Hello, I am new to these forums and have already found tons of info. I have an old pasture field surrounded by woods. The field has grown up to about chest high from lack of livestock.I have found fresh beds all over it. My question is this; do deer usually use the same bed or do they have several different ones? I am asking because I am trying to estimate the number of deer frequenting my property. I have seen 5 or 6 different deer but there are many more beds than that. Thanks for your help.

As far as i know deer are highly habitual... that said i think they will bed in the same area pretty consistently.. Be cautious when hunting a bedding area. If i hunt near a bedding area i only do it if the wind is right and i can get there early and be sneaky. Id suggest staying outta it or you might lower the number of deer frequenting your prop. Get a trail camera to help you estimate your herd size

That's exactly what I did. I've got three trail cameras set up around the field at the places I think they are entering. I hope I get some good pictures and may find some deer I didn't know were there.

thats very likely

I will not hunt in a bedding area itself. Its to easy to have deer bust you. And if pass on smaller deer that bed there, then its going to be hard to get away undected. That can make things difficult when hunting bigger bucks. Instead hunt the trails going to or from the bedding area when the wind is right. Deer will have different bedding areas that they will use as condtions change, hunting pressure, rut, food sources. They all play a roll.

I had planned on hunting some trails that lead into the field and bedding areas. When I get some pics from my cameras I'll post them. Thanks for your help. Anybody else with info bring it on.

if your seeing beds in the field i would say that those are beds during the night. on our fields we have actually jumped deer out of their field beds at night and never during the day.

I wouldn't get too excited about the number of beds. Especially in the summer, I've watched a lot of deer pop up out of tall grass. Around here, they seem to use those areas when there are a lot of mosquitos. I've seen too many deer get up out of a bed, feed a little while and lay back downin another spot. The fact that you've got beds there indicates you've got deer habitually using the area. You may a few deer making a lot of beds. Hunt it carefully, it won't take much disturbance for them to go somewhere else

thats right. dont ever get too close to the bedding areas. spook em once and bam they will move somewhere else. know the beds and hunt the trails leading to them but dont hunt the beds.

Sounds exactly like my area. I believe they use the same AREA, but not the exact same spot. Like a bedding area might cover a 1/4 acre area and the deer might bed somewhere in that area 90% of the time. Thats just my opinion though.