Are buck beds in the summer different than fall or winter?

[Eddiegomes83]

I am wondering if buck beds i find now will be different in fall or winter? I am guessing that it probably depends on pressure and food sources but not real sure. Down here in florida in the area i hunt the main food source would be acorns. There are small tracts around that may have corn or plots. I am finding beds but not sure if they will still be there as the seasom progresses. Our season starts mid September.

[headgear]

For sure many of the beds are different, you might have some that are used year round but I think a lot of the bedding locations are seasonal. Summer there is cover everywhere and not a lot of pressure outside of predators, a lot of bedding is probably based on food. Fall the leaves are gone so bedding shifts to thicker areas that don't have leaf cover, the buck also shift bedding to keep an eye on does during the pre-rut and rut. Winter different again, bedding shifts to thick thermal cover areas or south facing slopes, again food is key. All of this also depends on your location and what the deer have available for food and cover in your area.

[Kokes]

headgear nailed it I think... the more and more experience I get with keying in on bedding the more I am noticing these beds and how and when they are used... im trying to pay better attention so I can now develop a pattern and determine which beds are more apt to be used early season, rut beds, late season, crop specific, etc.

There is one area ive hunted a buck bed for a few seasons now and I am beginning to think he only uses it late season - I have found his sheds here but do not think he uses it till almost after deer season is over... haven't figured it out yet but im having fun trying

[Killemquietly]

I am wondering if buck beds i find now will be different in fall or winter? I am guessing that it probably depends on pressure and food sources but not real sure. Down here in florida in the area i hunt the main food source would be acorns. There are small tracts around that may have corn or plots. I am finding beds but not sure if they will still be there as the seasom progresses. Our season starts mid September.

You're probably in a similar environment as me here in Louisiana swamps. Acorns when they're around are always hot, but at least in my area acorns only last about 2 months. I am sure your area like mine has a million things they browse on, they practically eat anything green and leafy and we got plenty of that. See if your local DNR has a biologist you can speak to. He might be able to tip you off on some other really hot food sources before and after the acorns are gone. In one area I bowhunt they have a ton of acorns and also a lot of American beautyberry. They hammer that beautyberry, it's everywhere but if you scout long enough you'll find one particular area of it where all the leaves are nipped off. Once you know it's unmistakable. Beautyberry is easy to find when it fruits it's got pretty purple berries that look good enough to eat. Deer don't eat the berries, they eat the leaves of the plant.

[Dewey]

Buck beds vary as the season progresses mainly due to food sources or hunting pressure but keep your eyes open for primary beds that are used year round. You will know one when you find it because it will be worn to the bare dirt, almost bulletproof and the safest spot around for a big buck to bed. They are usually pretty remote but can also be in the most unusual spots everyone overlooks. Bucks will travel a long ways for food sources from a very secure bed. These beds are the best in my opinion because your odds the buck is bedded there is so much higher and automatically gives you an advantage compared to random lesser used seasonal beds.

[Buckshot20]

They do shift a little from what I can tell based on food source, but principles still apply. Think about this, where are the acorns? Usually near the swamp because in Florida everything else has been logged and in pine rows. Maybe palmetto berries are hot. They may bed in relation to that. The problem is pinning down a specific bed. There is so much good cover they seem to bed in areas but not a specific bed day after day. This is my observation. You can narrow things down though based on the principles learned here.

[JoeRE]

Around here I find most beds are seasonal, but yes I have found a few year-round primary beds. Just found one last weekend in fact. Bumped a big buck out of it and its bare dirt and surrounded by old rubs from the past several years.

[Eddiegomes83]

Around here I find most beds are seasonal, but yes I have found a few year-round primary beds. Just found one last weekend in fact. Bumped a big buck out of it and its bare dirt and surrounded by old rubs from the past several years.

I have found beds but none quite that worn

[JoeRE]

Around here I find most beds are seasonal, but yes I have found a few year-round primary beds. Just found one last weekend in fact. Bumped a big buck out of it and its bare dirt and surrounded by old rubs from the past several years.

I have found beds but none quite that worn

The ones that have been used for years, worn into the ground, are just not that common most places. Depends a lot on terrain too I think. Seems like swamps have more of them because deer just don't have as many dry bedding options. Around here, they seem to be the most common in the steepest hills - same reason just less useable space to lay down.

Its great when you find them but nobody should think they are a failure because they don't find bare dirt beds. They are also in the spots that humans never typically go for just for that reason. Also its far more common to find several lighter used beds in one area in hill country that adds up to a lot of use together.

I hunt a lot of seasonal bedding, particularly in the pre-rut as bucks start using rut beds where they can keep tabs on doe groups in the area.

[rfickes87]

Around here I find most beds are seasonal, but yes I have found a few year-round primary beds. Just found one last weekend in fact. Bumped a big buck out of it and its bare dirt and surrounded by old rubs from the past several years.

Joe, what was the setting for this bed? Can you describe it?

[JoeRE]

Yea it was 2/3 of the way down a steep 400 foot hill on a narrow bench on a NE slope. There were actually 2 heavy beds within 15 feet of each other. One looked like it was facing uphill and the other down. I am pretty sure one would be for rising thermals and the other for falling thermals down on a steep hill like that. So thermal based bedding, not so much wind based. That is how the big buck was bedded facing uphill with rising thermals. Pretty interesting set up.

He was bedding down there because there was sign of hunters on most of the likely bedding spots along the military crest and ridge top above. A couple of stands, a couple of trees with climber marks. All in very good spots but my guess is overhunted or just hunted by someone who prays to the ozonics or scentlok gods. So what did the buck do? He moved

The craziest thing was there was an old arrow with a bent up wasp jackhammer on the end of it laying on the ground within yards of the beds. Looked like the typical result when a big expandable meets a big buck shoulder. No bones or sign of a dead deer around. Buck got shot, came back to bed and the arrow fell/pulled out? Would love to know if that arrow came from that deer or a different big buck. The rubs around those beds dated back for many years so either that buck was ancient or there were a series of bucks using that unique setup.

[docwaters]

I found one of these beaten to bare ground bedding areas this spring and threw a camera on it. I pulled the card today and have been having a blast matching up the wind direction via weatherundergound's history function with the time and date of the pics. There are three separate beds that have been used for different winds. The beds back up to heavy brush and tree lines and are in an overall very thick edge of a hill. I have a couple mature bucks using them now. This has been doubly interesting/entertaining because I just received the Hill Country DVD this week and finished watching it for the first time yesterday. I found a good forked tree with a cedar backing it looking over two trails that intersect about 100 yards below the bed. I have a good access route and will be putting the Lone Wolf there on the first front that comes through this early season here in Kentucky.