[WIbowhunter]

THis afternoon I scouted out a piece of land because there was nothing to do but watch college basketballukey:. The land has lots of very steep hills covered with oak trees, on one edge of the property there is a corn field on the edge of a valley that merges three ridges (this should be a good spot). My question is on other parts of the property do I want to hunt on the tops of the ridges or in creek bottoms and valleys inbetween the ridges? The ridges all have about 50 yard wide flat tops. Thanks for the help, hunting high ground is new to me all of my other hunting has been done in thick swamps.

 

[TTS in PA]

Only hunt the low lands with a consistent, favorable wind.

If the wind is swirling and unpredictable, hunt the very top (or highest saddle) high in a tree, and then the wind doesn’t really matter. One of my most productive stands is on the highest ground around (right next to a busy road) and I’ve often seen & killed deer down wind since my scent stays above them.

TTS

 

[WIbowhunter]

ttt

ttt

 

[OHIOBUCK]

ttt

Hunt where you have found and patterned a nice buck. Watch the good food sources in the summer and let the nicer bucks tell 'you' where the good spots are.

 

[coop]

I've found that even in a predictable wind, hunting lower in the valley especially where a couple of them converge can be very trickey. I hunt in a setup similar to this with 4 converging valleys. Problem is it has taken me years to learn exactly what the wind does. Seems like regardless of wind direction the wind in the valleys always follows my main valley which runs north/south. The more I move up from the bottom of the valley (which I almost never hunt) the more predictable the wind becomes. But even then too many factors come into play, open areas, groups of pine trees, thermals, etc. The best advice I could give would be to go there now while the leaves are down. Bring with you an arial photo of the site and walk around your area and note the different wind directions. Where I am, I can set up on the side of a ridge and have the wind moving from east to west (opposite of normal winds higher up the ridge) but if I move 40 yards in another direction it's completely changed. Like I said it has taken me a few years to get even decent with the wind down there and I still learn more each season. If you have flat areas at the tops of the ridges (unfortunatly I have backyards and houses) I would probably start there. the wind will be more consistant and you can overlook the valleys to get a good idea of where the deer move. Last season I had really good luck calling in a few bucks who were moving along the bottom of the valley while I was farther up particularly because they couldn't see the area that I was set up in very well until they actually walked up there. I think this played a key in preventing them from hanging up just out of range.

 

[country2]

First of all I would never hunt in the bottom if I were you.As stated before the wind will never be consistent and second the bigger bucks will never be caught dead down in those draws anyway unless he is on the trail of a doe. I would get an aerial and find the longest ridges in the area going from the food to where you percieve as the bedding area. Also the bucks will run those ridges religiously once the rut kicks off.The longest and most pronounced ridges will have more little feeder ridges it collects therefore getting more of the traffic,good luck!

 

[WIbowhunter]

Thanks guys I will try to get an aerial photo attached to give you a better idea of what I am talking about.

 

[Red127]

Another thing to keep in mind is that many bucks don't travel the top or the bottom, but more like 3/4 of the way up due to a greater sense of security yet easier travel. At least take a look for sign around these areas.

 

[Pine Tag]

It seems a lot of bucks tend to travel midway up on ridges as opposed to tops and bottoms. I would look for places where ridges come together. I have found in some instances where multiple ridges running parallel tend to form a kind of plateau as they near a creek/bottom which is a great place. You're at the right level for travel and deer can come from many different areas.

Look for sign on different elevations of the ridges and you can get an idea of how high up you should be.