25yrds from a bedded buck!
 

I wassneeking into my favorite stand at 3pm this afternoon and i have to go through a small opening in the thick stuff that has a very small pond, (puddle) in it. When i came out of the thick brush i scanned the opening and to my surprise there were two antlers in the grass, by the time i hooked up my release, he had gotten up and offered no real shot, But after 20 years of hunting that was the 1st time i have ever seen a buck in its bed. I just wanted to share my experience.

RE: 25yrds from a bedded buck!
 

Nice! I have yet to see anydeer in its bed. Much less a buck.

RE: 25yrds from a bedded buck!
 

A good reason to have your release on while walking to your stand. I even nock an arrow for the walk back in the daytime.

RE: 25yrds from a bedded buck!
 

Never know what you might sneak up on, huh?

RE: 25yrds from a bedded buck!
 

Same here motownhonkey. You just never know when thatdeer is going to show itself. I'd rather be prepared than wonder. I had the opportunity last year but for whatever reason forgot to knock an arrow, and lost the shot at my first deer, which was a nice looking buck. Now I am still trying for my first deer let alone a buck.

RE: 25yrds from a bedded buck!
 

One time i was out ridin one of our horses and i saw a buck layin out in a field. But thats the only time i have seen bucks in there bed. i have seen plenty of does beded down befor.

RE: 25yrds from a bedded buck!
 

Long time ago, when I used to trap, I walked up on a buck sound asleep on a field edge. I was 10 feet away, and we were both in the wide open. I stood there lookin at him for 10 minutes or so then he woke up, looked at me, and went back to sleep for a few minutes. Then he got up and just walked away. One of the neatest things I ever saw.

RE: 25yrds from a bedded buck!
 

Very cool and another reason to be ready and stalk your stand.

RE: 25yrds from a bedded buck!
 

Are those rays good eating?

RE: 25yrds from a bedded buck!
 

That would be so cool to see a sleeping deer. If it were bow season and I was lucky enough to walk up on a sleeping buck, would it be ethical to shoot it while it's asleep?

RE: 25yrds from a bedded buck!
 

gzg38b:

"First, a bedded shot is ethical and effective, as long as the animal is positioned correctly for good shot placement."

The above quote was taken from an article on the home page of this site entitled Shot Placement (in the list of articles in brown on the left). If you are skillfull enough to get within bow distance of a bedded buck I say more power to you!

RE: 25yrds from a bedded buck!
 

I would definitely like to try still hunting, just to see a deer within a reasonable amount of yardage without the deer knowingwould be an accomplishment.

RE: 25yrds from a bedded buck!
 

Great experience! One time, I was still hunting down a wide brushy fence row and was following a very large track. I must have been looking at the ground too much, because suddenly I lost the track. I stood up and looked to my left and 15 feet away, a large 8 pointer stood looking at me. He was going to let me walk right by. When our eyes met, he bolted and I about messed myself. I couldn't have shot him if I would have had a machine gun. I was too startled![:-]

RE: 25yrds from a bedded buck!
 

Ive only snuck up on does, fawns and an occasional bear...a bear is not something you really want to be sneaking up on I tell you what!

RE: 25yrds from a bedded buck!
 

I've watched two bucks in their beds before. The first one was a little guy.. I had actually driven my truck up onto a hill on the logging road and was getting my stand out of the back of the truck. I looked over to my left and saw this buck about 40 yards away. He proceeded to lay downin a tree top left by the loggers from the year before. I couldn't resist, I had to try to sneak up on him. I got to within 10 yards or so and he got up and bounded away.

My morning stand is smack dab in a bedding area. I've had multiple does bed down but last year had a nice 8 point (which I shot a few days later) bed down about 30 yards away from me. He was there for about an hour, then another buck came in and spooked him way. The funny part was that the other buck that came in was an old looking spie piebald. I didn't expect him to be the intimidator in that case but he was

I also had a fox bed down close to me last week. He curled up like a dog and I think actually slept. He got up once, turned around a few times, stretched, then layed back down. He was actually of assistance as I'd watch him to see if his head would pick up when I heard noises. He eventually got spooked out by turkeys!

RE: 25yrds from a bedded buck!
 

Two years ago, I was in a permanent stand for about three hours (in the afternoon) when a doe suddenly stood up in the goldenrod (thirty yards away, and I never knew she was there), looked over her shoulder and ran off. I nocked an arrow thinking that she was running from an approaching buck.About 90 seconds later a coyote trotted rightin front ofmy stand from the direction she had looked. I have to believe she winded him, which is incredible, because at the pace he was trotting he had to have been at least 100 yards from her when she smelled him.
That coyote?...You won't see him no more!

RE: 25yrds from a bedded buck!
 

Thats cool man, good luck this season. I hope i get mine! This will be my first year in a stand.

RE: 25yrds from a bedded buck!
 

Couple years ago I climbed up into my stand pretty early in the afternoon took about a 20 minute nap woke up scanned around and seen a nice little 8 pointerhe layed there for probably another hour I just sat and watched him but I must of walke almost right past him on the way out to the stand.

RE: 25yrds from a bedded buck!
 

Last year during gun season in Missouri I had a cool experience. It was an afternoon hunt, and I'd been in my stand maybe 45 minutes when out of the corner of my eye I caught an approaching deer coming down the wooded ridge which my stand sits on. A closer look showed it was a doe and low and behold there was a decent 8 pt trailing her. She crossed directly in front of my stand at about 10 yards with the buck trailing about 20 yards behind her. She eventually bedded down probably 20 to 25 yards from my stand on the side of the ridge. And sure enough, when the buck saw her bed down, he took advantage of some rest time too, and bedded down probably 8 yards from me, no kidding! They both laid there for about 15 or 20 minutes when they both got up and kind of moseyed on about their way.

I know you're probably curious why I didn't shoot something that hunt. Well actually there are a couple of reasons. First of all, I knew that particular buck (about 130") real well and it was not near one of the better bucks on the farm. I'd seen and also had trail photos of a couple of really good, quality deer in this area. Secondly, It was one of the first days of gun season and I just wasn't ready to bring it to a close, so to speak. I realized last year that once you see areallyNICE buck, it's kind of tough to shoot something quite a bit smaller. At least it is for me! I could only imagine how nice that 8 pt will be this year if he survived! I guess I was willing to take that chance with that particular deer!

But anyway, it was really neat to have two deer bed down so close to my stand in the middle of the afternoon like that! I'll never forget that hunt.