Question about buck bedding?

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Dewey
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Question about buck bedding?

Unread postby Dewey » Wed Dec 29, 2010 1:21 pm

This is for Dan or anybody else who may have ever seen this.
Is it common for two mature bucks to bed together this time of the year?

I saw two slobs tonight and I am still shaking from buck fever! :shock: All I can say is WOW!! :o

Last night I watched the Marsh Bucks video for about the tenth time for another refresher. I headed out to the public marsh early afternoon today and set up way out in the cattails on the SW point of smaller island. Everything was pretty quiet until 4:00 P.M. and then I saw a tail flicker about 45 yards out in the cattails along a frozen ditch. After looking closer I noticed that this was not just a buck but was one bigger than I have ever witnessed in my life. My heart almost pounded out of my chest immediately more than I can ever remember! Then to my surprise another buck stood up about 10 yards away and he was slightly smaller than the other one but still a slob. The first buck was for sure a Booner and the other was at least 150"! They kinda faced each other smelling each others faces and then started tickling their antlers together very lightly but not like a fight or anything. I watched this for about 30 minutes and then they started moving but instead of heading toward the food source I expected them to they both headed west quartering into the wind. Not sure where they were headed because that direction is nothing but cattails for three miles. There was no way they winded me so I may have a chance at one of them before the season ends.
I am positive that they were bedded together and was quite surprised by this. It was almost like a bachelor group in the summer. There was another deer with them that may have been a buck as well but was probably a small one or maybe a deer that already shed.
The largest buck made the 150" 10 pt look small. I am almost afraid to talk about the big buck because nobody will believe me about how big it was. He was a high and wide 12 pt with very long tines, good mass and I believe he was at least 180" for sure. :shock:
This is an area I would never be able to reach early season because of the distance through deep water. I am running out of time with wind shifts coming at the end of the week. I guess all I can do is get more agressive as the week goes on as long as I have any kind of south wind and hope to get closer to them if they still bed in the same spot but it will be very hard with two deer together.
The hard part will be trying to sleep tonight!!


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Re: Question about buck bedding?

Unread postby dan » Wed Dec 29, 2010 1:25 pm

Outside the rut they will bed together. But its rare for me to see with bucks that size. Great situation you have there. Get in there before they move or the wind changes and kill the big one! 8-)
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Re: Question about buck bedding?

Unread postby Dewey » Wed Dec 29, 2010 1:41 pm

I am just really confused why they headed the direction they did since there are no food sources or islands for at least three miles the way they went, just cattails.
Thinking I will probably set up in the same tree again tommorow even though this totally goes against how I hunt. They didn't have a clue I was there and I am very limited for trees to get my Assault and sticks into. I guess I would approach things differently if it wasn't near the end of the season but time is running short. :cry:
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Re: Question about buck bedding?

Unread postby dan » Wed Dec 29, 2010 2:03 pm

I would get aggressive. There is some reason they headed the way they did. I remember a couple of seasons ago filming my sone hunting out in the cattail marsh and a 150 inch buck rising out of a bed about an hour before dark and only getting about 75 yards before light was fading and then heading out into the cattails in a direction that would take him at least a mile thru nothing but cattails when he coulda went our way and only went a 1/8 mile... My guess? Better food source at the end of the trail.
If you hunt the same tree, my guess is you will see either nothing, or they will do the same thing they did the day before.
You never know for sure, but personally, I would get aggressive and move in for the kill even if it meant hunting off the ground.
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Re: Question about buck bedding?

Unread postby adrenalin » Wed Dec 29, 2010 2:16 pm

Dewey that sounds real exciting. I do a lot of shed hunting through the winter and see slobs bedded together all the time. I know of a guy last late season who followed a set of big tracks way out into the cattails and as they headed to a small brushy bedding area more sets of tracks came together. All of a sudden 6 deer busted out ALL bucks, he ended up shooting 3 of them 2 big tens, and an eight.
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Re: Question about buck bedding?

Unread postby DropTyne » Wed Dec 29, 2010 2:20 pm

I am right there with Dan.... Now is without a doubt the time to get agressive. I have a good idea of what your favorite marsh to hunt is ;) and after looking into what the weather will be doing it will be pretty similar to what you had today through friday. Then you will get a shift in wind. I would figure out a way to access that area and cut them off before they get to the food source (whatever it may be). If I saw what you saw I would be calling in sick or doing whatever I had to do so that I would have the entire day to silently access where I can cut them off. If you have time you should be able to get in there quiet enough. If you do the same thing you did today, you will have the same result, I am pretty confident in that. I hope you get him!
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Re: Question about buck bedding?

Unread postby Dewey » Wed Dec 29, 2010 3:49 pm

I agree with getting agressive. There are a bunch of large muskrat houses near the area the bucks were bedded. Thinking if I get behind one of them for cover I may get close enough for a shot on the ground with cattails for cover. The hard part will be sneaking in since the snow was really crunchy today. Hopefully they are bedded there again tommorow. As long as I give myself plenty of time to get there I'm sure I can do it quietly enough and since it will be a little warmer hopefully the snow crust softens up a little. The only problem is that the heavy snow and wind we had a few weeks ago really knocked the cattails down. Most of them are barely 3 feet high so I will more than likely have to belly crawl or I will be skylined. Wish I had some snow camo right now and may have to make a quick trip to get some in the morning.
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Re: Question about buck bedding?

Unread postby DropTyne » Thu Dec 30, 2010 1:25 am

White painter suites you can get a Menards for cheap work great. I think you have the right idea. You might want to bring an extra pair of gloves so when you get in there you have a dry pair. If you go slow enough you should be able to get in there undetected. Go for it and good luck!
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Re: Question about buck bedding?

Unread postby 3dog » Thu Dec 30, 2010 4:30 am

Sounds like you had one of a hunt Dewey, congrats!! Sometimes just seeing something like that can be extremely rewarding.

Is it common for two mature bucks to bed together this time of the year?

I don't think it's uncommon to see big ones together in late season. I just picked up a couple real good ones running together on camera, both are 4 1/2 plus. I'm sure they're not joined at the hip either and will spend time in seperate areas.

Not sure where they were headed because that direction is nothing but cattails for three miles.
I see this in the hills too, sometimes you just gotta play to not get caught as opposed to assuming where they will go. I breezed thru the other posts on here and seems like most say to get agressive, which I would usually agree. But it's late season and I think a mature buck is more likely to hold a pattern this time of year than at any other. So possibly, if you had a good vantage point, you could watch them for a few days and see if they've got a pattern?? Just food for thought, good luck though, sounds like you've got a couple dandy's on the line!
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Re: Question about buck bedding?

Unread postby tim » Thu Dec 30, 2010 4:41 am

if you knew where they came out at the other end you could follow tracks and seee if they went back to the same spot. if not you wouldnt waste your time. id look for the tracks since you already know the direction they went. look for the foos source in that direction , im sure they were heading towards a food source. thats the only thing on their minds .
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Re: Question about buck bedding?

Unread postby BackWoodsHunter » Thu Dec 30, 2010 10:56 am

I hope you're gutting out that slob right now! 8-)
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Re: Question about buck bedding?

Unread postby Dewey » Thu Dec 30, 2010 1:02 pm

Didn't see either buck but I did pick up on the trail they used yesterday when I saw both of them. From the size of the tracks it looked like they took the same trail back into the same area to bed. As I was follwing the trail I noticed a few spots where a buck was raking the cattails with his antlers and there were drops of blood in the snow. Either one of them is in the process of shedding or already shed both antlers. :o
I followed the tracks but never found a shed. Hopefully this was a entirely different deer but anything is possible.
I was sitting in the cattails with plenty of cover about 40 yards from where the two slobs were bedded last night. It took me about 2 hrs to get in position and I was as quiet as possible. Right at closing a few deer walked behind me but could not tell what they were but don't think it was either of the big ones. Either they bedded somewhere else, moved in a different direction or maybe they were still bedded because the wind picked up pretty good at dark.
Too bad I didn't see them because I'm sure they will definately know I was there if they walk out the same direction they did last night. Might have used up my only chance! I am off of work until next Tuesday so I have plenty of time yet.
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Re: Question about buck bedding?

Unread postby Hodag Hunter » Thu Dec 30, 2010 1:40 pm

Was pulling for you Dewey.
What about renting/chartering an airplane for an hour?
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Re: Question about buck bedding?

Unread postby hunt n nut » Thu Dec 30, 2010 2:15 pm

Good luck,Dewey, hope your patients pays off ;)
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Re: Question about buck bedding?

Unread postby Dewey » Thu Dec 30, 2010 4:25 pm

Not quite sure what my next move should be. I may have burned my bridges today and might not get another chance. A mature buck will not tolerate any intrusion and then you add another mature buck to that equation and it's double trouble.
Thinking about letting everything cool down for a few days since there haven't been any other hunters anywhere in the area.
Maybe I will start with my original stand just for observation to see how they react. Another option is to go all out and stalk them in their bed midday. It's supposed to get really foggy and windy with precipitation and I can't think of a better time to get out there and still hunt.
Kinda undecided right now but I guess putting pressure on them and hope they make a mistake is probably my only chance this late in the game.
For all I know they most likely are not even bedding together anymore.
My biggest concern is if they shed their antlers since there is evidence I found today that may be happening. The worst part about that is if I find a shed it is illegal to keep it on Federal Refuge land. :evil: Dumbest rule I ever heard of!! :roll:


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