Bucks entry and exit to bed???

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EthanHogan1
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Bucks entry and exit to bed???

Unread postby EthanHogan1 » Tue Dec 29, 2015 6:22 am

Question.... How often do bucks use the same trail to enter and exit their bed. It appears this deer is leaving and coming back on the same trail. I know he is exiting to the north due to a rub line leading north out of the bed 30 yes away. He then stages in a cedar thicket before stepping out into the corn to eat.
Looking back toward the bed from trail
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Looking from bed toward rub line exit trail:

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The bed:
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DaveT1963
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Re: Bucks entry and exit to bed???

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Tue Dec 29, 2015 6:53 am

Where I hunt, bucks bed based on winds - so if the same wind is there, they tend to use the same J Hook into the bed most of the time. I feel pretty confident, that unless something has disrupted his approach in the past, a mature buck will pretty much enter the same bed the same way the majority of the time. The trouble down here is that they seldom use the same bed night after night so trying to figure out what day he will use a bed is a hit/miss kind of thing. That is why I prefer to set up on bedding area approaches rather then a single bed. The odds just increase and they are pretty consistent as to how they enter bedding areas with same winds.

Our bedding areas down here can be from 20 -200+ acres. The larger the bedding area the more entry trails based upon what they are doing at the time (water, food, does, etc.) Sometimes you just have to eliminate them one by one without messing up the next entry trail. Personally I like leaving cameras set up on multiple entry trails and then sometimes I can get a pattern. I also find that bucks hit the same routines on a yearly basis. Maybe not the same exact day but within a day or two. After using cams for several years I see a pattern and can predict when bucks will move into certain areas within a few days time. This is where yearly journals pay off. In ag country where crops rotate, there may be a two year cycle instead of a yearly cycle.
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Re: Bucks entry and exit to bed???

Unread postby EthanHogan1 » Tue Dec 29, 2015 7:16 am

Dave t I know this bed is consistently used do to bumping a deer from this bed earlier this year. I just didn't know exactly where the bed was. I found it and it appears to be heavily used. And the trail is so worn I'm just assuming he is using the same trail to come and go from his bed. This is a marsh based bed. According to all my research through this site and Dan dvd's they bed specifically to wind, but leave their bed most often the direction they are going to feed unless the buck is spooked and using his escape route

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DaveT1963
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Re: Bucks entry and exit to bed???

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Tue Dec 29, 2015 7:28 am

Are their tracks going both ways? That would tell you

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Re: Bucks entry and exit to bed???

Unread postby EthanHogan1 » Tue Dec 29, 2015 7:30 am

With all the rain most of the tracks are filled with water! It's hard to tell. There are a few other trails around the bed but this is the only one that is being used at the moment.

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Re: Bucks entry and exit to bed???

Unread postby EthanHogan1 » Tue Dec 29, 2015 7:35 am

I just didn't know if any one knew how often a buck uses the same trail to enter and exit bed. He is strategically going only 50 yds from his bed until he is on standing corn. These big deer are so smart. His staging area also has really green grass that you can tell he browses on 5-10yd from his stand

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seazofcheeze
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Re: Bucks entry and exit to bed???

Unread postby seazofcheeze » Tue Dec 29, 2015 7:45 am

I think the destination trail (leaving bed) is usually more heavily worn than the entrance trail, because the destination will be more consistent (in general terms, ag fields, oaks trees, etc, don't tend to move to often, and a lesser extent, doe groups). If the buck is J-hooking into the bed and the wind is changing day to day or every few days, then the entrance trail will vary quite a bit and therefore not be as well worn.
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Re: Bucks entry and exit to bed???

Unread postby EthanHogan1 » Tue Dec 29, 2015 7:52 am

Makes since cheeze! His exit trail is impressive for sure. Well worn and rub line going right out that direction to his main food sources

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Re: Bucks entry and exit to bed???

Unread postby whitetailassasin » Tue Dec 29, 2015 9:03 am

EthanHogan1 wrote:Dave t I know this bed is consistently used do to bumping a deer from this bed earlier this year. I just didn't know exactly where the bed was. I found it and it appears to be heavily used. And the trail is so worn I'm just assuming he is using the same trail to come and go from his bed. This is a marsh based bed. According to all my research through this site and Dan dvd's they bed specifically to wind, but leave their bed most often the direction they are going to feed unless the buck is spooked and using his escape route

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Marsh beds are also non wind specific a lot of times.

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Re: Bucks entry and exit to bed???

Unread postby Lockdown » Tue Dec 29, 2015 9:15 am

My buddy has a bed that has only one entry and exit trail. I went with on his first hunt there and filmed him. We had a deer come sloshing his way toward us, but he hung up just out of sight and we lost shooting light.

He eventually noticed that every time he saw that buck leave his bedding, the wind was in the deer's favor. The night the buck hung up the wind was in our favor. Coincidence?

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Re: Bucks entry and exit to bed???

Unread postby EthanHogan1 » Tue Dec 29, 2015 9:24 am

Yeah there are a few different winds that will work for this bed. The best wind would be south. But that spot hardly ever gets a south wind. So I am going to use a east or west wind will give me a good entrance with wind on my face. I look forward to sitting this stand next year.

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Wlog
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Re: Bucks entry and exit to bed???

Unread postby Wlog » Tue Dec 29, 2015 12:07 pm

Is there anywhere you can set up a couple hundred yards away in an observation stand and maybe see to his exit trail from the bed? If so, I would watch it and try to get an idea if it is wind specific. If the bed is really worn and there is only one heavily used trail in and out I would assume it's not wind specific.

It would make me think he beds there every time he feeds in that field. If you can't sit back and observe or get away with a camera on the edge of the cornfield I would wait for a good rain, then the next day or so put my stand on my back and check for big tracks at the edge of the corn field going in there. If there are fresh tracks, go in and setup.

Sometimes the best we can do is an educated guess. If you can't confirm when he is using it just pick a day with good conditions like right ahead of a cold front or storm front and go for it. Worst case he doesn't show. No big deal. Then you can say maybe he doesn't bed there on "x" wind, I need to try it on "y" wind. Sooner or later you're going to run into him.

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Lockdown
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Re: Bucks entry and exit to bed???

Unread postby Lockdown » Tue Dec 29, 2015 12:31 pm

Solid advice from wlog.

Keep in mind if the farmer rotates crops and there's beans instead of corn there next year, you're going to have to get him early when the beans are green.

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EthanHogan1
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Re: Bucks entry and exit to bed???

Unread postby EthanHogan1 » Tue Dec 29, 2015 12:55 pm

Great post wlog. No way to observe due to not owning that corn on either side. I have maybe one tree I could use once the crops are planted. Lockdown, I have never seen that field in beans. They don't dry out enough up where I hunt. It is always sowed in corn. Or at least the past 3 years I've been visiting, and now able to hunt since I am married in hahah

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Re: Bucks entry and exit to bed???

Unread postby cameron » Tue Dec 29, 2015 1:11 pm

Man you marsh guys make me jealous! Lol I know it's still tough but the sign is so apparent sometimes! I hope you can stay one step ahead of him and seal the deal! Goodluck man!

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