Clear cut bedding???

[Rob loper]

They'll often bed edges until hunting pressure hits and then head for the interior. Edges are hunter magnets. You'll see the stands.

They are kinda catch 22 because they really grow old bucks and help a lot of deer survive rifle season, but can be difficult to hunt because by the time bow season starts most deer are holed up in them like rabbits from scouting and stand hanging activity.

Towards the rut if does are using them, anything can happen. If you can find one that's unpressured it can be a gem.

This is so true snd is exactly what im finding in these pine cutovers in my areas.
They treat them almost like a marsh.
Very very difficult to hunt.
I will say this. In early season they seem too be bedding on the edges Watching the open woods and wind in their faces
I thinking i got picked off by eyes several times this year and never realized it.
Again what im noticing is They lay with Clear cut to the back cause they know nothing coming from there. Watching in front of them and wind in their face. This gives them almost perfect advantages for saftey.
I been trying to come in from the sides and hunting the off wind scenerio but like i said i think ive been picked off by being too aggressive.
The below picture is a decent 3 year old coming from a clear cut like the one mentioned

[headgear]

I've also found some overlooked spots in old clearcuts close to roads and parking spots.

[E72]

They'll often bed edges until hunting pressure hits and then head for the interior. Edges are hunter magnets. You'll see the stands.

They are kinda catch 22 because they really grow old bucks and help a lot of deer survive rifle season, but can be difficult to hunt because by the time bow season starts most deer are holed up in them like rabbits from scouting and stand hanging activity.

Towards the rut if does are using them, anything can happen. If you can find one that's unpressured it can be a gem.

I agree with Elk Yinzer. A lot of times clear cuts, especially the edges are the easiest topo to hunt in the South/Southeast - thus they get hammered. I find that mature bucks will seldom stay on the edges - they often will bed right in the middle in the nastiest areas - provided their is enough cover and it is big enough. What I find more typical, is that they will bed in the woods, usually in a spot where they have good wind advantage and can WATCH the clear cut edge. Look for elevation that gives them a bit of visual advantage. But it really does matter how much the land is pressured. One other thing, often there are still two tracks remaining, if even they are getting overgrown, where the heavy equipment got in/out - I often find bucks bedding to watch these as that is where hunters and the does tend to travel. Always look for the low spots, especially drainages that run through the clear cut as this is where I find most mature bucks will enter from.

This is the exact scenario I found on an in season hunt/scouting mission . My son then killed a great buck there Nov 24th.
Mid Nov , I noticed some grass mashed down on a logging road / bench , then fresh doe tracks coming out of a drainage where some oaks where left in the cut . Found a scrape and large tracks 50 yards from that . The bucks were bedding up high above this area in some mostly open timber , they were monitoring that spot for the does to come out to feed on acorns after last light . Defiantly a wind / sight advantage for the bucks.

[greenhorndave]

They'll often bed edges until hunting pressure hits and then head for the interior. Edges are hunter magnets. You'll see the stands.

They are kinda catch 22 because they really grow old bucks and help a lot of deer survive rifle season, but can be difficult to hunt because by the time bow season starts most deer are holed up in them like rabbits from scouting and stand hanging activity.

Towards the rut if does are using them, anything can happen. If you can find one that's unpressured it can be a gem.

I agree with Elk Yinzer. A lot of times clear cuts, especially the edges are the easiest topo to hunt in the South/Southeast - thus they get hammered. I find that mature bucks will seldom stay on the edges - they often will bed right in the middle in the nastiest areas - provided their is enough cover and it is big enough. What I find more typical, is that they will bed in the woods, usually in a spot where they have good wind advantage and can WATCH the clear cut edge. Look for elevation that gives them a bit of visual advantage. But it really does matter how much the land is pressured. One other thing, often there are still two tracks remaining, if even they are getting overgrown, where the heavy equipment got in/out - I often find bucks bedding to watch these as that is where hunters and the does tend to travel. Always look for the low spots, especially drainages that run through the clear cut as this is where I find most mature bucks will enter from.

Dave, I've been struggling a bit in one area and I've been thinking about what I've been seeing, and I think your description may help. I was about to write off that particular piece of terrain but I'm going to rethink it instead. Approach and stand/ground location is going to be super challenging, as the visual advantage for the deer is significant. It's actually a bit of a valley and they have the predominant wind, visual of the big timber hillsides and two track, and thermals all in their favor in the magic hour by bedding and/or traveling low. I'm going to try to my best based what you described and be ok with either being a hero or a zero.

[DaveT1963]

Dave, I've been struggling a bit in one area and I've been thinking about what I've been seeing, and I think your description may help. I was about to write off that particular piece of terrain but I'm going to rethink it instead. Approach and stand/ground location is going to be super challenging, as the visual advantage for the deer is significant. It's actually a bit of a valley and they have the predominant wind, visual of the big timber hillsides and two track, and thermals all in their favor in the magic hour by bedding and/or traveling low. I'm going to try to my best based what you described and be ok with either being a hero or a zero.

A valley will complicate wind swirl for sure.... I have better luck on AM hunts as the swirling/thermals often doesnt kick in until after prime movement. Evenings the thermals are what triggers mature buck movement IME and thus it's more difficult to set up down in a valley

[greenhorndave]

Dave, I've been struggling a bit in one area and I've been thinking about what I've been seeing, and I think your description may help. I was about to write off that particular piece of terrain but I'm going to rethink it instead. Approach and stand/ground location is going to be super challenging, as the visual advantage for the deer is significant. It's actually a bit of a valley and they have the predominant wind, visual of the big timber hillsides and two track, and thermals all in their favor in the magic hour by bedding and/or traveling low. I'm going to try to my best based what you described and be ok with either being a hero or a zero.

A valley will complicate wind swirl for sure.... I have better luck on AM hunts as the swirling/thermals often doesnt kick in until after prime movement. Evenings the thermals are what triggers mature buck movement IME and thus it's more difficult to set up down in a valley

Thanks. What I was considering as well due to human pressure/intrusion patterns as well.