Favorite Edges for Buck Beds

[hunter_mike]

Good bump, this is one of those concepts that completely changed the way i hunt

[ Post made via Android ]

[Singing Bridge]

I learned very early on that bucks will certainly bed along the transition of high ground and swamp, especially if there is low hunting pressure or the location is overlooked. I have found that it is a mistake to think they all bed "back in the swamp" on some remote high ground. They certainly will if the area is pressured, however.

Looking at wooded swamps is similar to an overview of a cattail marsh, except instead of cattails you have flooded trees which makes everything more difficult (less visibility). Points and peninsulas will certainly hold good buck bedding in low hunting pressure areas when they have a wind advantage. I also think it is important to realize that by stating a "point", some of these areas are much smaller than what hunters visualize and so hunters simply bypass them. If you have watched Dan mark up a map along the transition of a swamp, some of the areas are nothing more than a puny triangle of high ground along the edge that sticks 50 yards out into the swamp.

Even in high pressure areas these little points get walked right by, time after time by hunters who never give them a second look. That makes them an overlooked spot and I find beds there quite often. The buck, when bedded on these micro-points, has the wind going down the point and good protection from the swamp along the sides. He can dump off the back in nearly any direction in a wooded swamp. It's uncanny how hunters never even look at these spots, many times. In high pressure areas what we would typically think of as a point, will have hunters all over it.

I also find good buck beds just off of the transition and into swamp with a short driveway (deer run going to the little hump of dry ground). These spots are often overlooked because they are so small, whereas a good sized island that is visible on a topo / aerial map has lots of hunter activity in high pressure areas.

[stash59]

I learned very early on that bucks will certainly bed along the transition of high ground and swamp, especially if there is low hunting pressure or the location is overlooked. I have found that it is a mistake to think they all bed "back in the swamp" on some remote high ground. They certainly will if the area is pressured, however.

Looking at wooded swamps is similar to an overview of a cattail marsh, except instead of cattails you have flooded trees which makes everything more difficult (less visibility). Points and peninsulas will certainly hold good buck bedding in low hunting pressure areas when they have a wind advantage. I also think it is important to realize that by stating a "point", some of these areas are much smaller than what hunters visualize and so hunters simply bypass them. If you have watched Dan mark up a map along the transition of a swamp, some of the areas are nothing more than a puny triangle of high ground along the edge that sticks 50 yards out into the swamp.

Even in high pressure areas these little points get walked right by, time after time by hunters who never give them a second look. That makes them an overlooked spot and I find beds there quite often. The buck, when bedded on these micro-points, has the wind going down the point and good protection from the swamp along the sides. He can dump off the back in nearly any direction in a wooded swamp. It's uncanny how hunters never even look at these spots, many times. In high pressure areas what we would typically think of as a point, will have hunters all over it.

I also find good buck beds just off of the transition and into swamp with a short driveway (deer run going to the little hump of dry ground). These spots are often overlooked because they are so small, whereas a good sized island that is visible on a topo / aerial map has lots of hunter activity in high pressure areas.

Are there any clues to finding these on aerials or topos? Or is it all boots on the ground?