So your hunting beds...

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jonsimoneau
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So your hunting beds...

Unread postby jonsimoneau » Thu Aug 02, 2012 9:08 am

For those of you who try to hunt bedding areas. Let's say the season is open and you are hopping from bed to bed but still not getting into the bucks. What is your move? Do you continue jumping from bed to bed or do you do some in season scouting maybe even purposely jumping deer from suspected bedding areas to figure out what is going on?

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Re: So your hunting beds...

Unread postby dan » Thu Aug 02, 2012 10:14 am

For me, I stick to the plan... When you start hunting mature bucks, you have to learn to accept not seeing as much action. I go a lot of sits without seeing anything.
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Re: So your hunting beds...

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Thu Aug 02, 2012 11:20 am

I stick to hunting the beds, being patient can go a long way. It can be tough and frustrating when you aren't seeing much.

I may do things differently if I do not have enough hunting spots set up in the given area, but i try to stick to the plan.
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Re: So your hunting beds...

Unread postby Edcyclopedia » Thu Aug 02, 2012 11:31 am

dan wrote:For me, I stick to the plan... When you start hunting mature bucks, you have to learn to accept not seeing as much action. I go a lot of sits without seeing anything.


Dan - Can you give us some ratio's from years past - number of sits per deer sighting?
Say a good year verses a bad year and maybe your average?
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Re: So your hunting beds...

Unread postby dan » Thu Aug 02, 2012 11:56 am

Edcyclopedia wrote:
dan wrote:For me, I stick to the plan... When you start hunting mature bucks, you have to learn to accept not seeing as much action. I go a lot of sits without seeing anything.


Dan - Can you give us some ratio's from years past - number of sits per deer sighting?
Say a good year verses a bad year and maybe your average?


My good years vs my bad years are directly relevant to how much scouting I do, and how many big bucks are in the areas I hunt...

For example, the marsh behind my house where I shot my big buck last year, I hunted about 6 days a week until I got my buck from Early September to the last day of Oct. And after getting my buck I slowed to 3 or 4 days a week... I think I saw 5 or 6 shooters... But, the same property 12 years ago, I was seeing P&Y or better several times a week in the same amount of hunting... This land is not scouted any better now then before, but because of the unlimited bag limits and people killing multiple bucks, there are a lot less big bucks... Back then, just about every primary buck bed I set up on had a good buck roll out of it... Now, I have gone 20 sits without seeing a single deer.
Now keep in mind though, that even though there are less mature bucks to hunt, hunting a certain single buck is no harder than before, without all the eyes and noses it might be even easier... Your still up against one buck, and he still has the same number of bedding areas...

I combat the low numbers with good scouting and this spring I went to a lot of new areas and found new un hunted primary bedding areas. I am sure I will have some decent action because of that work.
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Re: So your hunting beds...

Unread postby Brad » Thu Aug 02, 2012 12:33 pm

dan wrote:
Edcyclopedia wrote:
dan wrote:For me, I stick to the plan... When you start hunting mature bucks, you have to learn to accept not seeing as much action. I go a lot of sits without seeing anything.


Dan - Can you give us some ratio's from years past - number of sits per deer sighting?
Say a good year verses a bad year and maybe your average?


My good years vs my bad years are directly relevant to how much scouting I do, and how many big bucks are in the areas I hunt...

For example, the marsh behind my house where I shot my big buck last year, I hunted about 6 days a week until I got my buck from Early September to the last day of Oct. And after getting my buck I slowed to 3 or 4 days a week... I think I saw 5 or 6 shooters... But, the same property 12 years ago, I was seeing P&Y or better several times a week in the same amount of hunting... This land is not scouted any better now then before, but because of the unlimited bag limits and people killing multiple bucks, there are a lot less big bucks... Back then, just about every primary buck bed I set up on had a good buck roll out of it... Now, I have gone 20 sits without seeing a single deer.
Now keep in mind though, that even though there are less mature bucks to hunt, hunting a certain single buck is no harder than before, without all the eyes and noses it might be even easier... Your still up against one buck, and he still has the same number of bedding areas...

I combat the low numbers with good scouting and this spring I went to a lot of new areas and found new un hunted primary bedding areas. I am sure I will have some decent action because of that work.



Dan, do you find that you see more deer the further into the season as pressure heats up, or is it generally the opposite. I can see this style of hunting being a little slower when the season starts because of more choices for the deer, but as pressure is put on they start using more remote locations and you see more deer sightings?
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Re: So your hunting beds...

Unread postby Pullintoobs » Thu Aug 02, 2012 12:48 pm

[/quote]For example, the marsh behind my house where I shot my big buck last year, I hunted about 6 days a week until I got my buck from Early September to the last day of Oct. And after getting my buck I slowed to 3 or 4 days a week...[/quote]

Dan, that is alot of hunting. 30 plus days of hunting if I am figuring correctly. Did you hunt that many differernt sets or did you sit the same ones with a break in between sits? How many different beds did you actually hunt in that early season span before you killed your buck? Just curious.
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Re: So your hunting beds...

Unread postby dan » Thu Aug 02, 2012 12:51 pm

Dan, do you find that you see more deer the further into the season as pressure heats up, or is it generally the opposite. I can see this style of hunting being a little slower when the season starts because of more choices for the deer, but as pressure is put on they start using more remote locations and you see more deer sightings?


More deer after pressure? Yes... More big bucks? Not so sure... Maybe a little bit.
I am not hunting deer... I am hunting big bucks, so spots with more deer don't do much for me. To me, mature bucks are like a whole different species. picking a certain time frame or spot to see more "DEER" is like hunting in a certain spot to see more rabbits... I am not hunting rabbits or "deer". So my hunting is based more on mature bucks... Thats not to say, you should not shoot the "rabbit" when it hops by, if thats what you feel you need to do... But if you specifically hunt trying to see "deer" rather than being in the best spot for a mature buck.... Your most likely going get a small buck, and continue on the coarse of bad habits that will keep a safe distance between you and a wall full of big bucks...
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Re: So your hunting beds...

Unread postby dan » Thu Aug 02, 2012 12:57 pm

Pullintoobs wrote:
For example, the marsh behind my house where I shot my big buck last year, I hunted about 6 days a week until I got my buck from Early September to the last day of Oct. And after getting my buck I slowed to 3 or 4 days a week...[/quote]

Dan, that is alot of hunting. 30 plus days of hunting if I am figuring correctly. Did you hunt that many differernt sets or did you sit the same ones with a break in between sits? How many different beds did you actually hunt in that early season span before you killed your buck? Just curious.[/quote]
I think I hunted a total of about 50 days last season. All but a few on heavy pressured public.
I can think of about 4 spots I hunted twice... One of those spots I shot my buck last year, and the next sit I saw a 140's class get out of the same bed and avoid my stand. I sat that spot a 3rd time with no results... With those few exceptions everything else was only sat one sit last year.
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Re: So your hunting beds...

Unread postby dan » Thu Aug 02, 2012 12:58 pm

For example, the marsh behind my house where I shot my big buck last year, I hunted about 6 days a week until I got my buck from Early September to the last day of Oct. And after getting my buck I slowed to 3 or 4 days a week...


Dan, that is alot of hunting. 30 plus days of hunting if I am figuring correctly. Did you hunt that many differernt sets or did you sit the same ones with a break in between sits? How many different beds did you actually hunt in that early season span before you killed your buck? Just curious.



I think I hunted a total of about 50 days last season. All but a few on heavy pressured public.
I can think of about 4 spots I hunted twice... One of those spots I shot my buck last year, and the next sit I saw a 140's class get out of the same bed and avoid my stand. I sat that spot a 3rd time with no results... With those few exceptions everything else was only sat one sit last year.
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Re: So your hunting beds...

Unread postby GRFox » Thu Aug 02, 2012 1:09 pm

Dan, do you go completelt based off of memory which beds you will hunt? Or do you have a journal or marked up maps with bedding areas that you choose where to hunt from?

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Re: So your hunting beds...

Unread postby Brad » Thu Aug 02, 2012 1:13 pm

dan wrote:
Dan, do you find that you see more deer the further into the season as pressure heats up, or is it generally the opposite. I can see this style of hunting being a little slower when the season starts because of more choices for the deer, but as pressure is put on they start using more remote locations and you see more deer sightings?


More deer after pressure? Yes... More big bucks? Not so sure... Maybe a little bit.
I am not hunting deer... I am hunting big bucks, so spots with more deer don't do much for me. To me, mature bucks are like a whole different species. picking a certain time frame or spot to see more "DEER" is like hunting in a certain spot to see more rabbits... I am not hunting rabbits or "deer". So my hunting is based more on mature bucks... Thats not to say, you should not shoot the "rabbit" when it hops by, if thats what you feel you need to do... But if you specifically hunt trying to see "deer" rather than being in the best spot for a mature buck.... Your most likely going get a small buck, and continue on the coarse of bad habits that will keep a safe distance between you and a wall full of big bucks...



Good catch, bad habits trying to creep back in!
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Re: So your hunting beds...

Unread postby backstraps » Thu Aug 02, 2012 1:18 pm

Good questions here. I was also curious how you would keep tract of all the bedding areas you have located and scouted for the season. I am planning on keeping marked topos with foot notes for each map.

Dan, also curious, where you guys hunt with the goal of a slob... during the 50 days of hunting how many bucks do you sit on that barely would make P&Y? Reason I ask, is what do you do when you set a bedding stand site, and only buck you see is a 125" Is that stand site marked off the list for a couple years?
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Re: So your hunting beds...

Unread postby kenn1320 » Thu Aug 02, 2012 1:56 pm

Brad Lamont wrote:
dan wrote:
Dan, do you find that you see more deer the further into the season as pressure heats up, or is it generally the opposite. I can see this style of hunting being a little slower when the season starts because of more choices for the deer, but as pressure is put on they start using more remote locations and you see more deer sightings?


More deer after pressure? Yes... More big bucks? Not so sure... Maybe a little bit.
I am not hunting deer... I am hunting big bucks, so spots with more deer don't do much for me. To me, mature bucks are like a whole different species. picking a certain time frame or spot to see more "DEER" is like hunting in a certain spot to see more rabbits... I am not hunting rabbits or "deer". So my hunting is based more on mature bucks... Thats not to say, you should not shoot the "rabbit" when it hops by, if thats what you feel you need to do... But if you specifically hunt trying to see "deer" rather than being in the best spot for a mature buck.... Your most likely going get a small buck, and continue on the coarse of bad habits that will keep a safe distance between you and a wall full of big bucks...



Good catch, bad habits trying to creep back in!


I read/interpreted the question differently Dan. I read it as until the woods gets sign of pressure, do the Slob bucks bed close to the food source, which is in bedding you wouldnt typically set up on, cause its not in the remote thick areas? So as the pressure increases, forcing these bucks to beds that others likely arent aware of, do your sightings increase?
Are you spot checking every bed for fresh sign on your way in, or do you just have a high confidence the bed is likely hot and sit it? 20 sits without seeing a buck seems like there are to many bedding choices for number of bucks. 8-)
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Re: So your hunting beds...

Unread postby dan » Thu Aug 02, 2012 2:08 pm

backstraps wrote:Good questions here. I was also curious how you would keep tract of all the bedding areas you have located and scouted for the season. I am planning on keeping marked topos with foot notes for each map.

Dan, also curious, where you guys hunt with the goal of a slob... during the 50 days of hunting how many bucks do you sit on that barely would make P&Y? Reason I ask, is what do you do when you set a bedding stand site, and only buck you see is a 125" Is that stand site marked off the list for a couple years?

No, whether I shoot the buck, pass the buck, or its the "rabbit" per say, its always good to see something roll out of your buck bed... I choose my beds mainly based on the time frame I think they are being used... Like some bedding areas are near a certain food source, or near a doe bedding area, or watching human traffic, sooo, they would be best hunted when those things come into play... Some its hard to tell prime use, but by keeping track of when you see deer there, and mixing up the times of season you try it, you can figure it out...
Getting back to your 125 question, the spot where I shot my 160's buck last year, I have seen deer bed there on different sits over the last 15 years ranging from spike to 190's... Seems to me, the best buck in the area, or maybe the toughest, gets to choose his spot, if he is not there, someone else is likely to sit there. I have even seen a certain buck get out of a bed and came back the next day to see a different buck get out of the same bed the next day...
They share beds... But the biggest buck wins. If he gets to the bed and a lesser buck is there the lesser buck usually leaves and beds in a satellite bed nearby.


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