Buck bedding areas on public land...

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dan
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Re: Buck bedding areas on public land...

Unread postby dan » Sat Mar 17, 2012 12:34 am

Looks like that bed is getting some serious usage Ninja...


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Re: Buck bedding areas on public land...

Unread postby Swampthing » Sat Mar 17, 2012 1:09 am

That is a nice bed ninja.

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Re: Buck bedding areas on public land...

Unread postby Autumn Ninja » Sat Mar 17, 2012 1:17 am

dan wrote:Looks like that bed is getting some serious usage Ninja...

This bed is a little odd....from what I'm use to. It being used heavy now....lots of hair in it. Its located right on a point, but there are no other beds (old beds or sign of beds for other winds). There are no rubs anywhere near the bed. No sign of entrance/exit to the bed....A faint trail picks up about 50 yards from it on one side. The trail goes about 150 yards and connects to a heavy trail that runs along a bench (found a hand full of rubs where they met). The buck cant see anything from the bed...but he has an awesome advantage with the wind and terrain.

I'm standing about 50 yards from the bed here....Its right above my head.

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Re: Buck bedding areas on public land...

Unread postby virginiashadow » Sat Mar 17, 2012 11:36 am

Good stuff Ninja. Man you are a friggin whitetail hunting machine!
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Re: Buck bedding areas on public land...

Unread postby Hunter74 » Sat Mar 17, 2012 11:48 am

dan wrote:Hunter74,
I like to use aerials, topo's, and DNR maps to get a lay out of the land. I do drive bys when I am in the area too to get a better idea. The DNR maps and topo's often show hunter parking lots and access as well as boat access. They also often show hiking trails... Any easy access hunting ground is likely getting hunted and pounded, with the exception of the over looked spots. I scout stuff between parking lots not far from the road, I scout stuff where water, muck, or long distances of cattails need to be crossed.

Then once you have determined the areas you should look at you just follow the transition lines as well as investigate islands and high spots in the marsh?

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dan
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Re: Buck bedding areas on public land...

Unread postby dan » Sat Mar 17, 2012 2:51 pm

Hunter74 wrote:
dan wrote:Hunter74,
I like to use aerials, topo's, and DNR maps to get a lay out of the land. I do drive bys when I am in the area too to get a better idea. The DNR maps and topo's often show hunter parking lots and access as well as boat access. They also often show hiking trails... Any easy access hunting ground is likely getting hunted and pounded, with the exception of the over looked spots. I scout stuff between parking lots not far from the road, I scout stuff where water, muck, or long distances of cattails need to be crossed.

Then once you have determined the areas you should look at you just follow the transition lines as well as investigate islands and high spots in the marsh?

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Kind of... Anything that might have bedding in those areas is getting looked at.
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Re: Buck bedding areas on public land...

Unread postby Hunter74 » Sat Mar 17, 2012 6:09 pm

That's the point I need to get to... I have definately seen a pattern in were I find the beds, but I still feel the urge to kind of wander around and think maybe here or there and perhaps just over think it...

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Re: Buck bedding areas on public land...

Unread postby ozzz » Sat Mar 17, 2012 6:27 pm

Hunter74 wrote:That's the point I need to get to... I have definately seen a pattern in were I find the beds, but I still feel the urge to kind of wander around and think maybe here or there and perhaps just over think it...

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Thats the fun of it too, just exploring like a kid.

I honestly cant get enough time in the woods its crazy. Daylight just seems to slip away when Im out scouting because I want to see everytihng.
If it bleeds, we can kill it . . . .
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Re: Buck bedding areas on public land...

Unread postby dan » Sat Mar 17, 2012 11:37 pm

Hunter74 wrote:That's the point I need to get to... I have definately seen a pattern in were I find the beds, but I still feel the urge to kind of wander around and think maybe here or there and perhaps just over think it...

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It will get easier as you do it more...
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Re: Buck bedding areas on public land...

Unread postby Brad » Sun Mar 18, 2012 12:26 am

I am taking an outside in approach on this, I am trying to find as many spots where it looks like bucks are bedding/staging and hunt those, eventaully I should be able to fine tune where the bed should be and get better at perfecting setups. . That alone will be a huge leg up on my public land hunting, but I figure as I hunt these I will be able to have stuff click more and more each time and eventually develop a pattern. I am going to lower my standards this year to reflect my newness to this style hunting, but I figure I have scouted several spots already, that is more than I have done most years. I am after a 2.5 year old or better, but i should have multiple buck tags if they don't do earn a buck for bow season, so if a 1.5 year old confidence booster comes along, it may not leave!
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Re: Buck bedding areas on public land...

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Mon Mar 19, 2012 4:25 am

dan wrote:Hunter74,
I like to use aerials, topo's, and DNR maps to get a lay out of the land. I do drive bys when I am in the area too to get a better idea. The DNR maps and topo's often show hunter parking lots and access as well as boat access. They also often show hiking trails... Any easy access hunting ground is likely getting hunted and pounded, with the exception of the over looked spots. I scout stuff between parking lots not far from the road, I scout stuff where water, muck, or long distances of cattails need to be crossed.


This is a great thread, and Dan has shared a fraction of his knowledge of these bedding areas to keep us in the game. One of his other very "profound" statements in this thread was that the mature buck population remains fairly steady in the marshes and swamps he hunts... when hunting pressure kicks in the population goes up- but with younger bucks and does, for the most part.

That isn't "stuff" you read in a magazine... we are extemely fortunate to have a hunter of Dan's caliber sharing his insight with us, he never ceases to amaze me.

I figured I would add "mah two pennies" to this as well- remembering what Dan and others have contributed to this thread already I hope to add to it a little. Deep swamps and marshes are pretty self explanatory and great places to look for buck beds on public land- so are those overlooked areas between parking spots. Aerials and topos can help tip us off to these spots and others as well.

There are some heavily pressured areas where going "remote" is not possible because of the makeup of the land and the many roads that crisscross it. I recommend thinking "outside the box" when struggling to locate buck bedding as well. We as hunters are "programmed" to think "treestand hunting", and without a doubt most of us haul in treestands and treesteps of all types. These public land bucks are overrun with treestands above them, and all kinds of human scent in these areas. They quickly relocate to bedding areas that are not capable of holding a treestand, with a lack of human scent, whatever that area may be. Maybe a clearcut with puny little aspen trees, or a new pine growth thicket with six foot tall pine tree's... you get the idea. Maybe a little pothole of water with brush surrounding it, which allows a buck to put a barrier on his downwind side...

So- my suggestion is to add the thought, when mentally reviewing your hunting area, "where in my hunting zone of heavily pressured area can bucks hang out and have no fear of a treestand?" I have only mentioned a few of these areas. I should add that in heavily pressured areas if you waltz in and put up a ground tent... good luck with that. There are a few setups where this can be pulled off, and I have done it, but I can assure you from personal experience that truly pressured bucks will find the new "blob" in their bedding area dangerous even when the blind is brushed in so heavily no fabric is visible...

Most of the areas I have mentioned have to be located on foot, as aerials and topos do little to reveal them to us. Potholes of water are normally visible on aerials though. Even in these types of bedding areas Dan's tactics can pay big dividends when we "think outiside of the box."
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Re: Buck bedding areas on public land...

Unread postby Swampthing » Fri Jun 01, 2012 8:19 am

Singing Bridge wrote:
dan wrote:Hunter74,
I like to use aerials, topo's, and DNR maps to get a lay out of the land. I do drive bys when I am in the area too to get a better idea. The DNR maps and topo's often show hunter parking lots and access as well as boat access. They also often show hiking trails... Any easy access hunting ground is likely getting hunted and pounded, with the exception of the over looked spots. I scout stuff between parking lots not far from the road, I scout stuff where water, muck, or long distances of cattails need to be crossed.


This is a great thread, and Dan has shared a fraction of his knowledge of these bedding areas to keep
us in the game. One of his other very "profound" statements in this thread was that the mature buck population remains fairly steady in the marshes and swamps he hunts... when hunting pressure kicks in
the population goes up- but with younger bucks and does, for the most part.


That isn't "stuff" you read in a magazine... we are extemely fortunate to have a hunter of Dan's caliber sharing his insight with us, he never ceases to amaze me.



I figured I would add "mah two pennies" to this as well- remembering what Dan and others have contributed to this thread already I hope to add to it a little. Deep swamps and marshes are pretty self explanatory and great places to look for buck beds on public land- so are those overlooked areas between parking spots. Aerials and topos can help tip us off to these spots and others as well.

There are some heavily pressured areas where going "remote" is not possible because of the makeup of the land and the many roads that crisscross it. I recommend thinking "outside the box" when struggling to locate buck bedding as well. We as hunters are "programmed" to think "treestand hunting", and without a doubt most of us haul in treestands and treesteps of all types. These public land bucks are overrun with treestands above them, and all kinds of human scent in these areas. They quickly relocate to bedding areas that are not capable of holding a treestand, with a lack of human scent, whatever that area may be. Maybe a clearcut with puny little aspen trees, or a new pine growth thicket with six foot tall pine tree's... you get the idea. Maybe a little pothole of water with brush surrounding it, which allows a buck to put a barrier on his downwind side...

So- my suggestion is to add the thought, when mentally reviewing your hunting area, "where in my hunting zone of heavily pressured area can bucks hang out and have no fear of a treestand?" I have only mentioned a few of these areas. I should add that in heavily pressured areas if you waltz in and put up a ground tent... good luck with that. There are a few setups where this can be pulled off, and I have done it, but I can assure you from personal experience that truly pressured bucks will find the new "blob" in their bedding area dangerous even when the blind is brushed in so heavily no fabric is visible...

Most of the areas I have mentioned have to be located on foot, as aerials and topos do little to reveal them to us. Potholes of water are normally visible on aerials though. Even in these types of bedding areas Dan's tactics can pay big dividends when we "think outiside of the box."


Excellent post Bridge.

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Re: Buck bedding areas on public land...

Unread postby rochester coops » Fri Jun 01, 2012 8:48 am

Have you ever seen mature bucks bed near a mowed area? I've got a public pc I want to scout and there is this one side of the road I am absolutely sure no one would hunt. There are no trees and a lot of it is mowed grass, but there is some thick brush.
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Re: Buck bedding areas on public land...

Unread postby dan » Fri Jun 01, 2012 9:40 am

rochester coops wrote:Have you ever seen mature bucks bed near a mowed area? I've got a public pc I want to scout and there is this one side of the road I am absolutely sure no one would hunt. There are no trees and a lot of it is mowed grass, but there is some thick brush.


Can't remember ever seeing that... But I would never say never...
I can remember when I used to live near a park that had some good bucks living in it, I walked around the park and found a bunch of well used buck beds... Not long after that they decided to build something on one end and bull dozed the brush and small trees the bucks were bedding in... To my amazement, the bucks kept bedding in plain open sight in the same spots... Cars were lining up to see them.
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Re: Buck bedding areas on public land...

Unread postby Stanley » Sat Jun 02, 2012 5:19 am

Great buck bed examples Ninja. Thanks for sharing.
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.


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