Do mature bucks bed on the edge of thick cover or in it?

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PK_
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Re: Do mature bucks bed on the edge of thick cover or in it?

Unread postby PK_ » Tue Feb 27, 2018 1:23 am

Most of the time they will Bed on the downwind edge watching the more open area and smelling/listening for danger in the thicket behind them.

However when there is extreme pressure and hunters setting up or constantly walking along that transition ont he edge of the thicket then I have found that the bucks move to the interior of the thick cover.
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Re: Do mature bucks bed on the edge of thick cover or in it?

Unread postby Tim H » Tue Feb 27, 2018 2:09 am

To answer this question with detail, I think more questions need to be asked.

What terrain
How much pressure
Deer Density
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Re: Do mature bucks bed on the edge of thick cover or in it?

Unread postby headgear » Tue Feb 27, 2018 2:18 am

Yes and yes, I see them do both consistently. Sometimes even in thick cover but close enough to the edge so they can stand up and have a look around if need be.
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Re: Do mature bucks bed on the edge of thick cover or in it?

Unread postby Jon308 » Tue Feb 27, 2018 2:21 am

Mostly hardwood swamp & some marsh, but some open fields and pines. I’d say some decent pressure , good density of deer.
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Re: Do mature bucks bed on the edge of thick cover or in it?

Unread postby dan » Tue Feb 27, 2018 5:25 am

They bed on the edge... That edge can be an exterior "hard transition" or an interior transition that's a little harder to see. Like where two different trees meet, or an elevation change. Every now and then you see an exception. But most big buck bedding is predictable to the spot.

I scouted a hunting property Saturday for a couple guys in central Wisconsin. You stepped into water and thick as soon as you stepped onto the property. Everything for 120 acres was under water. The main question these clients had was where to look... Everything looked the same to them. At breakfast we studied the maps of the property and I picked out subtle transitions and where likey bedding would be. When we got in there. The bedding was almost exactly where predicted. Some would call that whole area thick, and it was, but the bucks were still in specific spots, like always.
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Re: Do mature bucks bed on the edge of thick cover or in it?

Unread postby Tempy » Tue Feb 27, 2018 5:49 am

So am I right to assume that if pressure increases in or near these transitions where a buck is bedding, that they will seek out different bedding with similar features in a new location with lower pressure (Ie overlooked spots) as opposed to heading deeper into the thick cover?

I'm thinking of thick grown clearcuts particularly where I know there is little to no human intrusion in the thick interior, but bucks won't have the advantages they do on the edges.
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Re: Do mature bucks bed on the edge of thick cover or in it?

Unread postby wolverinebuckman » Tue Feb 27, 2018 6:05 am

dan wrote:They bed on the edge... That edge can be an exterior "hard transition" or an interior transition that's a little harder to see. Like where two different trees meet, or an elevation change. Every now and then you see an exception. But most big buck bedding is predictable to the spot.

I scouted a hunting property Saturday for a couple guys in central Wisconsin. You stepped into water and thick as soon as you stepped onto the property. Everything for 120 acres was under water. The main question these clients had was where to look... Everything looked the same to them. At breakfast we studied the maps of the property and I picked out subtle transitions and where likey bedding would be. When we got in there. The bedding was almost exactly where predicted. Some would call that whole area thick, and it was, but the bucks were still in specific spots, like always.


So, a 500 acre patch of hardwoods and thick undergrowth gives way to a 3 foot elevation drop in the middle, maybe 60 acres. This area was calf deep water last week, virtually no undergrowth, large trees mostly poplar, many lay downs. Is the edge where it dries up and gets thick where to look for beds? In to the thick, and typically how far off edge?
Or should I be looking for high spots within the wet stuff for beds?
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Re: Do mature bucks bed on the edge of thick cover or in it?

Unread postby dan » Tue Feb 27, 2018 7:49 am

Tempy wrote:So am I right to assume that if pressure increases in or near these transitions where a buck is bedding, that they will seek out different bedding with similar features in a new location with lower pressure (Ie overlooked spots) as opposed to heading deeper into the thick cover?

I'm thinking of thick grown clearcuts particularly where I know there is little to no human intrusion in the thick interior, but bucks won't have the advantages they do on the edges.

yes, but They have advantages on the edge of a thick interior transition too just different advantages... So maybe they give up the sight advantage, but they can hear anything coming from 100 yards.
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Re: Do mature bucks bed on the edge of thick cover or in it?

Unread postby dan » Tue Feb 27, 2018 7:51 am

wolverinebuckman wrote:
dan wrote:They bed on the edge... That edge can be an exterior "hard transition" or an interior transition that's a little harder to see. Like where two different trees meet, or an elevation change. Every now and then you see an exception. But most big buck bedding is predictable to the spot.

I scouted a hunting property Saturday for a couple guys in central Wisconsin. You stepped into water and thick as soon as you stepped onto the property. Everything for 120 acres was under water. The main question these clients had was where to look... Everything looked the same to them. At breakfast we studied the maps of the property and I picked out subtle transitions and where likey bedding would be. When we got in there. The bedding was almost exactly where predicted. Some would call that whole area thick, and it was, but the bucks were still in specific spots, like always.


So, a 500 acre patch of hardwoods and thick undergrowth gives way to a 3 foot elevation drop in the middle, maybe 60 acres. This area was calf deep water last week, virtually no undergrowth, large trees mostly poplar, many lay downs. Is the edge where it dries up and gets thick where to look for beds? In to the thick, and typically how far off edge?
Or should I be looking for high spots within the wet stuff for beds?

I would check the edge, and the high areas in the water. They will be in which ever one works best for them, or in both areas.
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Re: Do mature bucks bed on the edge of thick cover or in it?

Unread postby Jon308 » Tue Feb 27, 2018 2:18 pm

Maybe I’m just overlooking beds or looking in the wrong spots still
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Re: Do mature bucks bed on the edge of thick cover or in it?

Unread postby brancher147 » Tue Feb 27, 2018 2:49 pm

I scouted a ridge today with a bunch of windward bedding. Some of the buck beds were on the edge of thick cover, some were in the thick cover, and some were in open hardwoods. It just depends. But when you find a buck bed and sit down in it and look around, you will realize why he is bedding there.
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Re: Do mature bucks bed on the edge of thick cover or in it?

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Wed Feb 28, 2018 1:00 am

Both down here. I find a lot of mature buck beds right smack dab in the middle of plum thickets and blackberry thickets. I often look around and ask my self how the heck that buck gets into some of those places. But I also found that bucks like edges with sight advantage. So in more flat ground I think they tend to prefer the security of being in the middle of nasty crap - but if there are some elevated spots that give them security they prefer them for sight advantage. I have also found buck beds in the middle of 4-6 foot high Johnson grass fields - but I have also found them on edges. Every buck is different and local pressure can influence them. We get a ton of bird hunters in fall so that often pushes bucks deeper into heavy cover.
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Re: Do mature bucks bed on the edge of thick cover or in it?

Unread postby harold » Wed Feb 28, 2018 5:43 am

brancher147 wrote:I scouted a ridge today with a bunch of windward bedding. Some of the buck beds were on the edge of thick cover, some were in the thick cover, and some were in open hardwoods. It just depends. But when you find a buck bed and sit down in it and look around, you will realize why he is bedding there.


Can you expand on this? How were you finding the beds in the thick cover? Were you walking the edge and saw sign leading you in there? Or were the beds elevation/terrain based, so you were keeping the same elevation while scouting but going in and out of the cover?
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Re: Do mature bucks bed on the edge of thick cover or in it?

Unread postby Southern Man » Wed Feb 28, 2018 7:01 am

harold wrote:
brancher147 wrote:I scouted a ridge today with a bunch of windward bedding. Some of the buck beds were on the edge of thick cover, some were in the thick cover, and some were in open hardwoods. It just depends. But when you find a buck bed and sit down in it and look around, you will realize why he is bedding there.


Can you expand on this? How were you finding the beds in the thick cover? Were you walking the edge and saw sign leading you in there? Or were the beds elevation/terrain based, so you were keeping the same elevation while scouting but going in and out of the cover?


I found the same thing last weekend. It was by accident actually. We were driving down a gravel road after scouting a few places and almost to the highway I noticed a rub about 125 yards into the woods on the edge. I stopped and looked and there was another one about 10 yards away from the first. We walked over to them and found several more, new old, large and small. The top of the ridge was thick with small brush maybe 4-5 foot tall. As the ridge dropped off, the woods cleared. Where the ridge crested over the thick stuff stopped. Along this edge is where most of the rubs were or actually a few feet inside the thick. Walking that edge I found a bed next to a tree, wore to the dirt. It had been used repeatedly. The bed was on the downwind side of the ridge on normal winds. Squatting down in the bed you could see everything in front of him all the way to the road and the buck could smell from behind him where he couldn't see. Classic bedding.

There was no reason for me (or anyone actually) to even think anything about this particular spot. Just by chance I seen that one rub. In a month when things green up you won't be able to see it. One of the safest places for the buck to bed.
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