Positioning...

[zeus1gdsm]

After scouring various maps of the same state land. I think I have located the area I want to  scout..

 

The land itself is not a large plot and there are some houses bordering... maybe 10 in total aroudn the 10,000 acre area...

 

The spot ive chosen to scout is slight ridge, narrow and long. one side has staright hardwoods, the other slopes down to a marshy piney area..and small forest field..  I should note it only shows ona  couple of topo maps. not all of them.

 

it is well off the beaten path and about 2 miles in from the nearest road. also on the other side of a  marsh near the road...  after consulting several different maps , skirting the marsh should be no problem.

 

I have 3 maps with locationa s well as a GPS caltopo map on ym phone.

 

 

 

My question is thus....  should I be looking to set up at the top, bottom or middle of the ridge?  it is long so should I position on the end of in the middle?

 

My thoughts were to walk its length and pick the spot that provides the best vantage of both sides of the ridge if possible... leaning more towards the side with the field.....

 

I an fairly adept at locating the game trails so they will definately sway my positioning.

 

 

 

 

I ahve 2 other seperate lands I need to scout and survey So I am only choosing 1 spot per area.  This spot is intended ot be an after work hunt. quick in time and out time.

 

Thoughts?  Advice? top of the hill? halfway?

 

[moog5050]

Not sure of the height of the ridge or direction, but 1/3 down from the top of the leeward side is a good place to start. Hunt high mornings and low in the evenings due to thermals. Good luck!

[zeus1gdsm]

its a sw to ne running ridge....  hard to tell the height from the contour lines but there are only 3-4 dpeending on the map....  im guessing between  45 to 60 foot height difference form the surrounding land

 Should note that the swampy/marshy area is on the eastward side.

Edited September 30, 2014 by zeus1gdsm

[moog5050]

I would hunt the leeward or downwind side 1/3 from top.  You will likely find used trails there.  Obviously, take note of other sign too.  Its just a general observation.  Also, if there are any points off the ridge, or benches, you may find bedding there.

[zeus1gdsm]

excellent!. Thanks for the heads up. Ill report back with how it looks.

[philoshop]

Also look for drainage gullies in the hillside. Deer will tend to funnel to spots that they can cross those little ravines more easily while they're moving along the side of the hill. They make nice ambush points.

[zeus1gdsm]

Alright made it to the ridge and walked its length.. Here's a picnopsys.

Exiting from the road through about 50yards of trees it opened up to a marshy meadow... Heavily used trails and obvious bedding areas abound... But pretty darn close to the road which makes me think over hunted.

I went straight through staying about 5 feet off the game trails.

No pics till I made I through the woods to the ridge.. Not much on the way there. Crisscrossing trails and prints.. But fairly dense foliage and trees made for short viewing diatances.

And low and behold.. And main line running across the top and a mother about halfway down the hill running its length. As expected.

One side had a decent field of view..

Flowed the ridge up to its zenith and there was a good sized bowl formed... But little to no view due to dense small tree foliage. I'm sure this will be down in the coming weeks.

Following the game trail I came upon an obvious man made bench on the opposite sides of the bowl. Decent view into the bowl and a game trail down in the bottom of the gully.

After a bit the game trail turned onto the remnants of a manmade trail of some sort being overtaken by the forest.. A hundred or so yards down it became wider and obviously used.

Continued....

[zeus1gdsm]

I saw more signs of man as time went on...

Here is another pic of an opening into the gully.

And finally another marshy meadow

Again noticeable trails and prints.. However at this point the trail I'd been following was 4 feet wide.. Continuing back to the road there was old furniture and trash..

A couple of questions....

On this state land is this wood bench fair game?

Should I worry that the marshy areas are close to the road and more easily accessible or just go for it?

When walking should I be on the game trail or off the side? Or does it not matter due to their scenting abilities... I did my best to LNT to the point of swallowing my redman juice and hold a leak the whole time... I did spray some off deep woods before going in...

Thoughts?

[The_Real_TCIII]

Get "Mapping Trophy Bucks" by brad Herndon. So many cool tips for hunting contour

[Chef]

What state land is it?