quiksilver

I find a lot of deer beds in the snow, and a bed is a bed is a bed, right? Or is it? You find big ones, small ones, clusters, singles... But is there more to the story? I always look for that little extra clue, whether it be a reclusive single, a family unit, deer bedding near certain types of feed... You know, the how and why of what's happening.

Last year, I noticed something:You'll walkthe hillsand find a couple dozen deer beds. All are pretty much the same, with one weird exception: Whydo some deer insist on kicking most ofthe snow out of the bed before lying down in it (exposing the bare dirt), while others are content to lie down right in the snowpack?

Is it a time thing? Is it a ground heat thing? Does it have anything to do with the underlying ground moisture (trying to keep a dry belly)? Could it be related to the way they each individually position their feet while bedding (lying down on all fours vs. laying more on their side/belly)?

Weird question, but my buddy and I were arguing about it last night while we were doing some work on his roof. He says it's totally random. I say there's probably a reason.

recurver167

I'd guess they're doing a little nibbling before they go down.IMO.I always check wind directions and stuff when I find a bed to see why they picked this location.

magicman54494

I have never seen a deer scrape the snow away. Measure the bed. big bucks make big beds. Check for tarsal stains. check for horn imprints. a bed with a stain and a bed w/o. could mean a buck w/a doe. might be worth a track job. Big bucks tend to sprawl out making a bigger bed. Check the age of the bed. are there older ones the same size?- maybe a clue of a big bucks prefered bedding area.

Schultzy

Me neither Magic. My guess is that your seeing snow kicked out and scattered like a buck makes a scrape is what your saying and reffering to? Are you sure its not from the body heat of the deer melting the snow instead of them pawing away the snow?

Vabowman

what is this snow that you speak of??

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quiksilver

I ran into a few beds this year, where the deer had deliberately pawed through the snow down to the bare dirt. Not necessarily clearing out the whole bed, but obviously pawing some of the snow and leaves awaybefore laying down in it. I'd never really noticed this before.

One in particular was a big bed in a fairlydense grapevine/greenbriar thicket, and he (presuming that it was a buck) was flinging dirt and debris for a solid 5-10 feet - just throwing it out behind him. Very similar to a buck cleaning a scrape. From the tracks, it was evident that he only spent a few seconds clearing it out, b/c there weren't too many tracks where he was standing to clear it.

He then laid down right in the middle of the dirt spot and stayed there long enough to melt through most of the remaining snow pack that he didn't paw out, until I came around the ridge and bumped him out.

GMMAT

I saw you say this somewhere else, MM....and I have to ask....

Do they really lay with their antlers to the side? I've only been fortunate enough to see one buck bed down near me. He stayed 14yds away for 3:40 minutes, though. I saw him groom himself like a house cat would several times. What I also thought was interesting is.....he would tuck his snout inside his back hip when he would sleep....and that position had his antlers stuck straight down his back.....sort of streamlined.

If there had been snow on the gorund....there's no way he would have given away he was a buck just by judging his bed (and looking for antler imprints).

Just my (admittedly) single observation.

drhntr178

Ive watched bucks bed near my stand that would have made horn imprints. They laid there head out in front of them, sort of like a dog, and then tilted to the side. The antlers rested right on the ground.

Siman08/OH

I would assume that if it was snowing the buck would lay like Jeff said, to keep his face and ears out of the cold snow. I have bever seen antler imprints in the snow.