scouting for buck beds after gun season ?

[dreaming bucks]

It seems like the deer on my land don't stick around for the harsh wintertime, not much for cropland as the farmers till it all under in the fall... I was thinking maybe looking for buck beds would be a good idea right after gun season is over, as I don't do much late season bow hunting.
Anybody else look for buck beds right after gun season.

I would just think the beds would be a lot easier to find now, then say next spring..

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[DEERSLAYER]

I would think most of the beds will covered with snow if the deer are gone, but I think it's always worth scouting. It sounds like you have a great situation for a foodplot.

[dreaming bucks]

I would think most of the beds will covered with snow if the deer are gone, but I think it's always worth scouting. It sounds like you have a great situation for a foodplot.

I only have 60 acres & its all woods, so a foodplot would be tough to do....

Our regular 9 day gun season is over next Sunday.... I was thinking about looking for the beds after that. So snow would not be here yet.

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[DEERSLAYER]

I only have 60 acres & its all woods, so a foodplot would be tough to do....

It may be tough to do because you would have to do some clearing, but it could make your property a magnet during the late season if you have the cover to hold them. I definitely wouldn't underestimate what you can hold on 60 acres if you manage the habitat right either.

[Swampthing]

Thats what i did today, just was'nt in the mood to sit patiently in the tree.
Went to a new area, and found one of my best buck bed areas. At least i know where they will be next year.
And the real bonus, was it was DRY. Spring scouting is a short window.

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[dreaming bucks]

Thats what i did today, just was'nt in the mood to sit patiently in the tree.
Went to a new area, and found one of my best buck bed areas. At least i know where they will be next year.
And the real bonus, was it was DRY. Spring scouting is a short window.

[ Post made via Android ]

ya, I'm just thinking, what a better time to see the beds they are using in the fall....

I know I may kick out a buck or two, but like I said, my bow hunting will be about done, plus I need to do some clearing for trails, as I seem to never get time to do this in the spring..

[headgear]

I like to get out and do a little scouting this time of year, some of it is just trying to find a good buck to hunt during muzzy and late bow season but if I see sign I will also scout areas out for next year. Our rifle season is over so it is also nice to find sign of bucks who may have survived.

[dreaming bucks]

I like to get out and do a little scouting this time of year, some of it is just trying to find a good buck to hunt during muzzy and late bow season but if I see sign I will also scout areas out for next year. Our rifle season is over so it is also nice to find sign of bucks who may have survived.

How can you be certain that perticular buck is still alive ? Fresh tracks going in or out of the bed ?

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[headgear]

Yep fresh tracks, a little fresh snow sure helps. We got a light dusting on Saturday so I hit the woods Sunday morning. Didn't find much but did discover a new buck bed that I had overlooked in the past. No super fresh sign there so the deer could be dead but one corner of an island had been worked over with rubs and a small patch of brush 50 yards away held a nice sized bed so a buck had been using it as some point this fall.

[Black Squirrel]

Since your done hunting, I think it would be ideal to scout now. You should be able to gather alot of intell now.

[dreaming bucks]

Since your done hunting, I think it would be ideal to scout now. You should be able to gather alot of intell now.

Well, that's kind of what I was thinking.... Since I really don't plan on hunting anymore after this weekend coming up, why not get in there now, when the beds should really be showing up ? Maybe I will run across something that will make me wanna hunt it immediately, I don't know... I was thinking of maybe even putting one of my trail cams pointing at a bed from a good distance and wait a couple months and go back in and get it to see what is using that bed.... but maybe that's a bad idea, maybe it will drive a buck away from using that bed if he catches on that he's being watched ? Just some thoughts going through my head....