Hello everyone..my name is Josh and I have been listening to the podcasts for a few days now. I am in Michigan and Im a public land bowhunter although I have a very small private piece I go to on week nights when I just need to sit in a tree.
Im currently having scouting issues and I dont know where to go from here.
I have a very large community scrape I found last year and its still being used almost daily..trail cam pics show multiple bucks, mostly young but 1 decent I BELIEVE 4 year old 8 point.. he always comes from the east after dark and heads back west in the dark..
I figured that meant he was coming from his bed(somewhere east) and going to the acorns, then headed back to bed before light.
I have been really wanting to stay out of the area since its getting closer to opening day..but I wont learn the land if I dont scout it either.
So I went for a 4 hour walk sunday..
to the east is a creek.. heavily traveled trails run the edge of it and the edges of the ridge..some lead up to the small open field bordered with oaks, and some go up to the hardwoods on higher elevation. I did also find a treestand back there..doesnt appear to have been used any time recently but I dont know that for a fact. I hunted this area last year and never SAW another hunter..but I never went that far east either.
How do you all go about finding the bedding areas on an entire country block of public land? I havent been able to pinpoint one at all in 2 seasons now..
I DID however go for a walk in the 10 year old clear cut and found an area I had found last year during the season. I located a few VERY large rubs, found an old shed laying not far from it(im talking OLD to the point its cracking) and jumped 1 lone deer not far from that area either. I did hang a camera in that spot on Sunday and dont plan to go back until I can actually hang and hunt.
If anyone is familiar with Michigan which I know some of you are..you probably understand the pressure our public ground sees.. Im just trying to be a better hunter while enjoying what I do!
Thank you for the advice that you all give.
New to the forum but need some advice
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Re: New to the forum but need some advice
Get more schooled on where bucks bed on elevation, transition, and land features and the bedding areas will glow to you. I would look at your pictures of this buck your after and see if there is a wind pattern to the pics... If he is using wind based bedding there may be a pattern with wind direction when he comes to the scrape. If he comes in on any wind, look for non-wind specific bedding.
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Re: New to the forum but need some advice
What Dan said and I will add a few things.
I would get to know your property better. Bedding won't always be obvious from aerials but it's definitely a starting point. You need to walk your property more to get it and find your sign. Once you start searching elevation changes and transitions, you'll start to figure out how the deer are using the property. If it's a big chunk of land, you should break it down in sections otherwise it will frustrate and confuse you. I would recommend a hunting app to mark items such as your bedding, scrapes, and rubs. Then you can look at the aerial and see your marked sign.
I would get to know your property better. Bedding won't always be obvious from aerials but it's definitely a starting point. You need to walk your property more to get it and find your sign. Once you start searching elevation changes and transitions, you'll start to figure out how the deer are using the property. If it's a big chunk of land, you should break it down in sections otherwise it will frustrate and confuse you. I would recommend a hunting app to mark items such as your bedding, scrapes, and rubs. Then you can look at the aerial and see your marked sign.
- Babshaft
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Re: New to the forum but need some advice
Have you watched any of the DVD's? Sounds like you're hunting a big woods area but the swamp bedding dvd would probably be of huge benefit to you regardless. It'd give you detailed explanations of what Dan mentioned in his post. You'd be able to scout your way in as you decide where is best to hunt.
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Re: New to the forum but need some advice
Mapes wrote:Hello everyone..my name is Josh
How do you all go about finding the bedding areas on an entire country block of public land? I havent been able to pinpoint one at all in 2 seasons now..
Hello Josh and welcome to the forum. Its actually nice to see new members join and come to the forums with questions. These questions are what make great conversations from time to time. Then even those that dont post up questions that lurk and read everything they can also gets some help from your questions.
Your above question popped out to me because it was a biggie for me when I first joined the BEAST. I actually hammered the forum with questions everyday when I joined because I was hungry to learn how to make this work for me.
At any rate, once you can learn to identify where the wind tunnel on your hunting area is located you can mark that tunnel on your map. Then you can focus in on the wind tunnel in relation to the wind you have the majority of the time. That marked portion of your wind tunnel on the leeward side of the hills is where you want to focus you scouting. Most everything you find within the leeward wind tunnel should get you off to a good start on keying in on the bucks in your area.
Primary bedding will change throughout the year due to food sources, pre-rut, the rut, breeding, bedding near food, etc etc....but again scouting the leeward side of your property in or near the wind tunnel will get you a good start.
IF you havent ordered Dans DVDs then trust me, they will jump start your learning curve time. I wish I would have known about Dan's tactics and bed hunting 30 years ago
Good luck and if you have questions, post em up someone on here will have the answer youre looking for
- justdirtyfun
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Re: New to the forum but need some advice
I'm going to make an educated guess from your post. I don't expect the mature buck to survive a heavy pressure situation in the hardwoods.
By chance does the open field have a few big bushes or small trees where he could curl up under them? These older smart bucks will locate themselves in a secure / defendable position. Watching common source of danger and smelling what they cannot see.
Some people here have great tracking abilities and recommend taking pictures of deer tracks to help identify one from another. If he is BIG he will have a distinct track and heavy prints.
By chance does the open field have a few big bushes or small trees where he could curl up under them? These older smart bucks will locate themselves in a secure / defendable position. Watching common source of danger and smelling what they cannot see.
Some people here have great tracking abilities and recommend taking pictures of deer tracks to help identify one from another. If he is BIG he will have a distinct track and heavy prints.
You don't have to be the best, just do your best.
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Re: New to the forum but need some advice
justdirtyfun wrote:I'm going to make an educated guess from your post. I don't expect the mature buck to survive a heavy pressure situation in the hardwoods.
By chance does the open field have a few big bushes or small trees where he could curl up under them? These older smart bucks will locate themselves in a secure / defendable position. Watching common source of danger and smelling what they cannot see.
Some people here have great tracking abilities and recommend taking pictures of deer tracks to help identify one from another. If he is BIG he will have a distinct track and heavy prints.
No sir..none of that field is able to be used for bedding..its all just wide open flat sandy ground..
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Re: New to the forum but need some advice
Alright just a guess.
He comes and goes in the dark. Close to daylight or more of middle of night?
Middle of night makes locating bedding much harder.
He comes and goes in the dark. Close to daylight or more of middle of night?
Middle of night makes locating bedding much harder.
You don't have to be the best, just do your best.
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Re: New to the forum but need some advice
justdirtyfun wrote:Alright just a guess.
He comes and goes in the dark. Close to daylight or more of middle of night?
Middle of night makes locating bedding much harder.
Ive had him at 7 am, 9 am, midnight, 10 pm.. Night he is always coming from the east..morning he is always headed east..so I have a feeling his bed is east..I just cant find him.
And no I havent seen any of the DVDs, I actually hadnt heard of the hunting beast until recently, started following Dan on facebook.. I dont have a ton of free time between work,family and predator removal..so what little I have is trying to figure out these dang deer lol
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