Just wondering how you guys go about finding deer's bedding areas and not scaring them out of it when scouting? Seems like whenever I come across an area that looks like a bedding area I freeze in my tracks thinking I'm leaving scent.
Well if its not during the rut, late in the am. they are heading to the bedding area. And in the pm hunt they are coming from the bedding area. It makes them easier to find it like this.
During season stay as far away from thier beds as possible if you can. In the off season you can scout it but try to stay as far as you can away from it. If you wanna locate the bedding area get next to a well beaten trail and follow it once you start seeing grass laying down or leaves cleaned out you know thats the area. I liekt o locate the bedding areas around mid afternoon and once I find them I back out and plan according to the deer movement from that bedding area but again I stay as far away as I can you want them to have a safe haven so they stay in your area
I like to locate bedding areas in March while shed hunting. This may change a little with crops in the fall but basically to just have to find out which bedding areas they are using at that time
Ok so in the morning their heading into their bedding area and in the evening their heading out of it. That kind of throws my theory of where I think their bedding out the window. Or we're scaring them out of their bedding area in the mornings. This is a 50 acre area in Clewiston FL that at times 4 of us are hunting it at the same time. It has bucks and does but we're still trying to figure out their patterns. Cameras show morning, nights and some afternoon moving through and eating from our feeders. I'd show some photos but I'm still getting "Picture Waiting Moderator Approval" on my uploaded pics.
I always end up stumbling on the beds before I realize I've done so. I'm usually so intent on following the trail that I miss the bedding area. I've only ever found deer in their bedding area once when I've scouted. It was a briar thicket and it was so thick that I didn't even realize they were there till I got about 20-yards away and they got spooked. I need to get back out in the woods this weekend and see if I can't do a little bit better.
I have a very hard time staying away from bedding areas on my property. They are every where. I have 4 old cow pastures that are grwon up. We have a singlle wide we live in now and are moving into our house this week. The single wide has a huge bedding area 30yd from the front door and another one 60yd or so from the side. The house has another bedding area that is 50yd from it. I have to pass by any of them to get to any of my stands. I do however stay out of them. I never walk in one every. There also a couple buck bedding areas in the woods on my property. Deer travel down my driveway almost every night. I wouldn't have it any other way either. I just take precautions to stay out of these areas.
Sound like a great home area sticksnstringarchery. So when you see grass laying over in a nice hidden area it's probably a bedding area? I don't see scat all around the area but I guess you wouldn't.
To compound matters, what happens when your property seems to have beds everywhere? A lot of deer seem to just lay down about anywhere they feel like it. I've hunted stands that had a deer occasionally lay down around to having 8-10 deer bedded down with sight.
Yes it is. I have been extremely blessed to have it. The first good bedding spot I saw this year after everything had greened up again was when I went to move a stand. I set one up post season to try to take some photo's of deer with a zoom linse. I never got a chance between school and life but, when I went to move it to a trail I found, there it was at the bottom of the ladder. It was in an oval shape about 15'x20'. It looked like there had been six or eight beds there all in one spot. One of which was right up against my ladder. Next year during post season I will set it up again and make sure I go out and shoot theh with the shutter. I attached a map of my 30 acres that butts up to our families other combined 160-170 acres. The red outline is my 30 and that is where I will primarily hunt this year. I will strart scouting and hunt more of it next year. The yellow is the bedding areas in front of, beside and my neighbors land is the bedding behind us. The blue is soy beans this year. Just thought I would share why it is so hard for me to stay away from them. lol
It all depends on if you have to go through it to get to your stand. I have a bedding area that my stand is on the edge. If you can slide in on the edge undetected you are good as gold. I try to stay out of them until shed season and then I am all up in the bedding areas due to most of my sheds coming from bedding areas!
I enjoy it. lol I actually debated bush hogging the one to the south of the single wide. What was I thinking? I didn't do it. I really am thankful. I have thanked God more than once for giving me this opportunity. I do stay out of them year round though. I just can't bring my self to disturbing what I consider "sacred" ground. To me it is the only sure fire way of keeping my scent out.
Don't forget the use of aerials, the more you look at them and step foot on properties using the maps the more you will be able to detect most major bedding areas in the future just from looking at maps and knowing what gets planted for crops each fall in the area fields, which that can change alittle each season.
Me & a mate were out hunting last year in Tasmania. we ended up sitting in the bedding area with our back up against a tree each. we sat there for about a hour & 3 does walked in & almost trod on my legs as they wer streched out. I mean they were no more than 4 foot from me !! the down side was if ether one of us made even a twitch they would have ran off. so there was no drawing the bow, but man just seeing them so close with them not having a idear you are there is just as amazing if not more than killing one of them
