Found a bed and a shed

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xpauliber
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Found a bed and a shed

Unread postby xpauliber » Wed Mar 13, 2013 1:22 pm

Headed out scouting today to an area that has given me the slip on bucks for years although I know some nice bucks frequent the area.

Here is a map of the area I scouted:

Image

Now let me explain the map:

The "Stand" that is marked is a spot that I've hunted for years but have usually only seen doe out of. The green lines are known doe trails. The doe come from west to east in the morning and head through the pines and I never knew where they went after that.

You can see where I parked today and there are a series of benches with old logging roads along this hill. I found a buck bed that I marked on the map in between the upper most logging road and the road that I marked in red.

I followed a trail with a small rub on it up and saw a flat spot beside a tree. There wasn't any visible hair until I got down real close and actually moved the top layer of leaves and I was able to find a deer hair. At that point, I got excited and got into the bed to see what the deer could see and I turned around and saw this shed laying which I somehow stepped right over. As soon as I found it, I thought of Brad because if it wasn't in a bed, I would have missed it. If it was a snake it would have bit me :lol:

Image

I guess I knew which way he was facing when he used that particular bed. When he was in that bed, he was facing south. Here's a pic of the bed facing south:

Image

Another shot from farther back. Upon closer inspection, I found another bed beside the third tree from the left (the black-looking one). I don't know if he may have used it to face a different direction?
Image

From the bed, I could see a distinct trail heading the direction he was facing. Here is a small rub that I'm assuming he made on that trail:

Image

I followed that trail down to where it crosses the middle logging road. Right where the trail comes down, the logging road makes a bend about 22 yards away and I found this tree. It would make a terrific stand location that I could sneak into without the buck seeing me. I marked this stand on the map as a yellow dot at the end of the red logging road:

Image


This bed has me somewhat confused though because we very rarely have an East wind which is what this location would need to be on the leeward side of the hill. Maybe this is an exception? I walked north and found tons more beds out towards the end of the point, but it was pretty open and most of the beds were in circles which I think are doe beds.

I know with the shed I found, this buck more than likely isn't going to be big enough for me to shoot this coming year, but what do you think the chances are of a bigger buck using that bed come season?

Regardless, it was really neat to find a bed and really start putting the pieces together.


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Re: Found a bed and a shed

Unread postby Stanley » Wed Mar 13, 2013 4:16 pm

Don't get no better than that, abed and a horn.
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Re: Found a bed and a shed

Unread postby dan » Wed Mar 13, 2013 7:41 pm

I think you might be reading the bed wrong... Looking at your GPS laying on the ground, if its laying in the actual bed, I think this buck is actually laying with his back to the tree / background log and wind coming up the hill rather than "leeward" looking up hill. ( exception to what we usually see )
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Re: Found a bed and a shed

Unread postby xpauliber » Thu Mar 14, 2013 12:39 am

dan wrote:I think you might be reading the bed wrong... Looking at your GPS laying on the ground, if its laying in the actual bed, I think this buck is actually laying with his back to the tree / background log and wind coming up the hill rather than "leeward" looking up hill. ( exception to what we usually see )


The picture with the GPS is a little misleading because it is sitting in the actual bed, but I had kicked and moved a lot of leaves to try and find the other side of the shed. When I originally found the bed, it was very easy to recognize the oval matted leaves and based on where the shed was laying, it looks as though he bedded facing south with the tree against his right side.

I really had to search to find hair in this bed which hasn't been the case in other beds I've found recently. Maybe he does only use this on an East wind and he just so happened to lose his shed on one of those rare winds.

Being new to all of this and trying to learn to decipher what the sign is telling me, I'm half tempted to stick a trail cam up on the bed and try to get some intel that way.
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Re: Found a bed and a shed

Unread postby Edcyclopedia » Thu Mar 14, 2013 1:25 am

Great depiction, looks promising.
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Re: Found a bed and a shed

Unread postby admiral04 » Fri Mar 15, 2013 2:28 am

Xpauliber, i think youve mentioned before you were from pa, as am i. Iwas just curious how obvious the hair you are finding in These beds are or is it reslly tough to find. Ive been scouting for beds lately an have found some great spots that you would think hold a bed and have posted them on the beast to be sure and others have agreed, yet i havent found a single one with hair in it. So i dont know if my assumption are wrong or if im just not seeing the hair or what. Ive gotten on my knees and looked but no luck

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Re: Found a bed and a shed

Unread postby MOBIGBUCKS » Fri Mar 15, 2013 2:34 am

admiral04 wrote:Xpauliber, i think youve mentioned before you were from pa, as am i. Iwas just curious how obvious the hair you are finding in These beds are or is it reslly tough to find. Ive been scouting for beds lately an have found some great spots that you would think hold a bed and have posted them on the beast to be sure and others have agreed, yet i havent found a single one with hair in it. So i dont know if my assumption are wrong or if im just not seeing the hair or what. Ive gotten on my knees and looked but no luck

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Admiral,

I'm not from your area, but I usually might find 1-2 hairs in most fall beds. However, there are many beds I find no hairs. Just kinda have to trust your instincts and other sign the buck gives you. If it's a primary bedding spot I'll usually find more in the beds that are used more. Late April and may is a different story!! Hair everywhere in the beds at that time of year.
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Re: Found a bed and a shed

Unread postby MOBIGBUCKS » Fri Mar 15, 2013 2:36 am

xpauliber wrote:Headed out scouting today to an area that has given me the slip on bucks for years although I know some nice bucks frequent the area.

Here is a map of the area I scouted:

Image

Now let me explain the map:

The "Stand" that is marked is a spot that I've hunted for years but have usually only seen doe out of. The green lines are known doe trails. The doe come from west to east in the morning and head through the pines and I never knew where they went after that.

You can see where I parked today and there are a series of benches with old logging roads along this hill. I found a buck bed that I marked on the map in between the upper most logging road and the road that I marked in red.

I followed a trail with a small rub on it up and saw a flat spot beside a tree. There wasn't any visible hair until I got down real close and actually moved the top layer of leaves and I was able to find a deer hair. At that point, I got excited and got into the bed to see what the deer could see and I turned around and saw this shed laying which I somehow stepped right over. As soon as I found it, I thought of Brad because if it wasn't in a bed, I would have missed it. If it was a snake it would have bit me :lol:

Image

I guess I knew which way he was facing when he used that particular bed. When he was in that bed, he was facing south. Here's a pic of the bed facing south:

Image

Another shot from farther back. Upon closer inspection, I found another bed beside the third tree from the left (the black-looking one). I don't know if he may have used it to face a different direction?
Image

From the bed, I could see a distinct trail heading the direction he was facing. Here is a small rub that I'm assuming he made on that trail:

Image

I followed that trail down to where it crosses the middle logging road. Right where the trail comes down, the logging road makes a bend about 22 yards away and I found this tree. It would make a terrific stand location that I could sneak into without the buck seeing me. I marked this stand on the map as a yellow dot at the end of the red logging road:

Image


This bed has me somewhat confused though because we very rarely have an East wind which is what this location would need to be on the leeward side of the hill. Maybe this is an exception? I walked north and found tons more beds out towards the end of the point, but it was pretty open and most of the beds were in circles which I think are doe beds.

I know with the shed I found, this buck more than likely isn't going to be big enough for me to shoot this coming year, but what do you think the chances are of a bigger buck using that bed come season?

Regardless, it was really neat to find a bed and really start putting the pieces together.



Hey Xpauliber,

What direction is the closest consistent food source in relation to that bed??
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Re: Found a bed and a shed

Unread postby xpauliber » Fri Mar 15, 2013 2:58 pm

MOBIGBUCKS wrote:

Hey Xpauliber,

What direction is the closest consistent food source in relation to that bed??


Closest would be almost directly north maybe 1/2 mile. There is also an abandoned orchard west about 3/4 of a mile.
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Re: Found a bed and a shed

Unread postby xpauliber » Fri Mar 15, 2013 3:03 pm

admiral04 wrote:Xpauliber, i think youve mentioned before you were from pa, as am i. Iwas just curious how obvious the hair you are finding in These beds are or is it reslly tough to find. Ive been scouting for beds lately an have found some great spots that you would think hold a bed and have posted them on the beast to be sure and others have agreed, yet i havent found a single one with hair in it. So i dont know if my assumption are wrong or if im just not seeing the hair or what. Ive gotten on my knees and looked but no luck

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image


Some of the beds are very obvious and that tells me they are using them now. This particular bed, I had to get on my knees and actually started taking leaves off one at a time and I found one hair but that was enough to tell me that it was a bed.

Deer hair is unmistakable so if you find one, you will recognize it. I think if the bed is used in the fall, but not winter, alot of the hair may get washed away but you can generally find at least one hair. I felt like I was performing forensics. :lol: I'm actually REALLY enjoying my time out in the field scouting. I usually just bumbled through the woods looking for the obvious sign, but slowing down and taking my time has really opened my eyes up.
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Re: Found a bed and a shed

Unread postby xpauliber » Fri Mar 15, 2013 3:49 pm

Well I decided to go back to this area today and check out the leeward side of the hill along with the top of the ridge and I believe I found the primary bedding area for a buck.

Here is the map with the new beds I found out at the very tip of the point, exactly where I suspected I would find some sign based on what I've been learning here at the Beast. There was a STIFF west wind when I was heading out towards the end of this point and as soon as I got to where I felt the wind would start kicking over and create an advantage for the deer, sign started appearing like crazy. I found 2 big beds out at the end of the point that I marked in pink.

Image

The bed to the west had alot of long hair in it and a rub right in the bed as well as fresh poop caked all over. The bed farther to the east was wore down to dirt and in amongst alot of jaggers which I'm sure will be even nastier once green up hits. Both of the beds were right on the cusp of the hill and it was amazing to finally see something that I've read so much about on here!! The beds were positioned in a way just off the center of the point to take advantage of whatever way the wind was blowing. To look at the evidence and understand what I was looking at was awesome! There are 2 shooting shacks down below these beds about 200 yards away that the buck could easily watch people walking to!

Here's a picture of the bed to the west side of the point:

Image

Here's a picture of the bed wore down to the dirt to the east side of the point:

Image

As I was standing on this knoll trying to figure out how to hunt this, I couldn't come up with a good plan for an evening hunt because the woods are so open from the knoll. Both of the trails that left the beds led into the open woods and I'm not sure a buck would make it to a stand location before dark. Then I saw a tree (I marked it in yellow on the aerial) about 18 yards from the western bed and about 25 yards from the eastern bed. This thing had so many branches that I was able to climb it when I was there. Here's a picture of the western bed from the tree:

Image

I am thinking that this spot may be a terrific candidate for a morning hunt when the moon phase allows for it. I hung a trail cam on the western bed just to try and gain some more intel. I'm going to go back in a couple weeks and trim that tree to be able to shoot to both beds and pull my cam and then stay out until kill time. Here's a picture of the tree I was in. Notice the landowners garage in the back of the pic. A spot that I never suspected a buck would bed! I would also be able to have a flawless access by walking north past the garage and dropping right down into my tree with a west wind.

Image

I climbed out of that tree and started walking west to leave. I noticed an old chainlink fencerow that was dilapidated, but it was still standing enough that it had a deer trail beside it. I marked the fencerow in blue. As I was walking out, I found a shed from a couple years ago. It had some character to it:

Image

This fencerow kind of threw a curve into my plans because I'm not sure if it's used as an entry or exit trail and it would allow the deer to come behind me when I thought that all of the activity would be in front of me.

Any thoughts from the Beast members?
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Re: Found a bed and a shed

Unread postby xpauliber » Fri Mar 15, 2013 4:07 pm

I guess another question I have for Dan or anyone else that is knowledgeable about it is how would a buck enter that knoll with a west wind if he was heading to bed in the morning?
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Re: Found a bed and a shed

Unread postby dan » Fri Mar 15, 2013 8:37 pm

He would most likely J-hook in from below...
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Re: Found a bed and a shed

Unread postby xpauliber » Sat Mar 16, 2013 12:38 am

dan wrote:He would most likely J-hook in from below...


I just found this thread on j-hooks: http://www.thehuntingbeast.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=18207&hilit=j+hook

So with a west wind, he would swing down and come up the East side of the point?
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Re: Found a bed and a shed

Unread postby dan » Sat Mar 16, 2013 10:07 am

xpauliber wrote:
dan wrote:He would most likely J-hook in from below...


I just found this thread on j-hooks: http://www.thehuntingbeast.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=18207&hilit=j+hook

So with a west wind, he would swing down and come up the East side of the point?

Swing down, or swing up, but most often they come in by walking to right below the bed and then walking up the hill...

Andrae has been killing and passing some big hill county bucks in the mornings by setting up right where they j hook up. He says the bedding spot is usually hard to set up at without getting busted, the most vulnerable spot is where they turn to head up.


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