley or along the spine of one of the ridges? - I am talking east coast small hills running for a couple of hundred yards in length, not not the rockies! The elevation change between the "ridge" and the "valley" is probably only 100-200 feet at most.
Click to expand...
In general, I find they will bed high and work their way down in the evenings. That being said if there is cover low they may bed down there. If there is food high they may just hang around the tops. Really boots on the ground and observation is the best way to see what the deer are doing in that area.
 
Daylight movement of bucks will most likely be along the side hills where cover and terrain give them a security and scenting advantage. Draws with thicker cover coursing through them will attract the more mature animals.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top