Closing in on bedding areas and staging areas

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Crazinamatese
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Closing in on bedding areas and staging areas

Unread postby Crazinamatese » Tue Aug 21, 2012 12:01 pm

Im hunting in some areas where I suspect some bedding is occurring, and one area I have a good feeling is a staging area where the deer are hanging tight in before dark to move into bean field. The challenge Im facing is knowing EXACTLY where all this going on. My question is do I just work from the outside edges and set up closer accordingly? Kinda observe from a distance for awhile to get an idea of what is going on? Or do I set up in closer proximity for any shots of opportunity when I see where the deer are the first few times out? I know this is pretty much a common sense thing, but I might be facing limited time in the field this year.


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Re: Closing in on bedding areas and staging areas

Unread postby dan » Tue Aug 21, 2012 12:53 pm

Crazinamatese wrote:Im hunting in some areas where I suspect some bedding is occurring, and one area I have a good feeling is a staging area where the deer are hanging tight in before dark to move into bean field. The challenge Im facing is knowing EXACTLY where all this going on. My question is do I just work from the outside edges and set up closer accordingly? Kinda observe from a distance for awhile to get an idea of what is going on? Or do I set up in closer proximity for any shots of opportunity when I see where the deer are the first few times out? I know this is pretty much a common sense thing, but I might be facing limited time in the field this year.


Setting up to far back is a very common mistake. If a guy can get intel from a distance, great... But if not, hunting the fringes does more damage than good by letting the buck know he is being hunted. In my opinion, for the best opportunity, the 1st time you hunt a spot you should be as close as possible to the buck bed. And that 1st time in, is likely when you will score if you are going to.
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Re: Closing in on bedding areas and staging areas

Unread postby Tadmdad » Tue Aug 21, 2012 10:23 pm

dan wrote:
Crazinamatese wrote:Im hunting in some areas where I suspect some bedding is occurring, and one area I have a good feeling is a staging area where the deer are hanging tight in before dark to move into bean field. The challenge Im facing is knowing EXACTLY where all this going on. My question is do I just work from the outside edges and set up closer accordingly? Kinda observe from a distance for awhile to get an idea of what is going on? Or do I set up in closer proximity for any shots of opportunity when I see where the deer are the first few times out? I know this is pretty much a common sense thing, but I might be facing limited time in the field this year.




Setting up to far back is a very common mistake. If a guy can get intel from a distance, great... But if not, hunting the fringes does more damage than good by letting the buck know he is being hunted. In my opinion, for the best opportunity, the 1st time you hunt a spot you should be as close as possible to the buck bed. And that 1st time in, is likely when you will score if you are going to.


This is some of the best advice you will get. When a mature buck detects your presence and that he is being hunted it usually means you have burned that spot, your first hunt is your best chance.

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Re: Closing in on bedding areas and staging areas

Unread postby phade » Tue Aug 21, 2012 11:53 pm

What are you basing your current knowledge on? Is it just info from this season?

I've got a spot that I was unable to find the beds (admittedly a mistake on my part as I only made one effort thinking another property was much higher potential). This new spot is packed with mature bucks in velvet and I'm getting 95% daytime photos of them. While I am certainly excited, I'm doing what I can now to be prepared for it should things not change; however, in my area, once the velvet comes off, ranges change slightly and the groups break up. So, this spot could be useless by the time Oct. 1 rolls around. Chances are it won't be "completely" useless, but I doubt it's going to regularly hold 4-5 mature bucks and include daytime activity.

I don't have a chance to hunt the fringe in this spot based on the parcel...so I'll be "in it to win it" when I do sit. I really think this place is a legit FTI possibility if one or two of those mature bucks hang around.
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Re: Closing in on bedding areas and staging areas

Unread postby Ack » Wed Aug 22, 2012 12:33 am

It almost sounds as if you are talking about field staging.....this would be a little different then the type of staging Dan refers to.
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Re: Closing in on bedding areas and staging areas

Unread postby Troutking » Wed Aug 22, 2012 1:03 am

I agree with Ack and if you are referring to field staging then I wouldn't put a lot of stock in it. Rarely do I see bucks "staging" close to a field as discussed by most. I believe most staging is going to happen close to the bedding deeper in the interior of cover.
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