I went back and investigated thoroughly a week later to try and put it all together. I discovered plenty of his beds in a small area only 20-30 yds from where I shot him. Most were in the middle of very thick patches, visibility was 10-20yds in one direction at best, the beds were well used with droppings and hair but could easily be overlooked (which I’m sure I did in the past), He seemed to have about a 200yd core and seemed to rub the edges of it. There were no rubs by his beds. He had a few beds scattered in the area but most were in that small patch… This was a eye opener for me! I went back weeks later and there was no sign what so ever so I’m confident it was him.
I got a lucky on this one, I didn’t know I was that close to his bedding and the high wind allowed me to setup up as such, but again I didn’t plan that. So some factors definitely helped me and prior to the beast I probably would have sat on that original rubline longer than I did and probably wouldn’t have waited for the right wind. I may or may not have got him but I sure wouldn’t have learned what I did…. I learned two major lessons from this buck. One was seeing his actual bedding area so I could try to duplicate that scenario. It was in a spot that I would have avoided so that was key to be able to see. The other was the location of the bedding in relation to the sign I had initially found. The sign was not near the bedding but seemed to be more on the edges of the core area, which probably varies from deer to deer but it was great for me to see cause it has since enabled me to find others with this approach. Much of this is common sense but seeing it really has made it start clicking for me.
The other buck I killed was while I was after another. But the significance of it again was a great learning. I found this area during pre-season scouting, found big buck sign and a couple beds on the edges. I left it alone until later season being nervous to ruin it. I made assumptions and had a plan and I made a quite a few hunts here and saw a few deer but never saw the big one. This buck I killed was just a passer by, as come to find out later it was more of a doe crossing. After I burned it I investigated and realized my assumptions were all wrong, especially from what I had learned from the other bucks bedding. I did some better scouting and realized the sign he was dropping was on doe trails and where I believe he was bedded was not where I had gambled on, so I was hunting it on the wrong wind. There were plenty doe beds in the area but I found a couple buck beds and the most heavily used one was in a spot where he was most definitely aware of my presence and could see from his bed the tree I climbed. But the lesson I learned was to get in there and go for it, scout the area intensely and find the bedding area, otherwise its a crapshoot…
So the beast tactics have pretty much totally changed my approach to hunting in one season. I have taken this in my post season scouting and been able to find quite a few buck bedding areas so next season I will have a much better study pool, but this season was a great learning! This site is Awesome!!
