Buck Bedding in the Northeast

Discuss deer hunting tactics, Deer behavior. Post your Hunting Stories, Pictures, and Questions/Answers.
  • Advertisement

HB Store


mainebowhunter
500 Club
Posts: 3448
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2016 10:45 am
Status: Offline

Buck Bedding in the Northeast

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Tue Mar 22, 2016 3:22 pm

Its interesting, I have kinda been obsessed with bedding/bedding areas for the last few years. Spend a lot of time trying to pin down where these deer are spending time on their bellies during the day. Figuring out how I can get close to them and them exiting there beds. Its a tough gig here in the northeast. Maine is not the toughest spot to hunt in the Northeast...but not the best hunting in the Northeast either. I live in a good part of the state. There is good hunting to be had. Deer numbers are higher here but still relatively low. Every free moment from December until green up is spent in the woods scouting, prepping stands. I probably devote more time to it than I want to admit. I find my fair share of buck beds ... not 100s by any stretch. Enough to get chances at a mature deer come Sept / Oct.

Its interesting as I chat about this with guys here in the Northeast. Bowhunting beds, hunting specific bedding areas is not a popular method here. Most guys would rather hunt with a rifle during November. Seems that one of the recurring themes that tends to come up...bucks don't bed in the same areas on a daily basis. Was talking with a buddy this morning, he was busting my balls about the hair in the beds and whether I did a "scientific DNA sample" of the hair to know if it was a buck. One of his arguments is that where he lives, deer are just really difficult to pin down to one bedding area. He got bigger bucks on camera than I did this season but just could not pin them down to a bed.

Met up with Ed (edcylopedia) the other day for lunch. Had great time chatting about hunting, deer and various other aspects related to hunting. As we were chatting, it really became quite clear, it is a struggle to find solid bedding areas in parts of New England. It would seem, that unless you have an vast quantities of free time, finding mature bucks and then figuring out where they bed is next to impossible. OR a very low odds game.

From my own personal experience, my success in killing mature bucks (or lack thereof) is going to be directly related to what I know about that bucks bedding habits or does bedding habits depending on the time of year.

So its
A. Either the bucks bed / use areas differently than where I live
B. They are not looking for the right things.
C. Just not enough time to devoted to scouting.
D. You cannot kill what is not there or there in limited numbers

Thoughts?


User avatar
Singing Bridge
500 Club
Posts: 7162
Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2010 1:11 pm
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pro ... 1329617473
Location: Logged in - from above
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Buck Bedding in the Northeast

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Wed Mar 23, 2016 3:09 am

There have been a number of hunters over the years here on the Beast from New England that have been consistently successful on taking mature bucks while hunting big buck bedding areas. As I recall, there was one guy from Virginia that made it look easy, he was consistently successful with his bow and he made it "look" easy. We all know how much effort he likely put forth to achieve that kind of success. The bucks were in classic bedding areas, the thermal tunnels and military crests of ridges, hills and bluffs. I don't have time to search for the posts of these guys, but it may be of benefit to you to do so.

I'm sure you have heard of the Benoits, and I'll reference their local New England hunting as well as their Ontario travels. Although they hunt with guns, they search for mature bucks in a wide variety of big buck hotspots... primarily buck and doe bedding and feeding areas. Many of the places they seek contain classic big buck bedding that we use here in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota just like they do there- the aforementioned military crests of ridges / hills / bluffs, along a series of beaver ponds, transitions in cover from hard to soft woods, clearcuts... on and on and they are the same big woods bedding locations as what we seek and hunt here.

I have hunted the bluffs of Ontario and found the bedding and feeding to be similar locations to Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, accompanied by extremely low deer populations in many of these areas. There is NOTHING easy about these bucks, it takes tremendous dedication and effort.

Image
mainebowhunter
500 Club
Posts: 3448
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2016 10:45 am
Status: Offline

Re: Buck Bedding in the Northeast

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Wed Mar 23, 2016 4:23 am

Singing Bridge wrote:There have been a number of hunters over the years here on the Beast from New England that have been consistently successful on taking mature bucks while hunting big buck bedding areas. As I recall, there was one guy from Virginia that made it look easy, he was consistently successful with his bow and he made it "look" easy. We all know how much effort he likely put forth to achieve that kind of success. The bucks were in classic bedding areas, the thermal tunnels and military crests of ridges, hills and bluffs. I don't have time to search for the posts of these guys, but it may be of benefit to you to do so.

I'm sure you have heard of the Benoits, and I'll reference their local New England hunting as well as their Ontario travels. Although they hunt with guns, they search for mature bucks in a wide variety of big buck hotspots... primarily buck and doe bedding and feeding areas. Many of the places they seek contain classic big buck bedding that we use here in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota just like they do there- the aforementioned military crests of ridges / hills / bluffs, along a series of beaver ponds, transitions in cover from hard to soft woods, clearcuts... on and on and they are the same big woods bedding locations as what we seek and hunt here.

I have hunted the bluffs of Ontario and found the bedding and feeding to be similar locations to Northern Michigan and the Upper Peninsula, accompanied by extremely low deer populations in many of these areas. There is NOTHING easy about these bucks, it takes tremendous dedication and effort.

Image


This stuff all exists where I live. But I also put in a lot of off season time in the woods. No coyote hunting, very little spring turkey hunting. All my available time in the spring/summer/fall is spent chasing down this stuff. It just makes me scratch my head when guys say it does not exist where they live. BUT I do not live or hunt there.

When we were chatting it was more about archery gear in early season, Sept and Oct, trying to kill these bucks feed to bed, bed to feed. When I was talking with my buddy, he has killed bucks the "Benoit" way. His observations were, these bucks bedded anywhere there was good buck bedding, miles apart. Bucks traveled all over and would just bed anywhere it was convenient, in a good spot. He killed a beauty in 2013 that he tracked to a thicket. Deer bedded down in thicket. He circled around, no tracks coming out. Snuck in and killed it in his bed. Deer made a fatal mistake and did not bed in the best vantage. Most trackers do not spend any time doing a lot of pre season scouting. Lots of them drive roads, cut tracks, age the track, size the track and decide if they want to pursue. Some hunt mountains, knowing the escape routes these bucks will take, run around and catch them coming out of the escape routes.

Most of the time frame I am referring to is Mid Sept through October with archery gear.
User avatar
Edcyclopedia
Posts: 12605
Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2010 12:54 pm
Location: S. NH
Status: Offline

Re: Buck Bedding in the Northeast

Unread postby Edcyclopedia » Wed Mar 23, 2016 4:49 am

The Benoits rarely care about wind direction either, Lanny laughed when I asked him this 5-6 years ago.
He said he would never have a chance to got into the woods if the wind need to be just right...

Once they cut a track it's a will to kill them or jump them.
They understand how Mature Deer can react to poise themselves for a kill, they just keep on trying with their experience until they connect.
They are rut hunters and rely heavily on the snow; Different game in early season...
Expect the Unexpected when you least Expect it...
User avatar
Edcyclopedia
Posts: 12605
Joined: Tue Jul 20, 2010 12:54 pm
Location: S. NH
Status: Offline

Re: Buck Bedding in the Northeast

Unread postby Edcyclopedia » Wed Mar 23, 2016 4:51 am

mainebowhunter wrote:Met up with Ed (edcylopedia) the other day for lunch. Had great time chatting about hunting, deer and various other aspects related to hunting. As we were chatting, it really became quite clear, it is a struggle to find solid bedding areas in parts of New England. It would seem, that unless you have an vast quantities of free time, finding mature bucks and then figuring out where they bed is next to impossible. OR a very low odds game.



It was my pleasure big guy!
Nice putting a face to the voice and typing ;)

You do have a serious problem and need counseling for your deer habit :lol:
Expect the Unexpected when you least Expect it...
JoeRE
500 Club
Posts: 4576
Joined: Thu Oct 18, 2012 5:26 am
Location: IA
Status: Offline

Re: Buck Bedding in the Northeast

Unread postby JoeRE » Wed Mar 23, 2016 5:32 am

Yea, have not spent any time in the woods out there but I suspect a lot of the differences are due to very low densities.

One buck bedding in one bed day after day all season is a little over-emphasized IMO. I see a few homebody bucks that do bed in a small area for long time periods but more common behavior would be a buck that beds 2 or 3 or 4 times in a spot in maybe a couple week time period. Since fall is a time of change in a lot of ways, that spot might not get used the rest of the fall, or maybe used only once or twice the rest of the year. Its more a matter of IF a buck is in an area for food or does or safety, he's a bit more likely to bed in that spot versus a different spot a couple hundred yards this way or that way.

I wonder how the average home range size out there relates to average Midwest farm and hill country. As I recall with more scattered food, deer tend to be more nomadic.
User avatar
Singing Bridge
500 Club
Posts: 7162
Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2010 1:11 pm
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pro ... 1329617473
Location: Logged in - from above
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Buck Bedding in the Northeast

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Wed Mar 23, 2016 5:51 am

mainbowhunter wrote: When we were chatting it was more about archery gear in early season, Sept and Oct, trying to kill these bucks feed to bed, bed to feed.



The hunters in New England I mentioned earlier killed their bucks in the early season, consistently near buck bedding.

I'm not going to whitewash what you are saying- in big woods areas with the deer having no access to agriculture (or apples where I've hunted) or high numbers of hunters with bait, I find the lowest deer populations and early season buck success requires considerable skill. The guys who have any type of "regular" success on mature bucks in the early season in that environment truly are the top guns, in my view, of all hunters. They have taken their hunting to an awareness level that doesn't exist or that is necessary elsewhere in farmland, swamps or marshes, hill country, urban settings or anywhere else where the bucks have access to agriculture or hordes of hunters with baitpiles. Big woods with access to agriculture often has as much as ten times the buck population as those that don't. The deer trails in big woods areas with access to agriculture look like cow trails in comparison to true wilderness whitetail settings.

A friend of mine and I met with Canadian biologists to discuss our hunting in Ontario. I specifically wanted to know, with maps in hand, where the whitetail range disappears moving north (moose populations continued north, obviously). I knew that just south of that line would be the biggest bucks on earth. The whitetails disappear north of that line due to their inability to survive the winter from deep snows and cold. Just south of that line would be the largest, longest and tallest deer on the planet. Although they often don't have long tines like you see in the western provinces they have tremendous mass in their racks, and their bodies are as big and sometimes bigger. Believe me, when a 400 pound buck is standing in front of your truck and he is solid muscle and no fat, the experience is mind boggling. A 300 pound midwest fatboy buck would run on sight from one of these giants, they truly are the the King of the North and the whitetail population- period.

The problem, as you have seen, is that outside of the rut these bucks are extremely difficult to find. The deer population is so low that finding any buck can be an accomplishment. As I mentioned earlier, it is time to elevate your awareness level to new points and think outside the box. A ton of scouting may only produce a buck bed or two, so what are you supposed to do outside of the rut?

In August / September, I never get hung up on singular sign. Whether its beds / tracks / scrapes / droppings / rubs, in the environment we are discussing you have to be able to see the forest from the trees. I recommend going to the areas that the bucks will likely bed, as I mentioned before the clearcuts / beaver ponds / military crests / transitions from soft to hardwoods... etc. If you find a big buck bed great! But when I do a recon in these areas some fresh, very large droppings... a big scrape in early September... a tall, fresh rub on the edge of a cut made the first 10 days of September, a huge track... will have me making a play. Those bucks are likely bedded nearby and not ranging nearly as far as during the rut periods.

A friend I mentioned earlier took a new way out from his bear stand in a bigwoods area (we are always scouting) and he came across a small ridge in September. The ground was very hard and dry from a lack of rain but he found some fresh buck pellets (over 3/4" in length for the average pellet in the pile). Rather than bust up the ridge with scouting, he figured the buck was bedded nearby and selected a tree to hunt that would cover the squirrel trail the pellets were on. He came back with his son the second week of October and they got on stand early. A couple of hours before dark a great buck for the area came out and walked by his tree ten feet from its trunk. He hit it with a rage broadhead, the buck bolted and smashed into some trees 40 yards ahead with blood spraying ten feet out from the buck. It dropped and died right there, an experience he and his son will never forget. He came back a different day and found a knoll the buck was bedding on just off of the ridge... then he added it to his list of buck bedding areas.

One of the best places to look is on the edge of a cutover the first ten days or so of September. I have often been able to locate a rub where a great buck for the area got rid of some velvet or rubbed out. When I find this I know the buck is bedded nearby, either in the cut, on the edge of it, or nearby. You use your knowledge of the area / topos / aerials and make your play. When the season is over, try to find the beds and add them to your bucket.

I have posted of a great buck I got onto (with pictures) from nothing more than his oversized track. I nearly killed him, located his bed after blowing the hunt and added the bed to my bucket...

Hopefully this gives you some ideas, in areas like we are discussing we obviously can't just go out a few times and find ten bedding areas to hunt- it takes time, commitment and lots of work. It requries a level of sign interpretation that most don't have to bother with.
User avatar
Singing Bridge
500 Club
Posts: 7162
Joined: Wed Feb 17, 2010 1:11 pm
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pro ... 1329617473
Location: Logged in - from above
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Buck Bedding in the Northeast

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Wed Mar 23, 2016 5:58 am

Edcyclopedia wrote:The Benoits rarely care about wind direction either, Lanny laughed when I asked him this 5-6 years ago.
He said he would never have a chance to got into the woods if the wind need to be just right...

Once they cut a track it's a will to kill them or jump them.
They understand how Mature Deer can react to poise themselves for a kill, they just keep on trying with their experience until they connect.
They are rut hunters and rely heavily on the snow; Different game in early season...


Hi Ed! You are in the Northeast?? Who knew! :lol:

The Benoits understand deer behavior to a level where no snow is necessary, they kill some great bucks on those years where the white stuff is absent. I got a kick out of the guys that show up at their seminars and ask, "what do you do when there's no snow on the ground?"... like that's going to stop a Benoit! 8-)
mainebowhunter
500 Club
Posts: 3448
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2016 10:45 am
Status: Offline

Re: Buck Bedding in the Northeast

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Wed Mar 23, 2016 6:52 am

Singing Bridge wrote:
mainbowhunter wrote: When we were chatting it was more about archery gear in early season, Sept and Oct, trying to kill these bucks feed to bed, bed to feed.



The hunters in New England I mentioned earlier killed their bucks in the early season, consistently near buck bedding.

I'm not going to whitewash what you are saying- in big woods areas with the deer having no access to agriculture (or apples where I've hunted) or high numbers of hunters with bait, I find the lowest deer populations and early season buck success requires considerable skill. The guys who have any type of "regular" success on mature bucks in the early season in that environment truly are the top guns, in my view, of all hunters. They have taken their hunting to an awareness level that doesn't exist or that is necessary elsewhere in farmland, swamps or marshes, hill country, urban settings or anywhere else where the bucks have access to agriculture or hordes of hunters with baitpiles. Big woods with access to agriculture often has as much as ten times the buck population as those that don't. The deer trails in big woods areas with access to agriculture look like cow trails in comparison to true wilderness whitetail settings.

A friend of mine and I met with Canadian biologists to discuss our hunting in Ontario. I specifically wanted to know, with maps in hand, where the whitetail range disappears moving north (moose populations continued north, obviously). I knew that just south of that line would be the biggest bucks on earth. The whitetails disappear north of that line due to their inability to survive the winter from deep snows and cold. Just south of that line would be the largest, longest and tallest deer on the planet. Although they often don't have long tines like you see in the western provinces they have tremendous mass in their racks, and their bodies are as big and sometimes bigger. Believe me, when a 400 pound buck is standing in front of your truck and he is solid muscle and no fat, the experience is mind boggling. A 300 pound midwest fatboy buck would run on sight from one of these giants, they truly are the the King of the North and the whitetail population- period.

The problem, as you have seen, is that outside of the rut these bucks are extremely difficult to find. The deer population is so low that finding any buck can be an accomplishment. As I mentioned earlier, it is time to elevate your awareness level to new points and think outside the box. A ton of scouting may only produce a buck bed or two, so what are you supposed to do outside of the rut?

In August / September, I never get hung up on singular sign. Whether its beds / tracks / scrapes / droppings / rubs, in the environment we are discussing you have to be able to see the forest from the trees. I recommend going to the areas that the bucks will likely bed, as I mentioned before the clearcuts / beaver ponds / military crests / transitions from soft to hardwoods... etc. If you find a big buck bed great! But when I do a recon in these areas some fresh, very large droppings... a big scrape in early September... a tall, fresh rub on the edge of a cut made the first 10 days of September, a huge track... will have me making a play. Those bucks are likely bedded nearby and not ranging nearly as far as during the rut periods.

A friend I mentioned earlier took a new way out from his bear stand in a bigwoods area (we are always scouting) and he came across a small ridge in September. The ground was very hard and dry from a lack of rain but he found some fresh buck pellets (over 3/4" in length for the average pellet in the pile). Rather than bust up the ridge with scouting, he figured the buck was bedded nearby and selected a tree to hunt that would cover the squirrel trail the pellets were on. He came back with his son the second week of October and they got on stand early. A couple of hours before dark a great buck for the area came out and walked by his tree ten feet from its trunk. He hit it with a rage broadhead, the buck bolted and smashed into some trees 40 yards ahead with blood spraying ten feet out from the buck. It dropped and died right there, an experience he and his son will never forget. He came back a different day and found a knoll the buck was bedding on just off of the ridge... then he added it to his list of buck bedding areas.

[glow=red]One of the best places to look is on the edge of a cutover the first ten days or so of September. I have often been able to locate a rub where a great buck for the area got rid of some velvet or rubbed out. When I find this I know the buck is bedded nearby, either in the cut, on the edge of it, or nearby. You use your knowledge of the area / topos / aerials and make your play. When the season is over, try to find the beds and add them to your bucket.[/glow]

I have posted of a great buck I got onto (with pictures) from nothing more than his oversized track. I nearly killed him, located his bed after blowing the hunt and added the bed to my bucket...

Hopefully this gives you some ideas, in areas like we are discussing we obviously can't just go out a few times and find ten bedding areas to hunt- it takes time, commitment and lots of work. It requries a level of sign interpretation that most don't have to bother with.


Good stuff. I think this probably sums up more of the area he hunts than where I hunt. Except, there are apples. Old orchards in abundance.

That is kind of the tactic that I use on some of the new ground that I scout every season. Lot more related on finding the buck or bucks first and then relying on the information for the next season if getting on him in the current season fails. I do a lot of inseason scouting on pieces of new ground. Certain years, this has produced a kill, other times it produces intel going into the next season. Got onto a good buck this season on a new piece of ground. Almost killed him this year. Ended up going back in post season and locating potential bedding areas where I believe he was spending time.

I will be honest...I avoid the bigger pieces of timber like the plague. I do not have to hunt it...so I don't. Would much rather hunt 5000 acres that is broke up by roads and access points than 15K acres with no breaks in it at all. We have the 10K acre big woods pieces in abundance. Although...I have started to scout a giant piece of woods, broke up by roads -- that sort of thing. But its big big. Break into into smaller sections and start working it over. Just got some leads on big deer that have been killed out of this area.

And your right, it is a learning curve for sure.
KLEMZ
Posts: 1705
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2011 2:28 am
Location: SE Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: Buck Bedding in the Northeast

Unread postby KLEMZ » Wed Mar 23, 2016 11:25 am

Singing Bridge wrote:The hunters in New England I mentioned earlier killed their bucks in the early season, consistently near buck bedding.

I'm not going to whitewash what you are saying- in big woods areas with the deer having no access to agriculture (or apples where I've hunted) or high numbers of hunters with bait, I find the lowest deer populations and early season buck success requires considerable skill. The guys who have any type of "regular" success on mature bucks in the early season in that environment truly are the top guns, in my view, of all hunters. They have taken their hunting to an awareness level that doesn't exist or that is necessary elsewhere in farmland, swamps or marshes, hill country, urban settings or anywhere else where the bucks have access to agriculture or hordes of hunters with baitpiles. Big woods with access to agriculture often has as much as ten times the buck population as those that don't. The deer trails in big woods areas with access to agriculture look like cow trails in comparison to true wilderness whitetail settings.

A friend of mine and I met with Canadian biologists to discuss our hunting in Ontario. I specifically wanted to know, with maps in hand, where the whitetail range disappears moving north (moose populations continued north, obviously). I knew that just south of that line would be the biggest bucks on earth. The whitetails disappear north of that line due to their inability to survive the winter from deep snows and cold. Just south of that line would be the largest, longest and tallest deer on the planet. Although they often don't have long tines like you see in the western provinces they have tremendous mass in their racks, and their bodies are as big and sometimes bigger. Believe me, when a 400 pound buck is standing in front of your truck and he is solid muscle and no fat, the experience is mind boggling. A 300 pound midwest fatboy buck would run on sight from one of these giants, they truly are the the King of the North and the whitetail population- period.

The problem, as you have seen, is that outside of the rut these bucks are extremely difficult to find. The deer population is so low that finding any buck can be an accomplishment. As I mentioned earlier, it is time to elevate your awareness level to new points and think outside the box. A ton of scouting may only produce a buck bed or two, so what are you supposed to do outside of the rut?

In August / September, I never get hung up on singular sign. Whether its beds / tracks / scrapes / droppings / rubs, in the environment we are discussing you have to be able to see the forest from the trees. I recommend going to the areas that the bucks will likely bed, as I mentioned before the clearcuts / beaver ponds / military crests / transitions from soft to hardwoods... etc. If you find a big buck bed great! But when I do a recon in these areas some fresh, very large droppings... a big scrape in early September... a tall, fresh rub on the edge of a cut made the first 10 days of September, a huge track... will have me making a play. Those bucks are likely bedded nearby and not ranging nearly as far as during the rut periods.

A friend I mentioned earlier took a new way out from his bear stand in a bigwoods area (we are always scouting) and he came across a small ridge in September. The ground was very hard and dry from a lack of rain but he found some fresh buck pellets (over 3/4" in length for the average pellet in the pile). Rather than bust up the ridge with scouting, he figured the buck was bedded nearby and selected a tree to hunt that would cover the squirrel trail the pellets were on. He came back with his son the second week of October and they got on stand early. A couple of hours before dark a great buck for the area came out and walked by his tree ten feet from its trunk. He hit it with a rage broadhead, the buck bolted and smashed into some trees 40 yards ahead with blood spraying ten feet out from the buck. It dropped and died right there, an experience he and his son will never forget. He came back a different day and found a knoll the buck was bedding on just off of the ridge... then he added it to his list of buck bedding areas.

One of the best places to look is on the edge of a cutover the first ten days or so of September. I have often been able to locate a rub where a great buck for the area got rid of some velvet or rubbed out. When I find this I know the buck is bedded nearby, either in the cut, on the edge of it, or nearby. You use your knowledge of the area / topos / aerials and make your play. When the season is over, try to find the beds and add them to your bucket.

I have posted of a great buck I got onto (with pictures) from nothing more than his oversized track. I nearly killed him, located his bed after blowing the hunt and added the bed to my bucket...

Hopefully this gives you some ideas, in areas like we are discussing we obviously can't just go out a few times and find ten bedding areas to hunt- it takes time, commitment and lots of work. It requries a level of sign interpretation that most don't have to bother with.


This is one of the best posts I have seen regarding hunting mature bucks in big woods, low deer density, non rut time, no agriculture terrain! It is the absolute truth in my experience. First of all you need to spend time in areas that have the terrain features to support mature buck bedding, then be able to understand that those tracks you just looked at are special, those droppings are special. Then, you need to be able to look at your topo/aerials and find all the potential spots that offer the security he needs (think points....usually subtle). Then, you need to be able to ID ACTUAL BEDS!!... I can tell you this one is tricky!! Often, the bedding areas have so many options that the actual beds are not visually obvious. Once you find a true mature buck bedding area in this terrain...memorize the exact terrain features! Because the next time you find huge tracks of various ages going both ways on a trail, you will be looking for something very similar!

One more thought... on the positive side, big wilderness bucks have way more homebody tendencies during the early season than popular beliefs seem to indicate. IMHO and experience.
Last edited by KLEMZ on Wed Mar 23, 2016 12:10 pm, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Mathewshooter
Posts: 372
Joined: Sun Sep 05, 2010 4:10 am
Location: Central NY
Status: Offline

Re: Buck Bedding in the Northeast

Unread postby Mathewshooter » Wed Mar 23, 2016 11:42 am

JoeRE wrote:Yea, have not spent any time in the woods out there but I suspect a lot of the differences are due to very low densities.

One buck bedding in one bed day after day all season is a little over-emphasized IMO. I see a few homebody bucks that do bed in a small area for long time periods but more common behavior would be a buck that beds 2 or 3 or 4 times in a spot in maybe a couple week time period. Since fall is a time of change in a lot of ways, that spot might not get used the rest of the fall, or maybe used only once or twice the rest of the year. Its more a matter of IF a buck is in an area for food or does or safety, he's a bit more likely to bed in that spot versus a different spot a couple hundred yards this way or that way.

I wonder how the average home range size out there relates to average Midwest farm and hill country. As I recall with more scattered food, deer tend to be more nomadic.


This is how it is where I hunt. There are bedding thickets everywhere. Add to that all the CRP fields that bucks can bed in and you have a ton of bedding areas. I think the bucks just bed wherever they happen to be at that time, which means a certain bed or bedding area might not see the targets buck in there much at all. My biggest problem is figuring out when he is likely to be bedded in a certain area...if it can even be figured out at all. I usually scout out these thickets to figure out which ones have sign that a big buck has used them in the past and then I just set up and hope he comes back while I'm there.
I take my Bowhunting seriously
mainebowhunter
500 Club
Posts: 3448
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2016 10:45 am
Status: Offline

Re: Buck Bedding in the Northeast

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Wed Mar 23, 2016 3:05 pm

JoeRE wrote:Yea, have not spent any time in the woods out there but I suspect a lot of the differences are due to very low densities.

One buck bedding in one bed day after day all season is a little over-emphasized IMO. I see a few homebody bucks that do bed in a small area for long time periods but more common behavior would be a buck that beds 2 or 3 or 4 times in a spot in maybe a couple week time period. Since fall is a time of change in a lot of ways, that spot might not get used the rest of the fall, or maybe used only once or twice the rest of the year. Its more a matter of IF a buck is in an area for food or does or safety, he's a bit more likely to bed in that spot versus a different spot a couple hundred yards this way or that way.

I wonder how the average home range size out there relates to average Midwest farm and hill country. As I recall with more scattered food, deer tend to be more nomadic.


I have seen it range...probably as most guys have. Some areas, routine in September to have the bucks one day, 1.25 miles as the crow flies up on the mountain, and than a day later, back down in the valley, .75 of a mile away from where you got him on camera day before. And then some areas, my buddy gets different deer than I get on cam -- and we never seem to get the same deer on cam and he runs cams .5 mile away. The difference in some of these areas is the amount of does. That seems to be the biggest difference. 1 mile is nothing for a deer to travel...but if he is making those excursions on a regular basis, going to be tough to kill.

Same thing in KS...our main property we hunt has a really healthy deer herd. We run a bunch of cameras and it is abnormal to have a new buck show up on camera. Typically, we get the same deer on camera. Deer seen from stand are deer we know about. Its good if there are big deer using the property...but not good if there are no big deer on property...because more than likely, they are not going to show. I am not saying it DOESN'T happen, its just not the norm.

Bigwoods are tough for sure. Maine is 93% timber...so most of its big woods. When I think of a 1000 acre chunk, its because its bordered by a road with some houses....but cross the road, your into another big chunk. Northern Maine is more desolate and timbered with not much civilization at all in parts of it. Probably similar to the UP of MI.
User avatar
headgear
500 Club
Posts: 11625
Joined: Wed Sep 08, 2010 7:21 am
Location: Northern Minnesota
Status: Offline

Re: Buck Bedding in the Northeast

Unread postby headgear » Wed Mar 23, 2016 3:38 pm

KLEMZ wrote:
This is one of the best posts I have seen regarding hunting mature bucks in big woods, low deer density, non rut time, no agriculture terrain! It is the absolute truth in my experience.


Totally agree, excellent post SB! Man the early season bigwoods has given me fits over the years, a few encounters but I have never even had a shot opportunity at a nice one. Like SB mentioned just finding a darn buck to hunt is crazy hard, the last couple years I have scouted many miles with the stand on my back in Sept and just come up completely empty, and these are areas I know hold good bucks during much of the year but pinning one down is tough. Good thread, giving me ideas for early season this year, have to keep searching for that fresh sign.
User avatar
Hawthorne
500 Club
Posts: 6217
Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2014 2:13 pm
Location: michigan
Status: Offline

Re: Buck Bedding in the Northeast

Unread postby Hawthorne » Wed Mar 23, 2016 3:50 pm

There was a guy on another forum that did a journal on bowhunting the UP of Michigan in early October. He has shot some nice ones in early season. It was in the low density areas with wolves. It amazed me the amount scouting he did wearing out boot leather in season. I read it before I knew about this site. He would walk till he found fresh sign and set up. Opposite of southern Michigan with high deer densities. Here you just find a primary bedding area that holds bucks just about all the time and some good funnels that connect doe bedding. Not nearly has much in season scouting needed. You guys have my respect in the big woods. Something I would like to try.

[ Post made via Android ] Image
mainebowhunter
500 Club
Posts: 3448
Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2016 10:45 am
Status: Offline

Re: Buck Bedding in the Northeast

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Wed Mar 23, 2016 11:49 pm

Hawthorne wrote:There was a guy on another forum that did a journal on bowhunting the UP of Michigan in early October. He has shot some nice ones in early season. It was in the low density areas with wolves. It amazed me the amount scouting he did wearing out boot leather in season. I read it before I knew about this site. [glow=red]He would walk till he found fresh sign and set up[/glow]. Opposite of southern Michigan with high deer densities. Here you just find a primary bedding area that holds bucks just about all the time and some good funnels that connect doe bedding. Not nearly has much in season scouting needed. You guys have my respect in the big woods. Something I would like to try.

[ Post made via Android ] Image


And that is how a lot of my scouting is done. I know its not the norm...but if your not on the deer, there is not much else you can do. Still though, a lot of the same principles apply. Its the reason I started this thread. One was a discussion to hear from guys who hunt areas like this. Here is an aerial of about 9-10k acres. You can see that there are some breaks here and there...but its mostly timber. There is good hunting to be had.

Image

Its tough hunting...but not impossible, bedding areas do exist and they can be found. But I don't think there is any convincing my buddy of this...lol.


  • Advertisement

Return to “Deer Hunting”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 75 guests