The new bedding area I found today I located by following the rubline of a two year old from last fall. It led me, along with his fresh tracks, to the end of a point. A three year old (next fall) on the pressured public is a target animal for me. Amazingly, I found no sign that anyone has hunted this bedding area at all. At the end of the point I noted a line of trees about fifty yards out into the beaver flooding. After wading out I found several beds the buck uses in the tree line. Moving back west to the end of the point there are two primary runs the buck uses through the cattails to get to the point... incredibly, they both file past the only tree within two hundred yards of the bedding area that will hold a stand, and they are within bow range. The deer gods were smiling on me today!
A buck bed, worn to the dirt, that a four year old moves back to when he experiences some hunting pressure. It is under a triple trunked balsam fir:
To follow this buck around I didn't need to follow rubs or tracks, his hair line on the ice took me right to his bed that I had located previously:
Dang nice track for the heavy pressure public:
Your starting to make me second guess my decision to wait until the snow is gone.
