Wind specific or non wind specific bed?

[neloms@5]

I located a mature bucks bed back in an ox-bow bend of a river. The area is a tamarack swamp that transitions to tag alders up to a small river, and open marsh on the other side of the river. I had one encounter with the buck after he got up out of his bed and walked in to me on the edge of the trees meeting the tag alders, but he froze up when he crossed my wind at 30 yards straight north of my stand. The day I hunted this spot there was a SW wind. I was planning on hunting it the next time there was a north or NW wind and seeing if he comes from this bed again. I am wondering what people think if this is a wind specific or non specific bed. I am trying to attach teh aerial photo but apparently I'm not smart enough to do it.

[dan]

Oxbow beds are often wind specific... If its in very thick cover with no visual aid, its likely non-wind specific. If its up against an obstacle with a view one way, it likely is wind specific.

[neloms@5]

Dan, Thanks for your reply. It is extremely thick cover that you can't see more than 20 yards into, then thins out just enough for a couple big trees right up against the creek. The creek is fairly wide and deep. The deer wouldn't be able to quickly jump across it.

[dan]

Dan, Thanks for your reply. It is extremely thick cover that you can't see more than 20 yards into, then thins out just enough for a couple big trees right up against the creek. The creek is fairly wide and deep. The deer wouldn't be able to quickly jump across it.

Whats going to make it wind specific or non wind specific is exactly how the beds lay out... If there bedding on the edge of the thick looking at an opening at the river, the wind is blowing at there back, if they are in really thick grass, cattails, or something that they cant see more than a few yards its generally non-wind specific and there relying on noise.

[neloms@5]

Since I am done for the season I went in and scouted for the bucks bed in this spot today. The only way back into his bed is through swamp with ankle to knee deep water through thick tag alders. The bed was in the middle of the oxbow, about 75 yards from the rivers edge. From the bed it was extremely thick in all directions, with escape routes in every direction other than back to the river. His bed was under a 10" lone ash tree in the only dry spot back there with every big tag alder within sight rubbed up. The bed looked like it was still being used even though I had an encounter with the buck a few weeks ago where he got downwind of me. The tree I hunted from when I saw the buck was probably 100 yds away from the bed. There was one other tree I could hunt closer to his bed by another 50 yards but it may really be pushing it. I am guessing by how thick and nasty it was in there and the fact he could slip out in almost any direction that it may not be wind specific. I found this bed along with a couple other dynamite looking spots all along transition lines of the swamp, river, and marsh. Your marsh bedding and swamp bedding DVD'S were dead on! There was almost no sign in the woods or marsh other than right up in the transition lines.