Buck bedding randomness, too unpredictable to hunt ?

[Mat-Ch-155]

I listenned to truth from the stand episode 293. The guest, a researcher who studied buck bedding, seems to say that buck bedding is too unpredictable to make it a viable hunting strategy. Maybe I’m not reporting it right or I might not get every little bit of nuances, but that seemed to be the message when I listenned.

So I thought of asking what folks on here think about such a statement since it seems to work for many people. Seems a contradiction to me right now. But again, I might have got it wrong.

The episode in question: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/t ... 0570543007

[dan]

That guy just dont understand buck bedding, winds, Timing, etc... There is more to it than sticking a Radio collage on a deer. I have killed an aweful lot of mature bucks I was targeting at there bedding areas. With that said, condition can be perfect, and he is just not there the day you sit there... There is some randomness to it... but its still more predictive than any other System, and gets more reliable as deer get older

[hcooper84]

I feel it’d also be safe to say that just because Buck A isn’t there doesn’t mean Buck B won’t be. If it’s a good bed there should be a good chance that possibly another good buck is bedding in or near that location. As someone who doesn’t usually hunt a specific buck I think hunting bedding can drastically up your odds on a more mature deer.

[szwampdonkey]

There is always a randomness to hunting or they would call it killing and you’d be successful nearly every time you head out. A buck will have many many areas he can choose to bed based on conditions. It’s your job as the hunter to try to select the one you think he will be in based on conditions. Most of the time you’ll guess wrong but once in awhile you’ll guess right and connect. I guess if you were a biologist looking at data points from a collar and really knew nothing about the way deer survive in the wild or adjust to pressure, food changes, competition, etc you might perceive a bucks bedding behavior as random, but it isn’t. A college degree doesn’t make you and expert on buck behavior it just makes you a guy with a college degree who can read (but maybe not correctly interpret) radio collar data.

There isn’t anyone who nails it every time but some nail it more times than other guys do.

[PK_]

Morse code is just beeps.

[Huntress13]

Not having heard the podcast, did the researcher match up other details like dates, wind directions, terrain, food sources, etc? If you just looked at a map without understanding the why is he where he is, then yes, it would look pretty random.

[Boogieman1]

I love collar studies. But not for the reason one might think. I like the pure gold comedy of them. Happens in many aspects of hunting so I’m not pin pointing any in particular. They are all equally funny. When a study shows what someone believes in you get a….. This guy clearly knows what he’s talking about. I told ya, collar studies don’t lie. Proof in the puddin. When studies don’t go that way you get…… This guy is a idiot who clearly doesn’t know what the heck he is talking about. You can’t rely on collar studies cause there’s to many variables.

I don’t put much stock into any collar studies due to who is funding the study. But I sure get a kick out of em.

[thwack16]

The researcher is Dr Bronson Strickland. At no point in there did he say hunting buck bedding is not a viable option. He said that buck bedding is at random due to pressure and the hot food source at the time, which is what most say here.

This particular study was done in the Mississippi delta. There’s quite a bit of ag, but bedding cover is still far from a limiting factor where this study was done. Due to that, you’re going to see more random bedding than you do in most of the Midwest.

[purebowhunting]

I have no proof, and the only proof would be radio collared bucks with known strategic hunters in the area focused on beds. If little pressure in bedding areas I'd imagine buck bedding would look more random since they have options. If someone picks apart and area, hunts bedding area to bedding area stacking them into less and less bedding options the randomness would be less and less.

[gsquared23]

I think you’d have to follow a buck every day from age 3.5 and on, hoping he’d make it to 6.5 or older to develop a pattern. You need to compare where that buck beds on a certain date with a certain wind and weather, because a buck’s bedding changes depending on a myriad of factors including available food, cover and breeding opportunities. So compare where he is bedding on the first cold front in October for 3 consecutive years, and likewise for late season and I bet there will be a discernible pattern. The problem is it would take an astronomically large sample size and time which isn’t practical even for the biologists.

[mipubbucks24]

This is very true! Hunting field edges is the most consistent way to kill big bucks. We as a hunting community need to get this message out. Ladder stands on field edges wearing scent lok, using an Ozonics. This is the only way to kill mature deer on public land! Oh yes don’t forget the Sitka & first lite cami!

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Everyone

[Mat-Ch-155]

The researcher is Dr Bronson Strickland. At no point in there did he say hunting buck bedding is not a viable option. He said that buck bedding is at random due to pressure and the hot food source at the time, which is what most say here.

This particular study was done in the Mississippi delta. There’s quite a bit of ag, but bedding cover is still far from a limiting factor where this study was done. Due to that, you’re going to see more random bedding than you do in most of the Midwest.

I like your point of view. As i said, i might have misunderstood some or many aspects of Dr Strickland research. But i think the presentation of the show and some parts of the discussion implied that hunting buck beds was not viable or at least more difficult than it one might think. I will choose more carefully my words next time. Nonetheless it’s intersting to read everyone opinion about that.

[headgear]

I would never say there is not any randomness but I would also never say its too unpredictable to hunt. The guy just might not realize what we do when it comes to bedding, he isn't in the woods scouting like mad and trying to understand the wind and the thermals. If anything hunting bedding makes it more predictable but you have to do your homework and understand the tactics. There is at least a dozen years worth of kill zone stories showing how important bedding is.

[Bio1]

So I had access to collar data for an older buck that I was able to follow on a daily basis that had a point taken every 2 hours. I found that buck had 13 different “beds” he used with some regularity and they did indeed change with food and pressure and the rut (he shifted a decent way during rut and came back after rut) and was also wind based to some degree. I say “beds” as some were worn and others were not as discernible. It was fun to pull him up in the morning while I was drinking coffee and guess where he would be bedded. I was right about 1/2 the time based on the wind. In the summer of his 5th year the collar died. I still got him on camera a couple more years after that and knew it was him due to his ear tag even though the collar dropped off. This dude lived on public his whole life (at least when the collar was active and he was darted on public originally). I never did hear of anyone killing him but I quit getting him on camera so who knows? I learned a of a lot from him for sure. I am sure he wasn’t getting passed by hunters as he was pretty damn nice - he just had things figured out. Unfortunately the battery life is only a couple years on those collars. I would loved to have followed him til he died.

Bio1

[Lockdown]

That guy just dont understand buck bedding, winds, Timing, etc... There is more to it than sticking a Radio collage on a deer. I have killed an aweful lot of mature bucks I was targeting at there bedding areas. With that said, condition can be perfect, and he is just not there the day you sit there... There is some randomness to it... but its still more predictive than any other System, and gets more reliable as deer get older

Daniel… you forgot to mention the three most important aspects of hunting buck bedding.

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