first destination food and edible bedding

[ghoasthunter]

we all know when we target buck beds we are trying too put ourselves between bedding location and destination food source. but what if you in big woods and the mast crop ridge or agriculture fields are a mile away. then what? this is when understanding brows and what time of year deer target specific plants comes into play. for hunting on the east coast targeting lowlands river bottoms and swamps are normally the most productive early season spots but why are the deer there? the deer are there because of the food in and around bedding they are using. for me September means shaded spice bush swamps that have a healthy blend of jewel weed and stinging nettle. common spice bush is a natural repellent for mosquitoes when you crush the leaves and release the aroma. the deer also eat these bushes my theory is the plants getting in the deers blood stream the mosquitoes bite them get a bad taste and leave them alone. spice bush also grows just above water line so its consistent dry ground for most of the time. because the deer browse the bush they clear the bottom half of bush out at deer level. this gives them a good line of sight when bedded in it and shaded overhead cover from the heat. also there tends to be nothing but bare dirt under the spice bushes. this gives them cool ground too lay on in the heat and no place for bugs too hide that they will kick up while walking around. the hotter the weather the more deer will be in these spots because of the natural micro climate it produces.

now hear is the first detonation food source you need too target too kill these deer before they go off too there primary food sources at night. jewel weed and stinging nettle and poison ivy. along the edge of spice bush patches these three plants flourish in the the more open canopy mature low land hard woods. if you walk this edge you will see trails exiting and defined brows line threw these three plants. you can hop down this edge and target every trail in a line too you connect. dont hunt right on the edges of these locations remember the deer can see clear threw the spice bushes and at the edge and most of the bucks will be bedded on the edge. i scout these spots mid summer before rain storms. then i setup about 100 too 150 yards back on the trails from the edge any closer and i feel i get picked out buy the deer in most situations. and plus its early and a mature bucks on a summer pattern and will move farther in day light sometimes even an hour or two before dark. the best places too hunt have all three plants. this is why jewel weed stops the sting from nettle and prevents the oils of poison ivy from making a rash. its like a base too a acid and counteracts and neutralizes the effects. jewel weed is also full of water so it eliminates the need for deer too drink. this whole pattern will stay going until the green is fully brown and the leaves have fallen off the spice bushes and the food is all gone. so you can get up tight on these edges and hunt for rut bucks with this too.

Hill country patterns i use i like targeting clear cuts and areas where i find major blow downs. the big driving plant in these areas is black berry poles deer cant get enough of them after brown up and they stay green all the way into December. i like getting in these areas in mornings on down wind edges of the transition lines and sit right on the bedding when bucks are active with does and scrapes. normally right around last week of October for me. i hunt the thickest most nasty ones i find normally this is where the big bucks set up shop for pre rut when some of them move out of the swamps or drop out of the big mountains. if im not hunting this im hunting laurel and rhododendron doing the same thing concentrating on exit trails from the bedding and the transition line in mornings. im looking for the trails with the brows lines and sign, and i setup just like the spice bush bedding.

late season i focus on rhododendron and laurel and pine cedar and hemlock overhead if its available in the area im hunting i continue the same pattern hunting bucks on the edge. i only go in deeper if i need too get closer too a buck thats bedded in the interior.

basically these are my 3 main focal points threw out my season and hold the most consistent patterns. some years i may hunt certain ones more but its only dictated buy bucks im targeting nothing else. if anybody has other brows they target before primary food sources threw out the season in different areas feel free too add in too first destination food sources and edible bedding.

Good stuff. Being new I really cant add anything that I know will 100% work effectively but I have 3 basic areas near me. Rolling farm, big hill, and swamp to hunt. So my plan is to set lots of observation posts on the farm to see if I can identify a mature bucks pattern then move in when the timing is right. In the big hills I plan to use drainage ditches to access and scout my way along the edges of laurel on the leeward slope checking for dropping acorns along with fresh rubs, droppings and or scrapes, I was going to check for tracks in the ditches as I go that may clue me in to where they are watering, I will also look for this sign on benches or flatter areas that lead into extremely steep leeward terrain, in the swamps basically what you said but scouting my way in further from the transition and look for those same things I am looking for in the hills... Acorns or falling apples. I have noticed with the beds I am finding on the farm I hunt its nearly impossible to scout my way in due to the fact that the deer are bedded to watch their food sources and or human access. I still have yet to find what I think is a good mature buck bedding area in hills and swamp but I haven't spent much time scouting the swamp area yet. If I do find this I can then formulate a plan to target that bedding area for when I think that buck is going to be there. Till I can build a good amount of beds to hunt this is going to be my plan. If anyone has any advice or anything to add I am all ears! Love learning from everyone on here!

if you find that browsing the beds wont be far closer you are too bedding the more concentrated it will be.

I was gonna check out the PGC web site for what deer browse on in my area and how to ID it. That's one thing I don't know a lot about. I know dogwood and how to ID it. But other than that that just basic foods like acorns and apples.

probably be able too find some kind of phone app field guide for plants and trees tech is crazy now a days. i learned alot working for a tree company back in the day and my grandmother was big on plants. my father was a real good trapper and hunter back in his time so i learned 50 years from that. knowledge is power learning anything and everything about the outdoors can be translated too deer hunting.

[BBH1980]

we all know when we target buck beds we are trying too put ourselves between bedding location and destination food source. but what if you in big woods and the mast crop ridge or agriculture fields are a mile away. then what? this is when understanding brows and what time of year deer target specific plants comes into play. for hunting on the east coast targeting lowlands river bottoms and swamps are normally the most productive early season spots but why are the deer there? the deer are there because of the food in and around bedding they are using. for me September means shaded spice bush swamps that have a healthy blend of jewel weed and stinging nettle. common spice bush is a natural repellent for mosquitoes when you crush the leaves and release the aroma. the deer also eat these bushes my theory is the plants getting in the deers blood stream the mosquitoes bite them get a bad taste and leave them alone. spice bush also grows just above water line so its consistent dry ground for most of the time. because the deer browse the bush they clear the bottom half of bush out at deer level. this gives them a good line of sight when bedded in it and shaded overhead cover from the heat. also there tends to be nothing but bare dirt under the spice bushes. this gives them cool ground too lay on in the heat and no place for bugs too hide that they will kick up while walking around. the hotter the weather the more deer will be in these spots because of the natural micro climate it produces.

now hear is the first detonation food source you need too target too kill these deer before they go off too there primary food sources at night. jewel weed and stinging nettle and poison ivy. along the edge of spice bush patches these three plants flourish in the the more open canopy mature low land hard woods. if you walk this edge you will see trails exiting and defined brows line threw these three plants. you can hop down this edge and target every trail in a line too you connect. dont hunt right on the edges of these locations remember the deer can see clear threw the spice bushes and at the edge and most of the bucks will be bedded on the edge. i scout these spots mid summer before rain storms. then i setup about 100 too 150 yards back on the trails from the edge any closer and i feel i get picked out buy the deer in most situations. and plus its early and a mature bucks on a summer pattern and will move farther in day light sometimes even an hour or two before dark. the best places too hunt have all three plants. this is why jewel weed stops the sting from nettle and prevents the oils of poison ivy from making a rash. its like a base too a acid and counteracts and neutralizes the effects. jewel weed is also full of water so it eliminates the need for deer too drink. this whole pattern will stay going until the green is fully brown and the leaves have fallen off the spice bushes and the food is all gone. so you can get up tight on these edges and hunt for rut bucks with this too.

Hill country patterns i use i like targeting clear cuts and areas where i find major blow downs. the big driving plant in these areas is black berry poles deer cant get enough of them after brown up and they stay green all the way into December. i like getting in these areas in mornings on down wind edges of the transition lines and sit right on the bedding when bucks are active with does and scrapes. normally right around last week of October for me. i hunt the thickest most nasty ones i find normally this is where the big bucks set up shop for pre rut when some of them move out of the swamps or drop out of the big mountains. if im not hunting this im hunting laurel and rhododendron doing the same thing concentrating on exit trails from the bedding and the transition line in mornings. im looking for the trails with the brows lines and sign, and i setup just like the spice bush bedding.

late season i focus on rhododendron and laurel and pine cedar and hemlock overhead if its available in the area im hunting i continue the same pattern hunting bucks on the edge. i only go in deeper if i need too get closer too a buck thats bedded in the interior.

basically these are my 3 main focal points threw out my season and hold the most consistent patterns. some years i may hunt certain ones more but its only dictated buy bucks im targeting nothing else. if anybody has other brows they target before primary food sources threw out the season in different areas feel free too add in too first destination food sources and edible bedding.

Good stuff. Being new I really cant add anything that I know will 100% work effectively but I have 3 basic areas near me. Rolling farm, big hill, and swamp to hunt. So my plan is to set lots of observation posts on the farm to see if I can identify a mature bucks pattern then move in when the timing is right. In the big hills I plan to use drainage ditches to access and scout my way along the edges of laurel on the leeward slope checking for dropping acorns along with fresh rubs, droppings and or scrapes, I was going to check for tracks in the ditches as I go that may clue me in to where they are watering, I will also look for this sign on benches or flatter areas that lead into extremely steep leeward terrain, in the swamps basically what you said but scouting my way in further from the transition and look for those same things I am looking for in the hills... Acorns or falling apples. I have noticed with the beds I am finding on the farm I hunt its nearly impossible to scout my way in due to the fact that the deer are bedded to watch their food sources and or human access. I still have yet to find what I think is a good mature buck bedding area in hills and swamp but I haven't spent much time scouting the swamp area yet. If I do find this I can then formulate a plan to target that bedding area for when I think that buck is going to be there. Till I can build a good amount of beds to hunt this is going to be my plan. If anyone has any advice or anything to add I am all ears! Love learning from everyone on here!

if you find that browsing the beds wont be far closer you are too bedding the more concentrated it will be.

I was gonna check out the PGC web site for what deer browse on in my area and how to ID it. That's one thing I don't know a lot about. I know dogwood and how to ID it. But other than that that just basic foods like acorns and apples.

probably be able too find some kind of phone app field guide for plants and trees tech is crazy now a days. i learned alot working for a tree company back in the day and my grandmother was big on plants. my father was a real good trapper and hunter back in his time so i learned 50 years from that. knowledge is power learning anything and everything about the outdoors can be translated too deer hunting.

Good points all round. I'm gonna see if there's an app. Great idea.

[bigbucks1234]

ghoast,,,, are you hunting your way into these presummably prescouted spots?? If so, are you looking for fresh tracks, droppings to confirm recent activity? Will you carry on if you do not find these things?

[ghoasthunter]

ghoast,,,, are you hunting your way into these presummably prescouted spots?? If so, are you looking for fresh tracks, droppings to confirm recent activity? Will you carry on if you do not find these things?

some are scouted some are not i have a general idea most times when im going blind from satellite or topo. alot of decision is made as you move in. fresh tracks and dropping are a plus. problem is sometimes you cant see these things due too conditions. but brows lines are either there or not its something you need too exercise too get good at. normally after one or two sits you figure out if you need to focus in or move along. every situation is going too be different finding a pattern thats worked and making it repeatable makes consistency over the years. one thin that will help a lot of new beasts is dont overwhelm yourself in a big vast area take a big chunk chop it up and work threw it. once you get a couple successful hunts you can repeat that process over and over. its pretty amazing how different every sit will be but also how close to the same they are. deer are not making decisions and thoughts they are running of of instinct.

[greenhorndave]

Ghoast... Great advice as always. Chopping it up is something I didn't do a great job of last year, but I'm definitely doing it now.

Where I struggle, particularly in areas that I'm hitting off of satellite images, is the balance between getting there somewhat quickly and being stealthy. In areas I don't have a lot of mileage, I am sometimes too slow because I want to avoid blowing deer out because I was going too fast.

How do you balance that?

[rfickes87]

Greenbriar is like deer candy. That along with blackberry and raspberry are the most preferred browse I see in this area. Pokeweed gets hammered wherever it grows too.

Elk, you're talking the berry leaves?

PS - another great post GH. We don't have spice bush in WI, but according to USDA, we do have jewel weed. I'll educate myself on identifying it in spring.

Blackberry and black raspberries brambles, yes. As with any browse they tend to eat the young tender shoots and leaves. You'll see noticeable evidence where deer have them trimmed back.

i see alot of deer pick up on them right around first frost too deer really like them when they wrinkle up for some reason maybe more sugar or something with change in flavor

Nice post Ghost! I never knew what Jewel Weed was but i just googled it and yes its something I've seen get all chewed up along trails in august/sept. You guys are dead on about green briers too. I've seem heavy trails where its looks like a giant ice cream scoop just came thru. everything left or right of the trail that's within reach is chewed out. I just had a guy tell me deer don't eat green briars and i had to laugh. This also reminds me of a great post by Buckeye in the all time best tactical thread where he shows off all his kills. He's talking about his one bed kill where he found a primary bed while spring scouting and he realized it was a heavily used primary bed partly due to that fact of how chewed up the briar around it was. I remember asking him about it because I was confused because he said about west winds being most common but that little point it was on faced the south. After seeing all the chewed up briar he knew the buck was there way too often for just a north wind.

[ghoasthunter]

Greenbriar is like deer candy. That along with blackberry and raspberry are the most preferred browse I see in this area. Pokeweed gets hammered wherever it grows too.

Elk, you're talking the berry leaves?

PS - another great post GH. We don't have spice bush in WI, but according to USDA, we do have jewel weed. I'll educate myself on identifying it in spring.

Blackberry and black raspberries brambles, yes. As with any browse they tend to eat the young tender shoots and leaves. You'll see noticeable evidence where deer have them trimmed back.

i see alot of deer pick up on them right around first frost too deer really like them when they wrinkle up for some reason maybe more sugar or something with change in flavor

Nice post Ghost! I never knew what Jewel Weed was but i just googled it and yes its something I've seen get all chewed up along trails in august/sept. You guys are dead on about green briers too. I've seem heavy trails where its looks like a giant ice cream scoop just came thru. everything left or right of the trail that's within reach is chewed out. I just had a guy tell me deer don't eat green briars and i had to laugh. This also reminds me of a great post by Buckeye in the all time best tactical thread where he shows off all his kills. He's talking about his one bed kill where he found a primary bed while spring scouting and he realized it was a heavily used primary bed partly due to that fact of how chewed up the briar around it was. I remember asking him about it because I was confused because he said about west winds being most common but that little point it was on faced the south. After seeing all the chewed up briar he knew the buck was there way too often for just a north wind.

spot on the more browsing in and around the bed the more its used for sure even if the winds would make you think otherwise. finding lots of rubs in scapes in bedding is good but a buck can make a bunch of rubs real fast then vanish. but a deer is a slave too there stomach.

[DaveT1963]

Take away ag crops and acorns, drop the vast majority of hunters into an environment with a plethora of natural browse and they will be lost on where and how to set up outside the rut. Trying to nail down natural browse preference and timing where it is abundant and the only food source, is tough to say the least with a few notable exceptions like: acorns, apples, persimmons, maple leaf drop, late locust pods, etc... It will humble a lot of hunters quickly. Mature bucks just do not have to move much in these environments. Add in some pressure and they are 24/7 homebodies never getting outside a very tight core area.

[BBH1980]

Greenbriar is like deer candy. That along with blackberry and raspberry are the most preferred browse I see in this area. Pokeweed gets hammered wherever it grows too.

Elk, you're talking the berry leaves?

PS - another great post GH. We don't have spice bush in WI, but according to USDA, we do have jewel weed. I'll educate myself on identifying it in spring.

Blackberry and black raspberries brambles, yes. As with any browse they tend to eat the young tender shoots and leaves. You'll see noticeable evidence where deer have them trimmed back.

i see alot of deer pick up on them right around first frost too deer really like them when they wrinkle up for some reason maybe more sugar or something with change in flavor

Nice post Ghost! I never knew what Jewel Weed was but i just googled it and yes its something I've seen get all chewed up along trails in august/sept. You guys are dead on about green briers too. I've seem heavy trails where its looks like a giant ice cream scoop just came thru. everything left or right of the trail that's within reach is chewed out. I just had a guy tell me deer don't eat green briars and i had to laugh. This also reminds me of a great post by Buckeye in the all time best tactical thread where he shows off all his kills. He's talking about his one bed kill where he found a primary bed while spring scouting and he realized it was a heavily used primary bed partly due to that fact of how chewed up the briar around it was. I remember asking him about it because I was confused because he said about west winds being most common but that little point it was on faced the south. After seeing all the chewed up briar he knew the buck was there way too often for just a north wind.

spot on the more browsing in and around the bed the more its used for sure even if the winds would make you think otherwise. finding lots of rubs in scapes in bedding is good but a buck can make a bunch of rubs real fast then vanish. but a deer is a slave too there stomach.

I was out today scouting along a big pond edge. The land gently slopes up to the south. It's void of bigger trees but heavy cover and tons of dogwood that I never thought to look for. The dogwood was absolutely destroyed and I also found 8-10 stomach high rubs. I never thought to look for browse before. I didn't really find and defined beds however on the west edge there's an apple tree with a scrape under it and more bug rubs. To the east there's a pinch point between the pond and a big field that meshes to about a 1/2 acre cattail marsh. I was shocked to find no beds in the marsh. One spot with a couple hairs but we had a wet year last year so could have been under water. There's a couple short pines on the slope that I thought I would find beds under and they could be there but it's not worn in or defined. I'm in rolling farm and not finding worn in bed or defined ones. The land is pretty open so I'm gonna have to sit a bunch of observation stands pre season from a distance.

[ghoasthunter]

Greenbriar is like deer candy. That along with blackberry and raspberry are the most preferred browse I see in this area. Pokeweed gets hammered wherever it grows too.

Elk, you're talking the berry leaves?

PS - another great post GH. We don't have spice bush in WI, but according to USDA, we do have jewel weed. I'll educate myself on identifying it in spring.

Blackberry and black raspberries brambles, yes. As with any browse they tend to eat the young tender shoots and leaves. You'll see noticeable evidence where deer have them trimmed back.

i see alot of deer pick up on them right around first frost too deer really like them when they wrinkle up for some reason maybe more sugar or something with change in flavor

Nice post Ghost! I never knew what Jewel Weed was but i just googled it and yes its something I've seen get all chewed up along trails in august/sept. You guys are dead on about green briers too. I've seem heavy trails where its looks like a giant ice cream scoop just came thru. everything left or right of the trail that's within reach is chewed out. I just had a guy tell me deer don't eat green briars and i had to laugh. This also reminds me of a great post by Buckeye in the all time best tactical thread where he shows off all his kills. He's talking about his one bed kill where he found a primary bed while spring scouting and he realized it was a heavily used primary bed partly due to that fact of how chewed up the briar around it was. I remember asking him about it because I was confused because he said about west winds being most common but that little point it was on faced the south. After seeing all the chewed up briar he knew the buck was there way too often for just a north wind.

spot on the more browsing in and around the bed the more its used for sure even if the winds would make you think otherwise. finding lots of rubs in scapes in bedding is good but a buck can make a bunch of rubs real fast then vanish. but a deer is a slave too there stomach.

I was out today scouting along a big pond edge. The land gently slopes up to the south. It's void of bigger trees but heavy cover and tons of dogwood that I never thought to look for. The dogwood was absolutely destroyed and I also found 8-10 stomach high rubs. I never thought to look for browse before. I didn't really find and defined beds however on the west edge there's an apple tree with a scrape under it and more bug rubs. To the east there's a pinch point between the pond and a big field that meshes to about a 1/2 acre cattail marsh. I was shocked to find no beds in the marsh. One spot with a couple hairs but we had a wet year last year so could have been under water. There's a couple short pines on the slope that I thought I would find beds under and they could be there but it's not worn in or defined. I'm in rolling farm and not finding worn in bed or defined ones. The land is pretty open so I'm gonna have to sit a bunch of observation stands pre season from a distance.

sounds like a good find with the flooding from last season a lot of bedding sign will be washed away hair floats. frost pushes up and erases bedding. but if you really think what your looking at is a bed it worth hunting it for sure. the fact its backed up too water screams buck bedding too me.

[BBH1980]

Greenbriar is like deer candy. That along with blackberry and raspberry are the most preferred browse I see in this area. Pokeweed gets hammered wherever it grows too.

Elk, you're talking the berry leaves?

PS - another great post GH. We don't have spice bush in WI, but according to USDA, we do have jewel weed. I'll educate myself on identifying it in spring.

Blackberry and black raspberries brambles, yes. As with any browse they tend to eat the young tender shoots and leaves. You'll see noticeable evidence where deer have them trimmed back.

i see alot of deer pick up on them right around first frost too deer really like them when they wrinkle up for some reason maybe more sugar or something with change in flavor

Nice post Ghost! I never knew what Jewel Weed was but i just googled it and yes its something I've seen get all chewed up along trails in august/sept. You guys are dead on about green briers too. I've seem heavy trails where its looks like a giant ice cream scoop just came thru. everything left or right of the trail that's within reach is chewed out. I just had a guy tell me deer don't eat green briars and i had to laugh. This also reminds me of a great post by Buckeye in the all time best tactical thread where he shows off all his kills. He's talking about his one bed kill where he found a primary bed while spring scouting and he realized it was a heavily used primary bed partly due to that fact of how chewed up the briar around it was. I remember asking him about it because I was confused because he said about west winds being most common but that little point it was on faced the south. After seeing all the chewed up briar he knew the buck was there way too often for just a north wind.

spot on the more browsing in and around the bed the more its used for sure even if the winds would make you think otherwise. finding lots of rubs in scapes in bedding is good but a buck can make a bunch of rubs real fast then vanish. but a deer is a slave too there stomach.

I was out today scouting along a big pond edge. The land gently slopes up to the south. It's void of bigger trees but heavy cover and tons of dogwood that I never thought to look for. The dogwood was absolutely destroyed and I also found 8-10 stomach high rubs. I never thought to look for browse before. I didn't really find and defined beds however on the west edge there's an apple tree with a scrape under it and more bug rubs. To the east there's a pinch point between the pond and a big field that meshes to about a 1/2 acre cattail marsh. I was shocked to find no beds in the marsh. One spot with a couple hairs but we had a wet year last year so could have been under water. There's a couple short pines on the slope that I thought I would find beds under and they could be there but it's not worn in or defined. I'm in rolling farm and not finding worn in bed or defined ones. The land is pretty open so I'm gonna have to sit a bunch of observation stands pre season from a distance.

sounds like a good find with the flooding from last season a lot of bedding sign will be washed away hair floats. frost pushes up and erases bedding. but if you really think what your looking at is a bed it worth hunting it for sure. the fact its backed up too water screams buck bedding too me.

I'm hoping that's the case. I have a feeling I'm gonna be doing a lot of experimenting using the 3 sits a season rule for each bedding area I suspect. This particular spot has a reputation for bigger bucks exiting it.

[Ahawk116]

Good points all round. I'm gonna see if there's an app. Great idea.[/quote]


Leaf snap is a pretty good app.

[ghoasthunter]

Good points all round. I'm gonna see if there's an app. Great idea.

Leaf snap is a pretty good app.[/quote]
is that the one you take a pic of the leaf and its drops a list of trees?

[DaveT1963]

Good points all round. I'm gonna see if there's an app. Great idea.

Leaf snap is a pretty good app.

is that the one you take a pic of the leaf and its drops a list of trees?[/quote]

I use pl@ntnet app

[greenhorndave]

Good points all round. I'm gonna see if there's an app. Great idea.

Leaf snap is a pretty good app.

is that the one you take a pic of the leaf and its drops a list of trees?

I use pl@ntnet app[/quote]

Is it relatively accurate?