2019 Season Farmland Buck Bed Examples

[rhagenw]

Thanks for the thread SD! Threads like this is the reason why I joined THE BEAST!

[Nimrodhunter]

Great thread! I hunt SD every year for a week, last year was the first year attempting it with these methods. I didn't get to pre scout much but put on some miles while I was out there. I'm hoping to make it out there this spring to get some more miles in and find some better beds. If I get out there I'll try to post some of the beds if find as well. Look forward to hearing how these play out for you.

[rhagenw]

Great thread! Shows how important access and how clever these brutes can be in farm country
Thank you for the post

[Quest1001]

That’s good stuff SD.

What is to the east of the marked beds and to the south of point 5? Lakes? Sometimes it’s tough to tell from aerials where they might be dark green crops or water from flooding that isn’t normally there.

Oh, and I've found beds like your #2. Or similar in longer grass.

20200321_162421.jpg

I found a matted down area like this in a fence row last Oct. I assumed it was doe bedding due to the large area. I may have to rethink this spot! Thanks for sharing the pics guys. This helps a ton!!

[greenhorndave]

That’s good stuff SD.

What is to the east of the marked beds and to the south of point 5? Lakes? Sometimes it’s tough to tell from aerials where they might be dark green crops or water from flooding that isn’t normally there.

Oh, and I've found beds like your #2. Or similar in longer grass.

20200321_162421.jpg

I found a matted down area like this in a fence row last Oct. I assumed it was doe bedding due to the large area. I may have to rethink this spot! Thanks for sharing the pics guys. This helps a ton!!

Certainly could be doe, but I guess the only way to know is an observation sit if you can do so without being spotted or winded.

[SD_Bowhunter]

Another set of farmland\open prairie buck beds for everyone. This section is mostly open pasture with pretty significant rolling hills. There are cows that are run in here at certain times of the year and you can tell they spend a pretty good amount of time in the trees to the NE of the buck beds I found( red icon below).


Because of this the under story is not really thick along the hillsides. I was scouting along the lake\woods transition with a very strong South/Southeast wind. As I got to the light blue X, I looked up and there was a buck working his way along the Green trail to the NE at a slight jog. I was observing him when 3 more game trotting along the same trial with one being a nice 5x5.


I let them work their way past me and then continued along. Next I found a nice scrape where the light blue icon is. I continued up the hillside to where I could see a nice bench about 1/3 down from the top of the hill. Sure enough I found the beds (yellow icons). I also noticed that were was a significantly less amount of cattle sign in this area. These were worn to the ground and I could actually see the fresh tracks and hair from the bucks that came past me. There was what I believe to be an entrance trail leading up into the bed that would allow the buck to approach the bed from the bottom off the hill and j-hook into the bed. These beds set up very well for any SSE or Easterly wind. Not sure if these beds will get much use come October 1st when I can hunt this spot, but it may be worth a try.
Beds:

Entrance

View From Beds

[SD_Bowhunter]

Here is a link to a little video I put together from the beds to get a better idea of the set up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5AtOAhIcJc