Bedding in flat land in Michigan

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Hildebrand
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Bedding in flat land in Michigan

Unread postby Hildebrand » Thu Oct 10, 2019 2:57 am

Hi, I have some questions about flat land bedding in south Michigan. We have a square wood lots surrounded by ag fields on all sides. Two rivers across the roads. The wood lot has no water sitting in it but like mentioned lots close by. Off the back in the one field there is a creek about 250 yards away. And the one side has a river about 500 yards away and same with the front. So 10 years ago a big logging job was done and took 80 plus percent of the trees. No that is so thick and nasty the deer love it. Always have great size deer on camera over the summers and early part of the season. I say early because as season goes on the fizzle out. I am 100 percent sure is because myself and my hunting pressure. Now that I have found the beast I am learning. Still learning how to hunt as I got into a few years ago. So I did some scouting last winter and found a lot of beds and tons and tons of rubs all through out the thicket. I can say for sure that I actually found buck beds because In all honesty I am still learning. I know bucks bed on the land because I have taken bucks from the land that has walked out of that bedding area. Its a bedding area of a few acres.

So what I am here for is how would one approach this wood lot? I have marked a map in hopes for some help. So yellow line is a transition line and from that line right which is east was all logged out heavy. And the box I have marked in the middle is where the bedding is and where the rubs are. And all the way east its hard to hunt that side becasue its thick and its hard to access. I hunt a lot of the west side close to bedding but not in bedding.


Hildebrand
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Re: Bedding in flat land in Michigan

Unread postby Hildebrand » Thu Oct 10, 2019 2:58 am

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Hildebrand
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Re: Bedding in flat land in Michigan

Unread postby Hildebrand » Thu Oct 10, 2019 3:01 am

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DaHunter
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Re: Bedding in flat land in Michigan

Unread postby DaHunter » Thu Oct 10, 2019 8:51 am

1) let trail cams give you Intel. I'd probably have one on each side of the bedding and let them soak for a season. Figure out when and why they exit on each side. Make notes on crops and winds.

2) Are you hunting on the west side all the time, even on Michigan's common westerly winds? If so, I'd stop that and that could be why it thins out as season goes on. Try hunting the north or south side on a cross wind. Find the exit routes from bedding in all directions and make sure to play the wind. Doesn't have to be perfect (east side on a west wind) though.

3) Exit direction out of bedding will depend on time of season, crops, does, pressure. Have to do observation sits or use trail cams to pattern them.

Good Luck!
DaHunter
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Re: Bedding in flat land in Michigan

Unread postby DaHunter » Thu Oct 10, 2019 8:56 am

If it were me...and I didn't have a specific buck patterned, I would wait to hunt until late October. Pressure on surrounding land will push a lot of bucks into that thick bedding and they'll be much easier to hunt during pre-rut and rut. Hunt downwind side of doe bedding and watch all the bucks come by!
Hildebrand
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Re: Bedding in flat land in Michigan

Unread postby Hildebrand » Thu Oct 10, 2019 11:25 pm

2) Are you hunting on the west side all the time, even on Michigan's common westerly winds? If so, I'd stop that and that could be why it thins out as season goes on. Try hunting the north or south side on a cross wind. Find the exit routes from bedding in all directions and make sure to play the wind. Doesn't have to be perfect (east side on a west wind) though.

This is the first year of me really working the wind and trying not to over hunt it. Most of the acorns are on the west side and when they want to leave they normally cross that field to hit that river bottom.

As for for finding the trails in and out of the thicket, I have not had much luck. I did off season scouting and found all the sign,rubs,some trails and beds. I know with green up would be the time to really find trials but dont want to walk through trashing the woods.

I do use trail cameras but they stay on the edge for intel so I dont get to close to bedding and spoke deer.

Right now on the south field is planted corn,the west field did not get planted due to flooded this spring. The north east is corn and the north field is beans. The north west field is nothing right now. The east field had pumpkins growing in it. That thicket is about 200 yards wide and probably 350 deep. But its a area not just a bed. Tons of beds in it.
Hildebrand
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Re: Bedding in flat land in Michigan

Unread postby Hildebrand » Thu Oct 10, 2019 11:27 pm

DaHunter wrote:If it were me...and I didn't have a specific buck patterned, I would wait to hunt until late October. Pressure on surrounding land will push a lot of bucks into that thick bedding and they'll be much easier to hunt during pre-rut and rut. Hunt downwind side of doe bedding and watch all the bucks come by!


I dont have a lot of doe action in this woods. It is odd. There are tons of doe around this area but we dont see a ton. We see tons of bucks
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Re: Bedding in flat land in Michigan

Unread postby Hildebrand » Thu Oct 10, 2019 11:37 pm

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DaHunter
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Re: Bedding in flat land in Michigan

Unread postby DaHunter » Thu Oct 10, 2019 11:38 pm

Sounds like a good problem to have! I'd focus on the acorns and beans early season. Post season, I'd get in there and try to identify the best exit routes for each wind direction. Even if you don't have a lot of does there, I imagine you can catch some bucks coming back to bed after first light and even late morning they could be coming in or moving out.

Just be smart about not overhunting it and play the wind. I bet that spot is on fire late October as the pre rut gets going. Probably loaded with scrapes and you could try to hunt the downwind sides without busting them out.
Last edited by DaHunter on Thu Oct 10, 2019 11:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Hildebrand
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Re: Bedding in flat land in Michigan

Unread postby Hildebrand » Thu Oct 10, 2019 11:38 pm

You can see with my off season scouting that the south middle was the best sign I found. Tons of rubs and bed sign.
DaHunter
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Re: Bedding in flat land in Michigan

Unread postby DaHunter » Thu Oct 10, 2019 11:41 pm

Hildebrand wrote:You can see with my off season scouting that the south middle was the best sign I found. Tons of rubs and bed sign.


Last year were you primarily hunting the west and north sides? If so, them bedding there makes sense. Could also just be due to predominant winds and terrain features
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Ack
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Re: Bedding in flat land in Michigan

Unread postby Ack » Fri Oct 11, 2019 12:27 am

Just an observation, but I see you asking for advice on this woodlot all of the time....do you not have any other properties to hunt, or public land nearby? Reason I ask is that a woodlot like that is very easy to overhunt, and you need to be very cautious and strategic when hunting there as not to put too much pressure on the resident deer.

I have hunted woodlots like that from the outside in, and have typically seen better movement in the mornings than the afternoons. Your entrance and exit need to to be bulletproof....able to get in and out completely undetected. Not a good idea to hunt over oaks in the evening, because you will never be able to get out without alerting deer that you are there.....hunt between bedding and food if possible.

If you are hunting it in the morning, get in super early....a lot of times the buck movement will be either just before daylight, or immediately after. Until rut, there might not even be much movement after 8:00am. In a nutshell, the deer in those small lots are sensitive, so you need to be very careful when hunting there.....have a plan on how to attack it, then execute.
Hildebrand
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Re: Bedding in flat land in Michigan

Unread postby Hildebrand » Fri Oct 11, 2019 1:58 am

Ack wrote:Just an observation, but I see you asking for advice on this woodlot all of the time....do you not have any other properties to hunt, or public land nearby? Reason I ask is that a woodlot like that is very easy to overhunt, and you need to be very cautious and strategic when hunting there as not to put too much pressure on the resident deer.

I have hunted woodlots like that from the outside in, and have typically seen better movement in the mornings than the afternoons. Your entrance and exit need to to be bulletproof....able to get in and out completely undetected. Not a good idea to hunt over oaks in the evening, because you will never be able to get out without alerting deer that you are there.....hunt between bedding and food if possible.

If you are hunting it in the morning, get in super early....a lot of times the buck movement will be either just before daylight, or immediately after. Until rut, there might not even be much movement after 8:00am. In a nutshell, the deer in those small lots are sensitive, so you need to be very careful when hunting there.....have a plan on how to attack it, then execute.



I do ask often. I am still trying to learn this wood lot as it gives me my best chance at a mature deer. As for other spots to hunt, I do have two other small wood lots to hunt and I do bounce around to them but as for deer numbers they are not great. As for state land we don't have a lot right around me. The ones we do have close stay pretty full due to the fact we don't have much around. As for the oaks, I learned that last night as I did my first hang and out by some oaks and I had a smaller 8 point come out and work them oak flats and then bedded at next to a down fall. He came out at 6 and ate till 6:30 and bedded til 7 and then got up and worked slowly till the empty crop field.

As for me,it seems like the best movement for the bucks is at night but trying to learn more is why I am here
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Re: Bedding in flat land in Michigan

Unread postby Hildebrand » Fri Oct 11, 2019 2:01 am

Last year were you primarily hunting the west and north sides? If so, them bedding there makes sense. Could also just be due to predominant winds and terrain features[/quote]

I did hunt the west more because I did not play the wind like I should but after some hard learning and reading I have learned I need to play the wind. I do have a stand on the south side field edge, go figure its Michigan and Im on a field edge lol It puts me close to bedding but not in it. The front is a little lower because in the spring when scouting It always has standing water.
DaHunter
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Re: Bedding in flat land in Michigan

Unread postby DaHunter » Fri Oct 11, 2019 8:38 am

As Ack said, the key is to not overhunt this early unless you have a buck patterned. Otherwise I'd wait until late October and move in for the kill. If u just wanna hunt to hunt, stay on the edges and hope, but even then you're disturbing them and risking your wind blowing at them in bedding.

If it were me, late October I'd go in super early in the morning and get close to bedding and wait for bucks to come back or to get up and cruise late morning. Evenings should be hot too at that time but be smart.


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