strange buck bed locations

[Lockdown]

Friday I scouted a new piece I've had my eye on and cyber scouted many times. I found a buck bed right off the bat with 2 short summer hairs in it and a couple nice rubs within 10 yards. The thing that threw me off was its location. It was along a transition of a strip of cattails (60 yds wide x 200 yds long) surrounded by CRP on 3 sides. The cattails butted up to a corn field on the other end. But rather than be on one end or the other, the bed was right in the middle. Wind wise, I saw no advantage for that buck to bed there. It was fairly close to the parking area and a prime spot for pheasant hunters to push... not remote at all. I don't see this as a primary bed. QUESTION 1: I'm wondering what kind of success you guys have had hunting buck beds such as this that aren't in classic buck bedding locations.

On the same property I hiked a mile back and found a nice bed. Near the bed a 4" aspen was recently rubbed... The weird thing about this bed, was it was on the NW side of a shrub, which indicates to me that it would bed there with a SE wind. However the curvature of the bed showed it was looking SE... into the wind. QUESTION 2: Is this buck using this bed with a NW or SE wind? To me it would seem danger (hunters mainly) would approach from the South.

[dan]

Was the bed near the parking lot well worn? Was there other beds near the 1st one? Was there buck sign near it?
Not all beds are worthy of being hunted... Maybe its just a summer bed when no one is back there? IO would make a mental note and keep an eye on it.

As for bed #2, Bucks will wander around near a bed, the direction of a rub in relation to the bed means nothing other than a buck is likely using the bed. If the bed is wind specific, the clues the bed itself gives you are much more important. An obstacle to the backside, and the shape of the bed should help determine which way the buck is facing, and wind should almost always hit the buck in the back.

[PK_]

Bed 1, the buck may be in the middle of the cattails because the pheasant hunting(and any other human activity) is only on the edges. May be an any wind bed with primary defense being sound. Beds I am unsure of I like to go in during season and try to bump one out of there, depending on the situation you can hunt it same or next season with intel gained. Or do a small quick mini drive during gun and see if anything pops out.

Bed 2, I have seen bucks sit facing a 'shrub' or bush using it to screen the side they expect danger to come from. Basically they will situate with their body screened but where they can see in that direction, if that makes sense.

[Lockdown]

Dan, there were a few random beds in the vicinity of the 1st bed... most likely does. The buck bed was in canary grass and it had obviously been laid in numerous times, as it was very round and probably 5' in diameter. There were rubs within 15 yards on both sides of the bed and one almost within arms reach. I'm kind of wondering if it is a summer bed when nobody is out there. I certainly don't see him bedding there during pheasant season, as it is not an overlooked spot or out of the way at all. Its 250 yards from the parking lot in the first group of trees you come to. PalmettoKid that would make sense that this is a sound bed. He has an easy getaway to the north if he hears someone pull into the parking lot.

As for bed #2, going by what both of you have said, he must be laying there with a NW wind at his back. That would make sense for the shape of the bed. There are a few aspens in the area but other than that only a couple bushes. Apparently he's using the bush as a screen to watch danger approach from the south, and keep a tab on the private land to the north.

There are some really thick and impenetrable low lands in this area. Scrub brush mixed with canary grass and dogwood thickets. In the middle of all that is an opening I want to scout this spring. I don't think any hunters ever go in there, maybe a gun hunter or two. I'm assuming this opening will be a magnet for beds along the edges. I would think they would lay upwind watching the open area with the wind at their back. I might try and sneak in there this year for a rut hunt and I want to make sure my guess for the bedding is accurate.