rubs inside doe bedding areas?

[john1984]

Do bucks make rubs inside doe bedding areas? If they do, how do you know it's JUST a doe bedding area? Also Dan has talked about bucks marking doe trails by making a rub on it. If your not using trail cams, how do you know that it's JUST a doe trail and not a buck trail?

[ Post made via Android ]

[Lockdown]

Yes, they rub in doe bedding. I have a farm grove that I hunt that is littered with rubs and scrapes in the doe bedding. I mentioned it in another thread, but the scenario is this:

I've hunted this grove for 5 years now, and I know for a fact there are does that consistently (I'm fairly certain they're there over 90% of the time) bed on the very south end. I always stayed away because the grove is so small that rutting bucks chasing does would eventually end up at my stand locations.

Well this year I got aggressive and camera bombed the doe bedding. What I found was the doe bedding turned red hot with buck activity come rut. I scouted it after gun season closed, and it was full of rubs and scrapes.

Now, someone setting foot in there for the first time spring scouting might think they found a buck hide out. This is not the case at all. I know for a fact that nothing bigger than a yearling here an there and MAYBE a random two year old beds there outside of rut. I've ran tons of camera here, and can observe it from two different roads. Not only that but it is the landowners residence and he is always watching out the windows for deer.

So how do you tell the difference? NUMBER OF BEDS, locations of the beds, and bed size.

In my situation, the vast majority of this sign is most likely made at night by cruising bucks. Sure... When a doe finally comes into estrous (or close to it) you'll see a shooter chasing, bedding here, and rubbing or scraping during daytime hours while he's accompanying her. However that is the only time they are visible during daylight.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Bayshorebuck8]

Great info lockdown

[ Post made via Android ]

[Lockdown]

I would like to add that this is hard core row crop country. The bucks that visit from the east (across 1/2 mile of plowing) come from a neighbor who manages his land for big deer. Real big deer. That is EXTREMELY rare for my part of the country. His property is exceptional, and I reap the benefits of his love sick bucks.

On the other side of the property there is a large cattail marsh that the landowners don't know how to hunt. The combination of the two (with guarenteed does in the farmers grove) makes for a very fortunate situation for me. Driving by it it looks like an ordinary farm grove. Definitely not the case.

That said, this grove is situated right on a fence line that serves as a travel route between the swamp and the managed land. I think the abundance of sign in the doe bedding is due to the grove being a sign marker or meeting place of sorts. Bucks "swing by" because it's convenient, and stay when they find what they want.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[jmaas07]

I was out the other day and was looking at a doe bedding area that had lots of rubs of different sizes in it, mainly on the down wind side for the prevailing wind in the area. The doe bedding is in a circular fashion, each looking a different way for protection. In this area there's buck bedding on each side of the doe bedding and its in a secure area that doesn't get pressure inside the bedding area and the rubs along the downwind side of the doe bedding come from the buck bedding so the sign is probably layed down during daylight hrs and you can tell it's a buck trail by how it relates to the buck and doe bedding

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[john1984]

thanks lockdown I enjoy yours posts. The terrian you describe makes me think of my home area in south central MN. How many acres is that small grove you hunt? Here is an area I scouted one day a couple years ago. I was finding beds and rubs. I was unsure about some beds , wished I knew if it was a buck or doe. I guess I should have did some observation sits last fall but I didn't.
.
Here is a close up of an area that has beds and rubs.



And here same area a little zoomed out. What ya guys think ??? Nice spot?
Where you guess the buck beds?


[ Post made via Android ]

[Lockdown]

thanks lockdown I enjoy yours posts. The terrian you describe makes me think of my home area in south central MN. How many acres is that small grove you hunt?

[ Post made via Android ]

The grove itself is probably 100 yards wide by 300 yards long. There is a big machine shed in the middle with mowed grass and a tiny 40x40 yard food plot that the landowner puts in. By most people's standards its extremely small. Compared to other groves I've hunted in farm country, I consider it bigger than average.

As far as the aerial you posted, I'm not going to pretend I'm a master cyberscouter. I'm sure there are more experienced beasts who could give you better advice than I can. That said, the first spot that jumps out at me is the tip of the point strait below your "3G" symbol (zoomed in pic) that angles up to the NW and stops in the tails (considering North is up). Looks like a pinwheel of trails going N, NE, W, and SW. There could easily be bedding North of that, too.

[dan]

Doe vs buck bedding can be confusing... Even I make occasional mistakes in analyzing. Some does, especially lone or small groups, occasionally share buck bedding when the buck is either not present, or not sexually active.

However, there are bedding areas that rarely hold bucks, but are active doe bedding areas. Someone mentioned "number of beds" I would disagree with that... Yes, one or two well used beds is likely buck bedding, but MOST buck bedding areas, and especially primary ones, have multiple beds, sometimes dozens or more...

One key separation is how the bed is placed... Doe bedding is for groups of does. They bed each looking a different direction regardless of wind, and some of the beds will not seem well placed, or placed with the care a buck takes. This is because the bed is placed in its location for maximizing vision rather than scent. That don't mean does don't bed using scent, they do... However several in the group will have the primary function of watching one direction and wind wont be to the back of all the does in the group...

Does are family oriented animals... They bed with the best interest of the group. Any of you that attended the Michigan workshop might remember the doe beds? Remember the two that faced each other looking over each others shoulder?

Bucks are solitary animals for the most part. They worry about themselves. They bed with an obstacle to back or on rare occasions front to hide them, with wind to back... There is much care in deciding an exact bedding location, and entrance and escape from said location... When you find a well used bed that mature bucks use, you usually have to smile and say this spot is genius, its where I would hide... If you don't get that feeling, keep looking.