finding pressured beds

[dirt nap giver]

This post is my experience in hunting/scouting SW Michigan. Although it may be easy for one in Iowa to critique my tactics, please keep in mind that hunting changes from location to location. It's just my story.

I grew up in the city, with my heart in the country. Although my parents took me deer hunting occasionally, most of what I have learned was self taught, through trial and error and of course, learning to filter through all the garbage i watched on the hunting shows and magazines. On that note, before finding Marsh Bucks & Hill Country Bucks, I was fed up with all the crap from the industry of Oh just buy this, or Oh just buy that. Very few times did the tactics I read or saw from the industry work for me......and they still haven't because its all crap!

I moved to the country around my mid 20's, that's when the outdoors really started to become a way of life for me. Over the years, I have spent majority of the winter and spring months in the woods scouting for better hunting areas. My dad would say to me, "son, you need to get your priorities straight and quit fooling around wasting your time chasing them deer". He still doesn't get it! Point being, I spend a lot of time in the woods, and have for the last 15 years.

In winter/spring of 2009, I found Marsh Bucks and was reluctant to purchase it. The one and only reason for me buying it was seeing the cover say "public land". After viewing it a half dozen times, I took to the woods in search of "primary beds" as noted in the DVD. Didn't find one for the longest time(still have only found one to date). I went into the 2009 season, with the same game plan of hunting thickets, field edges, and travel corridors. After seeing a few slobs and a lot of scrub bucks, I was a little down about my season. Yes I filled the freezer and shot a couple decent bucks, there wasn't anything to write home about. I was determined to find and hunt beds the following season.

Winter/spring 2010, I scouted quite a bit more than I had in years past, I was determined to find these bedding areas. The scouting season came and went, and I was feeling a little disappointed that I hadn't nailed down big buck bedding areas. Hunting season came, and I was in the same routine as I had been in previous years. Sitting the travel corridors, field edges etc........ Then one day, I was sitting in my stand, frustrated with the season, and said to myself. "I will figure this out". I knew deep down inside that the information I had heard from the above mentioned videos, was what I needed to consistently hand out dirt naps. Ordered Hill Country Bucks and watched that a couple dozen times too.

Turning the page, season of 2010- Not long after having the thought "I will figure this out", I started thinking back to areas I had seen or encountered slobs in the past. After making numerous mental notes, I realized that I wasn't finding "primary beds" for a reason.....they didn't exist(so I thought). By this time I was really frustrated and decided I wasn't doing the same thing again this year. I went back to my mental noted areas and dove in feet first, I went into every area with the intention of finding out where they bedded. Some areas I kicked them up, most I didn't jump anything except does and scrub bucks. The areas that I did manage to jump slobs were picked apart and then picked apart again. Even after picking the area apart, I had the hardest time finding any sign of a bed, let alone a "primary bed". This led to even further frustration and although I managed still kill some nice bucks that year, I still wasn't content with not being able to kill them every year.

Winter/spring 2011- I scouted like a mad man as usual, but still hadn't found specific buck beds. I found lots of big rubs back in the thickets as I normally did. I back tracked trails, and found good sign, but it wasn't the sign I wanted to see. I wanted to know for a fact that I had found a big buck bed. I found areas with belly hair in them, some were in a circle as Dan had said in relation to does, but still no rock solid sign that gave me the feeling of knowing, for a fact, that I had found a big buck bed. By this time, I had even more areas in my mental notebook that needed to be picked apart. With this determination driving me, I thought about past experiences with big bucks a lot more than I normally do.....yes, I am obsessed!

Season 2011- I began with pre season scouting(something I had done before, just wasn't doing it right) I spot checked all my mental noted areas and found sign in some, but not all. I started out the season starting to pay closer attention to the moon, weather and other influential factors. I saw lots of deer just as I had in the past, some where slobs, most where not. I did a lot of in season scouting and got onto some great bucks. I killed a 125" and a 140" before November 16th(2nd day of gun season) by hunting near the bedding areas. It felt good to have my best year to date. I spent the remainder of the season filling the freezer and scouting. It wasn't until the end of the hunting season did it click with me. I can't find primary beds, because they are abandoned before the season starts. The wheels were turning. I went back to my trail camera pics and started to put the puzzle together. I noticed that most of my pics had dates on them starting the 2nd week of September, then pics were pretty steady for the remainder of the year. That got me thinking even more. I can recall watching big bucks from observation stands in the summer months, then poof! they would vanish. I also recalled seeing deer in areas where I hadn't seen them all summer. I noticed them behind houses, next to the HWY, next to roads, from Walmart parking lots etc. The more time I spent in thought, the more evidence I found that supported my thinking.

Follow me for a few....... So the average Joe decides around September 1st that he better get moving with hunting season right around the corner. He starts shooting his bow, glassing, scouting and setting stands. There are a lot of Joe's which live by me and I'm not one of them. While Joe is doing his thing, acorns are dropping, soy beans are being harvested, corn is turning, foliage is diminishing by the day along with the change of the seasons, increase in testosterone, breaking of bachelor groups etc...
All these changes are now causing not just bucks, but does and super spikes to change bedding location as well. They no longer bed where they want to, the bed where they have to. When they change their bedding like this, it isn't conducive to the "primary bed" image. Sign is more subtle, small saplings, big rubs in the thick and nasty, big trees with just a couple gouge marks in them start to mean something. Keep in mind, I'm not talking about rubs and scrapes within a 100 yards of a field. I am talking about back in the timber. Thick, nasty, someone please tella port me outta here thick. Thickets next to roads, railroad tracks, parking lots, sub divisions etc..... As the hunting season progresses, the pressure increases, corn is harvested, cold weather has set in, the lush food sources of the year have gone and on top of it all, with all the snow, visibility has now increased. This brings about another change in bedding location. Food is scarce, cover is scarce, south facing slopes and pines become the bedding areas. Yarding begins, grandmas evergreens and bushes are near the top of the list.

Winter/ spring/ summer 2012. Scouting took on a whole new meaning. I had a pretty good idea of what was happening in my hunting area. I started looking for subtle sign, back tracking rub lines, noted on areal and topo's where the sign was located. Areas that held big buck sign the year before was now void of sign. New areas were discovered and I had a plan for the following season. March 2012 a good customer of mine asked me to build a house for him, I immediately answered "no"! I had spent enough time building and building was no longer in my bucket list. 2 more times he came to me asking and my answer was the same. The 4th time he asked, he quickly followed with a financial offer I just couldn't pass. one of the terms was that I had to have it completed in 6 months, no problem! It was now the end of March. Started digging the beginning of May(6 months- June, July, August, September, October & November) Season opens October 1st and gun season opens November 15th. Worked my tail off all summer and finished the house the second week of November.

Season 2012- Going into the season, I had no time invested in observation stands, trail cameras, pre season scouting or in season scouting. I was way behind the ball. I was already stressed to the max from building the house, and I was exhausted to say the least. I decided it was best to scout and observe, if I had any hopes of wrapping my hands around a decent buck. I did shoot a 135" 10point, but because I hadn't spent adequate time with my equipment, I gut shot him and lost him to the yotes. I did kill enough to fill the freezer, but the season was a struggle from beginning to end. Thank goodness for crop damage and nuisance tags!

Winter/ spring 2013- Followed up on a lot of areas I had mapped. Some had sign, some were cold. Finally found my 1st primary bed. Just after the season, I was cyber scouting and noticed a small mash in the middle of some public land. Found the bed by following Dans advice and walking the transition line between cattails and brush. While picking apart the area, I discovered that someone else had a tree stand in the area as well as one of the bucks final bed. In his final bed, I found the backer for a hunting license, rubber gutting gloves and the wad from the slug. I was able to align the backer with my license and the cut marks indicated it was at least an 8 point killed on the 2nd day of gun season. I was able to nail down a hand full of pressure beds as well.

Pre season 2013- Been glassing, observing, shinning and spot checking. The bed I mentioned in the paragraph above has some 4 finger tracks as well as other nice tracks going into it. It is now the 2nd week of September and the bedding is already starting to change for the year. We will see what happens. This I know going into the season. I am more confident than I ever have been,. still not where I want to be............


The take away- Having said all that, Dan's videos have solid foundational tactics for real world hunting. Although his tactics don't match my hunting area to a "T", finding the beds is the biggest piece of the puzzle. Through trial, observation and error, I have discovered that pressure beds are a beast all their own. Had I not gotten fed up with the way past seasons had gone, who knows where I would be. Taking the information that is given in the mentioned video's, I was able to build off that and start the journey of figuring out what is happening in my hunting grounds. Point being, if your seasons aren't going the way you wish, then do something! If your just starting on your Beast journey and don't know where to start, buy the videos and ask questions.
Think outside the box, figure it out! Sometimes, it comes in color, sometimes black and white, others it's gray. Some times it may take a crossbow, guilie suit and chair. Find out what is happening in your area and kill em.

In closing I am sure I will wish I had said this or that differently. I hope you take something away from this post. I am sure this tactic has been faced by another member and they will chime in, especially my fellow Michiganders who really know what I am talking about when I say "pressure".

[dan]

Great post...

[BuckTrack81]

I enjoyed reading your post, it seems were always learning every time we go to the woods....

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[sanderson]

Great post. I hunt in south central MI and have had the same experience of bucks changing bedding areas once the hunting pressure begins. Gives me some ideas for this season. Thanks.

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[Edcyclopedia]

Nice Bio of a obsessed deer addict!

[westmibow]

Great Post Dirt Nap. As a fellow SW Michigander I know exactly what you have gone through and your timeline is almost spot on with mine. It wasn't until I met a fellow beast member and he leant me Hill Country, that I was shown the "light" so to speak and things really started to click for me as well. He helped me with a ton of things I was doing wrong but thought they were correct because its how I've been doing them for years. Obviously there is a ton of learning from your own mistakes but that is the best way to learn. The slobs are there, especially in Southern Michigan, but its a whole different ball game, especially in Michigan and when you have success it feels like quite an accomplishment to say the least.

[BassBoysLLP]

Wow. Great post!

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[dirt nap giver]

Thanks everyone.

I would like to add that although most pressured beds change from year to year, there are a few that seem to have the characteristics as a primary bed in that a buck will come back to bed there at some point.
I purchased 2 Covert Special Opps text messaging cameras this year and have them set watching the beds I THINK will bring in another buck this year. We will see.

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[dreaming bucks]

Outstanding post! I have wondered to, how much their bedding changes from the start, to the end of September where I hunt.... alot of changes in food, velvet peeling, etc that time of the year...

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[dan]

I would like to say that what your calling "pressured beds" I would likely be calling primary, or some other type of bed... I think anyone who has been on the scouting workshop can attest that some of the spots ( like the primary bedding at Daves farm ) is very hard to see.
The more the pressure, the more they get used, but mature bucks tend to bed these spots most of the year, regardless of pressure, especially in high pressure areas...

[Jackson Marsh]

Great post DNG! I think your mentallity and drive will get you to where you want to go. Have a great season.

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[dirt nap giver]

I would like to say that what your calling "pressured beds" I would likely be calling primary, or some other type of bed... I think anyone who has been on the scouting workshop can attest that some of the spots ( like the primary bedding at Daves farm ) is very hard to see.
The more the pressure, the more they get used, but mature bucks tend to bed these spots most of the year, regardless of pressure, especially in high pressure areas...

Interesting. I am now wondering if my label for a primary bed needs to be adjusted. On that note my definition of a primary bed is one that is used year around, has a lot of belly hair in it and is worn down to the dirt.
A pressure bed would be one that isn't used year around, does not contain a lot of belly hair and only shows signs of use durin the season. Perimeter sign of course could be tracks alone, or maybe accompanied by rubs and maybe a scrape.
Or I could be said that a pressure bed is a primary bed but only used say..... 4 months out of the year. But it's primary because they bed there repeatedly.

Now I am annalizing my annalizing!

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[MOBIGBUCKS]

Great Post man! It's all about the details! As you progressed in your scouting, it seems you really started picking up on the small details in a bedding area. This is what I key in on as well; I always look for the small details and once you start thinking about why that deer is bedding there everything kinda clicks.

[MOBIGBUCKS]

I would like to say that what your calling "pressured beds" I would likely be calling primary, or some other type of bed... I think anyone who has been on the scouting workshop can attest that some of the spots ( like the primary bedding at Daves farm ) is very hard to see.
The more the pressure, the more they get used, but mature bucks tend to bed these spots most of the year, regardless of pressure, especially in high pressure areas...

Interesting. I am now wondering if my label for a primary bed needs to be adjusted. On that note my definition of a primary bed is one that is used year around, has a lot of belly hair in it and is worn down to the dirt.
A pressure bed would be one that isn't used year around, does not contain a lot of belly hair and only shows signs of use durin the season. Perimeter sign of course could be tracks alone, or maybe accompanied by rubs and maybe a scrape.
Or I could be said that a pressure bed is a primary bed but only used say..... 4 months out of the year. But it's primary because they bed there repeatedly.

Now I am annalizing my annalizing!

[ Post made via iPhone ]

It seems some of my farmland hunting spots are similar to yours....I have bedding that is directly correlated with food, pressure, primary bedding areas, does coming into heat scent check beds, and prevailing wind beds. The best (Primary) beds are used by the biggest bucks. These are the best spots in my areas. These beds are the most non random beds I find if that makes sense? A lot of things change in farmland due to crop rotation, cattle, pressure, etc. The best and most strategic locations I find seem to be the best and most used spots.

[dirt nap giver]

I would like to say that what your calling "pressured beds" I would likely be calling primary, or some other type of bed... I think anyone who has been on the scouting workshop can attest that some of the spots ( like the primary bedding at Daves farm ) is very hard to see.
The more the pressure, the more they get used, but mature bucks tend to bed these spots most of the year, regardless of pressure, especially in high pressure areas...

Interesting. I am now wondering if my label for a primary bed needs to be adjusted. On that note my definition of a primary bed is one that is used year around, has a lot of belly hair in it and is worn down to the dirt.
A pressure bed would be one that isn't used year around, does not contain a lot of belly hair and only shows signs of use durin the season. Perimeter sign of course could be tracks alone, or maybe accompanied by rubs and maybe a scrape.
Or I could be said that a pressure bed is a primary bed but only used say..... 4 months out of the year. But it's primary because they bed there repeatedly.

Now I am annalizing my annalizing!

[ Post made via iPhone ]

It seems some of my farmland hunting spots are similar to yours....I have bedding that is directly correlated with food, pressure, primary bedding areas, does coming into heat scent check beds, and prevailing wind beds. The best (Primary) beds are used by the biggest bucks. These are the best spots in my areas. These beds are the most non random beds I find if that makes sense? A lot of things change in farmland due to crop rotation, cattle, pressure, etc. The best and most strategic locations I find seem to be the best and most used spots.

See now I have only found one bed I would label as a primary bed. I happens to be about 3 miles from the nearest agg field. Since spot checking that area yesterday and confiming big buck sign, wonder if it is due to most of my hunting areas having extreme pressure.
Denfinately a different habit of mature bucks.

[ Post made via iPhone ]