Overgrown fields??
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Overgrown fields??
Does anyone ever see mature bucks using overgrown fields instead of the woods when they are pressured? Do you find that they bed similar to what they would do in a marsh?
"One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is and can show himself to be." — Theodore Roosevelt, 1893
- Boogieman1
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Re: Overgrown fields??
Yes I've seen a number of good bucks in overgrown fields both using for travel and bedding. Never hunted a marsh but the bedded ones I've jumped in a field were all eithier on a lil high spot, in a corner or under a lone big tree. Only good in early season, once u get a hard frost all those weeds lay over and leave no cover.
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- goldtip5575
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Re: Overgrown fields??
Yes even if they are not pressured. NO most of the time 100% of the ground is dry so a lot more bedding choices so more random. For me its been wind based bedding on specific winds leaving beds into wind.
- Hawthorne
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Re: Overgrown fields??
They are primary Buck bedding areas in some of the areas I hunt and they use them all year.Shot my biggest last year in a single walnut tree out in an overgrown field.They like leeward sides of hills to bed on.
- Ridgerunner7
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Re: Overgrown fields??
Yes, check around the highest spots and the lowest spots in the field. Brush piles or rock piles in the field often have bedding right up next to it. Any type of thicket of vegetation change in the overgrown field. Lone trees, ditches around the edge or through the middle are all good bets for bedding.
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Re: Overgrown fields??
They use them all the time. If they can get a sight advantage due to a little rise with no trees. I’d say they prefer bedding in the semi open as opposed to woods.
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Re: Overgrown fields??
I've found for overgrown fields to be pretty good spots to set up on. One particular field on my Grandpas farm was overgrown with multiflora rose bushes, autumn olive, cedars and other weeds. The deer would always bed around an old apple tree in the center of the field. So I would definitely say they are worth hunting.
- bowfreak8
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Re: Overgrown fields??
I hunt an old farm that has a ton of overgrown fields. The deer don't even go in the woods anymore. They live in those fields almost year round. It makes for some tough hunting. Sometimes they are around structure but a lot of times they are not.
One November we rode ATV's through one of the valleys and kicked up 7 different bucks and a bunch of Doe. That was just a small portion of the overgrown fields.
In the Spring we find 95% of the sheds in that tall grass.
One November we rode ATV's through one of the valleys and kicked up 7 different bucks and a bunch of Doe. That was just a small portion of the overgrown fields.
In the Spring we find 95% of the sheds in that tall grass.
- mnswamphunter
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Re: Overgrown fields??
Yes, I have seen them bedding on a rise in the field with there wind to there back. I also seen them on an open field bedded up against a irrigation well pump. There is only a five yard circle of grass around the pump. The rest of the field is bare dirt.
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Re: Overgrown fields??
Ridgerunner7 wrote:Yes, check around the highest spots and the lowest spots in the field. Brush piles or rock piles in the field often have bedding right up next to it. Any type of thicket of vegetation change in the overgrown field. Lone trees, ditches around the edge or through the middle are all good bets for bedding.
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- Bowfisher
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Re: Overgrown fields??
What has everyone seen private vs public? Seems as if these fields could really get kicked out of say there is pheasant or rabbit hunting pressure. Now obviously before those seasons come it some good hunts could be had, just curious as to people’s observations?
- DaveT1963
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Re: Overgrown fields??
CRP is consistent bedding where I hunt. But like Dan says all the time, they will still relate to structure, edges and points. I cannot tell you how many times I walk to a lone tree in the middle of a Johnson grass field and find a buck bed there.
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Re: Overgrown fields??
Yes, I hunt in primarily woodland, but anywhere there is an opening with tall grass is a great bedding area. Recently I have seen alot of fresh beds (as evidenced by fresh poop in them) a couple of steps away from forest service roads in the tall grass. Great way for deer to cover themselves and see foot traffic.
- Mathewshooter
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Re: Overgrown fields??
I hunt public land in NY and am amazed at the amount of beds I find in overgrown fields. I find them while spring scouting but have also seen a bunch of them while tracking wounded deer. Even though I've found a ton of these beds, I've never kicked a deer out of them. These beds are all over the place in these fields but the deer are nowhere to be found. I wouldnt even know where to begin to try to hunt these fields. Theres a ton of overgrown fields and a ton of beds in them. There are some years where they go around and brush hog these fields and these years seem to be great for deer sightings in the woods because half of their bedding is gone.
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Re: Overgrown fields??
I have 2 different places that I think could be good. One though, there are numerous fields separated by crops or woods. Many of these fields have old abandoned buildings, so old there are trees growing in top of them. I often had wondered if bucks ever bedded in top of these mounds and watched me walk into the woods. It’d be a lot of hours on the ground checking it all.
"One of the chief attractions of the life of the wilderness is its rugged and stalwart democracy; there every man stands for what he actually is and can show himself to be." — Theodore Roosevelt, 1893
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