"Points", Lake Points, and Mature Bucks

[Cutter]

The off season has begun. I am already starting my post season scouting for next year. I'm scouting every Saturday and doing map work on Sunday. I have made an observation that could potentially generate some good discussion. So here goes. We talk a lot about ridge points in hill country, Island points in swamps/marshes, and oxbows in rivers that have buck bedding. When I look at "points" or oxbows they appear similar in that they are often long pieces of terrain stretching away from what could be called the "main land". The difference is that oxbows are more round because of the winding body of water flowing around them; while points are often sharp, hence the name. I am aerial scouting a big lake with public land all around it. When I look at the lake I see a mixture of sharp points, gradual oxbows, and some in between stretching into the water. I am not looking at the large pieces mainly pieces less than 600 yards across with no cap on distance going out into the water. I also see some islands just off these points/oxbows where the water is likely to be very shallow and easy to cross. To me they seem to be likely areas for bucks to bed. I don't have any experience targeting areas like this yet, but it would be interesting to hear some feedback/experiences in an attempt to draw some parallels in "Buck Bedding Theory."

[Hookslinger]

I'd be interested to hear what the experienced guys here say about this, as I have some public land near me with lakes also. One thing that I question though is why would a buck even bed on points or shallow islands on a lake shore? They would have very limited escape routes, maybe no escape routes when it comes to sharp points/islands/fingers of a lake shore. If you think about points in marshes, they can easily disapear into the ocean of cattails, and have multiple exit routes. Same thing with an oxbow of a river (assuming its easy enough for them to cross). They don't have that with a point or something on a lake shore. So if it would be hard to escape hunters/predators then I'm guessing there would be no mature bedding in those areas, but I've never scouted them so thats just a guess.

[headgear]

We have discussed lakes in the past if you look around but I will try and summarize it best I can. They absolutely use lakes, the water will have great thermal activity and suck a lot of the scent to itself and the bucks will be setup to take advantage. Where lakes get tricky is not all the bedding areas are created equal so you have to look around. They will bed out on lone islands surround but water but there can be special circumstances that make those islands work, river islands can be great for example or island close to the mainland. Points out into the water don't work as well as you might think because they are kind of dead ends, dead ends can be good but the bucks really need good to great escape routes to make an area great bedding. Think in terms of thick cover, island and points but the better bedding might be a larger wet or swamp area next to the lake and not as much sticking out into the water. I see something similar with overlooked spots next to parking or roads, they need a place to escape if they get busted so I find my best overlooked spots very close to bigger swamps. The lake bedding will be similar as they need that escape route or even escape cover to slip away to make it preferred bedding. Some people also ask if they bed next to a lake, they can but in my experience they seem to want a little buffer zone of 50 or 100+ yards, again I feel this is for an escape route. Now all of this doesn't mean that certain spots won't work out because each area has its own unique setup. In fact I recall another beast member who was able to bump a buck off a point out into the water and he would swim for shore may 200 yards away, most of the time I don't find beds like that but that doesn't mean they don't exist so scout everything and let the sign tell you what is happening.

[PK_]

I would not target those locations for mature bucks. Unless you have a lot of time to scout.

If they do bed on them it’s usually on the larger points where they have thick cover between them and the water and they can still escape in multiple directions. I almost never see them bed on the islands.

It is not nearly as predictable as true hill country where you can walk a ridge and go down all the secondary points and find some signs of bedding.

They don’t like having to cross open water to escape. Now if there are cattails or willows or cypress trees or some other type of cover in that shallow water, then that can be a good thing.

My experience with lakes, even the ones with good cover down by the water is that the deer really prefer the high ground. They will be up near the tops on the same bedding features we look for in hill country. What you really want to find is the high cover. Especially if the lake floods annually, those deer won’t usually bed down there where it will flood if they have hills nearby to live in.

[greenhorndave]

I think the avenues of escape is key. Just a guess, but I suspect it has to be in three directions. And for what it is worth, I've seen well-worn (like really well worn) just a yard or two off the water's edge. Probably very dependent on pressure, terrain, etc.

[DaveT1963]

https://youtu.be/O6-1fTldeoI


https://youtu.be/HUWu-cuJj8s

[Cutter]

I'd be interested to hear what the experienced guys here say about this, as I have some public land near me with lakes also. One thing that I question though is why would a buck even bed on points or shallow islands on a lake shore? They would have very limited escape routes, maybe no escape routes when it comes to sharp points/islands/fingers of a lake shore. If you think about points in marshes, they can easily disapear into the ocean of cattails, and have multiple exit routes. Same thing with an oxbow of a river (assuming its easy enough for them to cross). They don't have that with a point or something on a lake shore. So if it would be hard to escape hunters/predators then I'm guessing there would be no mature bedding in those areas, but I've never scouted them so thats just a guess.

It's purely a thought on my end. I will put it to the test and see what I find for the sake of learning. I might find something interesting to bring back here. You bring up a solid point when you mention escape routes and the ability to disappear. A peninsula stretching into the water could potentially pin a buck down depending on the size and topography. Another criticism of the idea from my end is that some of these areas could flood often.

[Cutter]

We have discussed lakes in the past if you look around but I will try and summarize it best I can. They absolutely use lakes, the water will have great thermal activity and suck a lot of the scent to itself and the bucks will be setup to take advantage. Where lakes get tricky is not all the bedding areas are created equal so you have to look around. They will bed out on lone islands surround but water but there can be special circumstances that make those islands work, river islands can be great for example or island close to the mainland. Points out into the water don't work as well as you might think because they are kind of dead ends, dead ends can be good but the bucks really need good to great escape routes to make an area great bedding. Think in terms of thick cover, island and points but the better bedding might be a larger wet or swamp area next to the lake and not as much sticking out into the water. I see something similar with overlooked spots next to parking or roads, they need a place to escape if they get busted so I find my best overlooked spots very close to bigger swamps. The lake bedding will be similar as they need that escape route or even escape cover to slip away to make it preferred bedding. Some people also ask if they bed next to a lake, they can but in my experience they seem to want a little buffer zone of 50 or 100+ yards, again I feel this is for an escape route. Now all of this doesn't mean that certain spots won't work out because each area has its own unique setup. In fact I recall another beast member who was able to bump a buck off a point out into the water and he would swim for shore may 200 yards away, most of the time I don't find beds like that but that doesn't mean they don't exist so scout everything and let the sign tell you what is happening.

Essentially these areas can produce, but certain prerequisites have to be met. What would you consider a special circumstance where bedding would be on a lone island? Also what specifically would you look for in an escape route? I like to think a long stretch of beach could serve as a backdoor. Got any others?

[Cutter]

I think the avenues of escape is key. Just a guess, but I suspect it has to be in three directions. And for what it is worth, I've seen well-worn (like really well worn) just a yard or two off the water's edge. Probably very dependent on pressure, terrain, etc.

Escape definitely is important. The fact that you have seen well-worn beds is promising. Do you think they were being used by bucks or does? I'd like to think it's not a random observation, but a real tendency mature bucks have when certain prerequisites are met.

[greenhorndave]

I think the avenues of escape is key. Just a guess, but I suspect it has to be in three directions. And for what it is worth, I've seen well-worn (like really well worn) just a yard or two off the water's edge. Probably very dependent on pressure, terrain, etc.

Escape definitely is important. The fact that you have seen well-worn beds is promising. Do you think they were being used by bucks or does? I'd like to think it's not a random observation, but a real tendency mature bucks have when certain prerequisites are met.

Not totally sure which ones bed there, but the were not clusters of beds, more like one big one. Possibly used by one buck on different winds. Not sure though. I was surprised finding it where it was. Those little lessons they teach us are pretty cool.

[headgear]

Essentially these areas can produce, but certain prerequisites have to be met. What would you consider a special circumstance where bedding would be on a lone island? Also what specifically would you look for in an escape route? I like to think a long stretch of beach could serve as a backdoor. Got any others?

River islands are well known bedding areas for big bucks, a lake island would be similar, maybe something close to shore but you might even need a little extra hunting or wolf/yote pressure to get them out there. It might also be a case where you have an area with a lot of islands close together and the deer are just accustom to island hopping and living on the islands, I know places like the BWCA and Lake of the Woods in MN are popular areas where people hunt islands a fair bit. I think lake islands don't get used as much as swamp islands because they are exposed and vulnerable while swimming to/from the island, that isn't the case where you have thick cover around the swamp islands. More than likely you would have to setup on the island vs waiting for them on shore but never say never.

When it comes to island escape routes that can be tricky, maybe the island is big enough where they can slip away and circle you on the same island. Maybe shore isn't that far away or there are some other islands they can swim to. I hunt a lot of lakes but have yet to find great lake/island bedding but I know they exist, I just seem to find my best bedding in swamps near lakes but don't seem to find nearly as many island beds. I have found a couple but the sign was minimal and I have yet to hunt them all that hard because the sign wasn't the greatest.