thepennsylvanian wrote:funderburk wrote:BBH1980 wrote:thepennsylvanian wrote:I'm in swpa but I hunt the and quite a bit too. I've started to see bigger bucks just in the year that I've found thb but I'm really struggling to find beds. I'm still going to be behind this year as well, as I'll have little to no winter scouting. The terrain I'm in is rolling hills/ steep WV hills on the panhandle, with a little farm country sprinkled in. Things I have a few areas narrowed down, but can't find the actual beds, I have found doe bedding, as in 5/6 beds in a circle-ish pattern, I just don't know how to translate any of those into usable recon for a buck bed......
Northeast here. And yeah having same things. Plenty of doe beds but bucks are an issue for me.
Do either of you have any of Dan's DVDs? That's what flipped the switch for me.
I do as well, hill country and farm country. Clearly I'm missing the big picture, because for years before THB there would be times I wouldn't see a buck the entire year let alone a mature buck. I have learned to use terrain and cover finding funnels to take a few bucks this past season but i hope to get deeper into this and fond bedding and hopefully get to where I can begin targeting bucks... I found a big buck last year in the summer, but I didn't know where he was bedding so I didn't really know how to go about hunting him.... I ended up screwing it up because I went in unprepared......
I hate you're having such a hard time, but that's what this thread was meant to help remedy! I'd encourage you to reach out to JoeRE. The guy knows hill country. Also, it might be time to determine if you need to move on to another property. I've gotten pretty decent at finding beds and bedding areas, and I've noticed I'm most efficient and log more huntable spots when I can confidently say to myself, "Hey dude, this place is no good" and actually have the will-power to move on to another parcel. No matter how "good" a property looks, if it ain't got mature bucks, I ain't wasting time there. Although, one time I left a parcel because of a lack of "sexy sign" (rubs, scrapes) and a buddy ended up putting eyes on a 130" tank.
But hey, that was before the beast changed my life
Point being: Look for the right environment. If your property doesn't have what a mature buck needs, he ain't gonna be hanging out there. Is there anything that's giving him an advantage to survive? If you were being chased, would you hide on your property? If so, where? If not, move on brother.
Maybe that helps a little..? Hope things start turning around for ya!