Hair and Droppings Necessary in bed?

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bowscrub
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Hair and Droppings Necessary in bed?

Unread postby bowscrub » Thu Dec 24, 2020 5:43 am

Hello,
I did some scouting yesterday on a new piece. I found tons of great deer sign, but I was struggling to find buck beds. At least I think. I found some beds that looked textbook -- wind over the back, cover behind, and a great view in front, rubs from the fall near by, etc., but I did not find any hair or buck turds in those beds -- even after digging around. Do you guys think that those beds still have potential to hold bucks in the fall? I havent been able to hunt for the last 3 seasons, so I am a bit rusty on the sign...


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greenhorndave
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Re: Hair and Droppings Necessary in bed?

Unread postby greenhorndave » Thu Dec 24, 2020 5:59 am

My take is that they probably good beds but haven't been used this season. Is it possible that they are winter beds? You should at least see some hair or really old scat. Hair for sure. I might be wrong.
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bowscrub
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Re: Hair and Droppings Necessary in bed?

Unread postby bowscrub » Thu Dec 24, 2020 6:11 am

greenhorndave wrote:My take is that they probably good beds but haven't been used this season. Is it possible that they are winter beds? You should at least see some hair or really old scat. Hair for sure. I might be wrong.

The lack of hair and poop made me question if they were even beds, but am not sure how else the grass got matted down in the shape of a big bedded deer.
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greenhorndave
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Re: Hair and Droppings Necessary in bed?

Unread postby greenhorndave » Thu Dec 24, 2020 6:31 am

bowscrub wrote:
greenhorndave wrote:My take is that they probably good beds but haven't been used this season. Is it possible that they are winter beds? You should at least see some hair or really old scat. Hair for sure. I might be wrong.

The lack of hair and poop made me question if they were even beds, but am not sure how else the grass got matted down in the shape of a big bedded deer.

They probably are beds. One possibility: were these areas that might have been under high water or at least very wet the last 2 or 3 years? Some of the bedding I found was like that and therefore likely only used in drier seasons.
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Re: Hair and Droppings Necessary in bed?

Unread postby sdonx » Thu Dec 24, 2020 6:37 am

This may sound stupid, but I struggled to find hair when I first started looking for beds.I just could'nt see it there, right in front of my face. :shock:
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greenhorndave
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Re: Hair and Droppings Necessary in bed?

Unread postby greenhorndave » Thu Dec 24, 2020 6:48 am

sdonx wrote:This may sound stupid, but I struggled to find hair when I first started looking for beds.I just could'nt see it there, right in front of my face. :shock:

I have to use my phone as a magnifying glass due to my developing farsightedness. :lol:
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Re: Hair and Droppings Necessary in bed?

Unread postby bowscrub » Thu Dec 24, 2020 7:08 am

greenhorndave wrote:
bowscrub wrote:
greenhorndave wrote:My take is that they probably good beds but haven't been used this season. Is it possible that they are winter beds? You should at least see some hair or really old scat. Hair for sure. I might be wrong.

The lack of hair and poop made me question if they were even beds, but am not sure how else the grass got matted down in the shape of a big bedded deer.

They probably are beds. One possibility: were these areas that might have been under high water or at least very wet the last 2 or 3 years? Some of the bedding I found was like that and therefore likely only used in drier seasons.

They were not underwater. The beds I found were all up on some sort of ridge.
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Re: Hair and Droppings Necessary in bed?

Unread postby JakeB » Thu Dec 24, 2020 7:57 am

Deer aren’t really shedding right now like they do in the spring. Hair can sometimes be pretty tough to find unless there is a ton. Especially if it’s rained since the deer has laid in them.
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Re: Hair and Droppings Necessary in bed?

Unread postby Boogieman1 » Thu Dec 24, 2020 8:15 am

I locate quality breeding beds by finding curly hairs. :o An East Tx trick is to get on a good high dose of quality methamphedimine. Be on your hands and knees with tweezers for days!

In my parts there’s more quality bedding than there is deer. Typically don’t find worn down beds, piles of poop, or much hair. I believe they have general thickets they prefer but hardly ever repeatedly lay in the same exact spot. Only times I have seen such is summertime points that shoot out into the food source.
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Re: Hair and Droppings Necessary in bed?

Unread postby Coalcracker » Fri Dec 25, 2020 8:57 am

Here's a neat observation with "buck" beds:

During a Mid-Nov. hunt, my bro in-law watched several bucks lay on a bench below him, one of which was a mature 9pt. The 9 pt. laid there for a couple hours then made his way up a hollow out of range and not responding to grunts. He no sooner left the bench when another mature 8pt. walked in on the bench and laid in the same bed the 9pt. had been laying. Obviously without having seen that happen, we would have never known more than one buck used the same bed. Furthermore, with several bucks(5) bedded on the bench throughout the morning, would we have identified those as buck beds or a doe group? This example certainly wouldn't have played into our hands with identifying buck beds while scouting. However, seeing this happen certainly has us tree hunting the bench for the next rut stand!!
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Re: Hair and Droppings Necessary in bed?

Unread postby Jmitch » Sat Dec 26, 2020 12:36 am

Coalcracker wrote:Here's a neat observation with "buck" beds:

During a Mid-Nov. hunt, my bro in-law watched several bucks lay on a bench below him, one of which was a mature 9pt. The 9 pt. laid there for a couple hours then made his way up a hollow out of range and not responding to grunts. He no sooner left the bench when another mature 8pt. walked in on the bench and laid in the same bed the 9pt. had been laying. Obviously without having seen that happen, we would have never known more than one buck used the same bed. Furthermore, with several bucks(5) bedded on the bench throughout the morning, would we have identified those as buck beds or a doe group? This example certainly wouldn't have played into our hands with identifying buck beds while scouting. However, seeing this happen certainly has us tree hunting the bench for the next rut stand!!

Seen stuff similar to that myself. Opening day of rifle this year had a broken up 3 yr old and a fork horn bedded within sight all morning. As soon as the 3yr old got up and moved to a different bed the fork immediately got up and layed in the bed the 3yr just left. I would bet that happens quite often in preferred bedding we just don't witness it much


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