Beds next to trees.
- hunter_mike
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Re: Beds next to trees.
My trouble is that I have started to recognize that the beds sit like this, next to trees, and now my eyes start to think everything is a bed. I guess my brain wants it to be a bed so now, every little depression in the ground with a tree behind it looks like a bed to me until i get down and cant find any hair or poo in it. Its frustrating and I think I burn a lot of my time scouting looking at false beds that are not even beds at all. Not sure if others have this issue or if I'm just a wierdo
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Re: Beds next to trees.
hunter_mike wrote:My trouble is that I have started to recognize that the beds sit like this, next to trees, and now my eyes start to think everything is a bed. I guess my brain wants it to be a bed so now, every little depression in the ground with a tree behind it looks like a bed to me until i get down and cant find any hair or poo in it. Its frustrating and I think I burn a lot of my time scouting looking at false beds that are not even beds at all. Not sure if others have this issue or if I'm just a wierdo
Most of the time when I find a bed they are very noticeable since the vegetation is matted down pretty good especially if it is a primary bed that gets used a lot. Right now as things are just greening up seems to make it even easier because you can see the old vegetation matted down along with the fresh greens coming up which tells you the bed is currently being used right now.
If you want to cut down your bed searching time drastically start out looking at topos and aerial maps first. I really cut my scouting time by doing this and then making an educated guess of where the beds should be located and then verifying this on foot. I am still amazed how I can guess bed locations very close this way and also believe anyone can do it with a little practice.
Finding random beds are nice to find but you still have to look at the big picture and think about why they are bedding there. When you start recognizing this you will have a much easier time finding beds in the future.
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Re: Beds next to trees.
Awesome response Dewey... All those depressions your seeing might or might not be beds... But the beds that are where they should be based on terrain, elevation, or other factors, are the beds you should concentrate on.
- hunter_mike
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Re: Beds next to trees.
Thank you Dewey and Dan for that... It helps a lot. Some of them surely are beds and I find a hair or two in them, but many are not primary. I always feel like I want to check out every little clump of brush or tree which I suppose is fine, but I should just leave them when I don't right away see a primary bed. I like the way you put it with "the big picture." I need to teach myself to focus on that, and not get sidetracked.
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Re: Beds next to trees.
Dewey wrote:hunter_mike wrote:My trouble is that I have started to recognize that the beds sit like this, next to trees, and now my eyes start to think everything is a bed. I guess my brain wants it to be a bed so now, every little depression in the ground with a tree behind it looks like a bed to me until i get down and cant find any hair or poo in it. Its frustrating and I think I burn a lot of my time scouting looking at false beds that are not even beds at all. Not sure if others have this issue or if I'm just a wierdo
Most of the time when I find a bed they are very noticeable since the vegetation is matted down pretty good especially if it is a primary bed that gets used a lot. Right now as things are just greening up seems to make it even easier because you can see the old vegetation matted down along with the fresh greens coming up which tells you the bed is currently being used right now.
If you want to cut down your bed searching time drastically start out looking at topos and aerial maps first. I really cut my scouting time by doing this and then making an educated guess of where the beds should be located and then verifying this on foot. I am still amazed how I can guess bed locations very close this way and also believe anyone can do it with a little practice.
Finding random beds are nice to find but you still have to look at the big picture and think about why they are bedding there. When you start recognizing this you will have a much easier time finding beds in the future.
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Absolutely. If a deer is bedding at a single point repeatedly it will be very obvious. It will look like something has been sitting in one spot for hours on end and on multiple days. A concentrated group of lesser worn beds can mean something too though.
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Re: Beds next to trees.
Sorry if I'm taking this thread for a ride in a different direction, but I'm pretty excited right now. I went out scouting tonight but this time I took a little bit of your guy's advice. I usually do look at some aerials before I scout, but this time I really put some energy and thought into it and picked out the most likely spots that I could find based off of what I have been learning by observing on here, just as Dewey and JoeRE said, and also plugged the coordinates into the gps and made a point of making it to those particular spots.
On my way in, I did run into some of the familiar scattered beds. I started to looking at them, but I thought of something that I read earlier today where dan said something of the sort "I am not hunting deer... I am hunting BIG BUCKS" I made note of the scattered doe beds by marking them in the gps but kept moving on to the spots that I had planned to go to. As soon as I got there I was delighted to find the most well-used bed I have found on that entire chunk of state land.
I walked all around that marsh point and found two more well used beds filled with hair. I also kicked up a big deer that did not bust out untill I was about 20 yards away and deep in thick brush. I was just so jacked to find this spot.
I moved on to the second spot that I had marked and it turned out not to be a bedding area, but was a maze of deer trails and hot sign. This spot is something that I will need to further figure out. Tons of sign and rubs, but not much for apparent bedding. Anyhow I was just as excited to find this spot! While walking the edges of this little area, I happened to look down and look at what I found! I know its not a good thing to find a dead buck but I can't help but get excited about this find. That buck is a shooter and a half for me right now!
I feel like I have really turned a page with my scouting skills, and although I wish it would have happened earlier this winter, I'm glad it happened. This thread had a major part in turning that page so Thank you all!! I am going to continue to scout smarter and scout for BIG BUCKS and not just for "deer". This concept is repeated so often on this forum and yet not everyone is doing it well including me! But im getting better now!
On my way in, I did run into some of the familiar scattered beds. I started to looking at them, but I thought of something that I read earlier today where dan said something of the sort "I am not hunting deer... I am hunting BIG BUCKS" I made note of the scattered doe beds by marking them in the gps but kept moving on to the spots that I had planned to go to. As soon as I got there I was delighted to find the most well-used bed I have found on that entire chunk of state land.
I walked all around that marsh point and found two more well used beds filled with hair. I also kicked up a big deer that did not bust out untill I was about 20 yards away and deep in thick brush. I was just so jacked to find this spot.
I moved on to the second spot that I had marked and it turned out not to be a bedding area, but was a maze of deer trails and hot sign. This spot is something that I will need to further figure out. Tons of sign and rubs, but not much for apparent bedding. Anyhow I was just as excited to find this spot! While walking the edges of this little area, I happened to look down and look at what I found! I know its not a good thing to find a dead buck but I can't help but get excited about this find. That buck is a shooter and a half for me right now!
I feel like I have really turned a page with my scouting skills, and although I wish it would have happened earlier this winter, I'm glad it happened. This thread had a major part in turning that page so Thank you all!! I am going to continue to scout smarter and scout for BIG BUCKS and not just for "deer". This concept is repeated so often on this forum and yet not everyone is doing it well including me! But im getting better now!
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Re: Beds next to trees.
Hunter_Mike, its great to feel your excitement... Success or not, hunting with a purpose, and a plan will give you a lot more confidence than blindly sitting at food sources or random deer sign.
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Re: Beds next to trees.
Good finds!
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Re: Beds next to trees.
So I don't create duplicate threads about bucks bedding next to trees, I am going to ask a question in here. Sorry if I am hijacking.
I have found beds on a slope along the highest point of a bench, right on the edge. Anyway, I have:
-beds that have a rub next to them but are not backing against trees (or any object),
-beds that back against a tree such as a spruce with cover but no rubs near
-1 or 2 beds that have both rubs and backing against a tree.
Does a buck bed need to have both a rub and backing against a tree/object?
I have found beds on a slope along the highest point of a bench, right on the edge. Anyway, I have:
-beds that have a rub next to them but are not backing against trees (or any object),
-beds that back against a tree such as a spruce with cover but no rubs near
-1 or 2 beds that have both rubs and backing against a tree.
Does a buck bed need to have both a rub and backing against a tree/object?
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Re: Beds next to trees.
Does a buck bed need to have both a rub and backing against a tree/object?
No... They are occasionally not against a tree, and some buck beds do not have rubs anywhere near them. But a rub at the bed, old rubs near the same bed, and a tree for a back stop, and several beds nearby covering most winds, are all indications of a well used buck bed worthy of hunting... I would not dismiss lesser beds, or beds with less sign, but beds with everything a buck likes are preferred.
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Re: Beds next to trees.
hunter_mike wrote:Sorry if I'm taking this thread for a ride in a different direction, but I'm pretty excited right now. I went out scouting tonight but this time I took a little bit of your guy's advice. I usually do look at some aerials before I scout, but this time I really put some energy and thought into it and picked out the most likely spots that I could find based off of what I have been learning by observing on here, just as Dewey and JoeRE said, and also plugged the coordinates into the gps and made a point of making it to those particular spots.
On my way in, I did run into some of the familiar scattered beds. I started to looking at them, but I thought of something that I read earlier today where dan said something of the sort "I am not hunting deer... I am hunting BIG BUCKS" I made note of the scattered doe beds by marking them in the gps but kept moving on to the spots that I had planned to go to. As soon as I got there I was delighted to find the most well-used bed I have found on that entire chunk of state land.......
.......I feel like I have really turned a page with my scouting skills, and although I wish it would have happened earlier this winter, I'm glad it happened. This thread had a major part in turning that page so Thank you all!! I am going to continue to scout smarter and scout for BIG BUCKS and not just for "deer". This concept is repeated so often on this forum and yet not everyone is doing it well including me! But im getting better now!
Feels good don't it? It's impressive how it works. I must say I was leary and I'm not one for taking advice as gospel until I see it for myself. And this year I did. Now putting it all together in the fall is the chore!
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- hunter_mike
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Re: Beds next to trees.
Southern Man wrote:
Feels good don't it? It's impressive how it works. I must say I was leary and I'm not one for taking advice as gospel until I see it for myself. And this year I did. Now putting it all together in the fall is the chore!
You got that right!!!!!! I do not think I have ever been this excited for september to come in may
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