hunting directly over the bucks bed.

[jonsimoneau]

For those of you who sometimes take a morning stand directly over a bucks bed, like on a day when the moon may be condusive to it, how do you deal with the fact that bucks normally circle the bedding area from downwind before bedding? I have never tried this tactic, but have considered it many times. I never did it, because I just assumed the buck would always wind me before entering his bed.

[BigHunt]

well it depnds on the terrian and situation...theres ways of getting around that there only going to scent check the area to a sertin point were they feel safe enough .....in most cases

[swamp-assassin]

the first year i ever bowhunted i accidently did this! i was in a big woods type terrain and set my stand in a jack pine right on the base of a south facing slope. there was a clearcut to the east and woods to the north and west. I heard something come in from NW but it was still dark..moving pretty quiet so i kinda just forgot about it when the sun came up. i sat for another 2 hours and then got down and walked the northwest ( didnt know what i was doing just thought id walk up to one somewhere and shoot it ) about 15 yards from my stand i walked past a small clump of brush and busted a slob out of there. i had absolutely no idea that there was a bed right there. it was just a patch of tall grass and sticks next to a couple spindly trees and the rest of the area was more of a pine/popple stand with some open short grass. i had sat there for two hours and had a slob 8 pointer bedded 15 yards in front of me and i had no clue he was there!! i could have seen him and shot him had i known what the heck i was doing! This whole experience has left me thinking about it for years. I think the reason he bedded there was a NW wind would give him the scent of anything coming from the woods, the steep hill to the south would hinder anyone from getting at him that way and he could see anyone coming from the east. so in all theory i accidently executed a perfect morning ambush directly under his bed..only thing is i was too stupid (inexperienced) to know what was going on until it was too late!!!!

[KLEMZ]

Thanks for sharing that!

[RaisedByWolves]

Thanks for sharing that!

X2 thats a good one!

[BackWoodsHunter]

I agree that is awesome.

[foltzy]

Ive actually noticed that most bucks enter thier beds with the wind to thier back, i've only been succesful a couple times sitting over the bed for the morning but each buck walked in with the wind to his back without a clue I was there.

The biggest lesson I learned doing this was not to sit directly over the bed, in 08 I had a big buck that I thought was living under a single oak tree in the middle of a 20 acre corn field, I didn't know for sure if that buck was living there and I couldn't just walk in there to scout without blowing him out. So I had to go in blind. I waited for the right wind in my favor and snuck in about three hours before light just my bow and a handfull of tree pegs, this is one of the biggest nastiest burr oaks Ive ever seen with branches everywhere. I ended up climbing about fifteen feet up and climbing out on a big limb where a couple different limbs intersect to make a nice seat, then I wait. three hours later about a half an hour after light I heard a crunch and there he was right below me,all 170'' of him! well it turns out that his bed was directly below me and I had no chance at a broadside shot, I got the wise idea to shoot him through the spine, bad Idea, i buried my arrow straight through his spine behind his head, he bolted out of there like nothing happend. Anyways I learned two lessons don't shoot big bucks in the spine and don't sit directly over the bed.

[headgear]

Crazy story swamp assassin! Do you still hunt that area? Might have to get after one of his kids.

I know Dan feels pretty strongly about buck approaching their beds with the wind at their back so they can smell anything that is following them. I do believe this to be true most of the time but have tracked deer in wolf country that go into the wind and walk close to their bedding area and then make a big loop back to their bed. This way they can semi wind their bedding area and still see, smell, hear anything on their trail. This type of thing could depend on your area, terrain, personality of the deer, or even regional habits of bucks.

[RaisedByWolves]

dang foltzy! thanks for sharing. sorry about the buck. Did he lay right up against the tree?? if not how many yards away? 2, 3?

[jonsimoneau]

I gotta disagree with the thought that they mostly come to their bed with the wind at their back. I have tracked a number of bucks on snow, and I would say over 90% of the mature bucks enter the bed with the wind in their nose, or at least quartering into the wind. They may approach their bedding area with a tail wind. I have seen that alot, but most of the time, they circle around to the downwind side before actually entering their bed.
These observations are exactly the reason why I have never set up directly over a known buck bed...even though I have wished I could. I know Dan and Andrea do this with some success, and Im sure others have also. I'm just curious how you beat the bucks instinct...which is to scent check his bed before he enters it.

[swamp-assassin]

Crazy story swamp assassin! Do you still hunt that area? Might have to get after one of his kids.

I know Dan feels pretty strongly about buck approaching their beds with the wind at their back so they can smell anything that is following them. I do believe this to be true most of the time but have tracked deer in wolf country that go into the wind and walk close to their bedding area and then make a big loop back to their bed. This way they can semi wind their bedding area and still see, smell, hear anything on their trail. This type of thing could depend on your area, terrain, personality of the deer, or even regional habits of bucks.

Actually that was when i lived in minnesota headgear..it was on some nice state land up in bemidji.

[BigHunt]

I gotta disagree with the thought that they mostly come to their bed with the wind at their back. I have tracked a number of bucks on snow, and I would say over 90% of the mature bucks enter the bed with the wind in their nose, or at least quartering into the wind. They may approach their bedding area with a tail wind. I have seen that alot, but most of the time, they circle around to the downwind side before actually entering their bed.
These observations are exactly the reason why I have never set up directly over a known buck bed...even though I have wished I could. I know Dan and Andrea do this with some success, and Im sure others have also. I'm just curious how you beat the bucks instinct...which is to scent check his bed before he enters it.

good post
and good point

[BackWoodsHunter]

Some of this is hard for me to picture. If a buck is entering his bed with the wind in his nose. He is already downwind of his bed so why would he circle his bed to enter it downwind? Maybe I am focusing too much on the words of the sentence and not its meaning I am not sure. A picture would surely help I guess. I know there was some diagrams in hill country bucks but its been a week since I watched it last and I don't have photographic memory.

[GRUD]

You cant forget the bucks eyes. If he is bedding in a fairly open area, he will most likely enter with the wind because he can see his bed and smell whats behind him. If it is really thick or CRP he may come in to the area with the wind then circle just downwind before going in to bed.

If it is hilly terrain, he could enter from above or below, you might have to observe him. It depends on the situation but again if he enters with the wind from above, he can see his bed if its not too thick and smell his backtrail. If it is really thick, he may come in from below so he can bed and watch his backtrail from above and smell his bed before going into it.

[cornfedkiller]

Some of this is hard for me to picture. If a buck is entering his bed with the wind in his nose. He is already downwind of his bed so why would he circle his bed to enter it downwind? Maybe I am focusing too much on the words of the sentence and not its meaning I am not sure. A picture would surely help I guess. I know there was some diagrams in hill country bucks but its been a week since I watched it last and I don't have photographic memory.

Here is what jonsi is saying the buck does.. Red is the bed, x is the hunter...