How do I know when I have found a buck bed

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mparsley
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How do I know when I have found a buck bed

Unread postby mparsley » Tue Mar 29, 2016 3:22 am

Hey guys,

So, I thought I was getting the hang of this but now I am not so sure. This past hunting season I was able to take a good deer and snuck in on his bed before he came back in the morning. I know lucky. I was able to find his bed on a little nub of a point sticking off of a mainline ridge and it was right behind a large blowdown. Textbook according to everything I have read on here. Now, I really feel like I got lucky.

Well since then nothing is making sense. Here is what has thrown me off:

I was able to sneak in on another large crab claw 7 pointer multiple times during the season but his bed was over halfway down a ridge (right next to a cut/drainage). I would climb the tree and look over and see the glint of his antler in the sun and be able to watch him and another small fork horn for an hour or so just laying down chewing. He was not on a point and it seemed to be too far down the ridge. I was able to start seeing him in late November (but that is the first time I started hunting that ridge so don't read anything into that) and every time I hunted that ridge. This doesn't make sense to me. And has thrown me for a loop.

Next, since the season has come to a close, I have been scouting. I am finding multiple beds and sometimes what I believe to be beds. I keep checking the points and have come across a number of them and since they were on the points at the perfect elevation I thought they were buck beds.

Last week I was out scouting and it had just rained. I was about 1/3 of the way off a main ridge point and looked up and 4 does were staring at me. They dove off the side of the hill and up the other side like they had springs in their legs. These hills are at least 45 degree cliffs and they took it like nothing I had ever seen. Anyway, I walked over to where they were standing and that is where they were bedding. Hair was everywhere. It was like they were shedding. Is that what I am looking for, that much hair to prove that I am looking at a bed? If so that is a game changer. Or is the deer really shedding and I won't see that all the time.

Yesterday, I was out hanging cameras and checked another little nub off another mainline ridge and sure enough I found another bed with massive amounts of hair in it. Once again, like the deer was shedding. It was at the perfect elevation for a buck and the hill dove off right below the bed. Problem is that, I have no idea if it is a buck bed or doe bed now because of what I have seen (the 4 does bedding on the point). Also, in earlier scouting of the third elevation on all of the points I would find what appeared to be matted leaves and what appeared to be little white hairs but nothing like what I saw in the other beds where the deer were shedding.

The 11 pointer had rubs everywhere around his bed. I haven't seen any like that around the rest of the beds I have found. Let alone rubs at the foot or head of the bed. Am I just not finding the right stuff. Am I looking in the right spots. What is up with that 7 pointer halfway down the ridge? What is up with those does? I thought the bucks bedded on the points and does in the thicket. But now I have seen 4 does bedded on a main ridge line point. I am getting confused.

Any help would be appreciated on this.


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wmahunter
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Re: How do I know when I have found a buck bed

Unread postby wmahunter » Tue Mar 29, 2016 4:01 am

down here in Florida, sometimes there is a rub near the bed and sometimes it is a short distance away within 30 yds of the bed. It is hit or miss.
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Re: How do I know when I have found a buck bed

Unread postby jmaas07 » Tue Mar 29, 2016 6:00 am

first off, I don't hunt hills but bucks bed in spots that are advantageous to them and not at all random. Does could bed in those same areas too as well as subordinate bucks. Generally speaking, stick to the playbook you have learned here on the forum, have confidence you are doing the right things and sitting the highest percentage spots you possible can. You won't always find rubs in the bed, could be a competition thing, not much competition=not as much rubbing. Dont discard beds that have minimal hair in them, it's still a bed and you need to make your best guess on when that buck is using that bed and then throw a stand at it to see. If your unsure, give it a sit early in the right conditions and if nothing shows give it a couple rut sits and see what happens.

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Re: How do I know when I have found a buck bed

Unread postby Bonecrusher101 » Tue Mar 29, 2016 6:49 am

I think you are doing great! I'm still kinda new to these tactics as well. Congrats on your buck you killed. It wasn't entirely luck, you made your own luck by pushing the envelope into an area you suspected he was bedded. If the buck you killed was the mature dominant buck in the area, that bed where you made your kill could be the prime bedding spot. I would watch to see if another buck moves in there.

Also keep tabs on the unusual 7 point bed halfway on the ridge. Id be stoked Finding everything you have in one season. If you can see deer and figure out where they bed, that's the biggest piece of the puzzle. The behaviors discussed on here are general guidelines nothing is ever a certainty with whitetails. That could simply be a satellite bed or his preferred bedding based on the wind. As for the does I would back outta there and let them have that ridge. If you haven't had success by Pre rut, I would set up on the down wind side of that known doe bedding area and try to catch a buck cruising mid morning.

You already said you were putting cams out, you can use them to gain Intel that your missing. Cameras are nice but I might not set them up where u plan to hunt. The main key is there, you found beds. If the deer you want isn't in there then you need to keep searching. It may take a few seasons of scouting and hunting an area to get a good idea of how deer use an area. You're on the right track, good luck

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Re: How do I know when I have found a buck bed

Unread postby Tufrthnails » Tue Mar 29, 2016 12:47 pm

Yep I feel your pain we are heavy into the green up of spring and what I was catching late season scouting i am missing now. I have been out twice since turkey season started and having a tough go of finding beds in the new spots I am scouting. I even went back at the end of my last scout to a know bed I found in the late season just to look at it and see how different it looked during green up.
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Re: How do I know when I have found a buck bed

Unread postby KLEMZ » Tue Mar 29, 2016 1:18 pm

Tufrthnails wrote: I even went back at the end of my last scout to a know bed I found in the late season just to look at it and see how different it looked during green up.


This is an excellent idea! Anything you can do to reinforce your understanding of the area is well worth the effort. One of my best confidence builders in terms of finding and hunting mature buck bedding areas has been revisiting the beds I "think" are good. Reading the sign around a bed that turns out to be "good" helps in understanding what to look for in the future.
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Re: How do I know when I have found a buck bed

Unread postby <DK> » Tue Mar 29, 2016 1:52 pm

Keep looking! I just recently started finding good hairs bc they finally started shedding. I have found beds w 1 single brown hair on my hands and knees.I have found good buck beds w 0 hair and no doe bedding up wind so when you find those spots think:
why was he bedded here, is there another close by he's using, is it a rut bed, could he be dead, is it a prime spot another buck will move in?
Its all about the factors a buck needs to have a primary bed.
Dont forget he can bed just before a good drop off if it's got a good tree for front cover or even shelfs half way down a hill. if its a straight drop ridge w no places that levels out enough for a deer to bed, he could be at bottom or at very top. When your walking you gotta read the ridge, look for obstacles, look for the feel of a buck bed.

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Re: How do I know when I have found a buck bed

Unread postby <DK> » Tue Mar 29, 2016 2:00 pm

When you start finding the buck beds, they will start falling like dominoes for you. If you aren't finding good buck beds or even good buck sign, keep looking pick different area. Catch Those Fresh Buck Tracks! I ask Dan for help alOT still, but I don't come home w out a buck bed to setup on this fall, so keep looking. Good Luck!

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Re: How do I know when I have found a buck bed

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Tue Mar 29, 2016 11:01 pm

Its one piece of the puzzle.... A quick look at the kill posts this year, and every year, reveals that the majority of bucks still fall in Nov when they are moving more during daylight. If it were easy, or so cut and dry, more people would be dropping bucks 40 yards from their bed in early October year after year.

It's great when it works but there still is no magic solution or short cut to a lot of worn boot leather and time...... Most here still struggle to find "primaray" beds and kill a buck off one consistently.... I know I do.

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Last edited by DaveT1963 on Tue Mar 29, 2016 11:03 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: How do I know when I have found a buck bed

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Tue Mar 29, 2016 11:01 pm

Its one piece of the puzzle.... A quick look at the kill posts this year, and every year, reveals that the majority of bucks still fall in Nov when they are moving more during daylight. If it were easy or so cut and dry, more people would be dropping bucks 40 yards from their bed in early October. It's great when it works, but there still is no magic solution or short cut to a lot of boot leather and time...... Most here still struggle to find "primaray" beds and kill a buck off one consistently.... I know I do.

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Re: How do I know when I have found a buck bed

Unread postby ontario farmer » Tue Mar 29, 2016 11:11 pm

I lucked out as a new hunter and hunted near a buck bed that I found out was only 40 yards from my stand that I had up all year and did not hunt until November. I got a 6 and 8 point buck on the same stand 12 hours apart... They are the biggest I have to date. I have been hunting for just 4 years. This luck has convinced me to scout more this winter and hopefully I will have more success next year. This was pure luck but confirms everything just said. I sure have learned alot from this forum and saddlehunter.com
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Re: How do I know when I have found a buck bed

Unread postby sethg » Wed Mar 30, 2016 2:17 am

mparsley wrote:Hey guys,

So, I thought I was getting the hang of this but now I am not so sure. This past hunting season I was able to take a good deer and snuck in on his bed before he came back in the morning. I know lucky. I was able to find his bed on a little nub of a point sticking off of a mainline ridge and it was right behind a large blowdown. Textbook according to everything I have read on here. Now, I really feel like I got lucky.

Well since then nothing is making sense. Here is what has thrown me off:

I was able to sneak in on another large crab claw 7 pointer multiple times during the season but his bed was over halfway down a ridge (right next to a cut/drainage). I would climb the tree and look over and see the glint of his antler in the sun and be able to watch him and another small fork horn for an hour or so just laying down chewing. He was not on a point and it seemed to be too far down the ridge. I was able to start seeing him in late November (but that is the first time I started hunting that ridge so don't read anything into that) and every time I hunted that ridge. This doesn't make sense to me. And has thrown me for a loop.

Next, since the season has come to a close, I have been scouting. I am finding multiple beds and sometimes what I believe to be beds. I keep checking the points and have come across a number of them and since they were on the points at the perfect elevation I thought they were buck beds.

Last week I was out scouting and it had just rained. I was about 1/3 of the way off a main ridge point and looked up and 4 does were staring at me. They dove off the side of the hill and up the other side like they had springs in their legs. These hills are at least 45 degree cliffs and they took it like nothing I had ever seen. Anyway, I walked over to where they were standing and that is where they were bedding. Hair was everywhere. It was like they were shedding. Is that what I am looking for, that much hair to prove that I am looking at a bed? If so that is a game changer. Or is the deer really shedding and I won't see that all the time.

Yesterday, I was out hanging cameras and checked another little nub off another mainline ridge and sure enough I found another bed with massive amounts of hair in it. Once again, like the deer was shedding. It was at the perfect elevation for a buck and the hill dove off right below the bed. Problem is that, I have no idea if it is a buck bed or doe bed now because of what I have seen (the 4 does bedding on the point). Also, in earlier scouting of the third elevation on all of the points I would find what appeared to be matted leaves and what appeared to be little white hairs but nothing like what I saw in the other beds where the deer were shedding.

The 11 pointer had rubs everywhere around his bed. I haven't seen any like that around the rest of the beds I have found. Let alone rubs at the foot or head of the bed. Am I just not finding the right stuff. Am I looking in the right spots. What is up with that 7 pointer halfway down the ridge? What is up with those does? I thought the bucks bedded on the points and does in the thicket. But now I have seen 4 does bedded on a main ridge line point. I am getting confused.

Any help would be appreciated on this.


any deer will bed in an advantageous spot... doesn't matter the sex of the deer. Don't read too much into it... not every situation is going to be exactly the same or "textbook"... like the experienced guys on here say... read the sign, and play those cards... don't try and make the sign fit the scenario you want.


Also, the reason you are finding so much hair in beds right now is bc the deer ARE shedding their winter coats. no other time of year is there more hair in beds than there is right now.
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Re: How do I know when I have found a buck bed

Unread postby PK_ » Wed Mar 30, 2016 6:16 am

Don't get too caught up on the term buck bed. A very small fraction of beds you will find will be entirely or even primarily used by bucks. Unless you have a lot of bucks around.

You want to find the beds where the most dominant deer in that area at any given time will bed, because usually it will be a buck.

I know of beds where I can walk up and jump a deer out of the satellite bed and then I know almost for certain the minimum size/sex deer that will be in the primary bed. But sometimes it is a 1.5 buck in the satellite and a 2.5+ in the primary or a doe in the satellite and a young buck in primary, heck sometimes it is a button buck in the satellite and a big old doe in the primary. If the satellite is empty, anything could be in the primary. Sometimes if I have more beds to hunt than I do days in a particular area, I will use this to decide which bed to setup on. Whichever spot has a better deer in the satellite is more likely to have a better deer in the primary.

Also you will find that good consistent doe bedding may have rubs all in it, buck bedding may have none or may be lit up as well.

This is not an exact science, it really takes having a feel for the property, terrain and current herd dynamics to correctly interpret the sign.

As far as elevation, they can find secure bedding at any elevation especially in steep terrain. Sometimes they bed at the bottom if it has the right ingredients. Small Benches/knobs in steep terrain whether in the top 1/3rd, halfway down or in the bottom 1/3rd can all be used for bedding by bucks. But they really seem to prefer to be right above the steepest section, however high/low that may be.

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Re: How do I know when I have found a buck bed

Unread postby mparsley » Wed Mar 30, 2016 6:47 am

Thanks for all the replies. It really helps to discuss some of this stuff. It does seem that the best way to determine what is in the bed is to "throw a stand at it" like has been said by jmaas07 and like Dan said in the sign podcast. Until then, I am really just guessing. Just like PK is saying, it could be a 1.5 year old or 5 year old. I won't know until throwing a stand at it. I know there is a drop tine 14 pointer that was seen on the property and it is eating me up to see if he was bedding here or roaming through.

I guess the best way to see where his zone is, is by throwing a stand at these beds I have found and by using cameras.

How are you guys determining your deer you are wanting to hunt. It seems ya'll are targeting a specific deer and it seems ya'll know where he is bedding. Is finding the target deer's bed guestimation assumption or what?

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Re: How do I know when I have found a buck bed

Unread postby <DK> » Wed Mar 30, 2016 11:11 am

[quote="mparsley"]Thanks for all the replies. It really helps to discuss some of this stuff. It does seem that the best way to determine what is in the bed is to "throw a stand at it" like has been said by jmaas07 and like Dan said in the sign podcast. Until then, I am really just guessing. Just like PK is saying, it could be a 1.5 year old or 5 year old. I won't know until throwing a stand at it. I know there is a drop tine 14 pointer that was seen on the property and it is eating me up to see if he was bedding here or roaming through.

I guess the best way to see where his zone is, is by throwing a stand at these beds I have found and by using cameras.

How are you guys determining your deer you are wanting to hunt. It seems ya'll are targeting a specific deer and it seems ya'll know where he is bedding. Is finding the target deer's bed guestimation assumption or what?

*Once you find the bed obviously it would be easier to zone in on a specific animal. You need to think about time of day you saw that deer? Time of year? Was he cruising 1/3 or in a field? Which way dud he come from and go? If you aren't sure of bedding or you just can't go in the bedding area for reasons, then yes you would have to throw a stand at it. Maybe a couple... your multiple stand sets Per location will be based on alot of things but mainly whether you got in and out undetected.

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