Little help getting started.

[Birdseye]

Hey guys, this is some pics of the land I hunt.
The yellow is the land boundaries. Everything between the yellow and the lake is public.
The red line is a hiking, and horse riding trail that hugs the lake.
The green trail is an old hiking trail that is mostly overgrown.
The blue is a spring that always has water in it, even during droughts.
I have a number of scrapes marked with orange dots. I been following John Eberhart for a few years so they are what I am used to scouting for.

The area is Native prairie grasses and terrain that is found all over Oklahoma and Kansas.
The hardwood forest you see are full of Oaks, both white and red, as well as Pecans, Elm, and Hackberries.
The new growth that is being taken over by cedar trees is also full of Persimmon trees.

I have been hunting this land for a few years and have taken 2 decent 8 point bucks, both with rifle.
They like to use the point or "draw" that points to the south during the RUT. The south end that is thick with cedars and persimmons is full of does but not many bucks and the hardwoods to the west house a good number of both does and bucks.
I am trying to shift my thinking from hunting deer to targeting mature bucks.
I am going to have boots on the ground in the area for the next several months if needed.
I would Love to hear Ya'll's thoughts and ideas on where to focus my efforts of hunting Mature Buck Bedding areas.

Thanks in advance,
Birdseye

[Tennhunter3]

There doesn't appear to be but 2 possible bedding area on the property and it is on the Lee side of the northern draw. . It's the same draw you got the 2 8s in. My focus would be walking on foot the Lee side of your northern draw the bucks using the field to the east can walk very nearly into the wind in the morning and watch their back trail. They should walk the Lee side south to avoid going through the deep draw staying at that same elevation. If they walk into the wind in the afternoon and cut along your orange dot scrape line they are using their eyes to scan the field and will most likely enter from a low drainage in the field that pools the scent their. The second bedding area is the edge of the drainage near your orange scrape line has a small Lee side edge to it Is very near your property line though.This one has a hook one third from the highest point. This one might be your mature buck bedding area it's smaller and easier to overlook .

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[Birdseye]

Thanks for the response Tennhunter3.
What do you mean by Lee side? The predominate wind in Oct and Nov where I live is going to be Southerly. In December we may have about 1/4 of the days with a northerly wind but most of hunting season is going to be out of the south. Forgot to provide that information yesterday.

Today I scouted and found some interesting things.
In section A; the area we see Bucks coming out of and going towards from the south, I did not see much sign. No rubs, or browse, and just a few scrapes on the West side of the draw in the hay meadow.

Section B has the spring fed creek that runs to the lake and some thick forest areas north of that. The areas that are grass and cedars are bedding areas but not for mature bucks. Mostly does and probably some JR bucks. Right around the spring fed creek I found a lot nice rubs, both this years and from years past. I tried for quite awhile to follow the rubs to a bedding area with no success.

Section C is more of the same with the grassy areas supplying bedding for does and young bucks or maybe all does and fawns.

Section D I really wasn't all that interested in but I remember ya'll talking about they like to be up high. High for Oklahoma is a relative term. Lol
I found the highest point I could in the woods and just started walking the ridge to the north.
I found what might be 2 different buck bedding areas. Both are high on the ridge and can see very well to the hay meadow and anything coming from the north or west sides.
There was evidence of browsing and one nice rub at each bed. The beds themselves were down to the dirt. Both were under oak trees that appeared to have a heavy mast last yr.

I walked out section E also. I wanted to check the transition between the old growth hardwoods and the new growth cedars, and persimmons. I found a few beds and very few rubs. I think the does like this area and rarely do we see bucks on the south end except during the rut.

Does any of this sound right to ya'll or am I way off base...???

[TN Whitetail Freak]

from the sound of it D is where id focus my hunts early....then maybe hunt B&C during the rut to catch cruising bucks checking those doe bedding areas. being you have a southernly wind i would predict those dirt beds you found were on the North side of that peaked ridge in D. It sounds like you are on a pretty good start.

[Birdseye]

I have been doing some reading in some of the other topics and I realized I forgot to look for hair in those 2 beds on the ridge. I did what Dan had talked about and squatted down low in the bed to study what the buck can see and why he is there, but did not notice any hair...
I would like to think I would have if there was some in the bed...

Do ya'll think it would be to much for me to go check it out again this week or should I wait a when before disturbing the area again..???

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