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

Well you would assume wrong in my book, I guess I would be one of the 1% bowhunters. You are putting a date and specific days on pre rut, rut, ect. You can't do that when your talking deer hunting with people all over the country. Pre rut is any time between when bucks shed their velvet too the rut. Then of course you have your late pre rut wich is obvoiusly right before the rut, and you have the post rut wich is after the rut. These for the most timeare different times throughout the country you can not put a universal calender day on them.

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

Alright Dan ..if u think that the entitre deer season falls into the rut..i m not going to argue. Believe what u want.

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

Not the Rut Don;)

But Pre Rut, Rut, and Post Rut? That's a different story[8D]

Poor Steve didn't want any opinions:DSorry Steve!!

Dan

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

Steve loves us both and we make his thread go extra pages so it is all good with Steve.[8D] Plus being from the midwest...he is cool.

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

Bucks don't start making scrapes and rubs until the last week of December to the first 2 weeks of January, in my area. The past few years, we are lucky to see any true rut activity before season goes out (Jan. 31). On Jan. 30th of this year, I saw two bucks chasing and trailing does. Every area/climate is different. I've even noticed a difference between the 2 pieces of property I hunt, which are about 30-40 minutes apart.

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

You in the south Ostie?? I have some family in Alabama and they said they have seen bucks chasing does in late feb-early march in previous years. Dont know how much truth there is to it since Im in the midwest so I can only take their word for it.

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

I notice a difference between the 2 properties I hunt as well they too are about 40 miles apart. One always gets Hot a week to 10 days earlier:D

Dan

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

I also believe that bucks and does have multiple bedding areas. I have seen bucks and does in mixed farmland and timber bed for a few hours in the morning and then move off to feed and get water and bed down somewhere else. I do think mature bucks develop favorite bedding spots that they will use frequently, particularly in early and late season. These are often in heavy cover, elevated, near water and food sources. Of course, it is often impossible to tell where the bucks and does are bedded at any given time. However, it is easier to determine where the deer are not bedded. In other words, spend some time scouting an area and you will start to understand the typical bedding areas. Of course, these typical bedding areas can change significantly from summer, through fall, to winter. I have often been dissapointed by in October after having patterned a buck or bucks in August. But once you know the likely bedding areas, you can set your stands to intercept the travel paths and funnels around these bedding areas. Of course, you have to watch the wind and make sure that your entry and exit won't bump the deer out of these bedding areas.

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

Lol!! No problem here, your both good *****!!!:):D

Thanks for the responses everyone!!

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

Excellent question. Interesting answers.

Seems everyone strives to have the fastest bow, best arrows, gimmick broadheads and the most expensive treestands- yet many fail to get back to the basics:

FIND THE DEER, AKA- scouting.

I can honestly say that I have never known 'exactly' where a buck I was hunting would bed. I do/did know that each buck had numerous bedding areas- be it for wind direction, available food/water, breeding, pressure induced, heat or cool(depending on time of year)..I know/knew a general area, but never the exact locations.

I think finding the exact bed that a particular buck uses, is one of the most difficult tasks a hunter can face.

I have gone as far as to follow tracts in the snow, back to a likely bedding location. However, I can not say for sure which deer was bedding there..

Killing a MATURE buck, outside of the rut- requires a boat load of scouting and really knowing your land(or a VERY lucky hunter). These deer survive on evading predators, we are little match for them. During the rut, I just need to know the vacinity that the bucks will come from, where the doe are, then get into the best 'funnel' area that I can and hope for the best.

The buck I shot this year was taken by this method. I knew a likely area that was used as bedding. I knew where a group of doe were bedding. I set up in a major funnel between the "suspected bedding" and the doe & food source. Shot him at 3pm(during the early stages of the rut).

As I grow as a hunter, I will better apply lessons learned and hopefully be able to locate exact bedding(or narrow it down) with less and less invasion/pressure on the deer. As for now, I'm learning by making mistakes.