Do mature bucks fight over secure bedding?

[Bonecrusher101]

I put this in the kill zone because I killed my first beast buck! I've been on here for 4 seasons and have enjoyed all the stories and dedication to this place. I've also been skeptical at times of some of the tactics that I have failed to prove with what I found. I mainly chalked it up as what works for him doesn't for me. The public I hunt has so many hiding spots deer can and will lay down almost anywhere at random. I'm sure it's not random but it makes focusing on bedding difficult in many situations.

ok so here's the story. I hunt a military base with another fellow hunter. It provides bonus bucks and does so it's worth the red tape and paperwork to get in. It has lotta rules and it has zones that are seperated by roads or fences or ditches. It's basically like hunting farm country with plenty of oaks and agriculture. It also has way more pressure than what I typically see on other public land. It has a more limited amount of thick nasty cover than what I have other public places. There's security patrolled and we have to check in and out before and after each hunt.

We signed up and paid to turkey hunt it in the spring of 2016. We only did this to scout for deer. We burned up a lot of boot rubber learning and seeking spots that others don't hunt. I had a good deal of Intel on many of the zones.

My wife got pregnant a month later so I needed to stay local and my friend had health problems that kept him from hunting the base as well. 2016 and 2017 seasons were a wash for us and I wasn't sure I'd ever hunt the place again. This year we got signed back up.

I've got a young family and I'm limited on my time to hunt. I know I've got to make the best of every opportunity to hunt. I had sat through Tuesday off work and used a few vacation days. Family time got Sunday and Monday and I hunted sat and Tuesday. Saturday I killed a doe within the first few hours on base since 2016. Happy to be back swinging.

Tuesday, I hoped for a decent buck. I passed a 4 point Tuesday morning and relocated multiple times after burning through cold sign all morning. We changed zones around lunch for the evening hunt. We decided on a zone and I knew of a trashy small briar patch that isn't much more than a narrow strip. This strip is deceptive from the road because it's got a fence row and it's between the road and an off limits area. Totally overlooked I don't think anyone's ever set foot in it besides us. I scouted that spot in spring of 2016 and found a decent 4 sided shed. When I grabbed it, it was snapped off at the base from fighting. It had no pedicle.

Wind was blowing hard out of the north and I slowly approached from the south. I saw a few small rubs no tracks trails or droppings. I got near the middle of the area and found several red oaks and told myself it wasn't getting any better farther in. Visibility terrain and the last tree big enough I settled in. I had been there 2 and a half hours staring at nothing is seen a few cars pass but full of self doubt. I was cold, my toes were stinging, my face was dry and burning, nose was wet and raw. I was trying to talk myself down to scout till dark.

My map showed I was in the best most central location and there really wasn't much to it anyway. It was getting dark soon and I kept checking 360 around me looking for movement. I'm looking into a thicket and there he is. He stood up and walked towards me. The wind was blowing hard from him to me. I could tell he was big bodied and closing quick. I dismissed his rack and focused on vitals and pulled the trigger on my muzzleloader. He was cooked and stumbling, he ran 70-80 yards back to his bed and died.

Had he seen me approach, then lost me when I climbed up on the opposite side of the trunk? Did he know something was a miss and coming looking to see what I was in his area? Was he just coming to eat acorns and stretch his legs? If I would have pushed another 20-30 yards no doubt I would have jumped him.

So when I go check him out he's busted up. He's got five on the right side and a sixth inside point is broken off. He has a palmated brow tine that I originally thought grew misfired, but later I found he missing his right main beam past his funky brow tine.

My question is, would bucks fight over secure bedding like this? Obviously this was the scene of a hard core antler busting fight, I presume happened in fall of 2015 because I found that other broken antler very near, within 100 yards of where I killed this busted buck. Had this buck broken his antler fighting over this bed or a hot doe? Maybe it's the same buck that keeps snapping his right main beam?

The area isn't that big and if a group of does were caught crossing the road constantly I'm sure someone would have gone in and hunted this spot. I'm not great at guessing age but I'd think this old battle warrior is at least a 3.5 year old. I want to get his teeth checked to get a more accurate guess on his age.

Do you think bucks fight over secure bedding to the point where they are snapping antlers? Please feel free to add whatever you'd like. Thanks for reading. Pics are on the way!

[Bonecrusher101]

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[Bonecrusher101]

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[Bonecrusher101]

[Bonecrusher101]

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[Bonecrusher101]

[Bonecrusher101]

[john1984]

Congrats

[justdirtyfun]

Congratulations. The history and time passed sounds like he is a sweet reward that was overdue.

The general thought of bucks and dominance to me is : the pecking order is in place for everything including beds. But I have not considered fights over bedding, hmmm.

[stash59]

[Boogieman1]

Heck ya! Congrats

[matt1336]

I would think that a prime area that has secure bedding and a few does would be worth fighting for. How’s the buck/doe ratio? If that’s where It should be you’ll have a lot of fighting too.

[headgear]

Congrats on a great buck and finding a great new spot! Hard to say on fighting for bedding, I would lean towards they are fighting over a hot doe, the best bedding can sometimes hold many different deer and I see a lot more rutting action in bedding than I do on the high ground but really who knows. I for sure think there would be some kind of pecking order when it comes to bedding but not sure about a full blown breaking beams battle unless it was over breeding rights.

[Bonecrusher101]

I would think that a prime area that has secure bedding and a few does would be worth fighting for. How’s the buck/doe ratio? If that’s where It should be you’ll have a lot of fighting too.

Most of the guys I've talked that hunt there seem like they are happy shooting does. I'd think that there are always more does than bucks but the ratio might be closer to 1 to 1 on that base.

[Bonecrusher101]

Congrats on a great buck and finding a great new spot! Hard to say on fighting for bedding, I would lean towards they are fighting over a hot doe, the best bedding can sometimes hold many different deer and I see a lot more rutting action in bedding than I do on the high ground but really who knows. I for sure think there would be some kind of pecking order when it comes to bedding but not sure about a full blown breaking beams battle unless it was over breeding rights.

Thanks for your thoughts, makes sense. I guess if they fought that aggressively over bedding they'd keep antlers year round. I'm gonna have to sit this spot another time or two and hopefully learn more about it.