Finding Buck Beds
 

Attached is a marked-up photo of my hunting area (1/4 section). I am having troubles identifying where the bucks bed. There are 5 average sized bucks on the property and one big boy. My farm is elevated, then drops down to the river to the north.

As you can see most of the sign is in the section of woods to the south where our house is. The abundance of rubs and scrapes are in an open area near the field and in a dry slough. My cam shows they are travelling east-west a lot. When the rut starts all the scrapes open up in this area and I did get the "big boy" on camera but only at 3am making a scrape.

We did see the big boy walk up out of the wooded ridge from the north to feed on oat bales late in the season. I scouted that ridge and found some lightly used trails and very little sign.

So how should I interperet this based on finding bedding sights. Are they passing through the woods to the south making sign and bedding somewhere on the ridge where there is little sign or bedded in the slough area?

Thanks for any input.

This is based on speculations from not knowing the area. It looks like there is a tree line between the oat field and hay field. If you can, put a camera there and see how many deer travel through there. This is one of the main places deer travel through my Grandpa's cattle fields. They might also travel through the oat fields, but less likely. I personally would probably start looking for beds on the NE area of the ridge towadrs the river, and scout Eastward. If that doesn't work out then work the ridge West.

Just remember that big deer get big for a reason and holes up in the thickest stuff he could find and is only traveling through your plot.

I really don't worry about where the big bucks are bedded...For years I hunted with a guy that did and he really hurt all our chances looking for and going through their bedding areas...

I stick with the food sources that are hot at that time and try to keep up with the does... :)

During the rut, bucks travel, just like a young fellow bar hopping...Find a good group of does and pattern them...

A pretty woman will get a fellow in trouble every time...

I don't want to hunt the bedding areas specifically, but the problem is that the mature bucks where I hunt never step out into the field until way after dark so the difficultly is figuring out which trail they used to enter the field. If I had an idea of where the bedding area was I could place my stand on one of many trails from that direction to the field and pretty soon figure out which one is his trail.

If the bucks are not coming out untill after dark, and you know they are. Find the food source they are hitting right at dark and move in on them. Scout the hard woods and thickets close to the food source and move deeper into them. That is the only chance you have in seeing them early in the season without hunting the bedding areas. And I personly wouldnt do that either...

So what's the deal with the flurry of rubs and scrapes in the south wooded area near the house? Are they just travelling through and leaving an abundance of sign there for some reason?

+1 on what Freebird said in post #2

Pete

It depends on there travel schedules. I have found deer beds in strange places, such as in an open field of grass with a dried up pond. Yep they curled up in the grass near the bank, I suppose to get out of winds crossing the 5 acre field.
My Grandpa has over 60 acres with maybe 1/3 of it house barn and fields and the rest is woods. Several deer bed down in an abandoned cattle field that is overgrown. At the edge of this field is a treeline that separates it from a bean field. The treeline runs into the woods. Keep studying and you'll learn your deer.
One year I was sitting on this corner and found out that about 2 hours (probably 3pm) after I left the neighbor saw that Big buck walking along that fencerow of trees. I think that was back in '04.

I would like to see a topo of that land and I think I could point out right where the bucks bed based on elevation.
I think your on the right track hunting near bedding. I have shot my biggest bucks in or near there beds. Its just common sense. The older they get the less they move in daylight. They spend the majority of the day in there bedding area... The closer you are the more your success goes up.

Attached is a Topo of the area I hunt and another zoomed-out satellite image. Note that Canadian topo maps don't have much detail since the contour interval is not as tight, so you will barely notice a river valley. I outlined our property (that the previous satellite picture is representing) but I do have access to neighbor's lands.

I have 5 or so different bucks travelling through that slough area and north down the slope along the west property line into the woods. The old boy shows up near the slough sometimes as well as well emerges from the north river bank from time to time at night.

What defines most bedding areas is NO human intrusions. can be anywhere...could be within yards of the gate you open entering hunting camp. You ever came to a spot so thick you just back out and dont go there again..too thick to hunt but perfect spot for a deer bed. How many storys have you heard about the big buck killed on the hill right behind the check-in-station...nobody would hunt there...but a buck would bed there and watch as all the hunters came & went. Does'nt take long for him to figure out after an hour or so after dark things get quiet and safe to come out.

Some of the best bedding areas are ruined every year by that 1 guy in camp that has to walk everywhere...he sits all morning in an area hes stunk up for 2 weeks before season and wonders...wheres all the deer? So he decides to get down mid-morning & walk contaiminating hundreds of acres with his scent. You can bet no matter how good an area is those deer are vamoose..gone..they know where a spot is this wont happen. :bash:

Human intrusion defines most bedding areas! :s4:

I dissagree that human invasion defines all bedding areas.. I have studied buck bedding my whole life and agree that human invasion can lead to bedding areas not getting used, but there are reasons for each type of buck bedding. They do not bed in a spot for just the reason that no person goes there...

O/P I could not copy your map to mark it up, so I sent you a PM

[QUOTE=Bukmastr;3838758]I dissagree that human invasion defines all bedding areas..


Did'nt say "all" bedding areas...."MOST" bedding areas! ANY bedding area...no matter the terrain can be ruined by that one hunter tromping thru it,,,ALL deer/Bucks bed somewhere..."ALL" mature bucks have a sanctuary...and you can bet theres no human scent.

It is my experience that mature bucks bed in several different areas in their core area. You would have better luck finding this. Typically they like to bed 1/3 from ridge tops and in fallen timber.

So I would have to locate multiple bedding sites! Since the deer density is fairly low in Alberta so bucks can have a large core area. If I were to guess the core area is around 1 mile X 1 mile. So knowing where their large core area is, should I be trying to get close to one of these multiple bedding sites or try to find some sort of funnel (funnels are a little hard to come by due to the large amount of woods out there, but maybe I can find one)?

finding a bucks core area takes several pieces of a puzzle your trying to put together. Some of the pieces you should be looking for are sheds, this is a good indicator where the buck was at when he casted his antlers. Another one is previous years field observation notes. Such as spotting of bucks, scrapes, rubs, ect. If you do not keep a hunters journal I highly recommend you start. If you are able to use trail cams these are great tools. I use mine in a tactical fashion, by starting out placing mine along trails trying to get a photo of him. Once I get a single photo I then move my camera farther back until I began to get more and more pics until im confident I found his core area. After awhile you can pattern him and know when and what day he is coming thru that particular area. If u try this take notes on wind direction because the wind will dictate which way he may approach from. Then u can hunt that area on the wind direction the buck prefers. Hope this makes since and helps!

Oh as far as your question about hunting funnels there are two types; cover and terrain related funnels. I just recently wrote an article called "path of least resistance" that will be published with my other articles at www
whitetailjournal.com this is a touchy subject for some experts but I get tired of hearing hollywood hunters think deer take the most easy route. Young deer do, mature animals do not. If I were u I would hunt the nastiest stuff I could find between a known feeding area, you would know his known feeding area from previous field notes if you had kept any.

Oh as far as your question about hunting funnels there are two types; cover and terrain related funnels. I just recently wrote an article called "path of least resistance" that will be published with my other articles at www
whitetailjournal.com this is a touchy subject for some experts but I get tired of hearing hollywood hunters think deer take the most easy route. Young deer do, mature animals do not. If I were u I would hunt the nastiest stuff I could find between a known feeding area, you would know his known feeding area from previous field notes if you had kept any.

Oh as far as your question about hunting funnels there are two types; cover and terrain related funnels. I just recently wrote an article called "path of least resistance" that will be published with my other articles at www
whitetailjournal.com this is a touchy subject for some experts but I get tired of hearing hollywood hunters think deer take the most easy route. Young deer do, mature animals do not. If I were u I would hunt the nastiest stuff I could find between a known feeding area, you would know his known feeding area from previous field notes if you had kept any. As far as hunting his bedding area, a big buck has little tolerance for human intrusion. I myself do not hunt his bedroom. The owner of lone wolf tree stands believes in hunting this way. He will walk thru a bucks bedroom, jumping him out and then immediately hanging a stand in that area the same day and waiting for his return. Ya just never know with whitetails! That's why we love it!!!

Bucks leave rubs and srapes in areas where does are active, generally at dawn and dsusk. And does are active in travel corridors, funnels, and in in and nears staging areas and food sources. which is whey bcks leave rubs and scrapes there. Lots of doe travel and buck s checking.



I have been hunting since 1956, spend two summers in guide school in Jackson Hole, gudiing and then outfitting since 1989 and researching deer (10 years), turkey 4 years0, ducks, geese (3 years), elk (3 years) and now bears (currently in my thrie year) beginning in 1989.

If you have questions on deer biology and behavior, or on hunting g techniques. feel free to ask me here or at [email protected].

I don't have all the snswers by far, but I have more than a few.

God bless and let me kow how you do. If you read the "Thank You" thread you'll see why I have to live vidcarious through your hunting escapdes this year.

T.R.

In answer tho the thread question, without being there, here a a few pointers on locating core areas, (where the animnal spend sthe majority of their day during daylight hours) and then theier bedding areas, (which may be anywhere within that core area. thsi holds true for deer, elk and moose, sometimes mule deer and caribou, partly with pronghorn, and with bear. This shoudl help anyone - anywhere.

North american antlered animlas:

!. because they are prey species, they are crepuscular, meaning they are most active within about two hours of dawn and dusk, and in secure areas most of the day (with whitetails often in a traditionsl but seasonal daytime core area), and active a bit in the middle of the night, often bedding in or near food sources at night, but in secure areas during the day (with whitetails this means their daytime traditional core areas).

1. core areas are usually in both secure (from humns), and weather protective cover (woods, heavy brush, cattails, cornfields, sometimes open fields). Makes sense. where they can get out of the prevailing wind, heat, cold, rain/hail or heavy snow) Makes sense.

2. they often bed in different areas on different days, based on the weather. they may bed in open area when it is hot and windy. in low ares or thick cover when it is windy, in areas with overhed cover if it is rainy or hailing, in ares out of the wind when it is cold, in areas in the sun when it is cold but ther is now wind, in areas where there it is open but there is shade when it is hot and no wind. Makes sense.

2,Whietail Buck beds are often on the downwind side of a hill, often in thick cover or with an open view downhill, where they can get out of the wind, but smell from behind them, and see and hear to the sides and in front of them. Makes sense.

With that being said, to actually locate a buck core area, follow a buck rub route as it leaves anighttinme food source, adn heas into cover, with the the rubs facing you. If the trail begins to go up hill, be alert, if it head into thick cover, be alert. it you begin to loose the trail, or it looks as if it ight lead off into seveal different directins, you areprobabliy in a bedding area, because the deer bedded inone aree based on the weather one day, and in another area based on the weather another day. If you see an abundance of rubs on 1 inch or smaller saplngs or sshrubs, - you are probably in a bedding area, or close to it. If you see a numbef of differnt beds, of the same size, you are probably in a buck bedding area, If you see a urine spray at the bakc of the bed,, or you see a large cylindircal deer dropping near a bed, you are probably in a buck bedding area. ther are a lot more techniques on how to lacate bucks, and hunt them on their rub routes, which is where you are most likely to see them traveling in the weeks before the rut.

Bucks rarely make scrapes in their daytime core areas.

SO - without even looking at a map, I cah say this, look for places humans would not usually go into, look for places out of the way, look for areas that offer protection from the weather at that time of the year. Look for places where a buck can see, hear ans smell most of the way around himself.

If you have questions - ask me here - or contact me at [email protected].

God bless,

T.R.

You nailed it T.R! I was going to get into that and im glad you typed it first! Lmao that's alot to type on my cell phone! Hahaah

Yes I like this idea. I have 4 cameras out full time trying to get him on film I just haven't found the right trail. I put a camera on a trail I saw him walk out on last november, but he was seeking out oat bails due to the deep snow so it may not be the best indicator of his normal travel route (from the aerial photos on the first page he came out of that north river ridge).

I may have to go deeper into the woods as he may be using a trail further down the ridge towards the river.

It makes sense when you say most rubs and scrapes are in doe-use areas (I recall the scrape part for your book I bought last fall when I couldn't figure out why I couldn't find their core areas when I found a bunch of scrapes).

That being said I have been trying to find rub-routes since reading your book and have had a very tough time. The only rub route I found was a short one that went from that "dry slough" (as seen on page 1 of this thread) with all the rubs to the south field, cutting through that island of trees. When I scouted the ridge to the north I found very few rubs along trails as you can see from the map.

Secondly since there is that cluster of rubs in that dry slough would that mean it is near their bed, or are they just rubbing in doe-use areas? My camera shows a bachelor group cutting through that slough morning and evening (except for the big buck I have been trying to find).

Since there is no way a buck can travel more than about 1.5 miles in a night, before turning around and going back to it's core area, look for a core area withn 1.5 miles of an open food source. Which is where you will often find lots of rubs and scrapes, because does are feedign there, and other bucks are meeting them there.

Next, look for a lightly used trail with rubs on 1-2 inch trees - leading away from the food source, and follow it back - heading through different areas, but going toward a secure or wooded area.

Since a buck rub route is geneally only traveled in one direction, by only one deer, only one time a day, it is VERY lightly used, and may not even look like a traill, except for the rubs along it. You can often find a rub route leading away from an open area or agricultural field - at the corner, or in a gully or finger of brush or trees leading up to, or into, the field.

Hopefully you can follow this lightly used trail, by seeing rubs from as close as 5 feet to as far as 1/2 mile apart. If it has rained or there is snow on the grouned it makes it easier to see the trail. But, remember, it will lead AWAY frorm a food source.

Or you can follow a trail that leads to a food source, by waliking it backwards, with the rubs on the far side of the tree as you walk.

Do not expect to see scrapes within about 40 yards, or even more, of a bedding area.

I hope that helps.

God bless,

T.R.

This kind of turned into one of my intenet seminars didn't it?

Do you guys want me to run a few more??? If so on what topic?

I'd say that a buck could be bedded anywhere in those pine trees, and suing them as a daytime core area. Iit could bed anywhere in them, on any day. dobn't ezxpect to se sevferawl beds cloe to each other in an aread like tht . they coudl be sspred otu all over the palc, ladn it may not ahve a preferred site.

The importna thing to find out, is where the buck generally begins uising the saem rub route as it comes out of the core area, which is swher y9ou are most likely to see it in the late afternoon/earl;y evening s it heads out to feed in the evening. You really do not need to knwo exacltly where it bes, as long s you find the rub routes it uses - which are where you should setup. .

So you think it is possible bucks could be bedded on the North-facing slope in the standing pines in lieu of coming up from the islands or coming from an east-facing slope?

That all depends on how thick the cover is,, which might cut excessive winds, and rweduce the temperatures that day. Deer will bed where they feel both secure, and comfortable.

If that property is lessthan 1.45 miles wide and long, they maay not even bed on the property. Generally speaking, look for bedding areas on the downwind side of a hill or woods from prevailing winds, in a low lying area, in thick cover.

even if they are not on the propery look for trails coming onto the propery, and look for evening and morning food sources to hunt.

In this website the author claims that clusters of rubs and sign post rubs are often near a buck's bedding area. Could it be possible that a buck/bucks are bedded near where all that sign is in that central bush not too far from the house (note we don't actually live out there). Although the dry slough looks tempting I would think the river ridge would provide more security.

I cannot rememer ever seeing buck beds near clusters of rubs and scrapes, because they like to be off by themselves. Clusters like that indicate a lot of deer or deer activity in that area, which would go against the grain, especially when you figure that buck core areas are usually at one end with a foosd source (where you find lots of rubs and scrapes) at the other end.

T.R.

That makes sense. I will avoid this high-sign area (except for maybe a 2 week scraping phase) and focus on how they are getting there.

Thanks.

T.R.,
I agree with most of what you said, but have to disagree with the above comment... A few of my largest whitetails were shot over scrapes that were left in there staging area 40 to 60 yards from there bed.
I do agree that the majority of rubs and scrapes are placed in doe areas though.