Bedding Vs Prime Food Sources

[Swampbuck]

How much do mature bucks base thier bedding/core area around around prime food sources? Will they locate in proximity of these better sources and pick the better bedding this area has to offer or, or do they pick the best bedding based on terrain and ignore the choice foods period and eat what that area has to offer.

I just saw an article about a deer's changing protein/carbohydrate ratios based on the time of year and it got me wandering about this and whether it a factor or not.

Some of the telemetry studies out there have bucks travelling quite distance so how much of an impact do changing "prime" food sources have on this

[iowa whitetail]

It's everything in my opinion

[ Post made via Android ]

[JoeRE]

How much do mature bucks base thier bedding/core area around around prime food sources? Will [glow=red]they locate in proximity of these better sources and pick the better bedding this area has to offer[/glow] or, or do they pick the best bedding based on terrain and ignore the choice foods period and eat what that area has to offer.

I just saw an article about a deer's changing protein/carbohydrate ratios based on the time of year and it got me wandering about this and whether it a factor or not.

Some of the telemetry studies out there have bucks travelling quite distance so how much of an impact do changing "prime" food sources have on this

Yea I agree with Iowawhitetail, the highlighted bit is how it works. Particularly through the winter deer can end up miles from where they spend much of the rest of the year all the way till green up. There can be a difference in summer and fall ranges for the same reason, but I think just as often summer and fall food sources are close enough they use the same bedding just travel differently.

[BCam]

I think it really depends on pressure in your area.

[ Post made via Android ]

[gjs4]

I think it really depends on pressure in your area.

[ Post made via Android ]

+10000

Pressure rules deer movement and location more than anythingelse

[JoeRE]

I think it really depends on pressure in your area.

[ Post made via Android ]

+10000

Pressure rules deer movement and location more than anythingelse

I think that's where picking the best bedding in relation to the best food comes in. They might only feel safe bedding half a mile or more away as necessary to feel safe but they will be still using preferred food sources, even if only at night.

[iowa whitetail]

No matter the pressure they still have to feed and if they get pressured out they will return if thear is nothing else around to give them what they need. If you hunt a place with no pressure and it has no food near it your not going to kill a big buck

[ Post made via Android ]

[Swampbuck]

No matter the pressure they still have to feed and if they get pressured out they will return if thear is nothing else around to give them what they need. If you hunt a place with no pressure and it has no food near it your not going to kill a big buck

[ Post made via Android ]

No doubt about that but what u are decribing seems more geared to agricultural lands where you have food or no food disparity.

What about big woods scenarios where there are a variety of food sources and where the distinctions are less extreme. Do they still seek out the best to make their home

[ Post made via Android ]

[dan]

It has some impact, but in my opinion depends on the buck... Each buck has his own personality.
The number one thing a buck looks for when bedding is the most secure safe place to bed. I have seen them travel over a mile thru nasty swamp to get to a crop field that the younger bucks bed right next too... But, if the food source has good secure bedding nearby, they will likely use it if not pressured to heavily there

[iowa whitetail]

No matter the pressure they still have to feed and if they get pressured out they will return if thear is nothing else around to give them what they need. If you hunt a place with no pressure and it has no food near it your not going to kill a big buck

[ Post made via Android ]

No doubt about that but what u are decribing seems more geared to agricultural lands where you have food or no food disparity.

What about big woods scenarios where there are a variety of food sources and where the distinctions are less extreme. Do they still seek out the best to make their home

[ Post made via Android ]

in my opinion yes they will be around the best food source dep on what season is. If he is pressured and can move to a spot with good food yes he will move but I think food is the #1 thing to look for. Everyone I'm sure has different opinion on this do to how they hunt. I'm a food hunter not a bed hunter deer don't have to sleep in the same spot to survive but they do have to eat to survive.

[ Post made via Android ]

[dan]

If you put a food plot in the middle of a bare dirt field will mature bucks bed out in the open next to the food? Your answer is likely no... Why? Because security and survival come before food. The more the hunting pressure, the more this becomes apparent. I have watched mature bucks bed over a mile from food to be in the most secure bedding...
All things equal, yes, they would prefer to be close to the food source. But only if secure bedding is nearby.

[iowa whitetail]

That's the difference on how you and I. Hunt you think bedding I think food nothing wrong with that. If you take a secure bedding area with no food for long ways will a buck bed in it. And traveling a mile would dep on time of year as well dead of winter cold as all get out no buck is going travel a mile for food can't afford the energy

[ Post made via Android ]

[bucksnbows]

Typically doe families will bed in the closest cover near food and the bucks will be behind them. So how much cover is in the area will play a role into how far away a mature buck could be from food. Throw in hunting pressure on or around the food source or where the does are bedding and that distance becomes farther or the buck stays bedded longer. If the food source gets pressured the does will bed farther and in turn so will a mature buck.
A good indication is trail cameras on the food source. If a mature buck is showing up just after sun down he is most likely bedded near by. If you only get night time pictures 3+?hours after sun down he could easily be a 1/4 mile or more away.
Most of my experience is with farm land I would guess in the big woods both does and bucks could be bedding further from food than farm land deer.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[bucksnbows]

Yes what food is available makes a difference depending on the time of the year. But as long as a buck isn't pressured he will typically bed behind the does. Pressure him and like dan said ..... Survival over takes food.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[dan]

The marsh behind my house is surrounded by ag fields... I have noticed that the fields fill up with the same deer on a fairly regular basis at night ( we can shine here ) But, some of the biggest and oldest bucks rarely get seen in the fields, or only at odd times like 3AM... When we shoot these older bucks they are full of browse rather than corn. Of coarse this is heavy pressured land, which is much different than managed farm land.