The Hunting Beast

I made my way to a prehung stand site close to a known buck bed this evening.

I have not been to this area since the stands was hung July.

As I made my way to the stand I seen some fresh buck tracks going towards the bedding point.
The tracks were easy to see. There was a dusting of snow this morning around 9am.

I chose this site tonight because there is a ton of honeysuckle near my stand, and the stand had a perfect off wind for the buck bed.

Once I got the the stand I noticed a fresh scrape. Had the same track in the scrape. The scrape was small, and the licking branch was low to the ground and small too. However, there was a pretty good sized bed right beside the fresh scrape! Same tracks in the bed.

Have you guys ever seen a buck bed down 4 feet downwind from his scrape?

I didnt end up seeing anything this evening and feel like I may have bumped him out of there on my entrance.
I came in downwind, silent and slow. However, he would have had an opportunity to get a visual on me from around 60 yards away, if he were bedded in the bed.

Picture isnt too good, but the best I could do zoomed in from the phone.

I have seen that behavior before, mostly during rut. And usually at more "random" type bedding spots, that seemed to be located near does.

dan wrote:I have seen that behavior before, mostly during rut. And usually at more "random" type bedding spots, that seemed to be located near does.

X2, sounds like a random bed. I have seen this a lot during the rut too . They seem to just lay down for no rhyme or reason. Sounds like he is waiting for a girlfriend to show and he is gonna be the first in line for her. Is there doe bedding near where he could have a wind advantage while guarding his scrape?

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You guys are both right.
The bed is random. It is about 60 yards away from the point where the buck beds are.

Under a south wind (which we had during the snow dusting) is a doe bedding area.

There was a pretty good buck with a group of does the other day. Maybe one of the younger does/fawns is beginning to come into her first cycle.

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I just thought it was odd and maybe had a meaning as to why

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Random was my suspicion.