How steep is too steep for deer to bed on the leeward side of a bluff/slope/military crest? There's a place near me that goes from a grassy plateau to a steep slope drop off that is a couple hundred yards in length down to a marsh/lake. Don't know the exact angle but it looks over 30 degrees easy. The slope face is loaded with oak and some conifers.
Emrah
Leeward Side/Military Crest. How Steep for Bedding?
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- tgreeno
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Re: Leeward Side/Military Crest. How Steep for Bedding?
I'm not really a hill expert. I think you would be amazed where they will bed for security. He would mostly likely be bedded on the bench, not the steep slope.
This is a good thread discussing this.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=29787
This is a good thread discussing this.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=29787
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- DeerDylan
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Re: Leeward Side/Military Crest. How Steep for Bedding?
I find quite a few beds in hills so steep that I can't stand upright. Some of that has to do with human/Hunter pressure.
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Re: Leeward Side/Military Crest. How Steep for Bedding?
one of the most well worn buck beds I ever found was on a hill side that required you to use your hands and feet to scale. Stumbled upon it by accident skirting around a rock ledge on the way up during a repelling trip. Found a nice flat little ledge to take a break on that had a shallow cave type feature. The short ledge was bare dirt, full of deer hair and droppings. At the time I thought it was where a lynx, bobcat or something along those lines processed its catch. There was a well used trail in the hard ground and broken rock that switch backed the last few feet to the the main ridge line, we followed it up and after seeing several rubs i realized we just took our break in a bed that probably belonged to one helluva buck. This is before I new anything about bed based hunting. I've only since found a few like that, all have been after tracking a deer to and through that location. I've tried to scout for them off of topo and then boots on the ground, I haven't had much luck. I will say one thing notable about the few I did find, and this is also a common trail of most hill country beds in norther maine, is that almost all of them are situated above where an old skidder trail ends that comes straight up the mountain at them. All of the few extremely steep beds had this in common. If I can find on topo and satellite where where a skidder trail goes up the leeward side of a hill and ends short of the ridge line , there is almost always a bed there. Especially if there is a military type crest feature, it seems that military crests and benches below ridge lines in Maine make for great log landing sites. Where I live there is classic and likely bedding locations all over the place, it's hard to cover them all. I start with the ones that have a skidder trail going up to them, it seems they prefer these locations here, I think it's because the vertical skidder trails channel the rising and dropping thermals like a drainage or valley does.
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Re: Leeward Side/Military Crest. How Steep for Bedding?
I have yet to encounter too steep for bedding. And no bench needed, just a 10 square foot flat spot next to a tree or rock is a very common buck bed in my area.
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Re: Leeward Side/Military Crest. How Steep for Bedding?
yeah they bed on some steep bluffs by me and always seem to find a little flat spot that works so they are comfortable.
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Re: Leeward Side/Military Crest. How Steep for Bedding?
I find most of my good buck bedding by me behind a tree on steep hills. Very seldom do i find a good buck bed on big or even somewhat big benches or flat spots. These hills get quite a bit of pressure though.
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Re: Leeward Side/Military Crest. How Steep for Bedding?
Yea the most worn beds I find are on the steepest hills most of the time. I think there is more than one reason for that.
For one - few people bother looking on steep sidehills
Two (and just as big of a deal) steep hills offer few locations to bed so you are likely to find 1 or 2 heavily used beds instead of a bunch of lighter used beds. Added together they may get the same use!
A buck needs a flat area maybe 4 feet long and a couple feet wide to lay down on so it doesn't take much...
For one - few people bother looking on steep sidehills
Two (and just as big of a deal) steep hills offer few locations to bed so you are likely to find 1 or 2 heavily used beds instead of a bunch of lighter used beds. Added together they may get the same use!
A buck needs a flat area maybe 4 feet long and a couple feet wide to lay down on so it doesn't take much...
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