What did the bed tell me?? It was full of white hair, it was the only one I saw in the immediate area but I backed out due to finding what I needed to find, but I suspect there were more beds for different winds. The area didn't have loads of deer sign but its near loads of deer sign.
I would of attempted to find all the beds, especially if you don't intend to hunt there anytime soon.
Do I know its a buck's bed?
If its a lone bed at an elevation that gets thermal and wind as you described, its a buck bed.
Do I known its a mature buck's bed?
If its in the best spot, its being used by the best bucks in the area, if its in a satalite spot off to the side it may be a young buck... Its important to remember these beds are shared by multiple bucks and the biggest (or at least most dominant) that shows up in the morning gets the best bed. That don't mean occasionally there won't be small bucks bedding there, or even an occasional lone doe.
Do I know if its a bed used regularly?
The amount of wear should give you some indication... But there are differing types and uses of beds. The more you look at them the better you will get at reading the timing of there usage. I have been doing this for over 30 years and still make some errors in judgement. Primary beds are the ones that are in the perfect spot and get used all year, but there are food based beds that are only used when a certain food is in a certain area. Some are only good on acorn years, others when a certain browse is available... Then there is pressure beds that get used most when hunting pressure is heaviest... There are also rut beds that are placed specifically to pick off does.
Rule of thumb if you don't know what you have is to hunt it once early, once rut, and once late, and see what happens. These beds produce on about the same timing every year, or every other year based on there uses.
Do I hunt it at night or morning?
I would opt for evening... Mature Bucks tend to get back to there beds prior to daylight, and come in very cautious. However they leave there b eds with plenty of daylight left.
When do I hunt it?
Once early season, once late season, and once pre- rut, unless you have a good grasp on when its being used. If your set up is within 100 to 150 yards I would say anytime the wind is right. But, if terrain features kick you back to farther than 150 yards I would wait for a weather fron or moon condition that will have the buck moving earlier so you get a daylight crack at him without burning the bridge.
I am not asking you to answer these questions but to help me know how to answer them. Also this is in about 60,000 acers of state forest with acorns for miles and cover for miles, in this area terrain dictates any type of travel "pattern" in my opinion.
Hop from bed to bed hunting new spots all the time and you will do good. You don't have to know the travel patterns well, you just need to know where they are exiting there beds. The closer you hunt to them the better.
All of these questions are answered in the DVD'S, its just easy to miss them cause they are so long.
