bed scouting; looking for some info

[MedicineMan15]

Hello, I'm relatively new to this style of hunting, looking for some input. Walked some public land for about 6 hours this weekend, found a lot of doe bedding and what I think are a few buck beds. Here's one inn particular. Much larger than the doe beds i was finding, and also much more secluded. My question is, the rub in the bed looks old to me, just wondering if people have seen beds like this with a tree rubbed from last year or even before and then never rubbed again?

Thanks for your input.

[MedicineMan15]

The rub in question is on the left side of the picture, a little hard to see.

[Jonny]

Could be wrong here, but I believe dan said that bucks will only mark their beds when they need to identify it as theirs. If there isn't competition for the bed, then there won't be rubs. In his swamp dvd, he found a very large primary bedding area and only a small number of the beds had rubs in them. He identified those beds as the best beds because they were identified.

So you could be in an area where the buck has little to no competition for that bed, or there are other and better beds around that you haven't found yet. Either one would result in little to no fresh rubs. Or the buck could have been killed and a new buck hasn't taken it over yet. I am leaning towards the first option judging by the size of the bed and the old rub next to it.

Regardless, nice find!

[Whitetailaddict]

Some buck beds will have rubs others will not. You are also going to have to determine if you think this is a night bed (it looks like there may be corn in the background). Deer will bed at night near food sources so it could be a night bed however in this case it does have some cover and a good view to escape if needed so it may not be a night bed as well. It also looks like there are two beds there possibly. If this is the case and the beds are different sizes it may be a doe and fawn? Try to also key in on other factors to tell you if the deer using that bed is a buck such as track size, stride length, possible tine marks in the snow where the buck may have rested his head, rub/scrape lines entering/exiting the bed, urine/staining in the middle of the bed or trail cameras placed on trails between the bed and desired food sources. If this is a buck bed and the buck in question was killed another buck will move in to take its place if its a good bedding area. You have found one piece of the puzzle but many other factors will help determine if this bed contains a buck you will want to pursue. Good job and keep after it. We are always making mistakes with this type of hunting and have to learn a lot by our failures.

[Singing Bridge]

Great replies already...

That looks like a doe and a fawn bed to me too, although pictures can be deceiving.

As Bucks age they tend to rub less, including in the bed itself. As was already mentioned, competition from other bucks can influence this type of rubbing as well.

Here is a picture of an old rub next to a buck bed. There were a couple of other old rubs nearby. I was kneeling in the fresh bed of a target buck when I took the picture.

[Jonny]

Great replies already...

That looks like a doe and a fawn bed to me too, although pictures can be deceiving.

As Bucks age they tend to rub less, including in the bed itself. As was already mentioned, competition from other bucks can influence this type of rubbing as well.

Here is a picture of an old rub next to a buck bed. There were a couple of other old rubs nearby. I was kneeling in the fresh bed of a target buck when I took the picture.

So a doe and fawn can take over a buck bed? I wondered about that when I saw the picture but just assumed the angle of the camera made one bed look smaller than the other. And the shapes of the bed suggested that a deer picked one to face a certain direction. Closest bed facing 10 o'clock and the farther bed facing 4. If that makes sense. First time at this so I could be wrong

[tgreeno]

If I had to guess, Id say a doe & fawn bed also. but hard to tell from a picture.

I think the rubs may have to do with the competition for beds in certain areas.

[Dewey]

Looks like a doe and fawn bed to me. Did you see and large tracks?

Rubs don't always mean it's a buck bed. Bucks rub all over during the rut and may have been left at random by a buck searching doe bedding areas.

[MedicineMan15]

Looks like a doe and fawn bed to me. Did you see and large tracks?

Rubs don't always mean it's a buck bed. Bucks rub all over during the rut and may have been left at random by a buck searching doe bedding areas.

I think you guys might be right, im getting a little too excited for my own good. This is directly on a small knoll between two agricultural fields, one corn stubble, the other was beans. Im thinking a night bed for a doe and fawn. The rub is likely just coincidence.

[<DK>]

Great job getting intel! No matter what it is, you will find everything useful.

I agree w the other guys, it looks like doe and yearling doe using it. As stated earlier, rubs wont always be in the beds.. but if there is a rub IN the bed its a bucks bed. To me it looks like an old young bucks bed that does are currently using. I would say, its a good spot for a buck when the fields are tall or at least greener around for better cover. Possibly an old rut bed only

[Whitetailaddict]

That's what the journey of being a beast is all about. You will make mistakes...lots of them. The most important thing is to learn from them or you will never grow as a hunter. Also having snow on the ground is a blessing. When scouting look for big tracks and then backtrack them paying attention to where and how they enter the fields and any sign in the areas they pass through. Hopefully you can back track them to a bedding area where you can gain future intel. The first buck bed I ever found I used the snow to backtrack him into his bed. Unfortunately I never got to hunt that bed as I had to move the next summer but I have that spot logged and when I make it back to that area you better believe I will give it a try. Good luck.

[MedicineMan15]

Thanks everyone for the input, I appreciate it.

[Lockdown]

My first inclination was that looks like a doe and fawn bed as well. Not impossible a buck used it in the past and could use it again. Keep in mind does will bed in buck bedding if there are no bucks around that day to kick them out. Just some food for thought there...

I think a lot of times we get so hung up on the stereotypical rub in a bed = buck bed. So hunt it, right? Not necessarily. There are many pieces to the puzzle. A rub is one piece and a bed is another piece. If you think about it, a buck can lay in a bed one time, stand up and make a rub, and not come back. We come ambling along post season and find it and get excited. Solid bedding areas are not a dime a dozen, that is for sure. I think one of the biggest indicators for me is asking myself "Why is this bed here?". If you aren't sure, chances are its not THAT great of a bed(ding area). The best bedding areas that I have found have obvious good qualities such as:
It was picked out off an aerial and is in a stereotypical terrain based location.
It is very hard to access without being detected
It is in an overlooked area without hunting pressure nearby
It is remote
etc

Coupled with those things, add in stuff like the bed being well worn or having old AND new rubs in the vicinity (especially tall rubs), large tracks, large poop, maybe you get lucky and find a shed in the bedding area, etc etc

If you aren't sure how good it is you can always put a camera in the area and monitor it or observe it whether that means in season or out of season. If you are hurting for spots you could always hunt it and see what happens. Maybe you'll find its just doe bedding with a rub in it that was made during rut. That's not a bad thing, because solid doe bedding means the bucks will be there come November.

[Wlog]

My first inclination was that looks like a doe and fawn bed as well. Not impossible a buck used it in the past and could use it again. Keep in mind does will bed in buck bedding if there are no bucks around that day to kick them out. Just some food for thought there...

I think a lot of times we get so hung up on the stereotypical rub in a bed = buck bed. So hunt it, right? Not necessarily. There are many pieces to the puzzle. A rub is one piece and a bed is another piece. If you think about it, a buck can lay in a bed one time, stand up and make a rub, and not come back. We come ambling along post season and find it and get excited. Solid bedding areas are not a dime a dozen, that is for sure. I think one of the biggest indicators for me is asking myself "Why is this bed here?". If you aren't sure, chances are its not THAT great of a bed(ding area). The best bedding areas that I have found have obvious good qualities such as:
It was picked out off an aerial and is in a stereotypical terrain based location.
It is very hard to access without being detected
It is in an overlooked area without hunting pressure nearby
It is remote
etc

Coupled with those things, add in stuff like the bed being well worn or having old AND new rubs in the vicinity (especially tall rubs), large tracks, large poop, maybe you get lucky and find a shed in the bedding area, etc etc

If you aren't sure how good it is you can always put a camera in the area and monitor it or observe it whether that means in season or out of season. If you are hurting for spots you could always hunt it and see what happens. Maybe you'll find its just doe bedding with a rub in it that was made during rut. That's not a bad thing, because solid doe bedding means the bucks will be there come November.

Agree with everything in this post. So many variables to consider.