When you're close to the bedding area...

[BackWoodsHunter]

I made a strange observation while scouting the other day and maybe it is just that a strange coincidence or maybe its relevant. But when scouting and hunting all in one shot how do you know when you are close to a bedding area? I was following some tracks (backwards) in some open hardwoods that lead to a young stand of white pines. As I got closer to the pines the tracks seemed to have more debris in them. Not piles of leaves or anything but little shavings and bits of dirt and various things similiar to that of the top layer of soil you would find on the floor of a pine stand. I followed them further and maybe 50 yards away in the pines were 3 beds. Has anyone else noticed that the deer leave a "trail" close to their beds in the snow. As they get up and walk the dirt/leaf litter must slowly fall off. I'm not sure if that's accurate everytime but it might help to give a relative idea of how close one is to a bedding area.

[cornfedkiller]

Im no expert in this, but I can maybe help you by something magicman told me. When he tracks deer (you should read his thread called "my northern wi hunt" in the deer hunting section-lots of good info there), he can tell when he is getting close to the bedding area because the deer seem to start wandering around more near their bed. The tracks out a ways will be heading one direction, and as they get close to their bed, they wander around and eat, and the tracks will scatter out more. Ive never seen it myself (never tried tracking deer that way), but it makes sense to me. I dont really know about the debris in the tracks, but that makes sense as well..

[Black Squirrel]

Good observation Backwoods, it seems plausible to me.

[magicman54494]

Without seeing it firsthand it's hard to say. I would believe that the deer was picking up stuff as it walked. Snow depth and conditions change as you change terrain in the woods. That deer could have been bedding but I would guess any deer walking thru that area would pick up the same stuff and deposit it as it walked along.

[3dog]

But when scouting and hunting all in one shot how do you know when you are close to a bedding area?

It's an educated guess but if you've spent enough time in buck bedding areas and really picked them apart it's relatively easy to spot new buck bedding without going in to verify. Like in your case, the open hardwoods merged with a stand of pines. Right there you have a natural edge which is a likely bedding area and sure enough, you found beds there. Had a hunt this fall where I figured to be close to the bucks bedding area based on sign and location. He was leaving big rubs on a bench and had tracks leading to an open point. When I saw a brushline on the backside of the point, I figured he was probably bedding there. The next morning he showed up in broad daylight but I didn't get a shot at him.
Anymore when I find really good buck sign I start tracking the sign and usually 1 of 3 things happen. I loose the sign before I get to an area that looks like a buck will move in daylight. Or I jump him, which doesn't happen too often, at least that I'm aware of. Or I find a spot that's deep enough, has fresh sign and in the type of cover/terrain that bucks like to bed. I'll pick out a tree and hunt it asap, usually an evening then a morning just for good measure. When done with the hunt, I'll pick the whole place apart, bedding included, just for the sake of knowledge. Seems like doing this a handfull of times over the past 3 or 4 seasons has really helped me to to recognize buck bedding.

[BackWoodsHunter]

I have pictures I can post later. It was after the big snowstorm and the tracks certainly were not "fresh" but they were within a day or two and they had similar things you'd find on the floor of a stand of pine trees in Central WI. The decayed needles and sand mixed with the tiny pieces of pine cone seeds and cones themselves. If you picked up a handful and sifted through it a lot of the same debris that would be in your hand was in the tracks. And the beds with 50 yards or so were bare right down to the ground. I'm not saying it happens every time just a neat observation I made on that day in that situation.

[BackWoodsHunter]

I like that tactic 3 dog. This off-season I'll be adding a ton of properties to my binder of maps for scouting. I will probably use the same tactics on some of them.

[dan]

It's an educated guess but if you've spent enough time in buck bedding areas and really picked them apart it's relatively easy to spot new buck bedding without going in to verify.