Deer grave yards

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dan
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Deer grave yards

Unread postby dan » Thu Aug 05, 2021 12:09 am

Over the years I have noticed that deer, especially older deer, that die a slowed death, either from injury, or disease, tend to die in the best bedding areas... Makes sense... If you were not feeling good you would go home and lie in your bed. We used to rehab raccoons a few years back, and its interesting that every now and then one of the rehab raccoons will come back with an injury and show up in his cage where he was raise as a baby. They go "home" when they are sick... Pay attention to where you find dead bucks... Your tip for the day.
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Re: Deer grave yards

Unread postby KRONIIK » Thu Aug 05, 2021 12:19 am

Great observation Dan; it makes perfect sense.
Remoteness, cover, security,-recalled to memory and instinct when injured or ill.

I've found a couple dead bucks (unknown cause or car-injured) in good bedding areas.

The early African explorers had legendary tales of "Elephant graveyards".
Probably about the same concept.
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Re: Deer grave yards

Unread postby rhagenw » Thu Aug 05, 2021 12:39 am

Great tip dan! And I plan on it I found a pair of nice dead heads that I illustrated in my 2021 hunting journal that I will be visiting!
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Re: Deer grave yards

Unread postby Huntress13 » Thu Aug 05, 2021 12:47 am

Yeah, and when you track them too soon and push them and never recover them, pay attention to where they bedded. :angry-banghead: Another year there might be another good buck there.
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Re: Deer grave yards

Unread postby Hawthorne » Thu Aug 05, 2021 12:48 am

I used to hunt a piece of private every year I found a nice dead head in the bedding area. I killed half a dozen nice bucks out of it also. Was the best spot in that square mile. It had water and thick cover. I have yet to find something that consistent on public land
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Re: Deer grave yards

Unread postby Marshbuster89 » Thu Aug 05, 2021 12:57 am

Exactly how I found and learned two of my most productive spots around home. It definitely makes sense :handgestures-thumbup:
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Re: Deer grave yards

Unread postby Moose » Thu Aug 05, 2021 5:24 am

That's a good tip! Pretty cool that the coons will come back like that. Are they still tame enough to see their injury?
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Re: Deer grave yards

Unread postby Horizontal Hunter » Thu Aug 05, 2021 6:47 am

How long will a freshly dead buck keep another from bedding there? Does it bother much or at all?

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Re: Deer grave yards

Unread postby Huntress13 » Thu Aug 05, 2021 1:35 pm

Horizontal Hunter wrote:How long will a freshly dead buck keep another from bedding there? Does it bother much or at all?

Bob


I would guess once all the carnivores are done with it.
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Re: Deer grave yards

Unread postby UncleBuck3268 » Thu Aug 05, 2021 5:09 pm

Does make a whole lot of sense. I came across a buck last year while out in a swamp trying to find a spot to hunt and came across a nice 8. Small little hump of dry land in the midddle of a swamp. I wouldn’t have taken him if I had seen him, but who knows what else might take up. Certainly worth a shot.
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Re: Deer grave yards

Unread postby Horizontal Hunter » Fri Aug 06, 2021 12:10 am

Huntress13 wrote:
Horizontal Hunter wrote:How long will a freshly dead buck keep another from bedding there? Does it bother much or at all?

Bob


I would guess once all the carnivores are done with it.


That would be my guess as well. I was just wondering if anyone had any first hand experience.

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Re: Deer grave yards

Unread postby Tsom » Fri Aug 06, 2021 1:34 am

IMG_20190810_175047443_BURST000_COVER_TOP.jpg

My son found this guy while we were trying to find an ambush site for a bed on a knob next to a reservoir. Was about 30 yards from the bed. Another buck was using the bed going off the fresh sign. Tried hunting it and had a wind swirl blow it. I walked through the bed on my way out and there was really fresh droppings in the bed.
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Re: Deer grave yards

Unread postby Bigburner » Thu Aug 04, 2022 11:48 pm

I experience this quite a bit myself while after seasons shed hunting. walking into known bedding areas. I usually find the big boys in the most secure spot either having wind thermal advantage or line of sight to the mostly likely way a hunter would approach.
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Re: Deer grave yards

Unread postby Ahawk116 » Fri Aug 05, 2022 12:15 am

Amen to that. There’s a spot on our farm we call skull hill. It’s consistently one of the best spots to kill a good one because of that exact reason. When we first purchased the farm 7 years ago and walked it I found 6 dead heads varying dramatically in age and size in that area.
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Re: Deer grave yards

Unread postby nsmith253 » Sun Aug 07, 2022 10:04 am

This is consistent with my limited experience, all the dead heads I find on public are in bedding or on the edge. It's helped me think about the quality of the bedding based on what died there, and if it's a nice rack it usually means it hasn't been scouted. Found this one this spring in a new spot following a trail into a bedding area I had picked out from aerials, will hopefully get to hunt it at some point this year.

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