Exactly what I do only backwards - Dan's Pre-rut buck beddding

[Buckfever]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3urOtDAHxmY

Hopefully all of you have seen this. In the video Dan first identifies the pre rut buck bedding and then from there finds the staging. Basically an unpressured area off the bedding where the bucks feel safe and are leaving sign before they go searching. A buddy of mine is back in town and we need to get him a set or 2 and we went onto a property and spent the whole day we found 2 areas one was okay but one literally as Dan put it had 1000s(More like 200 lol) of rubs in a relatively small area and clearly it was because the buck or bucks felt safe there.

Trust me when you find it it will make sense, why they feel safe there and why it is neglected by the hunters. Maybe it seems to thick to hunt or traverse, maybe there's no tall trees to hang a stand, maybe there's water.

I say backwards because I find these staging areas first and from there determine the bedding and also the close by scrapes and the routes out of the staging area. With that we got to picking trees and determining the route in to get in there undetected considering the location of the potential bedding and the prevailing winds.

In this last case we wound up finding it by finding one shredded massive tall rub on a telephone pole sized tree in the open and based on the terrain features figuring the route of travel back towards the bedding and came onto the staging.

The primary animal that I am hunting next year doesn't even come onto the property till 10/15.

It's a real short video but everything is there.

[greenhorndave]

Very good input, appreciate it.

Based on what you described about considering that the rub zone is staging, I can think of a particular bedding area that might be overlooked where a buck can monitor everyone coming and going and not visit that rub zone until darkness falls. Trees would be out of the question in this case.

Just as a FYI, Dan pretty much always starts a thread that introduces the video. The one you referenced is here:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=53498

[Buckfever]

Very good input, appreciate it.

Based on what you described about considering that the rub zone is staging, I can think of a particular bedding area that might be overlooked where a buck can monitor everyone coming and going and not visit that rub zone until darkness falls. Trees would be out of the question in this case.

Just as a FYI, Dan pretty much always starts a thread that introduces the video. The one you referenced is here:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=53498

Thanks for that I didn't see it.

So most of these areas they are staging during the day. And just running a few cameras will show that. But you have to wait until the time is right very late October early November when the pull of the rut will bring them out in the daytime. You find an area like that and hunt it too early and all you do is educate them to stay nocturnal before they become vulnerable.

Also if you're going to run the cameras you have to set them up high and you can't check them, you can't go back in there until it's time to kill.

[greenhorndave]

Very good input, appreciate it.

Based on what you described about considering that the rub zone is staging, I can think of a particular bedding area that might be overlooked where a buck can monitor everyone coming and going and not visit that rub zone until darkness falls. Trees would be out of the question in this case.

Just as a FYI, Dan pretty much always starts a thread that introduces the video. The one you referenced is here:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=53498

Thanks for that I didn't see it.

So most of these areas they are staging during the day. And just running a few cameras will show that. But you have to wait until the time is right very late October early November when the pull of the rut will bring them out in the daytime. You find an area like that and hunt it too early and all you do is educate them to stay nocturnal before they become vulnerable.

Also if you're going to run the cameras you have to set them up high and you can't check them, you can't go back in there until it's time to kill.

More good suggestions. The place I am thinking about would most likely only provide one or two cracks at it.And early because the pressure ramps up in mid-to-late October. And the cam would have to be high because of the nearby foot traffic.It might go unnoticed that way, as it’s probably simply walked past by most people. I know does bed in that general area (kicked them up) so it’s not inconceivable that a buck would too. There are some seriously impressive rubs bordering the other side of it too.. but again in kind of the middle of nowhere that most (I think) walk right past if boot tracks are a proper indicator.

[dan]

I think a lot of people have successfully hunted the exact bedding / staging area I layed out in the video without ever realizing they were hunting bedding. A lot of guys just walk thick areas and set up on heavy sign in areas they think no one else is hunting, and don't even realize the buck is only 75 to 150 yards away.

[Buckfever]

I think a lot of people have successfully hunted the exact bedding / staging area I layed out in the video without ever realizing they were hunting bedding. A lot of guys just walk thick areas and set up on heavy sign in areas they think no one else is hunting, and don't even realize the buck is only 75 to 150 yards away.

Right but then the success requires some luck. By you identifying the bedding and the route to the staging, then you can be deliberate in terms of the route in and with which wind to hunt it to avoid detection. Also in terms of tree selection even if there are multiple bedding areas feeding to the staging by running those to the staging and seeing it from the vantage of the deer you can be much better at picking the tree in which you will avoid detection and be able to execute on the opportunity.