Questions we ask ourselves.

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Tennhunter3
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Questions we ask ourselves.

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Sun Sep 08, 2019 10:24 pm

I just wanted to go over when selecting a spot after finding a buck bed what do you ask yourself? Some of these are very obvious but I would like to hear some that aren't. That could play a positive in selecting a spot.

It's almost like we need a chart written down to go over after we find each bed. It seems like a hundred questions the mind starts processing. I know I began thinking so many different details.


Obvious ones.

What wind is he bedding here?
What direction is nearest food, water?
What direction is best to enter from to this setup?
Where is doe bedding in relation to this for rut?
Where is the nearest transition line?
What trail is the buck using on entry and exit?
How will my thermals react in this location?
How high should I hunt this location?
What time of day is best to hunt this location?

Less obvious
Where is surrounding bedding?
Is this a rut bed?
Where is thermal tunnel travel in relation to this bedding?
What tree can I climb the quietest is bark noisy?
Is their downed trees or terrain to change buck travel direction?


What are some that go through your mind?

I think the more questions we can answer at each spot will help us better understand the area we are hunting.

One thing I notice about beast hunting is the huge amount of attention given to figuring out the small details.


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cspot
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Re: Questions we ask ourselves.

Unread postby cspot » Sun Sep 08, 2019 11:13 pm

I think you have it pretty well covered.

I usually feel pretty good about it until later that evening or the next day and then I go thru...What did I miss? :D
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Re: Questions we ask ourselves.

Unread postby backstrap19 » Sun Sep 08, 2019 11:55 pm

How can I access this area without being detected?

How likely are other hunters to stumble into this area?

Where will a deer go that is bumped from this bed?
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Re: Questions we ask ourselves.

Unread postby Smitty » Mon Sep 09, 2019 12:14 am

Good topic is there maybe more than one exit trail should I pick one or try to cover both. I’m pretty new to this style hunting and I can absolutely relate to the previous comment about feeling good about an area right away then wondering if you missed a certain detail.
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Jonny
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Re: Questions we ask ourselves.

Unread postby Jonny » Mon Sep 09, 2019 12:48 am

When I come back in September, how bad is this gonna suck to access when I’m not standing on a foot of ice
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Tennhunter3
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Re: Questions we ask ourselves.

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Mon Sep 09, 2019 7:27 am

There's many more questions.

Noone mentions questions like.

How far can that buck see from his bed.
How far can I see into that overlap of his vision and mine.
What landmark can we both see.

How thick of cover am I most likely going to need to shoot through.

To be honest even the questions above barely scratch the surface . There's many more.

Oneday I really should create a 100 question exam page for each individual bedding area I plan to hunt. This will force me to spend more time in a bedding area and during that time it might make me notice many things I had missed.

You guys have some good questions above some I have not thought of. But the fact that so many questions are not mentioned should make you think.

Are you spending enough time planning a spot -area out?
My first several beast seasons I rushed and i regret it.
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Re: Questions we ask ourselves.

Unread postby Spauldo42 » Mon Sep 09, 2019 8:08 am

So for a guy just starting into hunting beds. How did rushing into this style hurt and what would you do differently? Or was the ‘hurt’ just part of the journey?
Tennhunter3
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Re: Questions we ask ourselves.

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Mon Sep 09, 2019 8:44 am

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Tennhunter3
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Re: Questions we ask ourselves.

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Mon Sep 09, 2019 8:44 am

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Tennhunter3
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Re: Questions we ask ourselves.

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Mon Sep 09, 2019 8:45 am

Screenshot_20190908-154345_Samsung Notes.jpg


Here's the first 50.
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Tennhunter3
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Re: Questions we ask ourselves.

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Mon Sep 09, 2019 8:50 am

Spauldo42 wrote:So for a guy just starting into hunting beds. How did rushing into this style hurt and what would you do differently? Or was the ‘hurt’ just part of the journey?


I would slow way down and study the buck bedding area inside and out. It's easy to get in a hurry or get so excited about finding a bed that you miss the fine details.

As a new hunter
I did not go slow
I did not pay enough attention to detail
I did not pay close enough attention to food sources nearby and what time of year they are best active.

The list is so long.
Make yourself a spreadsheet of questions and try to answer them all in that bedding area.
Last edited by Tennhunter3 on Mon Sep 09, 2019 9:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Tennhunter3
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Re: Questions we ask ourselves.

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Mon Sep 09, 2019 9:18 am

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Tennhunter3
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Re: Questions we ask ourselves.

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Mon Sep 09, 2019 9:45 am

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Re: Questions we ask ourselves.

Unread postby JSexton23 » Mon Sep 09, 2019 11:29 pm

As a newly, I’ll go a little further with the questioning.

What does “study a bedding area inside and out” entail? For instance, I found a very good core rub area with a dozen rubs within a 100 foot radius, struggled to find a bed. I followed trails from that hub, went back and just zigzagged from the hub all around. Still struggled to make sense of it. Trails leading in and out just sort of disappear after following them for a bit. I finally found 2 beds about 30 yards away with hair in them, but I think they are doe beds.
Tennhunter3
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Re: Questions we ask ourselves.

Unread postby Tennhunter3 » Tue Sep 10, 2019 1:39 am

JSexton23 wrote:As a newly, I’ll go a little further with the questioning.

What does “study a bedding area inside and out” entail? For instance, I found a very good core rub area with a dozen rubs within a 100 foot radius, struggled to find a bed. I followed trails from that hub, went back and just zigzagged from the hub all around. Still struggled to make sense of it. Trails leading in and out just sort of disappear after following them for a bit. I finally found 2 beds about 30 yards away with hair in them, but I think they are doe beds.


What do I mean by knowing a bedding area inside and out if you rushed you may have missed the most vital clue. Zig zagging. You studied the area thoroughly enough to find a small important detail.

Let's break that spot down from your description.

Bedding area type below.
Sounds like you found a doe bedding area.


Faint trails zig zagging probable reason below.

With bucks crusing along the hub and the reason they were zig zagging was to try to make sure they were smelling the bedded does. Or the Does thermal.


Why the hub terrain feature below.

Going along the hub also made sure they could smell everything around. Everything naturally pulls to a hub. Bucks cruising upwind and downwind of doe -doe thermal.

Reason buck rubs are their below.

The reason those rubs are their was a dominance marker to other bucks hey this is my ladies. That is the area those does scent blows 2 , often that time of year which is the reasoning for the rub cluster.


Time of year spot is used most likely below.

The reason the trails leading in and out are barely visible along the hub is it's only used during the rut. They would be very visible and beat down if it was a year round buck cruising or bedding spot.


My thought suggestions below.

There should be a trail heavier then the rest this mostly likely will be doe travel may be ontop going to those beds. I bet if you follow it closely you will find rubs or a faint trail crossing it.

If you look around between 50 and 400 yards you will probably find a bucks rut bed. It will be only used temporarily and hard to see most likely.

Their will be a trail slightly upwind or downwind of the rut bed where he wind checks it from.



How many hours did you spend in this bedding area?
Sounds like you did a good job in your area examination process.

Did you find a selected tree downwind or beside the rub cluster.
Did you find a selected tree near the zig zag on the hub.

What is nearby the does are feeding on during rut time period?
Where is that food source is their a faint trail going to it?
If does are bedded their is food nearby at that time of the year.

I think you found yourself a very good peak rut spot way to go.
Never give up Freedom for imagined safety.


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