I post to many of these type of threads - I am not trying to toot my horn or come across as some sort of expert. But it really is the only way I hunt. I am just offering my advise because I think it is often an overlooked gameplan when hunting public or pressured woods.
I know I sound like a broken record to most of you
RedNeck
Hunting the beds can be a great gameplan - but its not one to just rush into. It can take years to properly set up many different beds and woods to last a long season. These are high impact stands and one mistake can easily ruin the stand for the year. If the only woods you hunt has only one or two bedding areas then IMO hunting the edges of them would be better. But if you have access to alot of thick land then by all means give it a try.
You want to look for large trails inside the bedding area - opposite of hunting open woods wher bucks usually travel on the smaller side trails. In the thick, thick bedding areas big bucks will often navigate through them by use of these more worn trails imo.
Try to keep the amount you walk to and from your stand to a minimum. Take people trails or roads as close as you can to your stand then cut into the bedding areas from the opposite side the deer may be feeding. The less you actually have to walk in the beds the more chances you will have from that stand.
Setting these stands up WELL before the season is very important - real tough to cut up a bucks bedroom and expect him to not notice. Winter scouting and numerous stand placements is crucial to the success of bed hunting.
Of course wind direction is important - but you never know hunting the beds - they can come from anywhere and usually do - if one direction doesn' t produce - try the exact opposite the next hunt - you just never know
Just get in one and give it a try
- stay all day as 6ptsika said and have fun