i have a quick question..... how do you guys determine where the deer are bedding? Is there something you look for on the ground? or where you see the deer jump up when you kick em up?

Could be from either/both. Any kind of thick cover has the potential to be a bedding area really. what the deer prefer to bed in will vary from region to region and season to season though, and can even vary according to weather conditions.

foxhill---alot of the times I find the most active bedding areas in the thick stuff on top of hills or ridges. On alot of the places I hunt, I find they stay high in the thick stuff, looking down at any potential problems....many times they bed on the side of the hill that has alot of sun. This past weekend I went in fairly deep and found a remote pine forest bedding area on top of a ridge--it was absolutely loaded with sign. I had never seen it before because it was so thick but now that the woods are barren I found it...it has gotten me pumped for next year.

Well put Austin!

Thank You Sir!

In all honesty Fox, the only way to really find out where deer are bedded in your area is to get on foot and cover some ground. Virginia illustrates why for us, he found a spot he never knew about by getting out and walking around. I had something similar this year as well. I had hunted a particular parcel during bow season and was planning on hunting it during gun season a bit. Opening morning there was already someone there, so I head across the road where I had never hunted and found some real promising sign. I didn't see a darn thing, but I know there are/were deer in there because of the fresh sign I saw everyday in that area, it was just too big for two people (my father and I) to cover effectively during the gun season.

yeah... a deer! sorry couldnt resist... But seriously in the area I hunt there is predominantly grass. The deer LOVE switchgrass. When I am pheasant hunting I know where the deer are bedding because I will see a oval shaped flattened patch of grass. They also really like evergreen patches.

I look for cover and escape routes.
If a buck cannot get out undected or quick, he's not bedding in that area.

I also look for spots where a deer can see for a long way, one of my best spots I cannot hunt. It's about impossible to get to the stand, even by my boat[&:]

I look for places like this!

I've seen this numerous times during the gun season in Minnesota where I'll see a buck bedded in the middle of a plowed field all day. Most of the bucks I've seen do this are 130" class bucks or bigger. They can see forever and they must of figured it out that most people don't hunt in plowed fields. Smart critters they are!!

Just remember that a "bedding area" can be HUGE. I know the deer I hunt bed (at any given time) in an area of over 100+ acres. They may use a 40acre patch more than another area.....but bedding AREAS are sometimes HUGE (in comparison to what people gnrally think of).