How often??

[Jackson Marsh]

Friday and Saturday I hunted two different bedding areas, at both spots I had 2 y.o. bucks using them. How often do you guys that have hunted bedding areas for years see a bigger buck using the same areas on subsequent hunts? The spot I hunted on Saturday has only been sat twice in the last two seasons by me or my daughter both times 2 yo were seen/killed. The spot on Friday is a tough spot to hunt if the wind dies at prime time your wind gets sucked off the slight hill into the buck staging area which has resulted a few busted hunts for me over the years. This year I setup in the water and wasn't busted but the wind didn't die quite as much which probably helped some.

I've got a good gut feeling about both spots.....I hope I'm not deluding myself about killing a good buck at either spot.

The Friday spot it's not possible to do an observation sit prior to moving in, and to read the sign I have to be in the actual staging area to check it. Trails are flooded so checking tracks wouldn't have worked either. A camera is a possibility. The Saturday spot I could check for tracks, although the trails are totally flooded at the moment, observation sit would probably work. I did learn Saturday where the buck I saw staged, and I know there is a tree in the area I have already marked.

[9pt]

This sound a lot like the spot I am thinking of hunting for our opener. I am 90% sure I am going to ground hunt it because of the way the thermals work. I have to be very agressive because there are no good observation spots. I have to go in planning to succeed if I burn it for a while.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[mainebowhunter]

I had a bedding area I hunted last year. Passed the same 2.5yr old buck 2x in 2 different sets. I then killed the 3.5yr old I was after couple hunts later out of the first set that I passed the 2.5yr out of. This year I have few different bucks using the same bed. I have 3 different bucks 3.5yr plus that are using the same bedding area. 1 is a beauty..might be a 4.5 BUT he is not bedding it as often as the other 2.

So I do believe it sure is possible a bigger buck could move in and cycle through. My theory is I want to give the bedding area enough hunts to catch the buck I am after cycling back through. Cam checks usually reveal certain bucks are showing up 2x a week...or less.

Not quite sure if this is what you were asking...

[Jackson Marsh]

That is exactly what I'm asking Maine. Thanks.

[ Post made via Android ]

[9pt]

Thanks, Maine and good question JM. Maybe I don't actually have to see it as burning the area. This could change my tactics.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Dewey]

I see different bucks rotate thru the same bedding area quite often. Also maybe the smaller bucks you are seeing come from a satellite bed and the older buck is staying bedded in the primary spot till after dark. I have one particular primary bed that has been driving me crazy over the years. In a west wind I knew a mature buck was bedding there but just every time I hunted it only a small buck came out but heard another moving around in the background. One night as I was climbing down after dark I heard something and there he was a 150" looking right at me coming from his bed.

This continued for a number of years and even had other bucks move into the same bed but one constant was there was always two bucks bedding there, a young buck and an older buck. On two occasions later in the season I snuck into the tiny island surrounded by water. Both times a small buck jumped on the mainland side and almost immediately the big one jumped out the far side to escape into miles of cattails. Moral of the story is don't always assume you are only dealing with one buck.

Just be glad your seeing bucks. So far my good buck beds have only been producing does. Weirdest thing I have ever seen and I'm pretty confused by it. For years I was on a streak of only seeing bucks while hunting these same beds and does were very rare in these particular spots.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[BassBoysLLP]

Depends on the access but usually he is getting up late after I lay down some ground scent in his local. He'll smell my presence for at least a few days and adjust accordingly. Area cams will adjust accordingly. You can grind these spots with 2, sometimes 3 year old bucks but rarely older. If you hunt them too often in some locals you'll need to wait at least a year for it to turn back to normal. Once you bump, shuffle the cams, find the satelite bed, and try to kill. Don't be afraid to fail.

[ Post made via Android ]

[blizzardhunter]

Always trust your gut. If you think the spots are right I'd go back in probably 7- 10 days from now.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Jackson Marsh]

Access sucks for both spots in terms of smelling my ground scent. I'll definitely hunt them again if I get the correct winds.

There could be multiple bucks bedding there, quite a few beds where found while scouting. It's kinda fun to try to figure these spots out. The ground hunt spot the bucks have such an advantage if the wind dies down at primetime, which is why it's used I suppose. I've done nothing but fail at the ground hunt spot since 2012....slowly things are coming together. Now I just need an East wind when I'm not working

[ Post made via Android ]

[matt1336]

Good thread. Unrelated comment here. Dewey- did you ever go into that bedding area with a gun for the purpose of jumping the satellite buck to shoot the older one?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[BassBoysLLP]

Access sucks for both spots in terms of smelling my ground scent. I'll definitely hunt them again if I get the correct winds.

There could be multiple bucks bedding there, quite a few beds where found while scouting. It's kinda fun to try to figure these spots out. The ground hunt spot the bucks have such an advantage if the wind dies down at primetime, which is why it's used I suppose. I've done nothing but fail at the ground hunt spot since 2012....slowly things are coming together. Now I just need an East wind when I'm not working

[ Post made via Android ]

Even if you have multiple bucks bedding there, you will burn the bed for the most part for the best buck. He may still bed there and just stand in his bed until dark. He may move all together. But lesser bucks will always move in. That is a guarantee.

You get one good shot at a primo buck in his preferred bed per season. Yes one good attempt. You can smash 2 and 3 year Olds out of the same bed but you get one shot at the best. I've screwed this up a lot of times...and waited for a second chance..

[ Post made via Android ]

[Dewey]

Good thread. Unrelated comment here. Dewey- did you ever go into that bedding area with a gun for the purpose of jumping the satellite buck to shoot the older one?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

I don't gun hunt there.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Stanley]

I find older bucks like 5.5 - 7.5 years old kind of abandon a specific bed if they get bumped by a human. That doesn't mean they won't use a different bed in the same bedding area. I think it really depends on the amount of bedding areas available also.

[James]

I've killed multiple bucks out of the same Marsh beds but honestly it can change year to year. I had back to back years seeing and/killing a buck coming out of the same bed but then had it go dry for a year or two. I would see does occasionally in the same area. I wish I could say what or why they decide to use it, but one thing I have learned is that if a Marsh bed held a mature buck in the past, it will again in the future.

Hill country, especially private, is not as reliable IMO. There are less constrainsts that force bucks to use the exact same bed. Small areas are more likely to be like the Marsh beds.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[dan]

I have seen 2 year olds, 1.5's, and adult bucks all use the same bedding... At different times.