Buck bed question

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BigHills BuckHunter
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Buck bed question

Unread postby BigHills BuckHunter » Tue Jan 29, 2013 3:13 pm

If you are scouting in the spring and find a buck bed how do you know if it was used last fall or a wintering buck bed? Where Im at if its a wintering buck bed he could be 2 miles away when I hunt next fall.

Do bucks tend to use the same buck beds in the fall as in winter? Say a buck from a different area comes in and winters on your property due to a great food source. Would he just take up the beds that were used in the fall by different bucks? I would think that he would and take advantage but not sure.


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Re: Buck bed question

Unread postby hunter_mike » Tue Jan 29, 2013 3:44 pm

I'm pretty much just regurgitating info that I have learned from more experienced hunters on here but yes it definitely has to do with the bed's vicinity to a seasonal food source. If the bed you found is located near ag fields or acorns, or the trails leading out of it are headed towards a fall food source try and find rubs leading from the bed to that food source. Also if that area has high enough resolution satelite images and there is a view in summer/fall and you can see trails then you'd probably want to assume its being used early bow season. Hopefully I didn't give ya too much misinformation.
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Re: Buck bed question

Unread postby dan » Wed Jan 30, 2013 11:50 am

Are you looking at beds in the snow? You should be able to tell if a bed was used in fall by wear in the bed, and on the trails going to and from... Also, are there rubs on the trails from in season?
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Re: Buck bed question

Unread postby BigHills BuckHunter » Wed Jan 30, 2013 4:59 pm

Yes Dan, I seen a large buck bed in the snow that had big split hooves and wondered if it was a bed that the buck used last fall. However it was in a weird spot I thought for a bed. That made me wonder if the buck just used it in the winter so its closer to food source. It was in a bottom above a ravine or dry crick bed thats about 30 feet deep and 100 yards from the nearest foodsource which this year was soybeans/corn.

There were some huge/tall rubs in there, but like I said Im not sure why that buck wouldnt take advantage of bedding higher. The rubs IMO were the kind of rubs, not where beds were, but to mark intersecting doe trails with buck trails that led out to the foodsource. It was like the parallel trail thing we have talked about but not parallel instead it was perpendicular to the foodsource....very interesting find now that I think about it. I hope you can understand what Im talking about.

Imagine a buck trail going out to a foodsource and then imagine every time the buck trail was intersected by a doe trail there was a rub there and big rubs too. There were a total of 3 tall rubs in about 100 yards. With smaller rubs in between. If a mature buck did make all 3 of those rubs by himself I would think that would be a lot of sign for a mature buck to leave. There was no rub in the bed itself.

This is just one of several scenarios Ive seen so far that has made me wonder and ask this question.
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Re: Buck bed question

Unread postby dan » Wed Jan 30, 2013 8:56 pm

In my opinion you need to look at that bed after the snow melt and see if its worn from fall use... Another possibility is that its a night bed.
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Re: Buck bed question

Unread postby BigHills BuckHunter » Thu Jan 31, 2013 10:14 am

dan wrote:In my opinion you need to look at that bed after the snow melt and see if its worn from fall use... Another possibility is that its a night bed.


Ok I will check when the snow is gone. I have a feeling its a night bed or wintering bed because its in a hollow surrounded by woods and hills but there isnt any brush or cover there. Its very wide open. I have a feeling where he beds in the fall is very close by though. ;)


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