I wouldn't consider myself a seasoned deer hunter yet, but have been trying to put the work in and put the pieces of the puzzle together. The purpose of this post is to share what I've learned about this area, and how I think I'd hunt it...the point of putting all this up here is to get some of your input, to hopefully help fine tune by approach.
So, here's a quick summary of what I've called out on the map, and my observations/thoughts on how I'd hunt it: - Southern most red line: I got to this first ridge following a shallower spot in the slope in the south, which apparently the deer were doing also. As I made my way from east to west, the sign got thicker along the edge of this ridge(droppings, beds). Many red and white oaks were present along the entire length. When I hit the light blue line(spring seep out of the side of the mountain, in thick cover), the sign got heavier. The two green "rectangles" represent old clear cuts that are now just huge areas of chest high grass/brush, which is bordered by 20-30 yards of briars, before opening back up to hardwoods. The solid green is just thick cover that I'm thinking is bedding. I found a grouping of rubs from last year and what were either beds or scrapes where the solid red area is, with a rub line going northeast along the south edge of that clear cut.
- Northern red line: for this, I came in from the northeastern end of the map, and walked southwest along the upper ridge. Here, I was overlooking that thick cover and field down below when I first got in, and as I traveled along the ridge, I couldn't take 3 or 4 steps without stepping on droppings that were literally everywhere for probably a good half a mile. Again, many red and white oaks along this entire ridgeline. Where the burgundy line is, there's a ditch formed by runoff that is fairly steep, but not noticeable on the map. Where I hit the ditch, there was a trail down into the thick stuff close to water(I could hear it down below), which then also went uphill into bedding. Following that up to the top of the ditch, there was a trail that crossed the shallow part of it and continuing southwest along the ridge, and another that kept going up into that solid green area in that large saddle. From here I had a deer blow at me 4 or 5 times. After hearing that, I didn't press in much further, and instead opted to back out. The wind was blowing northwest, and my assumption is that whatever blew at me was going to bed on the downwind side of that mountain.
Here are my thoughts about the locations I haven't hunted yet, but will be in the next few weeks: - Spring seep: with tracks all round it, I figure it might be a good early season mid-day spot as it's the closest and most protected water sources in relation to where I think they're bedding. Given how steep that slope is, access would be difficult, and really only possible coming from the south along the red line that's there. As for wind, anything south would blow my scent out over the valley. Blowing north, it would blow it right up to that next ridge with the thicker sign, alerting anything traveling that trail to get to the water below.
- Top of the ditch: I'm thinking at night, those deer are going down to that field and middle ridge to feed on browse and acorns, and bedding up higher in that large saddle. I'm also thinking this might be a killer rut spot for cruising bucks...with wind blowing southeast, they'd have scent from above bedding, as well as thermals in the morning alerting them to anything bedded below. Either early season or during the rut, I'd come in from the north, over the top of the hill, and set up right at the top of the ditch, covering the trail along the ridge, as well as the one coming up from the water and into what I believe to be bedding. In the morning, would a wind from the northwest work also if thermals are taking my scent up?
Anyhow, this is how my mind is working right now. I'd love to hear how you all would pick this piece apart, and how you'd approach wind/thermals.
