Island Bed Approach J-Hook Question

[Strenke629]

My question is related to swamp island buck beds. I remember Dan talking on his videos and podcasts about bucks in the morning will J-hook downwind of their bed, scent check it, then head straight upwind into their bed. On those swamp islands where bucks really can't J-hook it, how do those bucks approach that bed? Will they only bed in that specific bed if they can travel into it with the wind in their face? Or do they rely more on their sight to check that bed for danger when they approach. Or will they walk the edge and scent check it from several hundred yards away. Just curious what more experienced hunters have noticed in regards to this.

[sir_tob]

I'll let Dan reply in full, but none of the ones I've seen could visually inspect it from more than 2 ft away. All bedded in cattails and tall grass. I'd say if they don't have a way to sent check it, they're probably not going to bed there. nose is key for their survival. If it's an island he may be so comfortable that he's never seen or heard any intrusion on it and enter in the dark.

[Chuck B]

Good question. Will be following...

[tgreeno]

I don't believe they J-hook cattail bedding. It's typically not wind based. Usually the trails go straight in & straight out.

[mauser06]

My experience is limited because there aren't many big marsh/swamps that I have access to hunt.

I do hunt 1 and have scouted it pretty well and understand at least some of what's going on there.


Located big tracks out in the field one day and was kinda stumped..the tracks were heading absolutely directly TO the bedding I knew of..not out into the field like I figured.

Realized I found his entrance trail. Literally a straight line through some pretty nasty stuff right into the bedding..

Also had a 2nd rub line that pointed directly TO the bedding and had bucks on camera going to it in the early morning. Guessing they are coming from a different food source.

When they leave, at least the 2 buck I've seen leave it, they come out onto a small finger of oaks/hardwoods..they bed in a marsh bowl to the South and the big marsh is to the north.


Interesting enough I went in this year and there weren't much for acorns and nothing came out. Not sure if they just head to the fields knowing there aren't acorns or what. It also gets pounded by waterfowl hunters...so I'm not sure how they are manipulating the area with no acorns and once waterfowl picks up. Buying a house close to there and expect to be scouting more of it and hunting it pretty regularly in the seasons to come.

[dan]

I have not seen many beds that deer could not check from down wind. There have been a few, but can't remember ever seeing a mature buck in one. What I notice most commonly in cattails is they take the most down wind trail prior to bedding. There are few trails in cattails and there obvious. So it makes for an easy morning set up if you have trees to work with. I am sure some deer don't follow the rules, and some deer make mistakes, etc. I hunt based on tendancys I see them do most of the time...

If you watched the video I just put up (Imaginary scent control) the yearling I am filming goes into the food plot and does a night bed to chew its cud. Now, this is a night bed and they don't put "as much" care into it possibly? But, its interesting that it beds back to thick watching the open area with wind to face... Now this ain't a mature deer by any means, but it shows maybe that this is either a learned experience, or that mistakes happen. A predator could of snuck right up on its back side... The other thing may have been that it was in my scent stream so it new danger was from up wind. It also originally came from the are it put its back too. But it is rare that I see a deer bed like that. When the buck came in it grunted from behind and the young deer was caught by total surprise, jumping to its feet and spinning around to see what was going on.

We have all seen kids that run up to strangers offering a free gift, and those that run when a car slows down. Not all deer are the same, but stupid dies and stops breeding where I hunt. and I go by what the majority does.

[Strenke629]

With those deer that go right into the beds, we’re you able to notice the wind direction when they were approaching?

For an example, if there’s only two trails going into the island bed, one coming from the north and one coming from the south. Could you assume that that bed is only being used on a north or south wind?

[Strenke629]

Thanks Dan, that’s what I was kind of thinking that it’s pretty rare for deer not to be able to scent check their bed. So you can kind of eliminate some winds based on how the deer can scent check that bed. I know a lot of those swamp beds the deer doesn’t really rely much on the wind anyways, but if you find a bed and the only way for the deer to scent check it is from the north and the west then you can pretty much count on the buck not being there on south or east winds.

[mauser06]

Interesting observation Dan. Like you said, maybe it knew you were there and wanted to see what it was smelling. But typically that's backwards. Wind to the back and eyes looking at what they can't smell.

Last Halloween I hit a mature buck poorly. After all was said and done I learned a bit from him. He made about a 500yd circle around my stand. He got directly downwind of my stand before he ever bedded. He laid facing away from my stand.

As I backed out, I actually walked within 100yds of him. He bedded (by coincidence I'd guess) within 100-150yds of my truck and was actually in view of it. As I tracked, he let 3 of us get within 50yds of him. I don't know if he didn't move because he couldn't or he tried his best to hide in the short field grass/brush. I saw him when I left with a spotlight and binos..he looked pretty hurt. I thought he'd be dead there in the morning. I still firmly believe if I would have chased him off that bed it would have likely been the death of him. I didn't. I let him lay overnight and he healed up just fine.


But heading down wind after being hit was interesting to actually see.

[dan]

Interesting observation Dan. Like you said, maybe it knew you were there and wanted to see what it was smelling. But typically that's backwards. Wind to the back and eyes looking at what they can't smell.

Last Halloween I hit a mature buck poorly. After all was said and done I learned a bit from him. He made about a 500yd circle around my stand. He got directly downwind of my stand before he ever bedded. He laid facing away from my stand.

As I backed out, I actually walked within 100yds of him. He bedded (by coincidence I'd guess) within 100-150yds of my truck and was actually in view of it. As I tracked, he let 3 of us get within 50yds of him. I don't know if he didn't move because he couldn't or he tried his best to hide in the short field grass/brush. I saw him when I left with a spotlight and binos..he looked pretty hurt. I thought he'd be dead there in the morning. I still firmly believe if I would have chased him off that bed it would have likely been the death of him. I didn't. I let him lay overnight and he healed up just fine.


But heading down wind after being hit was interesting to actually see.

Ive seen them head down wind when wounded or knowing there being tracked many times. A lot of the trails I have been on a buck will walk into an open area like a field on a cross wind then at some point circle into the wind and thick and get real close to there own trail wind to back and let you walk by then sneak out. In a couple cases I would of been able to kill them if I were looking that way or suspected it.