RE: How do you guys know exactly where your big bucks are bedding?
 

I found a few common characteristics in the beds of mature bucks in the big woods. 1. they are usually elevated. 2. they are almost impossible to get near without making noise. 3. they tend to be on the edge of good escape cover. The common thread is when I find oneI always think to myself : This is the perfect place to bed for survival.
Some trackers don't worry about bumping these deer out of their bedding areas because they realize these places are almost impossible to sneak up on. They opt instead to move the deer out of there to hopefully a place where they have a better chance to kill them. After finding a lot of beds I can understand this line of thought.

RE: How do you guys know exactly where your big bucks are bedding?
 

I cant say its a fact but its a common occurance with what Ive seen and had local farmers tell me. The mature bucks distance themselves from the other deer and in my area they find the most unlikely spots that youd think they would be. What Im talking about is for instance one piece of land I can duck hunt but not deer hunt theres a decent amount of timber BUT I witnessed the dominant buck IMO on several occasions walk across 2 open fields and bed down in this little piece of CRP. (maybe 20yds long by 15 yds wide grass was only about thigh high)Thats just one of several mature bucks Ive seen in places that are so small you just overlook it. Im in the same boat as you now though, I have a nice property to hunt but cant find the mature bucks bedroom. Its a big timber but theres no small spots on the property that I could check to see if its true for this particular area. From what Ive seen though in my area smaller is better. The mature bucks find a spot that has enough cover and a close food/water source and they bed in that area. If you have an area that when you look at it you think "there might be one or two pheasants in that" go check it out for deer beds. Ive heard the farmers and witnessed it myself. Hope you can make something from my experiences cuz on my new hunting ground its all big timber and I havent been able to put anything together finding the bedroom either.

RE: How do you guys know exactly where your big bucks are bedding?
 

You are right on MeanV2........average hunters would never take a buck if it was not for the rut. IMO the opener of bowhunting season is just the best time to take down aquality buckbecause he is predictable!

RE: How do you guys know exactly where your big bucks are bedding?
 

Early season is of no importance to me except observing does and watching routines;) Come the rut...I will put them down

RE: How do you guys know exactly where your big bucks are bedding?
 

And if it wasnt for compound bows and treestands...most bowhunters would never kill a deer.;) Early season bucks are predicatable in their feeding habits..but the bucks in my woods are nocturnal even in the summer except for the prerut, rut, post rut. This summer I watched a 160'' class buck from my back door, hide in the woods edge and refuse to walk out in the field and feed with the other 20 does and small bucks. Even in the summer..he was nocturnal. Big mature bucks only drop their guard imo during the prerut, rut, post rut

RE: How do you guys know exactly where your big bucks are bedding?
 

Ithink that pretty much covers the Bow Season[8D]

Dan

RE: How do you guys know exactly where your big bucks are bedding?
 

lol..prerut= halloween through 1st week in nov(MY FAVORITE TIME) rut= 2nd week in Nov through part of 3rd (My least favorite part of the rut to hunt...bucks have does off somewhere in the middle of nowhere...activity slows way down...sucks pretty well Post rut= end of 3rd week in Nov through Thanksgiving.(Awesome time to be out in the woods...bucks are losing does and back on the prowl looking for chics. Rattling works well.
Our bow season opens Oct 1st and closes Jan 10th...so nope..doesnt cover the entire bow season.;)

RE: How do you guys know exactly where your big bucks are bedding?
 

We can throw this back and forth but everyone has their own facts and opinions and they go with what works for them at their honey hole. THE real question is........do I know where my bucks bed? No, I dont know where my bucks bed but I know where they live.

RE: How do you guys know exactly where your big bucks are bedding?
 

Mature Bucks bed on fence rows, high places, low places, thick cover, no cover(small tiny weed patches) I have seen mature bucks do all of the above. They dont go lay down in the same place every day...not in my experience in the woods where I hunt.

RE: How do you guys know exactly where your big bucks are bedding?
 

I do NOT know where bucks bed from day to day. Call me an idiot but I have no idea where 1 particular buck may bed. Also, I don't know where the does bed. I hunt large open woods with military troops walking through those same woods so patterning the deer can be very difficult. I have learned to adapt a more general approach to hunting because if I put "all my eggs in one basket" where I hunt, I would be consistently disappointed as the hunting conditions change rapidly due to military training and certain areas being shut down for extended periods of time.