Now, i know this is going to vary from region to region, obviously. But, in your guys hunting areas, where do mature bucks (3+ and older) prefer to bed? Personally, i find as deer get older, they start to bed closer and closer to high human areas. I cant tell you how many times ive watched, bumped or trail-cammed mature deer bedding within 100 yards of houses, roads, pull-offs ect. I think that the high pressured deer in my area are more comfortable surveying human activity then bedding deep and getting walked up on. This changed during the rut though where it becomes more of a free for all. Discuss.
Following. I've yet to pinpoint exactly where the mature bucks are bedding in the areas I hunt because it's a lot more open than the neighbors (we have cattle). I know it's not on my property majority of the time so I can't go searching for it besides aerials unfortunately.
I should add that my area is a mixture of big woods (100+ acres) and fields. Small valleys and reeks/ponds throughout.
I hunt forest land and they pretty much bed where ever they want when there is not snow on the ground. Once the snow fly's they seem to hang close to areas of Spruce trees, or the Peat Moss portions of the land.
If I had a clue where the bedded I'm sure I would have a few more bucks hanging on my wall. I only had one buck that I knew where he bedded up most the year. Going along with what Siman said, as a young main frame 8, he was all over the place. The next couple years he moved closer to my house, in a 3 or 4 acre patch of some of the thickest stuff you could imagine. Found one side of him two years ago in it, in a small bedding area in the thick stuff. The following year he was a ghost until he met his fate to a National Grid truck, 40 yards from my house right outside what I figured was his bedding. Died as a 5.5 year old 10 with matching drop tines.
Where I hunt we have plenty of swamp and areas that were cut years ago so it now is a thick mess you cant even walk in. If I want to try and hunt edges of the bedroom areas I usually try to go to the thick areas and find a little opening on the edge to put a stand. Other than the thick stuff, I think mature deer like to bed on the edges of ridges as well. This way they can see what is coming and depending on wind they can smell anything approaching.
In hilly country I've found the bucks usually like to bed on points or near the tops of ridges. I don't often see or find big beds in low areas, although I do from time to time. Around home things are flatter and the patterns seem to not only be more difficult to pick up, but also vary from deer to deer. One thing that's generally consistent is that the mature bucks prefer to bed in areas where there aren't many other deer. Of course this doesn't apply during the summer when they're in big groups, but once the velvet comes off they seem to prefer solitude which IMO is what brings them to areas that we often overlook. Small pockets of timber in the middle of a field, next to a road, etc.
Bucks will bed where they have an advantage. Bedding close to human activity, which is often overlooked by hunters, can give them that advantage. And like you said, they can also monitor who comes and goes.
JZ's experience mirrors mine. Specifically in hilly country they like the top 1/3rd of the elevation change. I know that's been preached by the HB guys over and over but I've found it to be true. I also find them liking a crows foot, point, and then a flat ridge in that order of preference. I believe they like the crows foot so much because it allows them to move a very short distance and still have good wind when the wind changes direction. And they are almost exclusively single beds in areas that are not anywhere close to the resident core doe family groups. I have very little experience in flat country, but the above is what I've seen over and over in hill country in IL, NY, VT, and PA.
In my experience I've never been able to find buck bedding areas on a consistent basis. I do know where the does bed most of the time and I tend to concentrate on those areas, especially closer to the rut. I wish I could figure out where they bed because I think I could be more consistent in the early season. Blessings...........Pastorjim
What Matt and Justin said for the hill country. For flat swamp land I found that they like to bed on islands or thick tight timber or areas with a lot of dead fall.
In my experience there is nothing random with buck bedding. The guys commenting on hill country terrain are spot on in my experience about points. In swamps they'll bed off points or islands, generally if you can find areas where people seldom go and have terrain features to allow a buck to use their sense of smell, hearing and sight to protect them they'll bed. I've found beds in small swamp bowls, transition lines of vegetation, small elevation changes. Once you key in on them they become easier to understand.
I hunt large tracts of big timber public lands. Some of this has at one time or another been selectively cut and timbered in a pattern down the long ridges here and there like a patch work quilt. Bucks bury up in the over grown thick stuff out on the end of points or near saddles along the ridge. Find a saddle with a timber cut on both sides or a saddle just between two cuts and it's a deer highway.
There was a mature buck that used to bed right on the dam of our pond in some weeds. It was genius. There was no way anything could sneak up on him. He literally had a 360 view. When he was bedded all you could see was the tips of his antlers. Maybe a navy seal popping up out of the pond could have got a shot. The dam is 200 yds from our backdoor. He had an exit in every direction and even had cover from the above hanging branches.
not sure sometimes but this year I have pics of my hitlist buck going into a thicket and coming out of it regularly. and that's all I need to know at this point.
As said above about hilly places.... On a place I hunt in east Kentucky bucks tend to bed on points a lot. They will bed on the end of the point with the wind to where they can see anything coming up hill at them, and wind anything trying to sneak in behind them.
