Bedding Deer
08-22-2007, 11:07 AM
#11
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 118
RE: Bedding Deer
Like everyone else has said its got to be thick and I think it has to protect them from the elements. Look for areas where natural terrain would block the wind/snow/rain and such. Its got to have many different escape routes incase you come through be in somewhat close proximity to food/water and such. On a farm I hunt IALWAYS find deer beds on a pine tree island in the middle of some lowland.
I've never hunted deer beds, I stick to trails/food and water. G'luck
I've never hunted deer beds, I stick to trails/food and water. G'luck
08-22-2007, 12:03 PM
#12
Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 21
RE: Bedding Deer
I normally would say the thickest places, but too many times I have had does and fawns come in and just plop down all around one of my stands in the warm morning sun in open woods on a hillside, not thick by any means, its all standing oaks etc. They will stay there as long as I can manage to stay quiet and stay still, or some other animal spooks them.
08-22-2007, 12:42 PM
#13
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 3,406
RE: Bedding Deer
I always believe, it's where the deer feels secure.
It must also provide a retreat from the elements when the weather turns nasty.
These areas will certainly change with the weather and the seasons and especially when hunting begins.
If a deer can bed down on the side of a ridge and feel safe, that's where they will go.
If they feel they need the security of a thick, nasty, dark, old cedar swamp, well - that's where you'll fnd them.
It ain't Rocket Science.
Sometimes, ask yourself, where would you go in the woods to stay for the day. A place where you feel secure and out of the elements.
As youfinally arrivethere, be careful, 'cause you just might be sharing that area with a whitetail deer.
It must also provide a retreat from the elements when the weather turns nasty.
These areas will certainly change with the weather and the seasons and especially when hunting begins.
If a deer can bed down on the side of a ridge and feel safe, that's where they will go.
If they feel they need the security of a thick, nasty, dark, old cedar swamp, well - that's where you'll fnd them.
It ain't Rocket Science.
Sometimes, ask yourself, where would you go in the woods to stay for the day. A place where you feel secure and out of the elements.
As youfinally arrivethere, be careful, 'cause you just might be sharing that area with a whitetail deer.
08-22-2007, 03:26 PM
#14
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 9
RE: Bedding Deer
I think Jimmy S got it dead on... All to often I have found deer beeded in the tall grass in set out pines or laid up right next to a brushpile, on the side of a hill in a fresh cut-over... I don't think it has to be thick at all, it's all about getting away from the elements and feeling secure... Those deer in the tall grass know they can't been seen and that deer against that brushpile knows it's got plenty of cover behind it to prevent it from being detected... They are much more inteligent animals than many give them credit for...
