Rating Buck Beds

[Hunter74]

Ok so this year I'm really trying to power scout n cover more area instead of spending so much time scouring over an area. To do this I'm basically going straight to the stuff I know would b conducive to buck bedding n if it's well used and setup good to be good bedding I pay attention n figure out set ups. If it doesn't look all that great n there's not much sign of heavy use I pretty much write it off as secondary or occasional bedding n skip it. So my question is are any of you doing this n what are things you consider as far as rating the bed? Do you think a guy could be overlooking good sets by taking an approach like this? Like sometimes I find spots that look n are set up great for bedding but the sign just isn't there the beds are barely noticeable with little or no hair so I skip it looking for the beds that I can go oh yea he's spending a lot of time hear. Could some of the spots I skip be better than I realized?

[ Post made via Android ]

[hunter_mike]

A bed or bedding area's "rating" will change day by day in my mind.

It will be an A+ bed on a day that a big buck is in it and an F when there is nothing in it.

The past couple years I have been trying to put as much thought into the "when" to hunt as the "where" to hunt. It takes a different type of scouting to find the "when" part. I have mainly been trying to study the area around the bed as much as the actual bed location so that I can check up on the bed from a distance. For example, a trail leading from a bed to a food source with a scrape area a couple hundred yards away. If I check on the scrape area and its tore up I am going to just assume that now is the time to hunt that bedding area. If it doesn't look like much is going on then I will go check another checkpoint. Havent been successful with this method yet and it might not work, but that is how I am thinking currently.

[Bonecrusher101]

First off, I joined the beast a year ago, so this is only my 2nd season scouting for beds. I'm not an experienced beast style member. What you are saying sounds exactly like what I've been doing.

I've made several scouting trips this spring. My goal is to find as many potential buck beds as possible. Im looking for old rubs, fresh tracks, fresh poop, white hair, an escape route if I see a white flash, and to get a read on terrain and best entry and exit. If it's hot sign now I mark it on gps. These areas are at least worth an observation hunt during the season because I have alot of faith in them. If I plan to hunt a certain spot and someone else is there, or the sign is cold I shrug it off and keep moving to the next one.

If I suspect it's only a seasonal bed I'd have to think my chances are better hunting for fresh sign with bow in hand stand on back. I do not mark numerous waypoints. Crops change, patterns get altered but if deer are bedding in a certain area this time of year I'd have to think theres a good chance they will still be hanging around in the fall. I'm sure that not all of the spots I mark will pan out.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[seazofcheeze]

Try and pay really close attention to WHY you think a buck would be in a bed you find. If it looks like it had some use but not in a while, perhaps it's near an oak flat where the acorn supply is now exhausted, and the buck has moved on. He may very well be back next fall if the acorns produce again...dame thing for Apple trees or any other food source. What about beds with a lot of rut sign nearby? Is the bed near a doe bedding area? It seems in my scouting that these rut beds sometimes have less security cover than you might see in a food or security based bedding scenario.

I guess the point I'm try to make is, what would have been the main draw for a buck to bed in an area for a period of time, but not all year. Most likely, it is something variable. What changed? It's probably 1 of 3 things, or a combination of the three. 1. Preferred food source. 2. Does in heat 3. Security/hunter pressure. Let the sign in the area tell you why he was there, why he no longer is in the spring, and when he will likely return.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Hunter74]

I do take all these factors into consideration n there's also some spots I still hunt even if the beds didn't look used much just because it's set up to be great bedding n I think there's a chance that when a good buck shows up he'll use it.
I guess what I've learned is I can go on any decent swamp or marsh n find a dozen or more buck beds but there's only gonna be one or 2 primary beds. These are the beds that get used most of the time regardless of season or food and they can be used by multiple bucks throughout the year, not necessarily the same buck the entire year but chances are when that mature buck is on the property he's gonna be in one of these couple spots. And of course there can be times that nothing is using these beds too. So I'm wondering if any of you have seen the same sort of thing? I'm also wondering if anyone thinks I could be overlooking great spots for a certain time of the yr if I'm only focusing on these primary spots?

[ Post made via Android ]