Bedding after the shot

[Bonedoc]

I made a shot that was too far back on a mature buck this fall. I waited two hours before taking up the trail, but it wasn’t long enough. I bumped the buck, but it was clear he was struggling. I left the area and returned the next day and thankfully recovered him just over the ridge he first bedded in. He didn’t go 50 yards from where he first bedded. Where he bedded was in the direction he came from when I first saw him. My question is this. Do you think a wounded buck would be returning to the bed he just left when he is wounded? I don’t see a lot of sign in the area he was bedded, but it sets up as a good bedding area and is thick. Do you think this buck revealed a bedding area future bucks may use?

[KRoss480]

I would like to hear others opinion, but I would say yes. Reason I say that is cause I had the same thing happen to me this year. I knew there was a buck bedding on this small thick ridge but didn’t know exactly where. I shot him coming off this ridge and he ran straight back to it after the shot. I let him lay overnight and ended up finding him bedded down and dead on top of the ridge, right in the middle of all the thick stuff, which is where I assume he was bedding before. He felt safe there so he got back there as quickly as he could.

[Ghost Hunter]

I made a shot that was too far back on a mature buck this fall. I waited two hours before taking up the trail, but it wasn’t long enough. I bumped the buck, but it was clear he was struggling. I left the area and returned the next day and thankfully recovered him just over the ridge he first bedded in. He didn’t go 50 yards from where he first bedded. Where he bedded was in the direction he came from when I first saw him. My question is this. Do you think a wounded buck would be returning to the bed he just left when he is wounded? I don’t see a lot of sign in the area he was bedded, but it sets up as a good bedding area and is thick. Do you think this buck revealed a bedding area future bucks may use?

I would think your buck bedded down because you shot to far back. Which, probably resulted in a gut shot. They will not go far after being gut shot. They start cramping a lot an if not pushed they will bed down close. But, will get up if they can if pushed again.

[Jdw]

I have made some bad hits on mature bucks over the last few years. I’ve seen similarities between wound beds and normal bedding but a wounded buck is bedding for different reasons than a healthy buck.
It seems that wounded bucks bed concerned with safety but lots of the time they head toward lower elevation and water when shot in the liver or gut, which puts them bedding lower in the hills.

IMO it would be based on different circumstances each time it occurred.

[Bonedoc]

It seems that most of the deer i have shot return toward the direction they have come from, not the direction they are headed to. I guess it makes sense that when they encounter a predator that they would return to an area they already know is safe because they just passed through it.

[JakeB]

I jumped a buck walking in one evening. Later that day about 1/4 mile away the same buck ended up passing by me. I put a bad shot into his liver. Planning on leaving him for the night I walked out and stumbled on him half dead in the same exact bed I originally jumped him out of.

[Bonecrusher101]

It seems like most of the bucks I’ve shot have tried to make it back to bedding but it’s not 100 percent from my experience. Of course, if we all did our jobs correctly the deer we shoot should expire within 100 yards.

I have recent memory of wounded bucks doing different things.

Lately, I have had the pleasure of watching a few die in their bed because I’ve been getting closer to beast style.

In November 2016 I watched a buck follow a doe past me after the shot (quartering to with a ML) he tore out the way he came. I found him slumped over in his bed about 150-200 yards away, after 2 hours of grid searching a thick cutover without finding any blood.

In November 2018 I watched a buck stand up walk over after the shot he ran 60 yards immediately back where he came from and crashed in his bed.

November 2, 2019 I shot my first buck last season in a travel corridor between 2 bedding areas that I presume the deer were still using because of little pressure up until that time. It’s not the best bedding but without any hunting pressure up till that day I think he was comfortable using that bed and keeping tabs on the oaks and does that were nearby. He showed up behind me and blew once and did a semi circle around me. He stopped and looked over his shoulder at me standing broadside at 60 yards when I busted him with my muzzleloader. He tore off running the way he was headed and not the way he had come. Another smaller buck followed him.



That red dot was where I was setup there were oaks west and north of me on the peninsula. The deer came from north west and was headed east along the river after I shot him he continued East. My best guess is he stayed out too late feeding on oaks and was headed to his preferred bed when I shot him.

[PK_]

I made a shot that was too far back on a mature buck this fall. I waited two hours before taking up the trail, but it wasn’t long enough. I bumped the buck, but it was clear he was struggling. I left the area and returned the next day and thankfully recovered him just over the ridge he first bedded in. He didn’t go 50 yards from where he first bedded. Where he bedded was in the direction he came from when I first saw him. My question is this. Do you think a wounded buck would be returning to the bed he just left when he is wounded? I don’t see a lot of sign in the area he was bedded, but it sets up as a good bedding area and is thick. Do you think this buck revealed a bedding area future bucks may use?

What date and what time of day was he shot?

[Bonedoc]

I shot him October 12 and it was around 8 AM.

[PK_]

I shot him October 12 and it was around 8 AM.

Well, I would say it’s more likely he was headed to bedding than coming from it. (Edit: Actually that may not be true. He may have been bedded before daylight and you caught him just getting up to stretch and browse.)

Can’t really say without scouting it. All I can say is besides some kind of fluke, if a mature buck was walking around in full daylight in that area then his bedding was likely pretty close by.

But for your question in general, tracking wounded bucks is the very best way to find their bedding areas and secluded travel corridors. I always use my gps to track path when blood trailing now, it can be eye opening when you look back especially after trailing several bucks in the same area year after year.

[Bonedoc]

Thanks. This is the kind of information I am looking to get.