Staging Before Bedding

[Southern Man]

Everybody talks of bucks staging when leaving their bedding are in the evenings, but what about staging before bedding? I've been going over my trail cam pics from last year and a particular 7 pt (3&1/2 - 4&1/2 year old)appears to stage in a certian spot before going to bed close by. I have pics of him coming into the farm mostly 2 hours before daylight and hangin out til about 15-20 minutes before daylight and then off to bed in a cedar thicket close by. Evenings find him coming back to the staging area about 30 minutes before dark and hang out til after dark and then off the farm. I hunted this fellow a few times in the evenings to no avail, but according to the pic history, mornings are a waste of time. Anyone ever notice this?

[dan]

Yea, I have noticed they sometimes hang around, but some come right in and flop down. Problem is, most of this is done before daylight in the mornings.

[Black Squirrel]

I have heard claims that during the rut, bucks will stage outside a doe bedding area waiting to scent check does returning to bed the morning. Never really noticed this behavior myself though.

[PLB]

I agree with Dan, but during the rut I would trade a evening for a morning anytime! I would keep monitoring your times on your camera, because deer are more relaxed in the morning after not being harassed all night. So they may take there time a little bit and stage or browse around near their bedding areas in the early morning. If you see an opportunity to sneak in there and whack him, go for it. Also I would wait til the moon guide, wind, and weather conditions all line up before I move in for the kill!

[Singing Bridge]

I've had bucks go in and flop right down in their bed, but have also watched others that milled around for a while first- they seemed to want to make sure everything was good around the bed before they'd commit.

I've watched does stage before bedding many times. I had one stand where three different doe families would hook up before they all wandered in to the good sized bedding area. It's not like they were bumping noses or anything, but they'd all visualize each other after they had approached the staging area from different directions. Then they'd separate a bit again as they entered the bedding area. I hit this stand again in the late prerut and kept hearing a noise beneath me- finally a nice eight point exploded down the drainage ditch from my stand offering me no shot. He had watched me climb to my stand from his bed and finally couldn't take it anymore. He had set up in the perfect location to check all those does while remaining in good cover next to the doe bedding area.

[martin peters]

In most of my areas,in the early season, the old bucks stay in their bed until shortly before or even after last light. As late Oct.-Nov. arrives they move earlier staging near their bed or in the area before the first danger zone in their exit route. This can change rapidly if the buck starts picking up hunter ground scent in these areas. This is why it is so important to prep your stands months in advance and make that first hunt the last for that buck.
A buck that "stages" before bedding, I would guess, is close to his bed browsing / feeding before laying down for the day. Could be the buck is waiting on variable winds to settle before moving into his bed. In short this is a interesting question. Most bucks are tired of running off the smaller bucks and chasing does all night. They scent check their bed,walk in and bed down. Good luck with this buck. M.P.