South Facing Points

[SaddleMaster]

I've been finding some beds on south facing points that would seem to be used for winds that are not out of the north, but possibly even southerly somewhat. They are not out on the tips, but more on the side hills leading down to the point.

I always assumed we got predominantly NW winds here, but after doing some research, I found that we get a lot of southerly winds during the hunting season. But you just don't find anywhere near the amount of sign on north facing points as you'd expect given the amount of southern winds that we get. The southern points seem to always have much more sign (droppings, rubs, etc) than the northern points.

So do these southern points have more advantages, such as stronger thermals and warmth, that the deer just try to utilize the topography in that area as much as possible until they just don't have a choice but to go to a northern point? Or...are these just satellite beds?

I'm trying to see if it's a situation that we can take advantage of. If they are exiting out of those beds heading north, then we could hunt that point with the wind completely in our favor.

The colored wind/beds are what we expect. The black wind/beds are what I'm referring to.

Thoughts?

[Dhurtubise]

Each one of those beds with associated winds is what you'd expect to find. Maybe the black ones skew a bit too much northerly. You are displaying predominantly north winds on a south facing point which is the classic pattern. The deer face the drop off where they can see well and smell danger from behind them, wind over their backs.

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[Southern Man]

Each one of those beds with associated winds is what you'd expect to find.

Yea the way you have it drawn is the way it's suppose to work, basically.

Is the direction of the arrows the way the wind is blowing to or from? If the wind is blowing in the direction of the arrow, you have wind coming over the ridge to the bed and thermals from below if I'm looking at your drawing right.

[SaddleMaster]

This is actually a drawing that Dan originally put together, I just hijacked it. The blue and red beds on the southeast of the point are for N/NW winds; green and purple for N/NE winds. This is the set up we expect when beast hunting in hill country.

I'm curious about the black beds I've been finding. In one case I have in mind, there are rubs all around and on top of the point. So bucks are bedding there, I'm not sure about the does. There are very well worn, hairy beds where the black dots are located. I'm picturing this as a buck's core area and he's moving around the tip of the point to adjust to the wind. Just how far will he adjust before moving to a north facing point? The terrain is very steep so he'd still have a visual advantage and he'd still bed with the wind to his back.

[Bigb]

Were the beds made during snowy or extremely cold temps? We have one particular south facing slope that the deer love in the cold months because it gets warmer during the day. When its sub Zero weather, you can almost be assured you will have deer on the south facing slop no matter what the wind is.

[HoosierG5]

I have found "black beds" recently as well. The honey hole I have is a westerly facing point youd think is great for east winds...I followed tracks in the snow and discovered a big buck hideout. Rubs littered everywhere with beds galore for different windshift. This deer is using the north face of the slope with a southernly breeze. Below and above him is thick nasty cover. Snow...really helped me.

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[mauser06]

They aren't bedding there for fun...if they are truly mature buck beds there is a reason he beds there...


Where I live the top 1/3rd elevation points are limited...its highly fragmented farm land and houses..I honestly think it helps the deer even more..or makes them harder for me to hunt...they learned to live by their sight...how do you kill a buck that can see for VERY long distances in 270 degrees and smell that last piece he can't see? Very difficult to ever get within a staging area...


There's a reason a big buck beds where he does....figure the reasons out...figure out how to defeat them and move in and kill him...that's how I have been looking at it...at first I thought everything was "by the book" and cut n dry....

After applying the tactics to locate buck beds I didn't find the tactics work. Lots of the places bucks "should bed" they do...but I got to property they don't have the top 1/3rd and found they use different bedding locations..

Its all about advantages...once you start thinking lime that you will find yourself finding beds in odd spots you may otherwise never found..

I had one bedding off a OLD logging trail on the edge of the lake...normal? Not really...tons of bedding options in the area...but...nothing can approach from the lake side...he just eliminated half of his danger zone..he had an elevated mound so he could see....and he was on a bowl of the lake so he would see and smell danger long before you had any idea he was there...you wouldn't even see him slip out..it worked...and it worked well...



I find the odd beds to be even harder to overcome and get close enough to...


How do you kill a buck bedding in a 50x150yd strip of woods on a hillside bedding there when the wind and thermals are right and he can see 270 degrees and smell most everything due to currents in the location...exits the bed and only travels 20yds in the woods and steps right into the open field that he already knows is safe...

If he doesn't get killed before rifle season I know how I am killing him...gunna be about a 300yd shot across the pasture but I will kill him from my buddies barn...park at the end of the driveway and walk in up a draw..he won't see me or smell me...if he sees me poke my head out its gunna be too late for him....short of that I don't know how else to get him killed in the early season..that bed just works...

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[justdirtyfun]

My recent experience is with points separated by a river bottom. The south facing points are one side of river and north are on the other. The river travels E-W generally. With snow and recent scouting I found buck tracks moving through the open fields from one set of points to the other. So the pattern should play out with south facing points used with northerly winds.

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[dan]

Deer will sometimes bed on points with wrong winds... Mature bucks seem to make that mistake a lot less. Usually when I find a mature buck bedded in a spot that seems wrong, after carefull evaluation I can find a reason... For example, I found where a mature buck was bedding in tyhe center of a wooded area that did not seem to have any distinct advantage recently. Now, I see that from young bucks quite often, but in this case it was a mature target buck... After studying the layout I started questioning if the height of some of the trees, openings, and the low area the bed was at was doing something with the wind currents... On the common West wind at that spot I walked in a circle around that bed at about 100 yards and dropped milkweed and watched it suck right to that bed from every direction.... If your finding mature bucks bedding in an odd spot, there is a reason. I really think they do very little of anything "randomly"