Big woods and hill country questions. any input is appreciat

[October's Assassin]

I hunt very similar woods and have the same struggles. Last year was my first "Beast Scouting" venture. In 2 scouting trips I covered about 6 miles and found 2 beds. I'm sure I overlooked many beds but what people are saying is correct, get to elevation and scout the points and benches. Both best I found were right on the edge of a steep drop off.

In my area what problem I have is come the rut the bucks abandon these beds in search of does and don't return to them unless there are does in the same area. Doe bedding areas vs mature buck beds are 1-2 miles from one another.

Does anyone have any tips on this scenario?

since i have been a member here i have been on caltopo and bing birdseye everyday. this saturday will be my first beast scouting trip so hopefully it goes well. i have many spots picked out. but to get to your problem, i have read that bucks will switch bedding areas depending on how far they have to travel for food and does. i dont know if thats correct or not but that could be what your experiencing. it kinda sucks because you could find and be on a good buck all of september and october then he will vanish. then your back at square one in a sense

[checkerfred]

I hunt very similar woods and have the same struggles. Last year was my first "Beast Scouting" venture. In 2 scouting trips I covered about 6 miles and found 2 beds. I'm sure I overlooked many beds but what people are saying is correct, get to elevation and scout the points and benches. Both best I found were right on the edge of a steep drop off.

In my area what problem I have is come the rut the bucks abandon these beds in search of does and don't return to them unless there are does in the same area. Doe bedding areas vs mature buck beds are 1-2 miles from one another.

Does anyone have any tips on this scenario?

They're easy to overlook...at least in my area. Of course with terrain it varies but I scouted last week and found some beds only because I looked where I thought they should be and if something looked different I got nose to ground moving leaves and examining the area. I found a few beds with just one hair in it and you could barely see that it was a bed. Dan talks about how they can shift around with a very slight change in wind or thermals. I'm sure I missed lots of other beds. The best ones I've found so far were in steep terrain. Not bluff steep but almost. The deer can go up and down but I have to basically crawl. I found several wore to the ground with poop in them. Usually on benches or around rocks or the upper side of trees.

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