Doe Bedding And The Rut.

[Missionshooter]

I just imagined poor Stanley sitting over a log while that BIG IOWA Booner walks by looking at him...


I agree. Get that over with and then you can sit the rest of the day! The sitting position doesnt help though...

[treeroot]

My property and my neighbors were once all the same field. Now it is a thick brush and goldenrod 70 acre bedding area. Before I had any clue about what I was doing I spent years studying and taking notes about does and bedding out there. My property is south of his and the wind is typically sw making it difficult to hunt most of the time. During the rut when the wind is from the south the does will bed out on his property on the far end. Bucks will usually walk the south end of mine on South wind days, sometimes cutting diagonals across heavy doe trails. On northern wind days the doe will bed on mine and bucks will walk the border between the properties.
I started noticing that does still in family groups would walk into the wind then hook back and lay watching their own trails. When a buck (usually a spike or similar) would follow the does path past where they were bedded the does would skirt out the back going with the wind and start the whole process again. It's very interesting the cat and mouse game they play.

Also when a chase would start up if the doe was actually in heat it usually started with a small buck pushing the doe. The longer the chase went on the more bucks would appear coming from all directions. Typically they would do large sweeping chase circles that push one way or another until the dominate buck appears. Then they would die off or atleast seem to. The satellite bucks would linger searching around for awhile afterwards. It always appeared to me like the dominate buck didn't want to run and chase all over. Sometimes they would just stand in the middle of the circle and wait for it to come past. You guys that know way more than me can decipher what I saw better than I can. I just know doe bedding has been my key to success which is what led me here to learn about buck bedding.

[Dewey]

Bump. Excellent thread.

[Dave.Bechtel]

Awesome. Post.

Really cool to see photos like these and how much you can learn from placing them in particular areas. Currently, I have a cell camera above a buck in a swamp. I'm excited to collect the data and learn when the buck is using the bed!

[NYBackcountry]

Great bump Dewey. Good info and some comedy....