Are we going about this all wrong?

Seems like you can ask 100 hunters/land stewards “what are they doing to reinforce the deer population on their properties or....make their properties hold more deer”, and I’m betting 90%+ would mention supplemental feeding, food plots, mineral sites, etc… If our goal is (really) to hold more deer on the properties we hunt, might we be a little disingenuous in our claims?

Let’s look at a day in the life of your average whitetail deer:

12:01 AM Out to dinner or near the restaurant (food source)
6:12 AM – On my way home to bed
6:39 AM – Stopped to browse at a staging area
6:48 AM – Bedded for the day
10:44 AM – Out of bed to browse and grab a quick drink
10:58 AM – Moved 125yds….and back to bed
4:19 PM – Up again to browse
4:33 PM – Back to original bed for the day
6:05PM – Up from bed to feed/water for the evening
7:18 PM – Arrive at destination food source
*Continue this basic pattern until I die (and of course make time for lovin’ when appropriate)

What’s the one thing that stands out in this deer’s day, though…..MOST? Right….you got it…..Bedding. Why aren’t more of us concerned with providing better/more[/b] bedding habitat? I’ve got three theories:


Don’t care
Don’t know how or don’t understand it
Thinks providing supplemental feeding; food plots; mineral sites, etc… provides them a BETTER (w/ sometimes even less work) chance of killing more and better deer.[/ol]

So….are the deer you’re hunting bedding ON the property you hunt? Are they JUST feeding, there? Are they JUST using your land as a travel route between the two?

I’m betting you could (with permission, of course) create A [/b]½ acre bedding area, with one man and a chainsaw, in less than ½ day. What you’d be providing in browse potential and cover might make the deer you’re hunting wanna stick around the land you’re hunting, more. It looks to me like they spend an inordinate amount of their time bedding, anyways. Why not take advantage of that AND maybe enhance your hunting at the same time?

Anybody do things like this? I’d love to hear how it’s worked out….before I approach my landowners.

What got me to thinking about this wasn’t the land I currently hunt. They have 230 acres of sanctuary they can and do bed in, there. The new land I’ll be hunting is 150 acres of land they use as a travel route…..and may “occasionally” bed, there. But there are no prime bedding spots on that property….and I’d like to change that.

Jeff, I think you are absolutely, 100% correct. How's the old saying go? "hunt the beds, hang the heads"......I've read several articles concerning this as well.

Personally, I feel the reason the food plots and feeding get so much "press time" is the money. Let's face it, all that's really required to make a bedding area is a chain saw. Pretty simple. Too many folks stand to lose too much money if that were the emphasis rather than feed.

We all know the food plot industry is HUGE business. 4 wheelers, a disc to pull behind them, seeders, seed, fertilizer, soil samples.....the list goes on. Look at how many companies are busting into the food plot arena. It's no wonder why just 1 guy w/ a chain saw doesn't get any props.

Interesting question, but the thing is whitetails can bed anywhere. Fencerows, brushpiles, dry ditches, middle of a field, etc. Food source is #1, creating bedding areas rank much lower IMO.

mobow, respectfully as I stated in my first post whitetails will bed anywhere and if pressed will bed down in the most unusual places. Creating a bedding area ranks low on my list of priorties of keeping deer on and near my hunting area.

Cougar, I know you live in the same general area I do and I agree. Deer can and will bed any where. Actually some of the biggest Bucks I have seen bed in the strangest places.

Maybe that's what keeps them alive

Dan

For agricultural areas I couldn't disagree more (especially after harvest). For prairies or parts of the country where food sources are scarce I would completely agree.

GMMAT,
I have added 13.5 acres of bedding areas since I bought my farm last year. I plan on adding another 6.5 over the next couple of years. I also believe, and have for quite some time, that in an agricultural area like mine cover is the #1 criteria for having, holding, "saving" deer. Before I added bedding, we had approximately 15 acres (+/-) on the other 2 family farms that is sanctuary/bedding. After all this we still have over 60 acres in crops and 8 in alfalfa. So, they have enough food

And I don't disagree. But, if we can produce an appealing bedding area, haven't we helped put the odds in our favor again? In a 24 hour day, how many hours of that would you suspect are spent in a bedding area? 75? And, if we can produce a really good DOE bedding area......and strategically place stands downwind of that.....would that be an awesome place to hunt come the rut? I don't know for sure, but it seems that it would.

I definetly agree that feeding areas will certainly congregate the deer to a certain place. I've hunted over food plots, and they're sweet places to be for sure. My only point was, the main reason bedding doesn't get the attention is because of the money. Today's culture is all about self preservation, and increasing the sale. In short, MAKE MORE MONEY. But that's a discussion for a different day. I digress.

Edit: WOW! I just read this after I posted it, and the tone of that did NOT come across the way I wanted it to. I'm questioning in an effort to learn, not questioning you, as it were. If that makes sense.

I assume you meant 75%, Mo.....lol

I understand....and huntingson's "plan" is what I'm after. I'm "assuming" you leave thes areas as sanctuaries.....and hunt close to them VERY sparingly. That's what I'm trying to look at. I've got some serious potential to add some bedding areas about 3/4mi. from some ag crops and about .3mi from an acorn ridge.

I'm gonna give it a whirl with my landowner......and see how it's received. With our deer pops, here......I could create 2 of these and hold a LOT of deer in them. So even when they DO NOT feed ON the properties I'm hunting (which is only when the mast crops are producing), we can still hold deer ON the property.....and not just have them use it as a travel route.

I didn't think numbers of Deer was a problem on your properties? You just had all does and very few Bucks

Dan

I don’t think bedding areas have as much of a drawing effect as food does. My main property is mostly bedding areas. They are tough to hunt, and you have to be careful. All the agriculture is a good ½ mile away, most even more than that. AND there are bedding areas that are just as secure as mine, much closer to the crops. I have some acorns on my spot, but they are immersed in the bedding areas except for one stand. If I had more food readily available, my hunting spot would be a paradise.