As the title suggests....
Am I thinking wrong? I'm thinking of the individual trees and brushy areas as little isolated islands.
I am struggling with CRP/lone trees/brushy mixes. I posted a couple of weeks ago asking about possible deer trails. I finally was able to access and get boots on the ground. The place looks phenomenal. Being new to beast hunting (1st year), I'm struggling with these CRP fields. Open CRP with lots of small trees and brush throughout. To me it looks like the entire area is a giant bedding area. Would anyone be willing to chime in who has hunted this type of ground. The area is relatively flat. A few feet of elevation here an there in the CRP. Here are some pics to give you an idea of what I'm working with. North is at the top of the pics. I also zoomed in some of the aerial pics.
Any help is appreciated. I know I'll need to most likely do observation sits.
At what point is it no longer considered bedding?
- seuss79
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Re: At what point is it no longer considered bedding?
Do you have the spots pinned where you found bedding? What about a topo map?
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Re: At what point is it no longer considered bedding?
Focus on transition lines, where CRP meets marsh or CRP meets ag, CRP meets timber, or it could just be a transition between different types of grass. On these transition lines you should be able to find either bedding ,trails, scrapes, and or rubs. Once you find the sign, then the questions mentioned in other threads should start pouring in.
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Re: At what point is it no longer considered bedding?
Did you find any actual beds during your boots on ground scouting? In my limited experience hunting a much smaller CRP field I noticed that even though the entire area might look great to you the deer tend to bed in the same area within the CRP field over and over. I’m my case they didn’t use the overall larger area every day but when I did see them in there they were coming from the same actual beds each time. Hope this helps.
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Re: At what point is it no longer considered bedding?
I’m new to the crp fields this year too and can’t believe the bucks that are in some of these (not all created equal just like anything) but I’ve found beds by certain trees (not all of them) some are there on all winds some not, some are wind specific. I have observed all though I can’t see nearly as much as I’d Like my original plan was to hunt a specific bed on a SE wind right where his trail hits the tranny line (about right in the center of it) but from observation I don’t think early in the season I’ll have to push that far as I’ve seen the bucks pop out right on the corner of timber and tranny line. Hopefully the example I’ve described helps a little.
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Re: At what point is it no longer considered bedding?
Check right by where you park to access that spot every time.
- seuss79
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Re: At what point is it no longer considered bedding?
Throughout the CRP I found beds randomly. I'd assume does.
There were several smaller cattail areas maybe 50 yards by 50 yards. I found beds with their back to the cattails right up against them. Fresh ones too. I found two trees that had multiple beds under them. North, west and N.east beds under same trees. Not where I expected to find them under trees though. I expected them to be on the east side of the bigger woods patches with predominant winds from West and south this time of year.
I didn't look at every brushy area out there. Just walked around the edges I could while I was out there.
I've probably done more harm than good going in but this is just a small section of the property. I need to learn and see first hand.
Here's what I found while I was out there
1 and 2 were the 2 trees.
3 was the beds against the cattails.
Red are what I presume buck beds.
Blue are doe beds randomly in CRP.
White stripes are White oaks
Purple are crabapples on ground.
Yellow are cattail patches
There were several smaller cattail areas maybe 50 yards by 50 yards. I found beds with their back to the cattails right up against them. Fresh ones too. I found two trees that had multiple beds under them. North, west and N.east beds under same trees. Not where I expected to find them under trees though. I expected them to be on the east side of the bigger woods patches with predominant winds from West and south this time of year.
I didn't look at every brushy area out there. Just walked around the edges I could while I was out there.
I've probably done more harm than good going in but this is just a small section of the property. I need to learn and see first hand.
Here's what I found while I was out there
1 and 2 were the 2 trees.
3 was the beds against the cattails.
Red are what I presume buck beds.
Blue are doe beds randomly in CRP.
White stripes are White oaks
Purple are crabapples on ground.
Yellow are cattail patches
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Re: At what point is it no longer considered bedding?
Way to get after it! Haha Looks like a great spot
I agree its a giant bedding area. My advice is concentrate on size of the beds and size of droppings. Bc you may not find many rubs or tracks to verify its a buck. You'll know a good buck tho. Once you find one, keep an eye out for fawn beds. That will help decide as well. You will likely find many beds in there. Be sure to go back after the season to look around better.
I agree its a giant bedding area. My advice is concentrate on size of the beds and size of droppings. Bc you may not find many rubs or tracks to verify its a buck. You'll know a good buck tho. Once you find one, keep an eye out for fawn beds. That will help decide as well. You will likely find many beds in there. Be sure to go back after the season to look around better.
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Re: At what point is it no longer considered bedding?
This is hopefully a better exams of what I'm asking.
Pic 1 is unedited.
Pic 2 is essentially the edge that I see. All the little circles are small trees also throughout.
The amount of small trees give lots of cover. I would think deer could use them.
The white area to the left in pic two is sparce enough that you can walk around in the area but not be seen after walking behind the first tree. This with the tall CRP grass just looks like something a deer would bed in to get away from hunters.
So in your experiences, do you see bucks holding up in these small thickets or just bedded on the edge of them?
Pic 1 is unedited.
Pic 2 is essentially the edge that I see. All the little circles are small trees also throughout.
The amount of small trees give lots of cover. I would think deer could use them.
The white area to the left in pic two is sparce enough that you can walk around in the area but not be seen after walking behind the first tree. This with the tall CRP grass just looks like something a deer would bed in to get away from hunters.
So in your experiences, do you see bucks holding up in these small thickets or just bedded on the edge of them?
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Re: At what point is it no longer considered bedding?
I have a much smaller but similar area I've looked at/hunted. Any structure that gives a mature buck security can have beds. Only way to know for sure how they use it is boots on the ground. If your trying to hunt it yet this season. Find some place to observe as much of it as possible. You may get an idea of where they bed and the direction they head.
The area I hunt goes vacant as soon as any other hunters, bow, pheasant, etc start walking it. But some pigs definitely use it in the summer, into early fall. If left undisturbed.
The area I hunt goes vacant as soon as any other hunters, bow, pheasant, etc start walking it. But some pigs definitely use it in the summer, into early fall. If left undisturbed.
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- seuss79
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Re: At what point is it no longer considered bedding?
I plan on doing observation sits to start my season. Have to be out by 7 before season opens. 1st time on property and needed to see more than just from the road. You can't see much from the road. In season and end of season scouting is a must for 2020. I started to print topos and satellite images out and Drew some edge lines like I did in yellow. It's making me think more with some of the trails I found.
I overthink everything though and as much as it helps me it hurts me with stuff like this......
I overthink everything though and as much as it helps me it hurts me with stuff like this......
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