Foltzy

[kenn1320]

foltzy wrote:
But most guys don't have a clue when they need to be hunting them. Some get used all year, some just the first week of season, some late.

This is me. How do you determine when to hunt a bed? What clues do you use to detrime if a bed is active or not?

I speed scout areas all season looking for big tracks. Find a set of tracks and follow them, don't go right to his bed but notice where he's heading. If the areas remote and it's not practical to scout I don't worry about it. Those remote hard to get to spots are the ones I would expect to hold mature bucks after a couple weeks of season. Guy's find these hard to get to areas and hunt them opening weekend expecting to shoot a wallhanger. When they should have been hunting closer to the truck in the easy areas, then later working into the remote spots.

Im guilty of this. The first couple of days Im in the oaks trying to catch em feeding. After that Im always in the thickest stuff I can find.

[foltzy]

Do you find that year after year the same bedding areas produce? That has been my finding both private and public... year after year, good buck bedding is good buck bedding unless something drastic changes

Definetly, some bedding areas will hold big bucks year after year. Public or private it doesn't matter, big bucks look for the same terrain. Untill it gets destroyed or over hunted they will keep using it. The buck I shot late season last year was the third slob I took out of the same little 1/4 acre bedding area. I scouted it last week and there was a new set of cow tracks headin right for it....

[Pullintoobs]

I almost always hunt the back door, So basicaly I loop around the back side (downwind) and sneak as close as possiblle to my target. I find most bucks will stage the first fifty yards or so with the wind at their back then loop around into it.

I would have thought they leave their bed going into the wind. Any theories as to why you find the majority exiting and staging downwind of their bed, before swinging back around? That is very interesting to me. I will certainly be taking that into consideration on my setups. Anyone else find that they do this as well?

[dan]

I almost always hunt the back door, So basicaly I loop around the back side (downwind) and sneak as close as possiblle to my target. I find most bucks will stage the first fifty yards or so with the wind at their back then loop around into it.

I would have thought they leave their bed going into the wind. Any theories as to why you find the majority exiting and staging downwind of their bed, before swinging back around? That is very interesting to me. I will certainly be taking that into consideration on my setups. Anyone else find that they do this as well?

I have never seen that, that I can recall... Travel direction out of the bed seems pretty reliably repetitive to me...

[ozzz]

I almost always hunt the back door, So basicaly I loop around the back side (downwind) and sneak as close as possiblle to my target. I find most bucks will stage the first fifty yards or so with the wind at their back then loop around into it.

I would have thought they leave their bed going into the wind. Any theories as to why you find the majority exiting and staging downwind of their bed, before swinging back around? That is very interesting to me. I will certainly be taking that into consideration on my setups. Anyone else find that they do this as well?

I have never seen that, that I can recall... Travel direction out of the bed seems pretty reliably repetitive to me...

Into the wind in your experience? As in when staging around the bedding area before dark, do they generally meander in upwind direction?

[dan]

I have never noticed any kind of directional trend for bucks leaving bedding... Going to bedding is a different story though. Going to bed, I have seen them often swing around and come in with wind to back.

[foltzy]

I almost always hunt the back door, So basicaly I loop around the back side (downwind) and sneak as close as possiblle to my target. I find most bucks will stage the first fifty yards or so with the wind at their back then loop around into it.

I would have thought they leave their bed going into the wind. Any theories as to why you find the majority exiting and staging downwind of their bed, before swinging back around? That is very interesting to me. I will certainly be taking that into consideration on my setups. Anyone else find that they do this as well?

I honestly can't say why they head with the wind when leaving their beds. I just know they do, every single buck I got on last year hunting beast style stood from their bed then headed with the wind. This is early movement, like an hour before dark. I think this is just them killing time untill dark inside their safe zone. If they were hanging tight to their beds untill dark I think more would get up and head into the wind.

[kenn1320]

Holy 180 batman! So I wonder how many guys have been in their tree, with that just off wind, everything is perfect and then the buck heads out the back door and they chalk the night up to must not have been a buck in that bed tonight?

[dan]

Holy 180 batman! So I wonder how many guys have been in their tree, with that just off wind, everything is perfect and then the buck heads out the back door and they chalk the night up to must not have been a buck in that bed tonight?

Depends on the terrain Ken, In the marsh type areas I hunt a lot near my home I am usually close enough to watch the deer rise from his bed and see which way he goes and how he acts... I can't speak for Foltzy, but I think he is hunting similar terrain and closeness.

[Spysar]

Foltzy, how about some pics of your nice bucks?

[dan]

Foltzy, how about some pics of your nice bucks?

X2

[Haus86]

x3, thanks for the info.

[U.P. MAN]

Foltzy, how about some pics of your nice bucks?

Nothing yet! ???

[foltzy]

Sorry I havn't been on for a couple days. I'll post a group pic when I get my two back from last year.

[dreaming bucks]

Foltzy..... what terrain do you hunt? Hill country, marsh, both ?

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