Is this a buck bed and what influences its use?

[hunter10]

Im starting to grasp how important it is to have an idea of buck bedding on the farms i hunt and after finding my first bed the other day, the out of the way/untouched spots start to jump out at me as i search maps.

Today started as a scouting mission for beds and after doing 90% of the farm, i wanted the check this small very thick section of bush along the river as ive never scouted it before because my old mindset said it wasnt useful in my hunting plans. wrong i was.

Hard to see on the map but there are 2 pine trees about 20 yds inside this bush (circled in red) and like i said, this whole little section is thick and nasty.. as i entered the first pine tree it was all matted down around it and the base of the tree as you can see is trashed from this past season. Although i have seen a doe here and there come out of this section over the years i believe this is a buck bed as old rubs in the area tell its a frequented area.

After checking out the suspected bed i realize it is much like a marsh bed (this buck cannot see to the field edges or any further than 10ft all around) so im assuming he uses his hearing and sense for covering this area. Here is my dilema. I dont know how he would bed in this patch but obviously he is entering the crop field surrounding it. I have located 3 spots i can send the alpha and sticks up the tree to hunt this bed but in doing so will be educating the rest of the farm outside of the picture to the west.

1. Do you believe this is a buck bed
2. How would you hunt it
3. I hear people say wait for the right time to hit a bed, what key aspects do i need or want to hunt this bed. In more simpler terms why would i hunt this early season compared to the rut?? How do you determine when he will use the bed if you are unsure of a wind?

Note: this farm doesnt hold deer late season, the river is not one the deer will want to cross or me using it as an access (fast running water and deep)



As always thanks fellas!

[mauser06]

Hard to tell if its a bed or a tree with rubs on it..I can't see a deer bedded there or not...if there wasn't hair in the bed it hasn't been used in a long while IMO...everything I'm finding recently has hair in it...hair lasts a while..


Your stand sites can also be buck bedding locations IMO...

The spots are all points in a field...points are always spots to check...whether its a poi t into a field...or into a marsh etc...

Points give them more security...they use them for their advantages...sometime its sight...sometimes its wind...sometimes it is the barriers...a coyote or hunter etc isn't likely to swim through the marsh or come through a wide open field...and they can quickly escape out the point etc...


If a buck IS bedding there...its tough...he might lay there till after dark and get up and walk right into the field...he might waltz around the woodlot before dark if there's nuts or browse for him...


The river is to the north? Hard to tell from my view of it...


Could be a great rut funnel if it holds local doe...small strips like that can be killer funnels...if they actually lead to other woodlots...

If there is food there there is likely deer in the winter...the river won't bother them none...provides a barrier like I talked about before...

[ Post made via Android ]

[hunter10]

The reason i see this being a buck bed is its the only spot on the entire farm with sign like that in such a secluded space but also on a designated spot compared to just sporatic rubs throughout a bush for example. Also just walking in this small patch it was the only open space. everything else is briars. the spot just looks like the ultimate hideout.

I dont think it is a crusing location because it is so small and it doesnt really funnel on either sides towards other land even though the picture shows what looks to be good funnels along the N river. its just open with a few scattered trees

I think either A) its a buck bedding spot or B) he arrives in there during the rut, beds down and scent checks any does that may hole up in there?

[dan]

cAN YOU SEE AN ACTUAL BED UNDERNEITH THE TREE? My thought is that it is indeed a buck bed, but the lack of worn sign tells me it is seasonal bed... Im guessing its a rut bed. But hard to say for sure from my chair.

[hunter10]

Dan, I do believe it is buck bed as well it just seems like the ultimate spot. All around the tree was matted down but didn't see any hair so your assumption of a rut only bed makes sense to me.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[kenn1320]

Hard to tell if its a bed or a tree with rubs on it..I can't see a deer bedded there or not...if there wasn't hair in the bed it hasn't been used in a long while IMO...everything I'm finding recently has hair in it...hair lasts a while..


Your stand sites can also be buck bedding locations IMO...

The spots are all points in a field...points are always spots to check...whether its a poi t into a field...or into a marsh etc...

Points give them more security...they use them for their advantages...sometime its sight...sometimes its wind...sometimes it is the barriers...a coyote or hunter etc isn't likely to swim through the marsh or come through a wide open field...and they can quickly escape out the point etc...


If a buck IS bedding there...its tough...he might lay there till after dark and get up and walk right into the field...he might waltz around the woodlot before dark if there's nuts or browse for him...


[glow=red]The river is to the north?[/glow] Hard to tell from my view of it...


Could be a great rut funnel if it holds local doe...small strips like that can be killer funnels...if they actually lead to other woodlots...

If there is food there there is likely deer in the winter...the river won't bother them none...provides a barrier like I talked about before...

[ Post made via Android ]

No he rotated the view, the river is to the west. After looking at the aerial photo of the surrounding area, I believe its a great location for a buck bed. I would also check the small clump of trees/brush to the ENE of there if your bed hunting. Bucks will cruise that river and directly south of you is a nice funnel. Can you hunt across the creek? There is a nice inside bend just to your north that is likely good doe bedding.
Hows the hunting in Canada?

[hunter10]

I cant hunt the other side of the river. whitetail hunting in Canada is much the same as hunting Michigan and Ohio. The pressure is pretty high, the public land is nowhere near the size of some states and Ive seen more mature bucks while hunting in the U.S This forum attracted me for the wealth of knowledge from guys hunting the same farm type terrain as myself.

[JoeRE]

I would say yes. I think outside of swamps single worn-to-the-dirt buck beds are not all that common, but that doesn't mean a buck doesn't still use a small area to repeatedly bed. Each time he comes to bed he might move a few feet. It looks like a wide area of bedding at the base of that tree and the clincher is the perennial rubs in a little patch of thick stuff like you describe. To me that means bed. I have sometimes seen limited visibility beds in hill country...not very often but sometimes.

[PK_]

Everytime I take a picture of a buck bed it does't look like a bed in the pic.

I think that is a bed.

[hunter10]

Everytime I take a picture of a buck bed it does't look like a bed in the pic.

I think that is a bed.

When i uploaded the picture i actually said to myself that it doesnt represent what i was trying to get in the picture. The open space is actually only about a 5ftx5ft space around the tree and then another at the pine beside it. other than that you cannot walk through this patch within ducking, crawling and busting through thick scrub.

[Singing Bridge]

I think you need to do things differently than anything we have going on here so far...

I recommend you recheck the bed and take the following actions... A lot of times we don't do much of a job of describing how to check a bed, those of us that have done it for many years take things for granted. Look harder for deer hair, if you are not finding any take your gloved fingers and scratch up mulitple areas in the bed. Look for white deer hair in the scratchings and then move them aside to see if there is anything underneath. Do this in several spots in the matted down area... also, carefully move some of the debris off the earth underneath and look for buck tracks, especially those pine needles. These steps have led me to buck bed determination on many an occassion, with oversized tracks and hair that were not visible simply by glancing at the bed. Even in the north country, you can scratch aside snow in a potential bed, scratch the frozen earth with your gloved hand and find deer hair in a snow-covered bed.

Also, lone pine trees in heavy cover are like a beacon for deer bedding. When you see lone conifer trees in that type of habitat they really need to be checked. You stated there is no late season bedding on that farm, be really certain of that. I find late season beds under lone pines like that in farm country all winter long.

Your stand locations are decent, but I would move that stand on the left of the pic closer to that inside corner to catch better daytime movement as long as you don't blow the buck out. Playing the wind so it is just off of the bed would be key. There is likely a run the buck uses to round that corner and approach the highway of a deer trail that follows the river. I would not assume that the buck always goes straight to the crops, there is always a decent chance he will stage on browse or mast along the water, get a drink, etc. before he moves into the crops. I'm not saying he doesn't go right into the crops, but a lot of times they will water / browse / mast first.

I'm attaching a video link of a bed I scouted under a pine- the big track in the video wasn't visible until I scratched the pine needles aside before filming:

[bbvideo=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzXGJW9AqjI[/bbvideo]

[hunter10]

I recommend you recheck the bed and take the following actions... A lot of times we don't do much of a job of describing how to check a bed, those of us that have done it for many years take things for granted. Look harder for deer hair, if you are not finding any take your gloved fingers and scratch up mulitple areas in the bed. Look for white deer hair in the scratchings and then move them aside to see if there is anything underneath. Do this in several spots in the matted down area... also, carefully move some of the debris off the earth underneath and look for buck tracks, especially those pine needles. These steps have led me to buck bed determination on many an occassion, with oversized tracks and hair that were not visible simply by glancing at the bed. Even in the north country, you can scratch aside snow in a potential bed, scratch the frozen earth with your gloved hand and find deer hair in a snow-covered bed.

Your advice got me interested so i went back and thoroughly checked the area of the suspected bed and what do you know, after a little digging i found some deer hair and some old droppings confirming it is indeed a bed. I sat in the bed for a few minutes, thought things over and found a tree out of bed sight that is closer to the corner like you suggested.

As for this area, the deer yard up in cedar thickets a few miles away on land that is off limits to hunting. after scouting this farm these last couple times there are no new deer tracks in the adjacent fields and besides browse there is not much of a food source.

Thanks for the bed tip, I would never of thought of that tactic but will do that on every bed i find now, thanks!

[kenn1320]

Cool video bridge. As for hunting this bed I caution you to have a good handle on how the wind moves in that area. The river will help wind change direction like a funnel so you have one wind at the car and another when you get by that river. Also with that in/out edge of woods, and the pinch of woods to the left, wind is going to swirl for sure. I would go climb your tree now and milk weed Whats happening given the wind direction you plan to hunt. Things will change when leaves are on, but come November there want be leaves.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Singing Bridge]

I recommend you recheck the bed and take the following actions... A lot of times we don't do much of a job of describing how to check a bed, those of us that have done it for many years take things for granted. Look harder for deer hair, if you are not finding any take your gloved fingers and scratch up mulitple areas in the bed. Look for white deer hair in the scratchings and then move them aside to see if there is anything underneath. Do this in several spots in the matted down area... also, carefully move some of the debris off the earth underneath and look for buck tracks, especially those pine needles. These steps have led me to buck bed determination on many an occassion, with oversized tracks and hair that were not visible simply by glancing at the bed. Even in the north country, you can scratch aside snow in a potential bed, scratch the frozen earth with your gloved hand and find deer hair in a snow-covered bed.

Your advice got me interested so i went back and thoroughly checked the area of the suspected bed and what do you know, after a little digging i found some deer hair and some old droppings confirming it is indeed a bed. I sat in the bed for a few minutes, thought things over and found a tree out of bed sight that is closer to the corner like you suggested.

As for this area, the deer yard up in cedar thickets a few miles away on land that is off limits to hunting. after scouting this farm these last couple times there are no new deer tracks in the adjacent fields and besides browse there is not much of a food source.

Thanks for the bed tip, I would never of thought of that tactic but will do that on every bed i find now, thanks!

Glad I could assist, and Ken's tip is valid too- it is always advantageous to learn how wind currents play out in a given hunting area in various weather and cover scenarios.