Will a Buck Busted From His Bedding Area Ever Return

[Swampbuck]

Last season i found a big buck in an area that held a couple chin high rubs and 10-12 large fresh terds. Its in a flooded swamp. I had jumped a big bodied deer in this spot the season before while heading to another spot and hunted nearby. This spot had a couple mounds out the water and was very boggy, very hard to walk, but no trouble for the deer, with plenty lillies around, i had found this type of spot to be a secluded feeding area in the past, so i didnt investigate thoroughly as i assumed he was feeding there but i did consider he was bedding. I hunted it a few times and the sign dried up, a few more hunts and i knew it was over. Looking back i am confident he was bedding very near if not right there. The area was ideal from what i have since learned, slightly open to his front, thicket to his back with the predominant wind, also from which i was approaching, and on the edge of a transition.

My question is will this deer return to that area having been left alone since i abondoned the area? No one has been there since..

[Sweet Shot 7]

I belive he will. More mature bucks will. As long as there is not alot of constant pressure on him. He know his bed as been safe so far so he will countinue to use it if the condiotions are right.

Good luck with him!

[Stanley]

I believe there is a good chance he will be back. A buck won't tolerate repeated disturbances but will stay around if not pestered too much.

[dan]

Mature bucks bed in specific spots, for specific reasons... If a mature buck bedded there, he, or another will likely return... Some of the beds I hunt have produced many bucks over the years... However, the buck in question may have abandoned this spot if you put a lot of pressure on the spot... Back off on the spot a little, and it will likely hold another buck later, but whether or not the exact buck you saw comes back is a guess.

[xpauliber]

In one of Dan's video, Andrae talks about figuring out how to hunt a particular bedding area (I think it was the Tuning Fork Buck) and he was excited because the bedding area was so great that the following year after he killed that mega-giant, another buck moved into that spot.

As Dan mentioned, bucks bed where they do for specific reasons. I keep this in mind every time I come across a big buck bed and I try to figure out what is making him bed there. These factors can change from year to year or even week to week. The best buck beds to hunt multiple years will be the ones where the factors that make him bed there rarely if ever change....you can go back to that spot year after year and have a chance at a buck. It sounds like you may have found one of these spots. Time to figure out how to hunt it successfully. Good luck!

[Swampbuck]

I'm sure i over pressured it, i was probably there over 10 times in a 3 week period.. I surely ran him off, but i also know that other than that period there was zero activity there.... There is only one way to get there so i will have to wait this year for the right win and look for sign. how to hunt it will be a whole other can of worms!

[PK_]

I would get out there asap to try to confirm that it is a bed or several beds, then pick out your entry and tree(s). Then I would leave that spot alone for the beginning of the season. If a buck is not using that bed already he may get pressured into there after season starts. I would hunt it an evening maybe just before or after the rut...

just my .02

[Swampbuck]

I would get out there asap to try to confirm that it is a bed or several beds, then pick out your entry and tree(s). Then I would leave that spot alone for the beginning of the season. If a buck is not using that bed already he may get pressured into there after season starts. I would hunt it an evening maybe just before or after the rut...

just my .02

Thats part of the problem with this place, until the cool weather kills off the lilies and grass its inaccessible. Even then i have to take a pirogue in a couple miles and pretty much have to pull all the grass out the water to clear a route. And when its in full growth its just ridiculous! I will have to give it a try though

[Sweet Shot 7]

I would get out there asap to try to confirm that it is a bed or several beds, then pick out your entry and tree(s). Then I would leave that spot alone for the beginning of the season. If a buck is not using that bed already he may get pressured into there after season starts. I would hunt it an evening maybe just before or after the rut...

just my .02

Thats part of the problem with this place, until the cool weather kills off the lilies and grass its inaccessible. Even then i have to take a pirogue in a couple miles and pretty much have to pull all the grass out the water to clear a route. And when its in full growth its just ridiculous! I will have to give it a try though

If that spot is that hard to hunt I would find other buck beds and hunt them.

[BigHills BuckHunter]

Mature bucks bed in specific spots, for specific reasons... If a mature buck bedded there, he, or another will likely return... Some of the beds I hunt have produced many bucks over the years... However, the buck in question may have abandoned this spot if you put a lot of pressure on the spot... Back off on the spot a little, and it will likely hold another buck later, but whether or not the exact buck you saw comes back is a guess.

Whether or not he comes back could be due to the specific tolerance that buck has. It seems the bucks are different when it comes to tolerating pressure.

Like Dan said. I love finding those beds that are used by multiple bucks and last throughout the years. It makes scouting a lot easier. However the bucks bed there because they know its a great spot to bed.