Finding beds without terrain in big woods

[tobuckagain]

I am looking for some guidance to do some spring bed scouting. I have permission on a 200-acre private parcel in big woods PA. The parcel had an aggressive timber cut completed about 5 years ago. While it has created incredible habitat consisting of dense structure and underbrush mixed with mature hard mast trees, it has made it a challenge to hunt. There is an ag field to the southeast. The rest of the boarding properties remain as mature pole timber with little understory. There is no dominant terrain features to speak of. The property exists on the south facing side of a large ridge, so the terrain consists of a gradual-to-moderate hillside with very subtle dips/drainages/fissures/benches running throughout.

I have a history of trail camera pictures from another hunter on the property that shows that there are 4.5-5.5 year old deer on the property throughout the year. I know they are there. Now I would like to try to establish where they bed.

My question is, does any have experience locating bedding in a similar scenario, a large tract of very densely vegetated hardwoods without any major terrain features?

TIA for any input!!

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[KLEMZ]

I don't live in PA but I have experience with big woods without much terrain. 200 acres is not very big. First thing I would do is walk the entire perimeter where thick meets pole timber and keep a close eye out for trails coming out of the thick and rubs/scrapes on the edge of the pole timber. Follow all trails back in to the thick to find where they are coming from.

Look at all available aerials and try to find more open pockets of vegetation within all the thick crap. Big bucks often bed on the edge of these interior clearer areas.

Check your county GIS maps. Often, they will have topographic lines or LIDAR hillshade maps to give a more defined idea of the actual terrain. The topo map you posted is good, but if there is a higher definition topo available you should try to find it. Subtle terrain is very readable if you have the best terrain info available. I find big buck bedding in subtle terrain to most often be in spots that traditional topos don't even show a change in elevation.

Boots on the ground following tracks and trails at this time of the year is still king. Good luck and have fun!

[Boogieman1]

How many guys hunt that 200 acres? If more than just u, how do they enter the woods? Do they know deer have a nose? Now, if it’s just u I would focus more on the food. Candy land is not harboring booners cause it has the best bedding in the state. More of because there’s no pressure. Since u r talking private ground I feel it’s a good question to ask.

Also, at least for me. Subtle terrain features can’t be seen from a map or usually the naked eye. Go scout after a couple days of down pour rain. Subtle low spots are now recognized by standing water. Just my .02

[Moose]

I hunt similar types of areas in farm country. Since theres ag fields i would concentrate on that if theres no other land features. Sounds like you have already gotten some great advice. Lets us know what you find. Good luck!

[brancher147]

I hunt some similar areas without any timber harvest-just big woods with few terrain features. Consistent bedding is tough to find and I usually hunt these type areas more for rut cruising than for buck bedding. Boots on the ground and subtle terrain features with cover and escape routes are what you need to find for bedding though. The only thing that jumps out at me as potential bedding is the point right on the 900 on the topo map. 200 acres I would just walk it all and see what I found. And don’t overlook the spot everyone else overlooks. Good luck

[tobuckagain]

KLEMZ - Great call on the more detailed topo map. That would definitely help isolate some features to hone in on. I am hoping to cover the property this week!

Boogieman1 - There is one other hunter that archery hunts and he may only hunt the property once or twice a year. There a several more rifle hunters that apply pressure later in the year. You're definitely right that the lack of pressure is a huge advantage. The tough part is that the property offers a great food source (Woody browse and hard mast/acorns) as well as great bedding everywhere. We are looking at some rain this week so I may luck out and find some standing water like you said. Thanks!

Moose - I have been told that there is consistent movement coming from the ag in the morning onto the parcel. Most of the ag fields are about a 1/4 mile away.

brancher147 - The whole property is escape cover! It is crazy thick everywhere. I'm just glad to be going scouting before green up. I mapped out where all the rifle hunting stands are and have been trying to look at voids where guys don't hunt.

Thank you guys!! I will post what I find later this week.

[tobuckagain]

I was able to get out and scout the property. 8 miles covered and enough scratches on my arms and legs from the thick brush that my wife thought I got attacked by several bobcats.

The entire 200 acres is a solid block of bedding cover. I was able to find clusters of activity and several beds. As you would expect, they both related to terrain; bedding just on the edge of benches and on points. Unfortunately the cover was so good/thick deer seemed willing to bed down anywhere without regard to terrain. The corner of the property closest to the ag had the most defined trails and as you got further into the property the trails defused.

The interesting discovery was that the best overall buck sign was at the far north end of the property. The north end is the furthest from the ag field and the property on the other side (to the north) is heavily heavily pressured. However this makes sense as the treestands and hunting pressure that happens during rifle season is in the middle of the property. So the buck using the north end of the property above the set treestands.

I appreciate the help!

[funderburk]

I would really encourage you to buy Farm Country Bedding. Also, Hill Country would be helpful here, too. It will literally answer so many of your questions and put you several seasons ahead.

The property seems very edge-heavy, so I would expect a good bit of thick edge bedding and very alert satellite deer groups. Unique access will be crucial because mature bucks will be watching the normal entry routes of humans.

[tobuckagain]

I would really encourage you to buy Farm Country Bedding. Also, Hill Country would be helpful here, too. It will literally answer so many of your questions and put you several seasons ahead.

You must be watching me... I bought the whole series yesterday! I'm already sitting by the mailbox waiting for them!

The human activity overall is very low (in season and off season), only one other person for one or two hunts in archery season. Access will definitely still be tough though. The property is sooooo thick it is hard to move with stealth on the property off of the old logging roads. I am sure the deer are using and watching the logging road for the same reasons I use them.

[rfickes87]

I LOVE the far south eastern corner of that property where the steep drop off is. Might be beds and or a nice trail on the crest of that slope where it drops off.

[funderburk]

I would really encourage you to buy Farm Country Bedding. Also, Hill Country would be helpful here, too. It will literally answer so many of your questions and put you several seasons ahead.

You must be watching me... I bought the whole series yesterday! I'm already sitting by the mailbox waiting for them!

The human activity overall is very low (in season and off season), only one other person for one or two hunts in archery season. Access will definitely still be tough though. The property is sooooo thick it is hard to move with stealth on the property off of the old logging roads. I am sure the deer are using and watching the logging road for the same reasons I use them.

Awesome! Hope you get em figured out

[magicman54494]

nothing is terrain-less. check the edges of different types of trees or age of timber. check the edges of openings. check for flat benches with cover especially if there are points extending out. i rarely find a good buck bed in the middle of anything. they are almost always along an edge. finally, look for the out of the way spots that most hunters bypass.

[tobuckagain]

I LOVE the far south eastern corner of that property where the steep drop off is. Might be beds and or a nice trail on the crest of that slope where it drops off.

I found some great sign there, to include the real thing, some bedded deer! That southeast corner acts as the main corridor for the deer to travel from ag to bedding.

nothing is terrain-less. check the edges of different types of trees or age of timber. check the edges of openings. check for flat benches with cover especially if there are points extending out. i rarely find a good buck bed in the middle of anything. they are almost always along an edge. finally, look for the out of the way spots that most hunters bypass.

You are absolutely right, nothing is devoid of terrain. I guess the better way to ask this would have been, how do I identify bedding in very subtle terrain. There was no super obvious terrain features that jumped out on a topo. I was trying to be more efficient and eliminate some areas of the property to save time in scouting.

You hit the nail on the head though, the sign I found was on the micro-terrain features (small benches) and on subtle edges. Instead of looking at big transitions like pole timber/clear cut, small transitions from red brush/young birch had the sign. There are about 6 hung ladder stands and I was able to find paths the deer use to avoid every single one of them, even though the stands may only get hunted 4 times a year maximum.

magicman54494, Last week I listened to a couple excellent podcasts you did. Thanks for all the information!