Hunting a Zone not a trail
Massachusetts
Some spots don't have a well-defined trail and are more of a filter-through space. Or being close to the best trail puts you upwind of their happy place on almost all normal winds, say for instance because it runs parallel to the bedding zone which is to the east, running North and South and not accessible from the east... Would you hunt it from the outskirts on say, the Northwest zone? where it is less likely for deer travel or would you chance getting in tight and blowing out the spot?
I am thinking "zone hunting" behind the hot zone. In hopes of a smart buck sticking to the area, behind "the area". Do you hunt that zone?
Zone hunting from the outside in...
All depends how many spots you have to hunt. I am not as much worried about wind direction as I once was. Yes I still pay attention to it, but get high enough and your scent carries pretty far. I don’t have a stand lower than 23 ft up and you know how the wind has been down here. All over the place and I am still on deer
Now if you can pick a calm day to sit. Let the thermals do the wok for you. If windy. Be an outsider and like you have said before. Work your way in
I tend to play it safe and hug the edge playing the wind.
Dfa , I'm almost getting used to this wacky wind near the water. I'm tending to do the same as well. Just get in and get up. Today both deer were downwind but didn't bugger. And I have been experiencing that a lot here. It seems that the wind is so erratic that they can't get a handle on the location or it's not consistent enough to be alarming.
Last year I stayed so far out in this one area that I wasn't really in the game for concern of blowing out the spot. This year I am getting more aggressive and taking what I thought was more of a gamble but with this ocean side wind and limited down wind access, its chance it or stay home. So far so good, I'm pushing in and it's working out.
Sometimes in some places, the normal rules don't cut it. But staying clean and going higher is still a good idea.
Pi I agree with the wacky wind. Today in the tree. I have wind blowing from 3 different sides of me. Put the little white parachutes of love into the air and they will ride the wind for 10 yds or so then five down to about 10-15 ft high then get carried up the hill by the thermals. So different here than in central mass where the wind is somewhat predictable. We also have the luxury of residual human odor because of the close proximity of the houses in our small areas. They don’t seem to get as skittish about odor, but let a mature buck get a good whiff of you and you will never see him again
Yep, that doesn't change wherever we go. They don't get older out of dumb luck.
I started this topic from two aspects. Wind and low cover. The Underbrush I have is perfect for deer to slip through and those faint trails in the thick are only barely noticeable from up above. And it seems like they don't need to stick to a trail because they can get under the brush easily.
Zone hunting, And not so much trail sitting in this area. A good mix but different than my last area. Or so it seems.
Under the brush is right. I stopped looking for deer and started looking for brush swaying and moving. Most of the areas I hunt have that scrub brush/tree that is from 4-8 ft high. Impossible to walk through without it moving :)
Yup. That's the stuff. Very cool to see it come alive . tree ripples.
You mean crap Like this. Lol
I think I need to do some trimming this winter !!!!
Hahahahha. Didn’t pick up on that one
