Ability of a buck to see from it's bed??

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mheichelbech
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Ability of a buck to see from it's bed??

Unread postby mheichelbech » Fri Sep 21, 2018 9:32 am

Does anyone often see mature buck bedding where the buck CANNOT see in front and around him (180 degrees I guess) very well? I have a few areas that I'd think a buck would like to bed except it is so thick and the brush/weeds/trees/bushes, etc. are fairly tall and the buck would not have much visibility beyond 20 yards or so. I am wondering if they would ignore a spot like that in favor of a place they could see better what is coming at them from the front or side.

Haven't heard this talked about much.


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<DK>
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Re: Ability of a buck to see from it's bed??

Unread postby <DK> » Fri Sep 21, 2018 9:45 am

I have seen this is certain spots. Just means its not sight based. One bed I can recall which I had to crawl into and unles sits dead of winter he cant see a thing BUT there is no way for a predator to get in on him. Also some CRP fields are too tall to see anything unless they stand up.

If youre considering overlooking it then I think the length or size would matter to me the most.
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Re: Ability of a buck to see from it's bed??

Unread postby Ghost Pointer » Fri Sep 21, 2018 10:02 am

I haven't found a ton of beds yet, but the ALL of the ones I have found, the buck can see to his downwind side. *note: the ones I have found have all been on points in big woods.

Interested to hear everyone else's response.
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Rob loper
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Re: Ability of a buck to see from it's bed??

Unread postby Rob loper » Fri Sep 21, 2018 11:05 am

The marsh and swamps are full of bedding like these
Its pretty much all hearing based. Its so think in some areas. You cant sneak anywhere within 100 yards of these beds. Its where they rely on their ears and maybe confirm with scent.
I was out yesterday on a marsh and had a deer in a bed and stuck tight cause i knew he heard me csuse it was so thick
But when i got upwind of him it confirmed too him that i was dangr and he bolted.
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rfickes87
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Re: Ability of a buck to see from it's bed??

Unread postby rfickes87 » Fri Sep 21, 2018 1:26 pm

I find beds here in PA up on the military crests of ridges. The best ones that are worn out I will sit down in them to get the bucks POV. Its surprising sometimes how little of a sight vantage they have.
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Re: Ability of a buck to see from it's bed??

Unread postby Twenty Up » Fri Sep 21, 2018 1:34 pm

I found several beds that were surrounded by kudzu, briars, privet hedge and other extremely dense foliage. You couldn’t get within 100 yards of the beds without waking the dead. It seems a lot of early season beds are setup this way, because visibility is sub 50 yards here in most places. It’s also cooler in the shaded creek bottoms

Most of these beds I found were located in creek bottoms or the edge of creek bottoms into CRP fields. Hunting them has been a CHORE...

While I’m new to early season scouting, it seems thermals & wind swirls have a serious role in how our bucks are bedding. Our wind hardly ever picks up past 5-7mph here I’ve noticed, with enough rise in elevation thermals have trumped wind for me on 3 hunts so far.. saving me once, and ruining my hunts on two other occasions.
Last edited by Twenty Up on Fri Sep 21, 2018 1:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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tgreeno
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Re: Ability of a buck to see from it's bed??

Unread postby tgreeno » Fri Sep 21, 2018 1:42 pm

Probably 50% of the beds I've found don't have a great downwind, long range sight advantage. I think that is more common in hill country bedding. Marsh bedding there is rarely a sight advantage, but that's typically not wind based bedding anyway. IMO, it's more about how secure they feel in those areas. And areas they historically haven't been bothered in.
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