I am just curious as to how many here hunt extremely close to, or in, bedding areas? If you do use this tactic, please elaborate on your setups.
Thanks, LT
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"The Whitetail Deer". Call them dumb, call them curious, call them whatever you want, but one day, the biggest one you ever saw will turn you into a babbling fool.
1. How do you know when you get to the "bedding area"?
2. How close is "close"?
3. How big do you think a "bedding area" is?
In RE: to No. 1......The deer, here, use an area of nearly 200 acres (at any given time) as a "bedding area". That being said.....there are a coupe of 40acre areas that are used more than others....but the line of delineation is, at best, "vague".
In RE: to No. 2......I hunt within a few hundred yards of what I KNOW to be a bedding are. Sometimes closer.....according to how aggressive I think I NEED to be.
In RE: to No. 3......"I" think many hunters are under the impression a "bedding area" is a very small woodlot or thicket (and it "can" be). I think a "bedding area" is much larger than most think, though. It's an "area".....not a very small piece of land.
Jeff, I think you are right on all accounts. The only thing I would add is what I have seen numerous times in the woods. I have on more than one occasion found "beds" (Not "bedding areas") that are reused on a regular basis. These may be in pine thickets, briar patches, brush piles, ect. The beds in these areas are matted down with use and have fresh deer droppings close by, if not directly in, the beds. I believe deer travel enough that unless they are on a set bed to food to bed routine, you might find them bedded anywhere. (Just my observations) However when I do find these well-used beds, I like to hunt as close to them as I can without spooking deer out of them. (This is only when I know they are on a set feeding pattern, ie., acorn drop) Now as far as during the rut, from what I have seen, a buck can and will push a doe into a thicket that is not her normal bedding area. He will stay with her until she is bred. Therefore during the rut, I believe hunting bedding "areas" may be a good thing, but the known "beds" that once showed extreme use, are a guess at best. These are all just my observations. Hopefully someone else will weigh in with theirs.
LT
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"The Whitetail Deer". Call them dumb, call them curious, call them whatever you want, but one day, the biggest one you ever saw will turn you into a babbling fool.
Here we have about 10-15 acre "sanctuary" by default more than design that I would definitely call a bedding area. They basically live there during daylight hours. I have 2 stands right on the edges of that area. One is over a creek crossing on the south that is a great funneling area. The other is on the NE corner where they will stage up before going out into the alfalfa or crop field to feed at night and come in to after feeding in the morning. I have thought about trying to move into the bedding area by hunting the edge of a steep drop off just to see if I could ambush a biggin' that won't come out in the daylight.
I also have another 10 or so acre area very similar to the one I mentioned above. This one we planted a food plot on the west end and I hunt the north end of the food plot. This stand not only covers the plot, but a major funnel 25 yards to the north of the stand. I also have a stand for a north wind on the SE side of the bedding area. It is not as good because so many deer travel along the north side of the bedding area, but with a N wind there is nothing else I can do.
Sure, deer bed other places, but on any given day, there is a much higher likelihood that they are bedded in these pine filled, thick areas rather than the open woods.
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"We cannot expect the Americans to jump from capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving Americans small doses of socialism until they suddenly awake to find they have Communism" - Nikita Krushchev 1959
In the area where I spend the most time hunting, there are two distinct main bedding areas due to the terrain, vegatation, and accessibility. During the early season to say, first week of December I definitely stay farther away from the bedding areas . Especially during the main rut, those bucks are traveling great distances looking for does so I find it unnecessary to hunt even remotely close to where they generally bed. While I am always hunting trails, I find myself hunting nearer the bedding areas the later the season gets.
"Hunting" "bedding areas" is a very good way to "hunt" for "big bucks". "I" like to "crowd" a "big bucks" "bedding area" starting in "mid" October. This is the time in which the "big bucks" start getting "anxious" to find "does" that are coming into estrus. "They" start appearing during daylight during shooting hours.
"Bedding areas" can be many different shapes and sizes. From a small patch in the middle of a "field" to a 100+ acre brushy "hillside".
In "farm land," "bedding areas" can be more defined and readily identified. Ex. if it's not a food source (although they'll "bed" in corn and beans) and it's mostly briars, tall grass, thick as heck brush etc., it's a "bedding area".
I like to use "observation" stands. I sit at a distance and watch where deer enter a field ("food source") from. This is one way to find "bedding areas".
When sitting in a woods, "I" observe where deer come from in the evenings and then either scout that area and/or study "topo" maps and determine if they are "bedding areas".
"I" like to start hunting one from a distance of maybe 100-200 "yards". then I move closer according to what "I've" "observed". "I" don't like to get much closer than about 50-75 "yards" from a "bedding area", unless I think that "I" can get "away" with it. Always error on the side of "caution".
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Quote:
So there I was, Nov 12th 1996, flying down the highway, smoking cigarettes and drinking coffee, windows down for scent control.
"Hunting" "bedding areas" is a very good way to "hunt" for "big bucks". "I" like to "crowd" a "big bucks" "bedding area" starting in "mid" October. This is the time in which the "big bucks" start getting "anxious" to find "does" that are coming into estrus. "They" start appearing during daylight during shooting hours.
"Bedding areas" can be many different shapes and sizes. From a small patch in the middle of a "field" to a 100+ acre brushy "hillside".
In "farm land," "bedding areas" can be more defined and readily identified. Ex. if it's not a food source (although they'll "bed" in corn and beans) and it's mostly briars, tall grass, thick as heck brush etc., it's a "bedding area".
I like to use "observation" stands. I sit at a distance and watch where deer enter a field ("food source") from. This is one way to find "bedding areas".
When sitting in a woods, "I" observe where deer come from in the evenings and then either scout that area and/or study "topo" maps and determine if they are "bedding areas".
"I" like to start hunting one from a distance of maybe 100-200 "yards". then I move closer according to what "I've" "observed". "I" don't like to get much closer than about 50-75 "yards" from a "bedding area", unless I think that "I" can get "away" with it. Always error on the side of "caution".
"That" IS funny!
Good "points" too!
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Dave
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Let's Talk Bedding Areas
