Confused..

[kwaldeier]

Went out and found a ton of doe beds today. Found what I thought was a SURE fire buck bed.Nope! 2 beds 10 ft apart. It had everything a buck would. 2/3 from top,layed down tree in front of,but there were 2! I'm really lost right now.


Also found what I think is a small buck bed on a point overlooking a sizeable drop off

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[Zap]

Bucks will bed together this time of year, bed size would indicate body size.

How are the deer #'s by you as compared to a few years ago?

[kwaldeier]

That makes so much sense!

Ha. Laughable this year. Pretty sad actually

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[Jackson Marsh]

Any tracks? You should be able to tell from tracks.

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[Hodag Hunter]

At times a buck will get up and reposition through out the day. I have seen it quote a few times.

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[Zap]

Two deer laid in those beds as it snowed, or there would be melted snow under one.

[Country]

Cool pictures.

[DEERSLAYER]

Probably a young buck bed on that point like you said. Looks like you had two deer bed 10' apart before the snow started. It could be two bucks or a doe and a buck. Tracks are the key to figuring it out lust like Jackson Marsh said.

[kwaldeier]

Agree with zap and lance. They were there while it was snowing. I didn't look at the tracks. I will go back. Kind of shrugged it off thinking doe

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[dan]

I agree with what has been said, but also keep in mind that lone does or two does, will sometimes bed in buck beds. especially if there not in use by bucks at the time.

[BassBoysLLP]

Bucks will bed together this time of year, bed size would indicate body size.

X2. I have observed this a lot in the late season.

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[Hodag Hunter]

Could be two bucks or a buck moving more than once in the day. Just because a bed doesn't have snow in it doesn't indicate it required a deer to have been bedded there during the snow.

As others mentioned tracks would tell the story. No way to tell for sure from pictures what past temps and deer bed laying duration was.

Or as Dan stated could be does in the beds.

The facts are beds we're found, deer in area, but without observing all the clues left behind aren't any closer to say a buck is nearby.

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[kwaldeier]

Should have slowed down I guess...lol

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[Hodag Hunter]

Below are pictures of a buck I tracked this year and both bed pictures are from him. The only deer tracks in this area. Main snow depth was (6) days old with a 1" dust from (2) days prior.

Track leading to bed.



1st bed he moved on his own.......didn't get started on this buck until later in the afternoon.



2nd bed he moved to and I blew him up out of here.



What the terrain was.



He was here before as this rub was an old one (this year, but from weeks ago) but no rubs this time of year doesn't mean it's not a buck bed. Most bucks I track are'nt making it back to their core area everyday. Point is, finding a bed in the snow is just the tip of the iceberg. One must take their time and decipher all the clues the deer is leaving you.



Notice both beds have estionally no snow in them.....this was the 1st time the buck was back in this area from before opening day of season. I would have been able to see old tracks in the (6) day old snow. There were none. This tracking day was Thankgiving afternoon and by his tracks age heading in, was there since early morning before dark.

Second bed he only blew out a short distance and we played cat and mouse with each other until dark. At one point he circled back and walked with 30-35 yards of me but couldn't see him in the thick stuff. I could hear him walking by me breaking ice/water. When taking the track up again GPS coordinates confirmed how close he was.

[DEERSLAYER]

At times a buck will get up and reposition through out the day. I have seen it quote a few times.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

No doubt this happens all the time. Wasn't trying to insinuate otherwise. I'm just going on the information I presented. I have seen 2-3 beds from the same buck completely devoid of snow on many occasions when we had nice sunny weather with no snow for days.