Bed hunting all over the place or concentrated.

[KLEMZ]

I posted a very similar question last fall and ended up going to something similar to your option 2. What is came down to for me was not just hunting buck beds in a given area but only hunting the best of the best primary beds in an attempt to up my odds on a public land buck. Been beast hunting for about 3-4 years now and what I found was a lot of the beds I was finding just were not used all that much, maybe they were rut beds used only for a short time or the bedding area would go cold the next year. However some of the beds, usually the ones that get you pretty excited about while scouting held a lot more sign and were always active from year to year. On public land I think it might be even more important to put yourself in the best possible locations even if there are a limited number of them. I will see if I can dig up that thread, I do remember Dan saying that a lot of his bucks were shot out of the same 6-7 beds or something like that.

Here is a good example of what I am talking about, I have been scouting out two large blocks of public land the past couple of year. Both between 1500 and 2000 acres in size very similar swamp/woods/islands on both. I found mature buck sign in both areas and there was plenty of cover for a buck to hide out. However the one chunk of land had 3-4 really nice looking bedding areas with tons of sign and the 2nd spot just a few miles away just didn't have the sign. I still have some areas I need to scout in both but for this season I will be driving by one area to hunt the other.

One other thing I suggest is to re-scout some of your old spots from time to time. I did a little of that this year if I was passing through as area and I was kind of surprised at what I found. Some spots that seemed like killer bedding areas went totally cold and other spots which I wasn't sure about seemed to get better. You just have to revisit those areas to see what is happening.

Here is the thread headgear is talking about

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=16957

Here is the most significant post i have seen for a long while,
Dan said.....
Lets look at the marsh behind my house for a second... I that marsh inside out and have been in every inch of it many times. I know where all the bedding areas are... There are hundreds of bedding areas... BUT, 95% of my big buck killing there happens in one of about a 1/2 dozen bedding areas.
Find those primary bedding areas where the big bucks bed when ever there in a certain section and your golden.
The more I look at my success in different spots and analyze it, the more I feel the need to find more primary beds in more places and spread out. If I had about 50 spots that duplicated the 1/2 dozen great ones, I would shoot multiple monsters every year...

[headgear]

Thanks Klemz, forgot about this thread! Yep that was the golden nugget of bed hunting I latched onto as well. I think it can be even more important on public land when you might only have 1 good primary bedding area in a huge area.

Another tip for guys just starting out, just do some cyber scouting and hunt some new land. If I hit a new spot blind I try and guess where a good bed might be based on the wind and then scout my way in and setup on that bed or a general area I think might hold good bedding close by. Many times scouting my way in I follow the sign and end up in a different location, other times I just hunt my selected bed if I find sign or not. Other times I have blown bucks out of their beds guessing right, the hunt is kind of over then but I move on to a new area and hunt or setup in an observation area to see if I can spot another buck. This is a great way to learn new land on the fly and you can put yourself on a nice buck in the process. I've never killed a buck this way but have seen a few shooter bucks and had one in bow range without enough light to shoot. I still mix a few of these hunts in every year, especially when I don't like the wind or timing to setup in my usually spots.

[Stanley]

I am just about positive you will be more successful on areas you know the best. On new areas, no matter how much looks good confirmation is the key. On areas you know the best is where you know where to set up and stick one. I do like to hunt a different stand site every day. For me it keeps the anticipation of the hunt at it's best.

That doesn't mean you can't develop knowledge of multiple areas you know very well. I have about 4 areas I know very well and am the most successful on. I can pretty much dictate success by hunting my best known areas verse new areas. I also think a lot of hunters waste hunts on non productive areas they use as filler spots. I make it a point to never just hunt a filler spot. Hunting goods spots every time out is key.

[Jackson Marsh]

I am just about positive you will be more successful on areas you know the best. On new areas, no matter how much looks good confirmation is the key. On areas you know the best is where you know where to set up and stick one. I do like to hunt a different stand site every day. For me it keeps the anticipation of the hunt at it's best.

That doesn't mean you can't develop knowledge of multiple areas you know very well. I have about 4 areas I know very well and am the most successful on. I can pretty much dictate success by hunting my best known areas verse new areas. I also think a lot of hunters waste hunts on non productive areas they use as filler spots. I make it a point to never just hunt a filler spot. Hunting goods spots every time out is key.

I've noticed myself doing this, hunting "filler spots" the cause for me is not having enough great spots to hunt..........which is why I am always scouting to find that "next" great spot.

[ Post made via Android ]

[PK_]

I also think a lot of hunters waste hunts on non productive areas they use as filler spots. I make it a point to never just hunt a filler spot. Hunting goods spots every time out is key.

This is huge. I eluded to a similar point in another thread. I caught myself hunting 'mediocre' spots in certain areas based on wrong wind, unexpected hunting pressure etc... Last year I put an end to this. I told myself that if I knew I wasn't going to hunt a prime spot, I would point my nose into the wind and still-hunt a new area, basically using that time to scout for next season or possibly set up that day over fresh sign. Didn't kill a buck this way but I did put a lot of pork in the freezer (I normally dont shoot hogs out of my buck setups so this worked well), learned many new areas as well, which I am fine tuning this off-season.

[headgear]

I am just about positive you will be more successful on areas you know the best. On new areas, no matter how much looks good confirmation is the key. On areas you know the best is where you know where to set up and stick one. I do like to hunt a different stand site every day. For me it keeps the anticipation of the hunt at it's best.

Stan hopefully you don't think I am promoting people hunt land they don't know well, we all want to know the land inside and out. However several guys earlier in the thread stated they don't have a lot of good spots scouted out yet. I am just pointing out that going in blind to a new spot can be done if you apply some beast knowledge and are willing to scout and setup on the fly you can still get on good bucks. A lot of this has to do with where we hunt and what pressure is in a given area. You might see 2000 acres close to home and think you have more land than you know what to do with, I might see 2000 acres in my area and only have 3-4 quality setups and I need to scout/hunt 40000 acres to fill up a full season of quality hunts on prime bedding areas.

[Stanley]

I am just about positive you will be more successful on areas you know the best. On new areas, no matter how much looks good confirmation is the key. On areas you know the best is where you know where to set up and stick one. I do like to hunt a different stand site every day. For me it keeps the anticipation of the hunt at it's best.

Stan hopefully you don't think I am promoting people hunt land they don't know well, we all want to know the land inside and out. However several guys earlier in the thread stated they don't have a lot of good spots scouted out yet. I am just pointing out that going in blind to a new spot can be done if you apply some beast knowledge and are willing to scout and setup on the fly you can still get on good bucks. A lot of this has to do with where we hunt and what pressure is in a given area. You might see 2000 acres close to home and think you have more land than you know what to do with, I might see 2000 acres in my area and only have 3-4 quality setups and I need to scout/hunt 40000 acres to fill up a full season of quality hunts on prime bedding areas.

Not at all, I thought your post was a good one. We all can't hunt familiar ground all the time. My response was just additional information to the OP. It just was in succession to your post, not quoting your post. It's all good information.