One summer the talk of Waupaca County, Wisconsin, was a ginormous buck on the prowl. The giant was feeding in beans and alfalfa on a farmer’s property just ½ mile from Paul Keller’s 80- acre hunting spot.

Through observation and low-impact scouting, Paul confirmed that the buck was walking a timbered ridge on his property to get to a patch of standing corn, also on Paul’s land. Paul hung a few tree stands on and near the ridge, and one day in September he killed one of the top bow bucks of 2012—the massive 27-pointer grossed 244!

The buck was walking a timbered ridge within ½-mile of the fields… A spot like that is one of the best for early-season bow or black-powder hunting. The thicker the low-level ground cover and the more mast trees on the ridge the better.

Play the warm, fickle winds as best you can, and lay out quiet access to and from your ridge stands. Set up on a trail, draw, creek or similar funnel that might squeeze a big buck close for a shot one morning or afternoon.