I bumped my buck out...now what?

[backstraps]

Yesterday afternoon I bumped a buck out of his bed! I couldnt hunt this morning so now I am scratching me head wondering....

SO, I bumped him out with my scent. I had been hunting the point and didnt see anything. The afternoon was getting closer and I wanted to relocate closer to food. So I climbed down at 400pm, I pulled a dumb move and walked to the edge of the point I susupected him to be bedding. WELL HE WAS BEDDED THERE! After he bolted out, I could see exactly the tree he was bedding against, so I didnt intrude and walk into his bed.

I was hunting about 60 yards from his bed, so I feel tree I was hunting would be good to hunt again since my presence there didnt deter him from his bed. There was a tree on the edge where I was standing, that overlooked his bed. IT has LOTS of cover, and I could get 25 feet in the tree, which would have me nearly 50 feet above his bed.

SO here is my options...
a)I can get away and get back to Ohio this coming Sat-Tues and try it again
b)I can get up there again the day after Thanksgiving hunt 3 days with a bow, then 2 days with a shotgun.

With the rut getting close, and me busting him out of his bed...what would you advise me to do?

He is on private land with little intrusion, just typical day to day farm type intrusion.

THANKS for your imput

[dan]

SO here is my options...
a)I can get away and get back to Ohio this coming Sat-Tues and try it again
b)I can get up there again the day after Thanksgiving hunt 3 days with a bow, then 2 days with a shotgun.

With the rut getting close, and me busting him out of his bed...what would you advise me to do?

Sneaking up and looking at the buck bed can put to much pressure on a buck... I wouldn't advise it, but I suspect that you needed that sighting to give you the confidence that he is actually bedding where some guy put a little blue dot on a map...
He might or might not come back right away. its pretty likely that the bed will still be used if its in a prime area. But how quick? Maybe the next day, maybe 30 days? I can't say for sure... I would think it would be worth another try when your there again. So "a)" give it one more try.. If that don't work, try to determine if he is leaving the bed in a different direction. With rut fast approaching, it might be wiser to hunt cruising funnels though... But I think the spot you sat might have cruising bucks on it as well.

[backstraps]

Thanks Dan for the reply.

To be honest I dont know what made me walk over to the blue dot someone else put on my map
It for [glow=red]SURE wasnt the fact I needed to clarify the ability of the person that dotted the map up for me[/glow]

I guess after the long hard week I had, I maybe lost confidence in seeing a deer and didnt really expect him to be there, but rather under the rocks deer seem to hide under in during inclement weather

I wanted to see what the area off that point looked like more than anything I guess. As you and many others on this site can tell from my many post of trying to learn, the explanation for my walking over to the bedding was the fact I am a ROOKIE when it comes to hunting bedding areas and made a ROOKIE mistake.

BUT, I am also a dang fast learner! That was a lesson of hard nocks, and wont be forgotten.

Dan, I really do appreciate what you've done to help me. Also to all you guys on this site that helps hunters like myself learn!

One thing I really hope is that once I learn more that I can give something back to this community.
(GOTTA STOP my ROOKIE errors first )

[BigHills BuckHunter]

Thanks Dan for the reply.

To be honest I dont know what made me walk over to the blue dot someone else put on my map
It for [glow=red]SURE wasnt the fact I needed to clarify the ability of the person that dotted the map up for me[/glow]

I guess after the long hard week I had, I maybe lost confidence in seeing a deer and didnt really expect him to be there, but rather under the rocks deer seem to hide under in during inclement weather

I wanted to see what the area off that point looked like more than anything I guess. As you and many others on this site can tell from my many post of trying to learn, the explanation for my walking over to the bedding was the fact I am a ROOKIE when it comes to hunting bedding areas and made a ROOKIE mistake.

BUT, I am also a dang fast learner! That was a lesson of hard nocks, and wont be forgotten.

Dan, I really do appreciate what you've done to help me. Also to all you guys on this site that helps hunters like myself learn!

One thing I really hope is that once I learn more that I can give something back to this community.
(GOTTA STOP my ROOKIE errors first )

Been bowhunting 8 years and still make Rookie mistakes.......but its the mistakes that teach us how to do better next time.

Good luck!

[backstraps]

I have been bowhunting over 20 years. I have knocked down a lot of deer through the years.

It is an entirely different game chasing mature bucks. Hunting bedding areas is also new to me.
I have caught deer with the string all over the woods in the past years. However, when I come to
hunting better deer, catching them all over the woods isnt happening!

Change from deer hunting to mature buck hunting is a huge jump, and one I know I will eventually
get to. Going to take time, trial and error.

Ive never set goals for myself that I didnt complete. I dont set goals unrealistically, but do set them
high enough to have to work my but off to reach them. I will become a smarter, better hunter when it comes to the mature bucks.