Need some Beastly input on this one

[Black Squirrel]

I was out last night glassing some bean fields from the top of a grain bin on a farm I hunt. Saw a decent shooter, smack dab in the middle of the field. Funny thing is, I was watching the field for about 15 min before I spotted him. I was also watching a doe. I believe he was bedded in the beans, as I would have seen him walk into the field. (At least, I hope I would have.) He ate for a couple of minutes, then bedded back down. He did this one more time. Then after a half hour, 2 bucks, a 1.5 and a 2.5, came running from a small pot hole, through the beans, and to another pot hole, bring the buck I was watching, with them. He is a shooter, on this farm, so my question is: Do you think he was bedded there all day? I started glassing at about 6:00pm, sunset is about 7:40, so he could have worked his way to the bean field before, I started watching the field. High temp was around 80. This farm happends to be within a half mile of lake Michigan, and there was a nice cool wind blowing off the lake, from the SE. I believe if he was bedded there, he was taking advantage of this breeze, to cool him and keep mosquitoes at bay. What do you all think, is this just a fluke or a pattern worth trying to exploit?

The blue circle is the grain bin. The red dot is where I first saw the buck. The pink dot is where the doe came out of the corn. The black dots are where I believe the 2 young bucks were beded. The yellow dots are where I first noticed them. They ran from the yellow dots (arrow), to the green X, past the bedded shooter buck. Crops are labeled as well as wind direction. It is gently rolling topography, with a small knoll where the red dot is also.

[dan]

I think he came out earlier and bedded after eating to chew his cud... But I could be wrong, I have been seeing an awful lot of big bucks bedding in corn lately. I think maybe the skeeters are forcing them out of the woods.
One would think a mature buck would have a hard time sleeping lying in the direct sun all day though.

[BigRed]

I was out 2 weeks ago, and had the same issue. I had only been there 15 minutes or half hour. All of a sudden i look over and theres this monster buck 100 yards from me near the edge of the beans off the swamp. I think i would have seen him come out as well. The beans are really tall so it would hide a deer. I think it would take a few more times to verify one way or the other, but dan could be on to something about chewing its cud. I am curious about this as well because i could set up on the ground with my ghillie suit. Going out this weekend again so we'll see what happens.

[Swampthing]

I think he came out earlier and bedded after eating to chew his cud... But I could be wrong, I have been seeing an awful lot of big bucks bedding in corn lately. I think maybe the skeeters are forcing them out of the woods.
One would think a mature buck would have a hard time sleeping lying in the direct sun all day though.

That,s very interesting Dan,cause I think I,m seeing that here 2.I spotted a nice 1 this weekend and all the sign pointed that he might be bedded in the corn 2. And the bugs here in the last week are the worst I think I,ve ever seen.At first I thought he was just traveling through ,but mabey he,s gettin his mail there 2.

[Black Squirrel]

The beans are really tall so it would hide a deer. I think it would take a few more times to verify one way or the other, but dan could be on to something about chewing its cud. I am curious about this as well because i could set up on the ground with my ghillie suit. Going out this weekend again so we'll see what happens.

Yeah, I agree. I need to see him a couple of more times. I have found beds in both of those potholes. So in further thinking he probably was bedded in one of those spots. I too was thinking about hunting in the beans. I don't have a ghillie suit though. I wonder if I could just attach some beans plants to a hat and jacket, and put a stalk on him.

[AC Rider]

One would think a mature buck would have a hard time sleeping lying in the direct sun all day though.

I think he'd have shade in the green leafy corn or tall beans.

[dan]

One would think a mature buck would have a hard time sleeping lying in the direct sun all day though.

I think he'd have shade in the green leafy corn or tall beans.

Corn yea... Beans no...

[dan]

Peak daytime movement per moon directly below would of been 3:42 PM on August 28... Is it possibly he wandered out about that time, ate, and then did the bed and cud chew thing till you got there?
Either way he is bedding really close to the beans... But beans have a way of changing at this time of year and bucks tend to abandon them a week or two before season. A lot of hunters get disappointed by watching a buck in the beans on a pattern until the opener.

[BigRed]

Squirrel, its sounds funny but who knows that might be worth a shot, in fact we ran into a guy a few years ago, that did that with pieces of corn stalk. He said he had success with it too. That is true Dan, i have been that guy before getting burned by strictly glassing beans. I have noticed the beans starting to dry out, around here. then it seems like they shift to the corn.

[Black Squirrel]

Peak daytime movement per moon directly below would of been 3:42 PM on August 28... Is it possibly he wandered out about that time, ate, and then did the bed and cud chew thing till you got there?
Either way he is bedding really close to the beans... But beans have a way of changing at this time of year and bucks tend to abandon them a week or two before season. A lot of hunters get disappointed by watching a buck in the beans on a pattern until the opener.

Very possible he could have been bedded in either of those potholes, as I have found beds in both. Very rarley, if at all do these small woods see any human traffic. There is corn and alfalfa nearby, maybe he'll switch to those? I have a stand set up south of the most southern pothole in the fenceline. Corn is east and hay is west of fenceline. There is water to the east as well. So the deer have alot of options right here.

Squirrel, its sounds funny but who knows that might be worth a shot, in fact we ran into a guy a few years ago, that did that with pieces of corn stalk. He said he had success with it too. That is true Dan, i have been that guy before getting burned by strictly glassing beans. I have noticed the beans starting to dry out, around here. then it seems like they shift to the corn.

This is the inlaws farm and being that close to lake Michigan, they are always late with thier crops, so I get fairly good action in the beans the first week of the season.

[3dog]

Like the scouting location, basically eliminates getting detected/busted. As for bedding in beans, I think it's a fluke but if you have the time to scout it 4 or 5 more times before season you'll know for sure. Even if he is bedding in the field, odds are good he won't by time season rolls around cause the leaves will be off the beans or very close to it. Everything is early this year, I'm already seeing full fields of yellow beans, from there it only takes a week or two and the leaves are gone.

[PASwamper]

I've never seen the soybeans grow as much as they did this year. Sometimes you can hardly see the deer heads in the soybeans right now. I'm sure a deer COULD lay down and easily go undetected. I don't know if a mature buck would. Last year I saw two small bucks laying in the beans in the middle of the day, but the field wasn't nearly as tall and I could easily see their heads. Do you guys think they will leave the corn when the weather cools down a little and the bugs aren't as bad?

[Black Squirrel]

I've never seen the soybeans grow as much as they did this year. Sometimes you can hardly see the deer heads in the soybeans right now. I'm sure a deer COULD lay down and easily go undetected. I don't know if a mature buck would. Last year I saw two small bucks laying in the beans in the middle of the day, but the field wasn't nearly as tall and I could easily see their heads.

I could ony see his antlers when he bedded. If I didn't know he was there, I likely would have never seen him.

Like the scouting location, basically eliminates getting detected/busted. As for bedding in beans, I think it's a fluke but if you have the time to scout it 4 or 5 more times before season you'll know for sure. Even if he is bedding in the field, odds are good he won't by time season rolls around cause the leaves will be off the beans or very close to it. Everything is early this year, I'm already seeing full fields of yellow beans, from there it only takes a week or two and the leaves are gone.

Thanks 3dog, I agree, I need to watch this field a few more times. It's an awsome location to scout from, gives me a good view of the surrounding farm. My father in law thinks, I m nuts to sit up there for an hour or more and "just watch deer". Most people, just don't understand our passion.

[dan]

Do you guys think they will leave the corn when the weather cools down a little and the bugs aren't as bad?

Yes

[Singing Bridge]

Black Squirrel, I think you may be looking for some reinforcement on what you believe to be happening. You are large and in charge of that area, and need to trust your instincts. Those potholes are some of the premier bedding areas in this type of habitat that exists, as the bucks can bed in cover, likely have water available, and use the pothole itself against predators approaching from downwind (a barrier). Bedding in the corn/beans/woods cannot provide that level of protection to the buck. Unbelievable that the potholes where you saw the young bucks exit are located where they are, an excellent bedding location even if the pothole did not exist. It sounds like there are other pothole areas as well, and that you have already found bedding in these areas. If the young bucks are tolerating the bugs near those potholes, the big boy can too.

One of Michigan's most successful trophy buck hunters, recently departed, killed numerous record book bucks near these bedding areas over many years. They are overlooked, hard to approach and hard to hunt- all advantages to the buck.