In your experience, do the mature bucks you hunt (in your woods) tend to bed in the same spot every day? If so, do they literally bed in the same bed, or just the same vicinity? If not, do they tend to have 2-3 spots they tend to bed in? Do the mature bucks you tend to hunt have one primary food source, or several? How far do the mature bucks you hunt tend to travel to get to food sources? Also, I'd like to know the type of terrain you tend to hunt, i.e. agricultural areas, mountains, etc.....how big are the unbroken tracts of timber.
Great questions!! I like these type's of threads. No. The buck last year that I was hunting bedded In that I know of 3 different spots. I'm sure there was more spots but I know of 3 for sure. To me their bedding spots change with food sources changing through out the year/season. A few I believe. As crops mature and get taking out their patterns and food sources change. I honestly don't know for sure but I'm thinking their going a mile or so In my area. I know of 2 other hunters that run trail cams with In 1 to 2 miles of me and never have we gotten the same bucks on our trail cams yet which kind of surprises me. All ag land. Small tracts of land. Some spots around me have 100 or so acres of woods but mostly It's 40 acres or so and smaller.
I think they normally have a few different bedding areas within the core area. My feelings on feeding: I think the deer do somewhat of a rotation on food sources. I think it is mother natures way of not allowing certain food sources to get "overgrazed". The distance of travel seems to be fairly short during warmer months and can increase greatly as harsh winter weather sets in. Ofcourse the food options become quite limited then also and they become a little more predictable. I have seen deer travel well over a mile to feed when times are tough. I am hunting rolling agricultural land with a good mix of crops and timber. Largest tract of timber is probably about 300 acres.
I have no "my" woods since I'm always on the move.. so keep that in mind as I attempt an answer suitable per question. 1. Depends on the buck. A very few do tend to bed in the exact bed it seems.. others are more nomadic it seems. Personality dictates much of what a buck tends to do. 2. NO deer have primary food sources.. they browse.. they tend not to leave for great distances within daylight.. but may travel quite extensively at night. 3. Type of terrain I hunt in no particular order.. marshland.. agricultural.. coulee country.. flatlands.. crp.. etc etc etc. I'm sure none of this helped you RJ.. but the questions were kinda general.
I've seen both. Now that I'm hunting hilly country, the bucks seem to have several bedding areas where the wind will suit them best. It seems that all deer rotate food sources almost in a 4-7 day cycle. Well, in line with the rotating food source theory, they travel as far as they need to in order to get where they want to feed. It could be 100 yards or less or it could be 1/2 mile or more. I'm hunting hilly terrain now. There are some ag fields mainly in the lower areas. The tract of timber I'm hunting in is 4 miles by 1 1/2 miles with no roads through it.
Interesting observation Greg. I've had limited time hunting real "agricultural" areas, it seems that the bucks I hunt in larger stands of timber (1000+ acres to dozens of square miles) never bed in the same area every day. I've seen does do it, but never bucks.
Great questions. I like to compare deer to people sometimes and think of it like this. When you were young you hung up with your mom then went off to school or on your own, made some stupid mistakes and learned things the hard way= Young 1.5-2.5 year old deer As you got older you became more aggressive, got in fights probably, argued, and certainly kept a close eye on the ladies. Maybe even punched someone over a lady. You slept on friends couches, stayed up late, and were a rebel.=3.5 year old buck. As you grow older you become wiser, and realize fighting isn't always the answer, you don't make the same mistakes as you used to. You go to bed earlier, you tend to sleep only where you feel the most comfortable but you still have a wild side.=4.5 year old buck You are now getting very old, you don't get out of the house much, you don't travel too far just enough to see family and friends, you don't compete much for the ladies, and you just don't have that same urge and testosterone anymore. You are an old man and you want nothing more than to relax.=5.5 year old buck or older This may not answer your question but in all honesty from looking at the fighting 3.5 year olds, to the 5.5 year old grandfathers I see a lot of the same traits as I see in humans. It sounds pretty odd but if I'm chasing a 6.5 year old deer I'm not waiting on the rut to kill him because he probably doesn't have any deer viagra around. Studies show most of the younger deer do most of the breeding. Also think about your grandparents or old people. At least mine don't like leaving their house (core area) they are in a routine, and enjoy doing it. Anything to throw them off gets them angry. My grandparents hate any sort of change. Deer will change bedding areas based on food and water but I feel once they find a spot they like they really don't want to move.
For us, the deer usually have a core area in which they spend most of thier time, especially early in the season. The bucks adjust thier bedding spots to what is most suitable for the conditions wether that be wind, food, or other influences to include pressure. They typically bed within a quarter mile of thier main food source, but never usually too close. They seem to like that 200-300 yard or so cushion. Right now I have a hit list buck that is bedding about 100-200 yards off of a oak flat where the acorns have been falling and about 350-400 yards off of the only bean field in the area.
