Primary buck beds

[dan]

I wanted to discuss primary buck bedding... When I think back to all the buck beds I have hunted for the last 3 decades there are some that pan out every now and then, and those that have really been good to me. Some of that is obviously in how well you can set up on the bed, but the most important thing is that the bed is used enough to increase your odds when you sit it...
So when I think back to those beds that really produced over and over, the the main thing that comes to mind is that its not just one bed in most of the spots. Most of the primary bedding areas I hunt have 5 or 10 beds in a small area from 20 square feet to a 1/4 acre... I suspect the differing beds might be because they move with different wind directions. I know that to be the case in some instances where I have observed it.
In the few cases where a single bed was a primary bed you could tell it was getting used heavy. Worn to the dirt, and recessed into the ground.
Another trait of a primary bed is its usually in a great spot for the deers advantage. Some of the best ones I know are right near where there is heavy human pressure but they over look this particular spot.
Sitting in a tree yesterday hoping for a buck to come out of a primary bed, I got to really thinking back about the particular marsh I was hunting. I have hunted hundreds of bedding areas over and over, but when I think back most have had random action, but a few have produced almost every year despite me only hunting them 1 to 3 times a year.
The spot I was sitting I could remember a dozen big buck encounters... But other spots I sit just as often I could remember one or two, and they were usually specific to a certain time of the year....
I shot my biggest buck in a lone primary bed which as I said above is the exception. But even with that being a single bed I seen another big buck bed in that same exact bed on a different occasion.

Non-primary buck beds are often only used when a certain food source is available, or at a certain time of year. Non-primary beds seem to cough up more young bucks than the primary's... But I do see young bucks in the primary beds too.

Clear as mud?

Will a buck leave his summer bed to a fall bed rut ect

Was asking because I plan to scout few properties but didnt know If finding a bed in summer would would matter if he changes for summer

BASE YOUR SCOUTING OFF TERRAIN AND WHERE BUCKS SHOULD BED... tHEY MAY OR MAY NOT BE THERE IN THE SUMMER. How well your eye is trained will determine if you can tell fall bedding areas in summer.

[editingspace0]

Found this one last week. I had a strong suspicion that there would be a bed here somewhere. I know I might have screwed it up for this year but I wanted to comfirm it. Here is a pic.

This is great haha. I consider myself a novice in all aspects of deer hunting. I've killed a few here and there but mainly in my teens and mainly in part to it being private land. During my mid 20s I spent a great amount hunting other things Now that I am married with children I find myself back in the woods with my bow where I left off. Last year I harvested four deer on public land, 2 does and 2 bucks. All of which were 2-3 years of age. I've done a great deal of scouting online and on foot, but I'll be damned if I can find an actual bed. I try to hone in on areas that are overlooked or places that are just too far away for the average person to walk. Keep in mind that I am in the sandhills of North Carolina where early season can experience temps in the mid 90s. Most sign I've found has been beaten paths in the swamps.

The attached pics aren't beds, but are near what I believe to be bedding. The one on my computer screen is what I online scouted before taking the pictures on foot. I don't really know how to access the cattails without being drowned or snake bit.

[greenhorndave]

Can’t help you with the snake bit part, but check out the Scouting Workshop videos that Mark did from Dan’s workshop this year. He shows the “duck walk” for getting through cattails. Basically, step on the stems of the cats on either side of the deer trail. Don’t walk on the trail, you’ll go through. But walking on the stems works.

Go to 5:05 of this video...

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bUd9sTJs4so&t=930s