Find The Beds
07-08-2003, 07:55 PM
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Salem Missouri
Posts: 1,455
Find The Beds
What am I missing? Everyone keeps saying to find the beds when hunting deer, I made a post on patterning deer and thats what I got repeatedly. I have hunted my farm for about 20 years and have yet to find a " bedding area" . I scout a lot after, before and during season and have killed a lot of nice bucks, but how do I find a bedding area? I will find rub lines that just seem to stop, trails that intertwine with others so much you cant follow them and a bed here and there, but never lots of beds or beds in the same place over and over again. I scout over about 1000 acres very thoroughly every year but cant pin down where they bed, What am I missing
07-08-2003, 10:54 PM
#3
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Baltimore Maryland USA
Posts: 143
RE: Find The Beds
Deer ALWAYS have more than one bedding area. It is there instinct to change bedding areas all the time. Reason for this is to prevent an ambush of a predetor. Think about it. If you returnedto the same bedding area day after day, leaving your scent at that spot, wouldn' t you think a predator would be there waiting for ya??
Some deer bed in a field, to tell if they do or not, look for grass that have been layed on....It will be flattened and in an oval shape.
In the woods, look for a REAL thick area of bushes or weeds. I usually jump them out thick areas leaving a new hunting area in the middle of the day. Also, if you see deer poop in the area, bedding area is close. Deer only poop in places they are safe, and only bed in a place that is safe aswell, so thats a good sign.
Good Luck!
Some deer bed in a field, to tell if they do or not, look for grass that have been layed on....It will be flattened and in an oval shape.
In the woods, look for a REAL thick area of bushes or weeds. I usually jump them out thick areas leaving a new hunting area in the middle of the day
. Also, if you see deer poop in the area, bedding area is close. Deer only poop in places they are safe, and only bed in a place that is safe aswell, so thats a good sign.Good Luck!
07-09-2003, 06:32 AM
#4
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Fredericksburg Virginia USA
Posts: 13,672
RE: Find The Beds
Well good advise so far, I will add a little bit, as stated they never bed in the same place two times in a row, deer tend to follow a 2-4 day pattern alternating bedding areas each day. Even though they may use a bedding area repeatedly they will bed in different parts of the area, but will usually enter and exit the bedding area from the same places, these are the places you want to set up, keeping the prevailing wind in mind always. Bedding areas are gold when the rut is on, because bucks will wonder from one to another looking for a receptive doe.
07-09-2003, 07:45 PM
#5
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Sunapee NH USA
Posts: 41
RE: Find The Beds
Hey Angus...
This is something that I too am working on figuring out! I have found various bedding locations diring my winter/post season scouting. As you indicated, they beds appear to be somewhat random. I keep reading that the key is to find the thick areas, which are by definition bedding areas as deer apparently feel that these areas are the safest! One problem I have this that there are thousands of acres of thick areas within my hunting areas. There are only so many hours in the day, and only so many deer in the woods. Here in NH, we had an " ice storm" that knocked down hundreds of square miles of trees in 1998. Those areas are now...you guessed it...thick (due to the growth of new trees and the old downed trees). This is nice because the deer are doing very well in these conditions (plenty of food and bedding area). It is the hunters that REALLY need to work. I guess it comes back to scouting, patience and persistance.
Is your name a reference to AC/DC...74 Jailbreak?? Rock On!
This is something that I too am working on figuring out! I have found various bedding locations diring my winter/post season scouting. As you indicated, they beds appear to be somewhat random. I keep reading that the key is to find the thick areas, which are by definition bedding areas as deer apparently feel that these areas are the safest! One problem I have this that there are thousands of acres of thick areas within my hunting areas. There are only so many hours in the day, and only so many deer in the woods. Here in NH, we had an " ice storm" that knocked down hundreds of square miles of trees in 1998. Those areas are now...you guessed it...thick (due to the growth of new trees and the old downed trees). This is nice because the deer are doing very well in these conditions (plenty of food and bedding area). It is the hunters that REALLY need to work. I guess it comes back to scouting, patience and persistance.
Is your name a reference to AC/DC...74 Jailbreak?? Rock On!
07-09-2003, 08:24 PM
#6
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Salem Missouri
Posts: 1,455
RE: Find The Beds
mfrofadventure... no its not from Angus Young, it is a nickname that a lot of my friends call me plus the year I was born.
As for finding the thick areas, al the farms around us have large clearcuts that the deer stay in a lot but never leave and enter them the same way, the trails are a infinite maze that is so confusing. Thanks for the info.
As for finding the thick areas, al the farms around us have large clearcuts that the deer stay in a lot but never leave and enter them the same way, the trails are a infinite maze that is so confusing. Thanks for the info.
07-10-2003, 07:28 AM
#7
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location:
Posts: 417
RE: Find The Beds
I' ve posted or answered questions on Patterning Bucks, Bedding Areas, Finding Big Bucks over on the T.R' s Tips board. Come on over there and read the threads, then if you have more questions fire away.
Realize that a bedding area is basically the same as a " Daytime Core Area" where the deer spend the majority of the daylight hours, and that the corea area may be from 14 acres to 2000 acres in size.
When you follow a buck trail up a hill into heavy cover, or into heavy cover (without the hill), and loose the trail, you' re probably close, because the buck is no longer following a trail on a regular basis, because he beds in one spot one day, another spot another day etc. Those spots are usually based on the weather conditions each day: which way the wind blows, hot or cold temperatures/windchills, raining or not, low visibility or not.
Some deer will bed in the same bed (or the same general location) from as often as every day, to once a week, to never. Just depends on the deer. I' ve seen does use the same 40 ft by 300 ft woods every day for a week or more, and use the exact same bed 3 times in one week. When bucks find a secure area they often use it on a regular (daily) basis.
One problem with looking for beds before or after the rut (when you intend to hunt during the rut) is that both bucks and does MAY switch from summer home ranges to fall home ranges during the rut, and from fall home ranges to winter home ranges after the rut. In other words: if you look (for any sign) to early or too late the deer MAY not be in the same areas they will be in during the hunting season.
T.R.
Realize that a bedding area is basically the same as a " Daytime Core Area" where the deer spend the majority of the daylight hours, and that the corea area may be from 14 acres to 2000 acres in size.
When you follow a buck trail up a hill into heavy cover, or into heavy cover (without the hill), and loose the trail, you' re probably close, because the buck is no longer following a trail on a regular basis, because he beds in one spot one day, another spot another day etc. Those spots are usually based on the weather conditions each day: which way the wind blows, hot or cold temperatures/windchills, raining or not, low visibility or not.
Some deer will bed in the same bed (or the same general location) from as often as every day, to once a week, to never. Just depends on the deer. I' ve seen does use the same 40 ft by 300 ft woods every day for a week or more, and use the exact same bed 3 times in one week. When bucks find a secure area they often use it on a regular (daily) basis.
One problem with looking for beds before or after the rut (when you intend to hunt during the rut) is that both bucks and does MAY switch from summer home ranges to fall home ranges during the rut, and from fall home ranges to winter home ranges after the rut. In other words: if you look (for any sign) to early or too late the deer MAY not be in the same areas they will be in during the hunting season.
T.R.
07-10-2003, 09:27 AM
#8
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Fredericksburg Virginia USA
Posts: 13,672
RE: Find The Beds
When you follow a buck trail up a hill into heavy cover, or into heavy cover (without the hill), and loose the trail, you' re probably close, because the buck is no longer following a trail on a regular basis, because he beds in one spot one day, another spot another day etc. Those spots are usually based on the weather conditions each day: which way the wind blows, hot or cold temperatures/windchills, raining or not, low visibility or not.
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07-10-2003, 10:29 AM
#10
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Fredericksburg Virginia USA
Posts: 13,672
RE: Find The Beds
You gotta remember I can' t help myself. What do you expect from a writer/seminars peaker.
Sorry but now I feel better, I see even the pros can make a typo!