Here's the layout.
-I've got a trip planned to the midwest for Nov 4-13th.
-11 hour drive
-Private land that hasn't been hunted yet this year
-Spotted a 170+ last Nov 12 (after i was tagged out with the buck in my avatar)
- He moved through a crp field and then section of hardwoods every morning last year ( i was tagged out already ) We had him at 45 yards one morning, 60 yards and 120 yards on other mornings. Never got a shot ( i was filming )
-I feel confident nobody got him, as this is very low pressure land
- He took a different trail into the hardwoods every morning, but always seemed to funnel to one spot about 200 yards deep in the woods. (this is where i want to be)

Here's the question.
Would you go up now (2 weeks ahead) and set up so glow tac trails or gps trails and to mark trees for each possible wind and do a little bit of soft scouting.
OR
Just walk in and climb a tree in the dark in the general area he was spotted last year and mark a glow tac trail out that morning and maybe adjust the stand location as needed as you hunt him that week?

I certainly want to do zero on the feet scouting that week. Only glassing.

Its wide open hardwoods these deer move through in the morning.Never hunted it in theevening, but I'm sure they move back through the opposite way headedtowards the fields.Theres a couple funnels coming out of the crp just due to ditches, but no major funnels.

Help me nail this guy. I bet he's 180+ this year. Last year he looked to be about 5-6 years old, around 240lbs. Typical 12 with at least a couple kickers, solid mass and about a 20 inch spread. The land was shotgun hunted pretty hard and thats it since I saw him. I would know if they got him with a shot gun.

Go now, look for good sign in the area you think he is. Set up a stand in the right spot. Trim shooting lanes if necessary. Put reflective tacks in the trees so you can find your way in quietly under darkness. Then get the hell out of there and leave it alone until your ready to hunt.

And be extremely quiet about it. Practice scent control. Don't stink up his bedroom!

If you wait, I'd walk in during daylight and set up. You'll be much quieter than fumbling around in the darkness and you'll have a better chance of spotting rubs, scrapes, tracks, etc.

Its wide open hardwoods...

Won't need to do any trimming...Although the best tree make require a hang on and not a climber.

We found the perfect tree on the last hunt last year and weather screwed everything up. It was 70 degrees at 7am and we only saw 1 deer (about 25 less than the previous 3 mornings!!!) I could never find that tree in the dark this year as I was stupid and didn't mark it last year.

So that's one person saying, make the 11 hour drive to mark a few trees and then turn around and drive home...

What say the rest of you?

PS, i can't talk anybody else into making the long drive with me, even though the drive would be beautiful with the leafs falling.

If its that wide open maybe I'd wait. But I definitely wouldn't walk in there in the dark for the first time.

Good luck. If you get him post pics.

If he's there, I am prepared, been shooting every night. I've broken the ice on 4 bow kills here in SC already. Last year I took that 140 in my pic after 3 nights of hunting the same stand. I kept tweaking my location until I got him. It was in an area where I had to get down and walk through a creek between 2 fields to get out of there without spooking the deer in the fields. I was proud of that. Most people that have ever hunted that stand, run everything off after 2 hunts because they spook all the deer leaving their stand at night.

Anywho,
They start moving in about 30 minutes or less after shooting light. So there is a very tight window to get in there without spooking anything. Wonder how the acorn crop is... If it's good, they may be in there in the dark anyway. I'll make that another post.

Why go now if you know where he was last year.
Wait till daylight the first morning then still hunt in. You have from the4th to the13th. Use the first day for scouting. Set up stands during midday for the rest of the week. Just my opinion.

Open to all opinions. Appreciate them all.

Oh there will be pics, should things go as hoped for.

I would wait until later. Then for the first hunt I would set up a good distance from the spot you saw him using last year and observe which trails are being used this year. Then move your stand accordingly. That way you start low impact, instead of maybe disturbing his core area right off the bat. Good luck with him.

An 11 hr drive is a long drive to go do a little scouting .If you know where he like's to be and travel ,then sit the first evening and then during the mid day scout it out and then you can start your tweaking . Save yourself the trip that's a long haul to do something you can do when you get there .

nubo

Good idea Jim. I need a wind coming out of NW, N, or NE to lay low on the first morning and stay just in eyesight of the action. Any other wind and it wouldn't do me any good to lay low, because the wind would be blowing towards the trails and I might as well get right in the middle of the action.

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