ORIGINAL: magicman54494
ORIGINAL: _Dan
ORIGINAL: magicman54494
ORIGINAL: _Dan
ORIGINAL: shed33
huge countrythatholdsno defined feeding areas,
This is the biggest obstacle that I face as well Troy. The woods I hunt is so huge that the deer are very unpredictable during the season. They could bed and feed anywhere.
I hunt in the very dense thick woods of northern Wis. I look around and think the deer could bed anywhere of a million places. It took me many years to figure out where those big bucks are bedding. Search for elevated areas that are surronded by dense cover. Look for the beds. I found that those older lazy bucks like to bed in the same spot. They like to bed where they can see well.
Maybe I was being a little toobroad with my statement about the deer bedding and feeding anywhere. They have 3 major types of bedding areas where I hunt....
1. High on the edge ofridges. Which side will depend on which way the wind is blowing. Example: If the wind is blowing out of the west they will tend to bed on the east side of the ridge. This way they can smell anything from the west and see what's coming from the east....escape route will be downhill.
2. Dry beaver ponds. Generally the same wind rules apply as hunting ridges, which is true for deer feeding in the dry ponds. They'll almost always be on the same side of the pond that the wind is coming from. Example: East wind the deer will be on the east side of the pond. They'll be able to smell the thick woods to the east and see across the open pond to the west.
3. Thick pines. You can't see very far in them up there. These areas are generally around beaver ponds where the beavers have cut down all the softwood trees for food and the small spruce and balsam grow like mad, because of no competition. They use these areas because they can't be seen, yet they can hear anything thats close.
Magic, I do know where the deer bed in my area, the problem we have by us is knowing which of these areas they'll be in. They'll use one one day and another the next. Sure they have core areas, but there are so many of these types of bedding areas that a lot of the bucks will use one or the other depending on wind and weather conditions.
I did'nt mean to imply that you don't know where deer bed. I was simply sharing some insite as to some of the observations I have made concerning bedding areas. My goal is to share info so we all can get to be better hunters. Thanks for adding info on bedding areas. I wish that we could have a lot more info sharing on this site. A new perspective or idea may be the difference between success and failure. If I offended you I am deeply sorry.
Magic, LOL....Not even close to offended. Sorry if it came off that way. I just thought I would share my findings on big woods bedding areas.
I guess what I was trying to say the first time is that my biggest challenge is knowing which of these areas a deer will be using. In our huge woods it changes day to day and can be very unpredictable. Hell, I see a lot of deer walking with the wind.