Thoughts on a bed

[Bigbluehelim]

Last fall I suspected a buck was using this back corner of the property to bed. Scouted it today and found a really used bed, full of hair, rubs all around, rubs on his paths nearby. I took a picture of it. It sits against some brush, and the area was cedar cut a couple years ago so it is very thick.
The blue dot in the center is the bed.
The yellow are well used scrapes
The directions are how it is laid out(north up top)

Do you have any thoughts on how to hunt it or go about killing a buck using that bed?

[dan]

You need to look at the trails coming out of the bed, Follow them from the bed and make set ups just out of sight, sound, smell, and hearing.Do a little thinking about why and when he beds there to get the timing right. My suspicions are that there are more than one bed too, whether you noticed them or not. The positioning looks really well laid out for a west, S/W or South wind, but its possible thats getting a bowl effect and has bedding on north and east, but at 1st I would concentrate on W, S/W, & S...

[Bigbluehelim]

Correct, there were a few in that immediate area. The exit trail led to the east and after about 50 yards the woods open up a little along that creek.

I was thinking I could enter from the south 75 yards or so to the east of the beds and set up. This is year 2 really for me trying to hunt using beds.

[may21581]

That's a classic hill country bed there with ag on top. From my personal experience it appears he is bedding on that point with winds from an easterly direction. When he beds on that point he can see more than 180 degrees for some distance. The ridges are steep enough that in the fall with leaves down nothing could traverse those slopes without making noise and being busted. It appears as if he is j hooking when returning to bed by the looks of the rub line. Most of those rubs were prolly made after dark in the open fields. He could be up there in the light but without doing your homework it's hard to tell.
Something else to think about is in the evening the those two ridges by his bed will act as a natural thermal funnel and he can basically scan the field above him without stepping foot in it.

[Lockdown]

If he drops down into the valley he’s got a bit of a thermal hub situation going for him.

Edit- just read May’s comment and he beat me to it

[AustinPape]

In dans videos and podcasts they always talk about ag being down low and how they bed on the hill staring at the ag all day so they feel comfortable going to it at dusk. I also hunt where all the ag is up top and the timber cover is in draws and river bottoms. I’m just curious how often they do bed lower than the food source and approach it with the wind instead of visual?

[may21581]

In dans videos and podcasts they always talk about ag being down low and how they bed on the hill staring at the ag all day so they feel comfortable going to it at dusk. I also hunt where all the ag is up top and the timber cover is in draws and river bottoms. I’m just curious how often they do bed lower than the food source and approach it with the wind instead of visual?

It can be very situational. I have also learned and witnessed that often times they will bed and monitor the direction in which they would travel. If their not comftorable or something changes they can travel to an alternate food source or bed till after dark. It really has to do with the best bedding and best food sources and how comftorable they are moving.