Buck bedding no rubs

[Killtree]

Anyone ever find a buck bed, but there were no rubs in the vicinity?
I found a bed on a little spur that juts off the lip of a bench on a real steep hill.
The side of the hill was clear cut several years ago so its still pretty thick cover.
There are no rub lines at all. Might be half a dozen rubs scattered around the whole hillside and that is it.

[JoeRE]

Yes, that is not uncommon from what I have seen. Beds used old mature solitary bucks seem to often have little sign around them.

if it a big bed and in a great spot then its probably a buck bed. I know great spot is hard to evaluate...I would say if it makes a person scratch their head for a while on how to get close to it and set up, then its a great spot Often in the hills there is more than one bed in an area, but if they are all the same size and all in carefully placed locations next to a obstruction with that good visibility downwind I think thats a sign of a large buck's use. Clusters of smaller beds some of them out in the open tend to be does.

Another thing to do is look hard at all the trees right around the bed lots of times there will be tine marks even if the tree wasn't hit hard enough to be "rubbed."

Primary buck bedding areas that get used by a lot of different bucks seem to get the most torn up. But what you found can be a spot to find Mr. Big.

[Bonehead]

I found this very thing the other day. A lone large bed with thick nasty cover behind it on a ridge looking down with good visibility. I did not find any rubs at all. I know it’s a buck bed because it meets all the criteria except for their being no rubs.
I will start looking closer to see if I can find some lighter tine marks in the future.

[Zona1]

I would like to echo Joe's comment on hill country bedding. Rarely is a buck using just one bed, think bedding area instead. If you found one there should be more.

[d_rek]

I would say if it makes a person scratch their head for a while on how to get close to it and set up, then its a great spot

Wow. I just had a total light bulb moment from your comment! Thanks!!

[daveynewman]

Usually if there is no rub it means there's less competition fighting over the bed. Possibly less bucks in the area

[ghoasthunter]

Anyone ever find a buck bed, but there were no rubs in the vicinity?
I found a bed on a little spur that juts off the lip of a bench on a real steep hill.
The side of the hill was clear cut several years ago so its still pretty thick cover.
There are no rub lines at all. Might be half a dozen rubs scattered around the whole hillside and that is it.

looked for historical rubs also you will find scaring on trees. then you will have a history as being a good bed. when were the rubs made maybe its a short term time specific bed? how much poo is in their is there old and new? how much hair is in the beds how long is the hair? what color is hair? is there doe bedding near buy? is it doe bedding that the bucks were Making display rubs in? what style rub were they thrashing a bush or making a sign post? how old is the cut maybe the bed just started up a couple years ago? are the rubs facing in and out? do the in rubs come in using thermals or wind?

[hunter_mike]

All the time. Though i can usually find other sign nearby such as tine marks on trees and a licking branch.

[flinginairos]

All three of my bucks from this past season there wasn't a single rub within 200 yards of the beds. If you were just walking through and were looking strictly for rubs to hunt by you'd keep right on walking past all the spots I killed my bucks in. The sign I found a distance away from those areas certainly pointed towards those bedding areas they just weren't super close to bedding.

[Ragingun]

Found a good one in a swamp the end of season just like you described, everything but rubs. In fact, no rubs for well over 100 yards that I could find although since it was season I did not thoroughly scout. I'll be back out there this week and plan to setup a cam in the area pending the current sign. This bed was wore down to the dirt with a ton of hair on a knob towards a point in a swamp, typical buck bedding setup. I aerial scouted this area and walked out scouting with the stand on my back. I saw a good set of tracks headed out to the tip of the point so I setup 100 yards back. Once I got into the tree I looked down 10 yards away to see the bed. Obviously I got much closer than I thought to but it simply gave me another confidence booster for my aerial scouting abilities. Can't wait to see what's using it.

[dan]

A lot of my best buck bedding areas are void of rubs. It seems to have a lot to do with competition. I have a low deer density in a lot of my areas and it often shows / or don't show, in the bedding areas.

[Lockdown]

I would say if it makes a person scratch their head for a while on how to get close to it and set up, then its a great spot

Wow. I just had a total light bulb moment from your comment! Thanks!!

Joe's comment is true no matter what terrain you're hunting.

[Tater]

So glad to read this thread. Had a good scouting trip last week and found tons of beds, some of which were secluded and solitary, which i thought were probably buck beds, but found almost no rubs on the whole scouting trip. Maybe 4 or 5 and i walked about 4mi.

[d_rek]

I would say if it makes a person scratch their head for a while on how to get close to it and set up, then its a great spot

Wow. I just had a total light bulb moment from your comment! Thanks!!

Joe's comment is true no matter what terrain you're hunting.

To be clear I am not making light of his comment! There was an area i scouted last year that I found a couple of beds in but couldn’t figure out how the heck I would even hunt it... if I would have had a cooperative wind I might have been able to but even then it would have been challenging! But it just made me think back to that spot and I had a little “aha!” moment.

[Babshaft]

All three of my bucks from this past season there wasn't a single rub within 200 yards of the beds. If you were just walking through and were looking strictly for rubs to hunt by you'd keep right on walking past all the spots I killed my bucks in. The sign I found a distance away from those areas certainly pointed towards those bedding areas they just weren't super close to bedding.

What sign clued you in to those bedding areas? Was it just the size and location of the beds? Hair in them? Tracks? Just trying to put some puzzle pieces together for myself. Those are 3 beautiful bucks by the way.

Cheers