Great video again man! Our time E-scouting together definitely works because a lot of the tactics you’re discussing in this video helped me to harvest a public land mountain buck last month! Thanks again!
@@HillCountryBucks_FarmLife absolutely those parallel ridges, drainages, and slope angle shading were KEY in my success! What’s your thoughts on the sign that you find in the bottoms? It’s usually wide open and most people say it’s night time sign that mature bucks wouldn’t be using during the day. In my opinion I agree that it is likely done at night most of the time, but it is definitely worth taking a look at. I’m drawn to bottoms as a starting point for my boots on the ground scouting. When I’m in the bottoms I try and determine what direction they are traveling/crossing between finger ridges or even throw a camera down there to get an idea of the age structure of the bucks in the area. But it’s important to then look up the ridge and find bedding, drainages, scrape lines, rub lines, or terrain features that will make a deer feel comfortable moving through during the day. I also use the prevailing wind to confirm that the buck sign I may be seeing associated with bedding up wind is worth hunting or an area of buck travel to catch the wind from the bedding in the rut. What do you think?
@GeorgesBoyOutdoors You make a lot of good points here on the boots on the ground observations. When the bottoms are open and not thick, my first thought is night time sign as well, especially if thick areas or timber cuts exist up on the secondary ridges above. My question would be was the sign there before the rut in early season? If so, I would lean more toward night time sign made by local buck(s). It may very well be made by a buck or bucks that call this their core area for a week or more at a time. Is there any ag or private land farms nearby? If so, I think deer are bedding up high, making their way down to the bottoms after dark, and then going on down to the ag or farms to spend time eating during the cover of darkness. After breading begins, I think you can expect some daylight movement crossing these open bottoms if a lot of does are in the area. Bucks need a path to get from parallel ridge to parallel ridge, so the key is to find where those paths come down on each side of the bottom. This is where late season scouting/confirmation is key. You want to know which drainages or steep areas have the most of the big sign, including big tracks if you can locate them. Big sign is different than secondary ridge spine sign, where 2.5 year old and younger bucks make their sign. The older class mature bucks have spent more time alone, away from their mother, and tend to seek cover, steep terrain, and the edges of steeper drainages to come down into the bottoms. I try to find that type of sign in either late season, or after the season in Jan/Feb, and then use it the next season to really hone in on what the more mature bucks did the year before for my best stand locations. I hope this answers your questions. And congratulations on harvesting a mature buck this season! Well-deserved!
Would it be possible to send you a couple of my Maps just for your opinion? Also, if you have any experience hunting pine plantations in different stages of growth those videos would be awesome!
Another great video! Was that buck killed during the rut? Also, how do you connect the rubs and scrapes? Are they all on one trail? I would think there is no way of knowing which buck made the rubs, probably multiple. What I'm getting at is ,, how do you know the rubs are not random but part of a direction of travel?
Thanks, I appreciate it. I shot him on 31 OCT 21, and that's late pre-rut. I've shot two on Halloween, two on 1 NOV, and one on 2 NOV in the last five years. I start with the hub scrape, the saddle scrape or the secondary ridge scrape, or a really good creek crossing where big tracks are at and then I try to follow a trail if its evident, but often its not. I try to connect the creek crossings and trails to scrapes in the nastier terrain and over time you'll find the rubs. I'm looking for the tendencies of the bigger bucks and its usually steeper or right on top of the steep stuff. I guess if you are following the trails for a given distance, you will find the rubs, and direction of travel can be both directions, coming and going, bed to feed, or bed to scrape if in the pre-rut. Sometimes the side of the rub gives direction of travel but more often than not, rubs will be hit from both sides so I use the logic that deer travel up the hill to bed in the mornings, and down the hill toward the bottoms in the evenings, and during the rut, you hunt rut funnels and places where a lot of topography and/or edge habitat comes together in one place. Great questions!
Thank you for the video. You make it seem easy. What comes as second nature to you for hill country, is so challenging for us flat land ag country guys. How can guy get some 1:1 chat and sharing time for your input on a topo?
@@HillCountryBucks_FarmLife I appreciate that. In the same camp with no social media and will put my email in the next reply. If you could delete it after use, I would appreciate it. Thank you
Absolutely incredible video series ! Can't wait to see future content.
I appreciate that! Glad you are enjoying it, and more content is on the way!
Great video again man! Our time E-scouting together definitely works because a lot of the tactics you’re discussing in this video helped me to harvest a public land mountain buck last month! Thanks again!
That's awesome! Glad it helped you get that buck!
@@HillCountryBucks_FarmLife absolutely those parallel ridges, drainages, and slope angle shading were KEY in my success! What’s your thoughts on the sign that you find in the bottoms? It’s usually wide open and most people say it’s night time sign that mature bucks wouldn’t be using during the day. In my opinion I agree that it is likely done at night most of the time, but it is definitely worth taking a look at. I’m drawn to bottoms as a starting point for my boots on the ground scouting. When I’m in the bottoms I try and determine what direction they are traveling/crossing between finger ridges or even throw a camera down there to get an idea of the age structure of the bucks in the area. But it’s important to then look up the ridge and find bedding, drainages, scrape lines, rub lines, or terrain features that will make a deer feel comfortable moving through during the day. I also use the prevailing wind to confirm that the buck sign I may be seeing associated with bedding up wind is worth hunting or an area of buck travel to catch the wind from the bedding in the rut. What do you think?
@GeorgesBoyOutdoors You make a lot of good points here on the boots on the ground observations. When the bottoms are open and not thick, my first thought is night time sign as well, especially if thick areas or timber cuts exist up on the secondary ridges above. My question would be was the sign there before the rut in early season? If so, I would lean more toward night time sign made by local buck(s). It may very well be made by a buck or bucks that call this their core area for a week or more at a time. Is there any ag or private land farms nearby? If so, I think deer are bedding up high, making their way down to the bottoms after dark, and then going on down to the ag or farms to spend time eating during the cover of darkness. After breading begins, I think you can expect some daylight movement crossing these open bottoms if a lot of does are in the area. Bucks need a path to get from parallel ridge to parallel ridge, so the key is to find where those paths come down on each side of the bottom. This is where late season scouting/confirmation is key. You want to know which drainages or steep areas have the most of the big sign, including big tracks if you can locate them. Big sign is different than secondary ridge spine sign, where 2.5 year old and younger bucks make their sign. The older class mature bucks have spent more time alone, away from their mother, and tend to seek cover, steep terrain, and the edges of steeper drainages to come down into the bottoms. I try to find that type of sign in either late season, or after the season in Jan/Feb, and then use it the next season to really hone in on what the more mature bucks did the year before for my best stand locations. I hope this answers your questions. And congratulations on harvesting a mature buck this season! Well-deserved!
Would it be possible to send you a couple of my Maps just for your opinion? Also, if you have any experience hunting pine plantations in different stages of growth those videos would be awesome!
Sure, send the map to hillcountrybucks.farmlife@gmail.com, and I'll do my best.
Another great video! Was that buck killed during the rut?
Also, how do you connect the rubs and scrapes? Are they all on one trail? I would think there is no way of knowing which buck made the rubs, probably multiple. What I'm getting at is ,, how do you know the rubs are not random but part of a direction of travel?
Thanks, I appreciate it. I shot him on 31 OCT 21, and that's late pre-rut. I've shot two on Halloween, two on 1 NOV, and one on 2 NOV in the last five years.
I start with the hub scrape, the saddle scrape or the secondary ridge scrape, or a really good creek crossing where big tracks are at and then I try to follow a trail if its evident, but often its not. I try to connect the creek crossings and trails to scrapes in the nastier terrain and over time you'll find the rubs. I'm looking for the tendencies of the bigger bucks and its usually steeper or right on top of the steep stuff. I guess if you are following the trails for a given distance, you will find the rubs, and direction of travel can be both directions, coming and going, bed to feed, or bed to scrape if in the pre-rut. Sometimes the side of the rub gives direction of travel but more often than not, rubs will be hit from both sides so I use the logic that deer travel up the hill to bed in the mornings, and down the hill toward the bottoms in the evenings, and during the rut, you hunt rut funnels and places where a lot of topography and/or edge habitat comes together in one place. Great questions!
Thank you for the video. You make it seem easy. What comes as second nature to you for hill country, is so challenging for us flat land ag country guys.
How can guy get some 1:1 chat and sharing time for your input on a topo?
You're welcome. I would be happy to help. Let me know how I can contact you. Email is best as I do not have any social media accounts.
@@HillCountryBucks_FarmLife I appreciate that. In the same camp with no social media and will put my email in the next reply. If you could delete it after use, I would appreciate it. Thank you
@@garretts1604 Will do. I just checked and I do have the ability to delete comments, so I’ll be standing by to do that once received. Thank you.
@@HillCountryBucks_FarmLifethank you!
@@garretts1604 I’m standing to receive and delete your email when you’re ready.