Pallet Bed...
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Pallet Bed...
Have any of you guys seen one? This is a picture of one that is included on the property for the habitat day that I am hosting in northeast WI this weekend...pretty cool! It's made from a pallet, topsoil, and some sawdust. I would actually cut a deer trail through the back side but other than that a very cool bed in a very wet spot in the woods...
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- Dewey
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Re: Pallet Bed...
How long would it take for a deer to start using a man-made bed such as that one. You would think a mature buck would steer clear of that for quite some time with all of the human scent left behind. Eventually they would use it though. Great idea!
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- Spysar
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Re: Pallet Bed...
Man made deer bed??? I'm more than a little skeptical that a deer would start using it....
A buck will see you three times, and hear you twice, but he's only gonna smell you once.
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Re: Pallet Bed...
It's just part of the woods after a few months. Heck, mature bucks aren't in their hunting season ranges in most areas for a pretty long time. It's very easy to get deer to use beds you make for them...has to be level, dry, and within enough supporting structure of horizontal cover, including: logs, high stem counts, stumps, blowdowns, elevation changes/benches, etc. Then, the deer will choose where they bed based on proximity to food and stress...doe family groups bed as close to the food source as possible within adequate bedding cover while tolerating pretty high deer or human stress levels whereas mature bucks will always bed BEHIND the doe family group movements while tolerating a MUCH lower stress level caused by either other deer or humans. Other than that...they all bed in the same bedding type, just depends on location.
So many times I visit a client parcel and they just don't have enough room on their parcels for mature bucks...big food, adjacent bedding taken over by does...and enough open cover in between there just isn't any room left for mature bucks other than on the neighbors parcel or further. One of the best evidences of that is very little daytime sightings during October, and then in the rut. Many guys have to rely exclusively on the rut to shoot a mature buck as they hope to get a mature buck that is cruising outside of his normal territory during the peak of rut. Early season rutting typically takes place in a bucks own neighborhood and then he really might cruise during the middle to tail end of the rut to look for does. If you have to rely on those mid to late season hunting opportunities for mature bucks it most often has to do with a lack of secure bedding, and on a side note...November food sources.
Anyways...create the bedding opportunity, and they will come:)
So many times I visit a client parcel and they just don't have enough room on their parcels for mature bucks...big food, adjacent bedding taken over by does...and enough open cover in between there just isn't any room left for mature bucks other than on the neighbors parcel or further. One of the best evidences of that is very little daytime sightings during October, and then in the rut. Many guys have to rely exclusively on the rut to shoot a mature buck as they hope to get a mature buck that is cruising outside of his normal territory during the peak of rut. Early season rutting typically takes place in a bucks own neighborhood and then he really might cruise during the middle to tail end of the rut to look for does. If you have to rely on those mid to late season hunting opportunities for mature bucks it most often has to do with a lack of secure bedding, and on a side note...November food sources.
Anyways...create the bedding opportunity, and they will come:)
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- Dewey
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Re: Pallet Bed...
Sounds like a great idea and I could see it eventually working on the right land. I have cleared fallen branches and brush in spots that looked like good bedding and deer began using it the following season. Just never seen it to the extreme that you have there in the picture. If I came across that one I would assume it was another hunters ground blind.
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- BigHunt
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Re: Pallet Bed...
Good idea Jeff ..... Keep up the great work and keep us posted
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HUNT LIKE A BEAST
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Re: Pallet Bed...
Dewey wrote: If I came across that one I would assume it was another hunters ground blind.
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Most definitely...that's a pic from my client and one of the reasons he is looking forward to me coming back on to his land for a habitat day to make sure "it looks right". He needs to get that wall down on the back side and have a great trail connecting away from the actual "bed"...to me a deer would be way to hemmed in the way it is. On the otherhand if that is in the right spot it will be used this year for sure. Another thing it's got to be firm to...cant be spongy on the top in anyway.
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Re: Pallet Bed...
BigHunt wrote:Good idea Jeff ..... Keep up the great work and keep us posted
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Thanks a lot BigHunt...I will do that!
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- Stanley
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Re: Pallet Bed...
Super idea, you got any pictures of bucks using it?
You can fool some of the bucks, all of the time, and fool all of the bucks, some of the time, however you certainly can't fool all of the bucks, all of the time.
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Re: Pallet Bed...
Stanley wrote:Super idea, you got any pictures of bucks using it?
The pallet beds on the parcel were just made in the last couple of weeks....I would actually get that wall down on the backside (except for the lowest log) before I would expect a deer to use it and I want to look at the area around it too. But, the landowner has some great beds he has made with a lot of hair in them to show the use. That's one of my favorite things to do on client parcels is to find beds and look for deer hair...cool stuff for sure!
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- Black Squirrel
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Re: Pallet Bed...
I often wondered about making my own beds, just don't really know how and where to do it.
Last edited by Black Squirrel on Fri Apr 27, 2012 2:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
- ozzz
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Re: Pallet Bed...
Create a high spot in marsh grass/brush with good cover, that is flat and dry and it works guaranteed
I agree with a lot of what Jeff just said... food source, doe bedding groups, with buck beds on the peripheries - typically the down wind sides with some sort of barrier protecting from predator intrusion. If you find spots like this... even after a good buck is killed a new one will take over. Not guessing... stating personal experience. It is what I look for... classic mature buck bedding area in marshy/brushy topography
I agree with a lot of what Jeff just said... food source, doe bedding groups, with buck beds on the peripheries - typically the down wind sides with some sort of barrier protecting from predator intrusion. If you find spots like this... even after a good buck is killed a new one will take over. Not guessing... stating personal experience. It is what I look for... classic mature buck bedding area in marshy/brushy topography
"When a hunter is in a tree stand with high moral values, with the proper hunting ethics and richer for the experience, that hunter is 20 feet closer to God." Fred Bear
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Re: Pallet Bed...
I like the way Jim Ward makes his buck beds..... If you have not watched his little youtube clip, it's very informative....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1yzWwtd ... e=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1yzWwtd ... e=youtu.be
- Singing Bridge
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Re: Pallet Bed...
very interesting to look at, thanks for putting it up...
are those cedar tree's that make up the blowdown? at least one of them looks like it. I agree about the back wall being too much, he may be able to get away with leaving the middle horizontal tree in place if a bedded buck is able to peer over it while bedded... it looks like some pretty heavy cover in place behind the bed, a buck may be able to rely on noise to protect his backside as bucks often do in wet, heavy cover areas... if this is in a heavy pressure area from predators of any kind I would be very cautious about putting in a run for the buck through the backside- it may add an unnecessary danger zone for the buck to have to monitor in order to defend himself, potentially making the bed less desirable. I would anticipate the buck making his own "squirrel trail" escape route out the back.
mah two pennies...
are those cedar tree's that make up the blowdown? at least one of them looks like it. I agree about the back wall being too much, he may be able to get away with leaving the middle horizontal tree in place if a bedded buck is able to peer over it while bedded... it looks like some pretty heavy cover in place behind the bed, a buck may be able to rely on noise to protect his backside as bucks often do in wet, heavy cover areas... if this is in a heavy pressure area from predators of any kind I would be very cautious about putting in a run for the buck through the backside- it may add an unnecessary danger zone for the buck to have to monitor in order to defend himself, potentially making the bed less desirable. I would anticipate the buck making his own "squirrel trail" escape route out the back.
mah two pennies...
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