Finding beds in flat/non-marsh terrian

[tgreeno]

I have had some success finding beds in some of the areas I hunt. It's the terrain that's flat & non-marsh that I'm struggling with. I usually head to the nastiest & thickest stuff I can find. Is this what I should be doing? I also don't hunt huge tracts of land where I can head in 2 miles back. Most of the time they are smaller areas where 1/2 mile or less is the back edge of the property. Should I also be looking for larger tracts of land to scout?

[dan]

You can break that area down real quickly by knowing bucks bed on edges. Scout and hunt the transitions. The ones that are in spots no one goes, either over looked or hard to access, are going to be your money spots. Thick (on one side) transitions are generally really good.

[whitetail_addict]

I've overlooked them in the past but the last few years I've noticed a pattern of regularity as far as bucks bedding in little mini marshes or mini swamps in the middle of otherwise open flat woods. As I've come to pay more attention to it I've found beds and sign and seen the big bucks come out of these areas. Often they are no more than a 50 or 100 yard long openings in the woods with wet marsh grass and maybe a couple of trees within them. In this otherwise flat open ground these spots provide that change in cover that big bucks often associate with. For me, I've just got to start figuring out how to better hunt these spots now.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[hunter_mike]

Anywhere theres standing water with thick brush next to it i often find beds. They use the water body as an obstacle.

[ Post made via Android ]

[tgreeno]

I've overlooked them in the past but the last few years I've noticed a pattern of regularity as far as bucks bedding in little mini marshes or mini swamps in the middle of otherwise open flat woods. As I've come to pay more attention to it I've found beds and sign and seen the big bucks come out of these areas. Often they are no more than a 50 or 100 yard long openings in the woods with wet marsh grass and maybe a couple of trees within them. In this otherwise flat open ground these spots provide that change in cover that big bucks often associate with. For me, I've just got to start figuring out how to better hunt these spots now.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

I found one of these this year too...I need to find more!

[Lockdown]

In general, yes, thick is good. If it's a pain in the rear to hunt, that's where you want to be. To me a big parcel is good... It means more opportunity for escape. If you hunt a small property chances are it's going to need to be overlooked by others.

I live in crazy flat country with rolling hills within driving distance. The flatter it is the less predictable it is IMO. Where are the beds going to be in a round 10 acre cattail patch or square grove? Wind direction will help narrow things down the day of the hunt, but as far as cyber scouting is concerned it is tough for places like that.

I don't really have much for good bedding nailed down on really flat ground. I never find anything that gets me super excited when I do scout it, that's why I normally pick rut stands for those parcels. I spend early season in the swamps because I'm confident I know where they'll be bedding in them.

As always Dan gave you great advice. They like to lay on the downwind edge watching the open. I spent my whole life approaching groves from strait downwind. Then I join the Beast and I realized that all the smart deer watched me approach from a 1/4 mile away and left without me ever knowing!! Whoops.

One flat non-swamp/marsh area where I did have some great hunts this year had two things going for it. It was remote, and it was structure (island of trees) surrounded by bedding (CRP, tall grass and cane). It's tough because I never know what direction they'll come from. I get busted a lot there too. That's why I named it "helter skelter".

I like to look for structure like riverbottoms or drainage ditches in flat areas. Water is a great transition to hunt, plus they need it to survive. Win/win. It also might be a barrier tht keeps other hunters out.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[tgreeno]

In general, yes, thick is good. If it's a pain in the rear to hunt, that's where you want to be. To me a big parcel is good... It means more opportunity for escape. If you hunt a small property chances are it's going to need to be overlooked by others.

I live in crazy flat country with rolling hills within driving distance. The flatter it is the less predictable it is IMO. Where are the beds going to be in a round 10 acre cattail patch or square grove? Wind direction will help narrow things down the day of the hunt, but as far as cyber scouting is concerned it is tough for places like that.

I don't really have much for good bedding nailed down on really flat ground. I never find anything that gets me super excited when I do scout it, that's why I normally pick rut stands for those parcels. I spend early season in the swamps because I'm confident I know where they'll be bedding in them.

As always Dan gave you great advice. [glow=red]They like to lay on the downwind edge watching the open. I spent my whole life approaching groves from strait downwind.[/glow] Then I join the Beast and I realized that all the smart deer watched me approach from a 1/4 mile away and left without me ever knowing!! Whoops.

One flat non-swamp/marsh area where I did have some great hunts this year had two things going for it. It was remote, and it was structure (island of trees) surrounded by bedding (CRP, tall grass and cane). It's tough because I never know what direction they'll come from. I get busted a lot there too. That's why I named it "helter skelter".

[glow=red]I like to look for structure like riverbottoms or drainage ditches in flat areas. Water is a great transition to hunt, plus they need it to survive. Win/win. It also might be a barrier tht keeps other hunters out.[/glow]

[ Post made via iPhone ]

I'm guessing you need to enter cross-wind to the down-wind edge?

I have one public parcel I hunt that borders a lake. I have yet to figure out how to use it to my advantage.

[Lockdown]

In general, yes, thick is good. If it's a pain in the rear to hunt, that's where you want to be. To me a big parcel is good... It means more opportunity for escape. If you hunt a small property chances are it's going to need to be overlooked by others.

I live in crazy flat country with rolling hills within driving distance. The flatter it is the less predictable it is IMO. Where are the beds going to be in a round 10 acre cattail patch or square grove? Wind direction will help narrow things down the day of the hunt, but as far as cyber scouting is concerned it is tough for places like that.

I don't really have much for good bedding nailed down on really flat ground. I never find anything that gets me super excited when I do scout it, that's why I normally pick rut stands for those parcels. I spend early season in the swamps because I'm confident I know where they'll be bedding in them.

As always Dan gave you great advice. [glow=red]They like to lay on the downwind edge watching the open. I spent my whole life approaching groves from strait downwind.[/glow] Then I join the Beast and I realized that all the smart deer watched me approach from a 1/4 mile away and left without me ever knowing!! Whoops.

One flat non-swamp/marsh area where I did have some great hunts this year had two things going for it. It was remote, and it was structure (island of trees) surrounded by bedding (CRP, tall grass and cane). It's tough because I never know what direction they'll come from. I get busted a lot there too. That's why I named it "helter skelter".

[glow=red]I like to look for structure like riverbottoms or drainage ditches in flat areas. Water is a great transition to hunt, plus they need it to survive. Win/win. It also might be a barrier tht keeps other hunters out.[/glow]

[ Post made via iPhone ]

I'm guessing you need to enter cross-wind to the down-wind edge?

I have one public parcel I hunt that borders a lake. I have yet to figure out how to use it to my advantage.

Yes, crosswind is best.

You have to be careful with lakes and open bodies of water that don't offer a fast escape. If they have to swim they're not going to want to bed by it.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[tgreeno]

You have to be careful with lakes and open bodies of water that don't offer a fast escape. If they have to swim they're not going to want to bed by it.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

It does have cattails along a portion of the shoreline. I will definitely be scouting those areas.