huntfx4
New member
To start off with, I am not able to scout to find and pattern deer in Montana since i'm stationed in Cali. I hunt familiar territory that most people refuse to hunt b/c it entails actual "hunting" rather than driving roads and hoping to get lucky, so the deer aren't pushed hard.
Last year I found a nice bachelor group of 5 bucks ranging from a 3pt with about a 25" spread to a 30+"er with multiple points on each side. I would find the bucks in the same area each day i hunted them but at different times. i have a finger i go out on and glass a ridge line with many fingers and draws a half mile away. The stalk is very difficult due to open ground between me and the stands of thick cedar and juniper where they are bedding. The wind is always from them to me in the AM. They use the same general area all the time but I was unable to pattern them b/c sometimes they are on their way to bed at sunup and sometimes 3 hours after sunup. No real trails that they tend to follow. Each time they seem to just wander and feed their way to the bedrooms.
The first time I tried a stalk my wife and I had watched them go into a thick stand of cedar at the bottom of a finger moving up. I started off hoping to catch them in an opening halfway up the finger. When I got in range I saw the two smallest crossing the opening. They went over and disappeared. I thought that while I couldn’t see the area that they all had crossed over. I snuck up the finger and without me ever seeing or hearing him, the largest of the bunch stood up 20 yards or so from me and snuck away. My wife watched the whole thing but didn’t want to yell for fear of spooking him.
What would be the best way to catch these guys. I'm heading home for the 2nd or 3rd week of the season in Eastern Montana.
Would a broad view trail cam help at all?
Any pointers you all can offer would be appreciated.
Thanks
Don
Last year I found a nice bachelor group of 5 bucks ranging from a 3pt with about a 25" spread to a 30+"er with multiple points on each side. I would find the bucks in the same area each day i hunted them but at different times. i have a finger i go out on and glass a ridge line with many fingers and draws a half mile away. The stalk is very difficult due to open ground between me and the stands of thick cedar and juniper where they are bedding. The wind is always from them to me in the AM. They use the same general area all the time but I was unable to pattern them b/c sometimes they are on their way to bed at sunup and sometimes 3 hours after sunup. No real trails that they tend to follow. Each time they seem to just wander and feed their way to the bedrooms.
The first time I tried a stalk my wife and I had watched them go into a thick stand of cedar at the bottom of a finger moving up. I started off hoping to catch them in an opening halfway up the finger. When I got in range I saw the two smallest crossing the opening. They went over and disappeared. I thought that while I couldn’t see the area that they all had crossed over. I snuck up the finger and without me ever seeing or hearing him, the largest of the bunch stood up 20 yards or so from me and snuck away. My wife watched the whole thing but didn’t want to yell for fear of spooking him.
What would be the best way to catch these guys. I'm heading home for the 2nd or 3rd week of the season in Eastern Montana.
Would a broad view trail cam help at all?
Any pointers you all can offer would be appreciated.
Thanks
Don
