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Think I muffed it

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 5:21 am
by corndawg765
Couple of weeks ago spotted a nice buck crossing a soy field just past shooting hours when I was walking back to my vehicle. After doing some aerial scouting I found a textbook looking beast spot I believe he was bedding in. It's a marshy area with a Beaver dam where two small creeks come together, maybe three hundred yards from a parking right behind a church. One of them overlooked spots perhaps. Was waiting on a good wind to hunt it. Went back this past Friday and spotted two dogs down in the potential bedding area. Well I knew he wasn't in there at that point and I thought that might be a good time to confirm if he was indeed bedding area. So I decided to take a quick look and the sign was great, knee deep deer trails and rubs galore, Buck bed right under a willow. Now I kinda regret going in. So my question for you guys is, between me and the dogs is that bed boogered up for good or from your experience will a mature Buck bed down in an area again after an intrusion like that?

Re: Think I muffed it

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 5:42 am
by Ragingun
corndawg765 wrote:Couple of weeks ago spotted a nice buck crossing a soy field just past shooting hours when I was walking back to my vehicle. After doing some aerial scouting I found a textbook looking beast spot I believe he was bedding in. It's a marshy area with a Beaver dam where two small creeks come together, maybe three hundred yards from a parking right behind a church. One of them overlooked spots perhaps. Was waiting on a good wind to hunt it. Went back this past Friday and spotted two dogs down in the potential bedding area. Well I knew he wasn't in there at that point and I thought that might be a good time to confirm if he was indeed bedding area. So I decided to take a quick look and the sign was great, knee deep deer trails and rubs galore, Buck bed right under a willow. Now I kinda regret going in. So my question for you guys is, between me and the dogs is that bed boogered up for good or from your experience will a mature Buck bed down in an area again after an intrusion like that?


My concern isn't that this happened this one time. My futuristic concern is the dogs will return again. Not sure why they were there but there were. If he gets wind of something once it typically will not push him out but if those dogs return consistently he'll be gone. My other thought is that he's likely on his feet and not using that bed right now if you're in a state where the rut is in full swing. He's likely running and gunning and using a "rut bed" near doe bedding. If this is the case then he may not return to this bed and never know that you or the dogs were there by the time he does.

Too many unknowns at this point. I would still hunt this spot as long as the sign stays hot.

Re: Think I muffed it

Posted: Tue Nov 14, 2017 8:54 am
by corndawg765
I think the dogs came from a neighboring farm house is my best guess. I was pretty deflated to see them in there. But that's my luck. I did run them out of there though (without getting bit, lol)
I also thought the same thing about it being rut bedding to get at the hot does on the public land without actually coming into the heavy pressure. The only thing that made me second guess that was that there was a lot of historical rubs there too. Maybe that indicates it's contested rut bedding rather than primary bedding. There was definitely adjacent doe bedding as well. Im just learning this plot of land, so I guess I can chalk it up to the learning curve. Maybe next year I'll throw a trail cam nearby to try and get a better idea of how that area is being used.

Re: Think I muffed it

Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2017 1:35 am
by Ragingun
corndawg765 wrote:I think the dogs came from a neighboring farm house is my best guess. I was pretty deflated to see them in there. But that's my luck. I did run them out of there though (without getting bit, lol)
I also thought the same thing about it being rut bedding to get at the hot does on the public land without actually coming into the heavy pressure. The only thing that made me second guess that was that there was a lot of historical rubs there too. Maybe that indicates it's contested rut bedding rather than primary bedding. There was definitely adjacent doe bedding as well. Im just learning this plot of land, so I guess I can chalk it up to the learning curve. Maybe next year I'll throw a trail cam nearby to try and get a better idea of how that area is being used.


There can be rubs in a rut bed as well. What I intended to communicate was that this may be his primary bed and he may be out on his "rut bed" and not use this bed depending on the rut timing in your area. If he's sitting on a different bed that may be to your advantage since by the time he returns he may no even notice any scent left by you or the dogs.

Re: Think I muffed it

Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2017 2:20 am
by Rich M
Dogs aren't gonna chase him off for good. Neither is your one time intrusion.

The only way you can tell for sure is to either hunt or hang a camera - or both.