(Generally) how far is summer bedding from food source

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comeback_kid
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(Generally) how far is summer bedding from food source

Unread postby comeback_kid » Sun May 14, 2017 11:52 am

Found out about you guys from W2H, of which I am a frequent listener.

So, I am scouting a new side of a property I hunt(farm and woods) as I have a suspicion some bucks might be bedding there. So, I see the deer when they hit the fields before dusk. Roughly how far will the bedding generally be from the first place in the crop fields the deer are seen before sunset? Like a couple hundred yards? I am trying to focus my scouting on a radius area from where I first spot them in the fields.


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Re: (Generally) how far is summer bedding from food source

Unread postby Hawthorne » Sun May 14, 2017 12:03 pm

I've seen them bed down right in the middle of bean fields more than a few times. I think they do it to escape mosquitoes. I think its real close most of the time in summer. For the most part they aren't being bothered by people.
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Re: (Generally) how far is summer bedding from food source

Unread postby tgreeno » Sun May 14, 2017 1:01 pm

If they are in the field before dark, then most likely they are bedding close. The problem is, they will most likely not be bedded in those same areas when you are going to be hunting them.
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Re: (Generally) how far is summer bedding from food source

Unread postby JoeRE » Sun May 14, 2017 1:57 pm

Yea I agree summer bedding is often very close to food, sometimes right on the edge or or even out in the field.

Around here I see a lot of summer bedding on exterior edges...meaning 20 feet off a field edge, that sort of thing. That often changes when hunting pressure hits, bachelor groups break up, food sources change, summer foliage dies down, or often all the above at once.
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Re: (Generally) how far is summer bedding from food source

Unread postby stash59 » Sun May 14, 2017 2:07 pm

Welcome aboard and enjoy!!!

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Re: (Generally) how far is summer bedding from food source

Unread postby UofLbowhunter » Sun May 14, 2017 3:29 pm

With all this said about bedding close to the field. How does a water source in hot weather come into play in the location they pick close to a field? I know deer can go for several hours with out a drink of water, but shouldn't the heat increase water consumption or the fact they need water for digestion come into play when or where deer are choosing a bedding area close to food source? :think: What i am thinking is if there real close to the edge of a field would a water source be relatively close as well? Or if the water is further away, say a 1\4 of a mile plus, would they bed further away from food in the heat? Or is it not really a big factor?
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Re: (Generally) how far is summer bedding from food source

Unread postby Nelson87 » Mon May 15, 2017 2:16 am

JoeRE wrote:Yea I agree summer bedding is often very close to food, sometimes right on the edge or or even out in the field.

Around here I see a lot of summer bedding on exterior edges...meaning 20 feet off a field edge, that sort of thing. That often changes when hunting pressure hits, bachelor groups break up, food sources change, summer foliage dies down, or often all the above at once.



Do you kick up bucks bedded close to field edges while looking for tracks in the summer? Since I listened to your podcasts and read your journel and also some other discussions on tracks, I've been paying more attention to them. But one problem I come up against is I hunt ag fields with multiple small patches of woods and brushy fence rows, and it's hard to go anywhere without being upwind of potential bedding. I can think of 3 buck beds I know of that are less than 40 yards off a field.

Are you worried about spooking deer in this type of situation or does an occasional walk along the field edge in the summer not bother them to bad even if the wind blows into the woods? I look at maps and I'm thinking man I can hardly go anywhere without deer potentially seeing/ smelling me. Maybe I'm overthinking it.
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Re: (Generally) how far is summer bedding from food source

Unread postby JoeRE » Mon May 15, 2017 5:46 am

Nelson87 wrote:
JoeRE wrote:Yea I agree summer bedding is often very close to food, sometimes right on the edge or or even out in the field.

Around here I see a lot of summer bedding on exterior edges...meaning 20 feet off a field edge, that sort of thing. That often changes when hunting pressure hits, bachelor groups break up, food sources change, summer foliage dies down, or often all the above at once.



Do you kick up bucks bedded close to field edges while looking for tracks in the summer? Since I listened to your podcasts and read your journel and also some other discussions on tracks, I've been paying more attention to them. But one problem I come up against is I hunt ag fields with multiple small patches of woods and brushy fence rows, and it's hard to go anywhere without being upwind of potential bedding. I can think of 3 buck beds I know of that are less than 40 yards off a field.

Are you worried about spooking deer in this type of situation or does an occasional walk along the field edge in the summer not bother them to bad even if the wind blows into the woods? I look at maps and I'm thinking man I can hardly go anywhere without deer potentially seeing/ smelling me. Maybe I'm overthinking it.


Yes, I do often kick up bucks scouting field edges for tracks in the summer that's where a lot of these observations of mine are from. Given Iowa bow season starts Oct 1 I rarely target that summer bedding - the shift happens through the month of September around here usually. Also since I spread myself across a lot of different pieces of land, I set foot on the same field once or twice in a summer...so its not much disturbance. If I walked the same field edge every week all summer long bucks would relocate their bedding for sure.
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Re: (Generally) how far is summer bedding from food source

Unread postby comeback_kid » Tue May 16, 2017 4:39 am

The reason I'm asking is I am trying to focus in on an area where I know there has been a good amount of daylight buck activity early season when they are still in bachelor groups. Here in Southeastern PA, bow season opens September 16th so I am hoping to get a crack at a buck based on some intel I gathered last year at that time. So in this small gully or ditch it's real thick and these bachelor bucks were hanging out and I spotted them 2x in about a week (September 21, September 27). I moved closer in and on the second time I had 2 walk right beneath my tree. My guess(I'll need to confirm with scouting) is that they were bedding on the point in that green rectangle which is a woodlot (timber for you Midwest guys :clap: )

Image

So, I am hoping to move in on the right wind during an afternoon hunt and get a crack at one. I shot an 8pt off of the rut funnel north of this Finger area. However, it's quite open back there once the leaves fall. This finger provides some really good early season action. Also, this property is hunted by others--not a ton of early season pressure as most guys are gun hunters AND weekend hunters. I am blessed have the advantage of hunting weekday afternoons.

Also, this year I'll have a LW hang on w/ sticks whereas last year I only had a climber, which really limited the trees I could set up on in the thick stuff on that finger.
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Re: (Generally) how far is summer bedding from food source

Unread postby comeback_kid » Tue May 16, 2017 5:01 am

Oh, yeah and the yellow arrows are direction of travel for the bucks I saw.


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