Hunting Does, what's their sleeping pattern compared to bucks

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Newff
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Hunting Does, what's their sleeping pattern compared to bucks

Unread postby Newff » Wed Oct 14, 2020 5:31 am

I've been reading the forums and listening to a bunch of podcasts the past few weeks, learning a lot, have went out and found beds and so on. But almost all of the content talks about Bucks/Mature Bucks.

I filled my Buck tag and have 2 tags left for Does. I have an idea of where they are, but I have no idea how they work. With Bucks you usually either get them in the morning as they come back to bed, or in the evening when they leave their bed..because they travel mostly at night (although I have heard that they are barely nocturnal here where I am in Canada because there's like NO hunting pressure).

What about Does? Do they just sleep mostly at night and feed most of the day?

Any advice appreciated.


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Boogieman1
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Re: Hunting Does, what's their sleeping pattern compared to bucks

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Wed Oct 14, 2020 5:50 am

Sounds like your hunting will probably differ from most here. A public land doe in most states is still no cake walk due to extreme pressure. For doe’s I have the best luck hunting the food source. Evenings I like catching em entering fields. Mornings I like secondary food sources which they hit on there way back to bed. From everything I’ve seen about Canada it looked like vast wilderness. I would imagine locating food sources would be much harder than I deal with in farm hills. But just throwing my .02 out there. Good luck
Life is hard; It’s even harder if you are stupid.
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<DK>
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Re: Hunting Does, what's their sleeping pattern compared to bucks

Unread postby <DK> » Wed Oct 14, 2020 5:53 am

They get up earlier and go to bed later. You definitely do not have to setup as tight like bucks.

Just hunt a traditional, nice spot. Always hunt w the wind advantage
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Re: Hunting Does, what's their sleeping pattern compared to bucks

Unread postby Newff » Wed Oct 14, 2020 6:10 am

Boogieman1 wrote:Sounds like your hunting will probably differ from most here. A public land doe in most states is still no cake walk due to extreme pressure. For doe’s I have the best luck hunting the food source. Evenings I like catching em entering fields. Mornings I like secondary food sources which they hit on there way back to bed. From everything I’ve seen about Canada it looked like vast wilderness. I would imagine locating food sources would be much harder than I deal with in farm hills. But just throwing my .02 out there. Good luck


Exactly, it's extremely hard finding a food source here because their food is kinda "everywhere". Their food can be right where they bed. Maybe with more experience I can narrow it down more, but yeah..no agriculture where I am and unlimited public land basically.

I'm finding the beds and trails, but it's a bit hard to know where and why they are going there.

I think for the most part it's just going to take a lot of scouting and cam pictures to figure it all out. That's the interesting/fun part anyway. Thanks for the advice.
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Wolfshead
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Re: Hunting Does, what's their sleeping pattern compared to bucks

Unread postby Wolfshead » Wed Oct 14, 2020 11:02 pm

Boogieman1 wrote:Sounds like your hunting will probably differ from most here. A public land doe in most states is still no cake walk due to extreme pressure. For doe’s I have the best luck hunting the food source. Evenings I like catching em entering fields. Mornings I like secondary food sources which they hit on there way back to bed. From everything I’ve seen about Canada it looked like vast wilderness. I would imagine locating food sources would be much harder than I deal with in farm hills. But just throwing my .02 out there. Good luck



I agree here.
I find it easier to hunt Does in the evening coming into a crop field.
In my very limited experience hunting them in the woods is to get on a trail early in the afternoon and catch them as they are heading to feed
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Re: Hunting Does, what's their sleeping pattern compared to bucks

Unread postby Cvanheel » Thu Oct 15, 2020 2:05 am

I'm not sure were you are in Canada, but i'm going to go on the assumption that it is very similar to the big woods I hunt up in northern Minnesota. If that is the case, and i was you I would start my search around newer clear cuts, and my favorite beaver ponds. They both provide open areas that allow good deer food to grow so they often hold multitudes of deer. They also provide the edge deer love, and i find some good bedding in or near them.
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treeroot
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Re: Hunting Does, what's their sleeping pattern compared to bucks

Unread postby treeroot » Thu Oct 15, 2020 4:09 am

Doe sign I see easier then buck sign as they typically group up. More droppings, heavier used trails ex. Sneaking close to their bedding is harder with more eyes and ears, but you don't need to be that close. Find their bedding, find the trails heading to food and hang back further then you would from a buck bed. They tend to travel further before dark then a buck.

Biggest issues I run into is not getting caught drawing/moving/scent when there are 3 or more in the group. So I try to be on a trail they move through instead of a destination. If I want doe 3 and need to let 1 and 2 pass they aren't lingering browsing around me.
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Hawthorne
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Re: Hunting Does, what's their sleeping pattern compared to bucks

Unread postby Hawthorne » Thu Oct 15, 2020 4:20 am

I’ve had way more luck seeing does hunting fresh sign talked about on here. No so much with bucks. Seems I have to get ahead of them more and not hunt behind them on fresh sign
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Re: Hunting Does, what's their sleeping pattern compared to bucks

Unread postby Newff » Tue Oct 20, 2020 5:32 am

<DK> wrote:They get up earlier and go to bed later. You definitely do not have to setup as tight like bucks.

Just hunt a traditional, nice spot. Always hunt w the wind advantage


So they also tend to bed during the middle of the day?


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