Fall Bed Camera- 7-8 year old public land buck

Discuss the science of figuring out our prey through good detective work.
  • Advertisement

HB Store


User avatar
pewpewpew
Posts: 267
Joined: Sun Jan 08, 2017 4:39 am
Status: Offline

Re: Fall Bed Camera- 7-8 year old public land buck

Unread postby pewpewpew » Sat Dec 23, 2017 9:42 am

brancher147 wrote:
Scoutking07 wrote:
pewpewpew wrote:Thank you for sharing. I’ve set up cameras on beds for less time and had similar results.

I think big woods or wind based bedding is a whole other animal than woodlot or sanctuary bedding. I’ve found some beds that have really got me excited in hill country. Looking back 95% of them are probably barely used. I think the only time I’d hunt a specific bed is if I had data like you do, or the bed was loaded with huge fresh turds.


You are spot on. Hunting and even scouting bedding in the big woods can leave a guy feeling like he is hunting ghosts. I think if there is one thing that this bed camera proved to me, its that a big woods buck is truly an opportunist. Unlike the farm country woodlot bucks, these older bucks have no real pattern or habits other than to use the terrain and wind each day to survive. I think your guess of 95% barley used is probably pretty accurate. The bed is only going to get used if the wind is perfect, if there is a desirable food source nearby, and there has been no disturbances near the location. I have scouted some awesome beds in the bigwoods over the past 5 years and I get so excited to hunt them only to find that there are acorns dropping a mile away and the area is cold as ice. The big woods is a challenge, but thats what makes it so magical when you finally connect!


This has been the exact thing I have found, and why I do not do any specific buck bed hunting in the big woods. I have put cameras on buck beds and they are definitely empty at least 95% of the time. I now focus on general buck bedding areas and hunt the closest terrain feature or pinch point with the wind in my favor. Or hunt doe bedding areas during the rut, which are actually used consistently. Thanks for sharing the pics.


Brancher, when you you hunt the wind in your favor, are you ever hunting leeward ridges?


User avatar
brancher147
500 Club
Posts: 1414
Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2017 3:46 am
Location: West Virginia
Status: Offline

Re: Fall Bed Camera- 7-8 year old public land buck

Unread postby brancher147 » Sun Dec 24, 2017 12:58 am

pewpewpew wrote:
brancher147 wrote:
Scoutking07 wrote:
pewpewpew wrote:Thank you for sharing. I’ve set up cameras on beds for less time and had similar results.

I think big woods or wind based bedding is a whole other animal than woodlot or sanctuary bedding. I’ve found some beds that have really got me excited in hill country. Looking back 95% of them are probably barely used. I think the only time I’d hunt a specific bed is if I had data like you do, or the bed was loaded with huge fresh turds.


You are spot on. Hunting and even scouting bedding in the big woods can leave a guy feeling like he is hunting ghosts. I think if there is one thing that this bed camera proved to me, its that a big woods buck is truly an opportunist. Unlike the farm country woodlot bucks, these older bucks have no real pattern or habits other than to use the terrain and wind each day to survive. I think your guess of 95% barley used is probably pretty accurate. The bed is only going to get used if the wind is perfect, if there is a desirable food source nearby, and there has been no disturbances near the location. I have scouted some awesome beds in the bigwoods over the past 5 years and I get so excited to hunt them only to find that there are acorns dropping a mile away and the area is cold as ice. The big woods is a challenge, but thats what makes it so magical when you finally connect!


This has been the exact thing I have found, and why I do not do any specific buck bed hunting in the big woods. I have put cameras on buck beds and they are definitely empty at least 95% of the time. I now focus on general buck bedding areas and hunt the closest terrain feature or pinch point with the wind in my favor. Or hunt doe bedding areas during the rut, which are actually used consistently. Thanks for sharing the pics.


Brancher, when you you hunt the wind in your favor, are you ever hunting leeward ridges?


I like to hunt leeward ridges in the morning and it will typically be the top of an east facing ridge looking down the top 1/3 of the east side on a sunny day (rising thermals) with a west wind. This is the only scenario I have ever seen a thermal tunnel or increased activity on a leeward ridge. Where I hunt the west (or NW) sides of ridges, they are so steep that they don't get sun and rising thermals until mid afternoon or lunch time and then thermals switch and wind dies at sunset, plus we never get an east wind. If I hunt the west side I will hunt it windward in the morning above the deer, or with falling thermals in the evening below the deer. In some of these really steep sits above the deer I sit on the ground, and the last couple years I have had more success from the ground than a tree in these scenarios. If below the deer I like to be in a tree. Most of my success comes from morning hunts, as I find the evening hunts way more tricky in this terrain. Although the 2 bucks I killed this year were evening sits, but the real mature bucks I had chances at were morning or midday.
Some do. Some don't. I just might...
User avatar
brancher147
500 Club
Posts: 1414
Joined: Wed Aug 16, 2017 3:46 am
Location: West Virginia
Status: Offline

Re: Fall Bed Camera- 7-8 year old public land buck

Unread postby brancher147 » Sun Dec 24, 2017 1:40 am

Scoutking07 wrote:
brancher147 wrote:
Scoutking07 wrote:
pewpewpew wrote:Thank you for sharing. I’ve set up cameras on beds for less time and had similar results.

I think big woods or wind based bedding is a whole other animal than woodlot or sanctuary bedding. I’ve found some beds that have really got me excited in hill country. Looking back 95% of them are probably barely used. I think the only time I’d hunt a specific bed is if I had data like you do, or the bed was loaded with huge fresh turds.


You are spot on. Hunting and even scouting bedding in the big woods can leave a guy feeling like he is hunting ghosts. I think if there is one thing that this bed camera proved to me, its that a big woods buck is truly an opportunist. Unlike the farm country woodlot bucks, these older bucks have no real pattern or habits other than to use the terrain and wind each day to survive. I think your guess of 95% barley used is probably pretty accurate. The bed is only going to get used if the wind is perfect, if there is a desirable food source nearby, and there has been no disturbances near the location. I have scouted some awesome beds in the bigwoods over the past 5 years and I get so excited to hunt them only to find that there are acorns dropping a mile away and the area is cold as ice. The big woods is a challenge, but thats what makes it so magical when you finally connect!


This has been the exact thing I have found, and why I do not do any specific buck bed hunting in the big woods. I have put cameras on buck beds and they are definitely empty at least 95% of the time. I now focus on general buck bedding areas and hunt the closest terrain feature or pinch point with the wind in my favor. Or hunt doe bedding areas during the rut, which are actually used consistently. Thanks for sharing the pics.


I agree with your idea of hunting general terrain features over beds. I still like to find beds and figure out the most secure bedding areas as you mentioned. I found a bedding area this past spring as I followed a very nice rub line through a pinch point where marsh meets cedar swamp. The rubs all funneld into this small thick area, perfect ambush spot. The trails then hit a small high point leading out into a 5-6 year old cut with some steep ridges running through it. I know the bucks are bedding in or on the edges of the cut but there are so many options as to where they can sit depending on wind I think it would be a low odds crap shoot. I hung a camera right at the tip of the highland point as it drops into the thick marsh edge and I got a ton of early season action from the big 10 I was after. Hopefully I can also use this knowledge to get on him this upcoming season. Here are a few photos from that spot showing him entering the bedding (bedding is to the right) and exiting from different angles.
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image


Looks like some good intel. That's a great buck. Hopefully you can catch up with him next year.

I didn't find any buck beds or bedding areas to hang cams on this year, as I did not have access to where bucks were over the summer, and we had a bumper crop of acorns in the mountains this fall and bucks were constantly moving around. I did hang a couple in doe bedding areas and had some good bucks during the rut.

Actually I did find a couple good bucks this summer, but never found the bedding, and never hunted them as they disappeared once they shed velvet. They were a few miles in on public and there were no real good food sources or terrain funnels to catch them on. I hope to gain some more info for next year.
Image
Some do. Some don't. I just might...
User avatar
Tim H
500 Club
Posts: 2811
Joined: Fri Dec 22, 2017 3:37 am
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090396597022
Location: Wisconsin
Status: Offline

Re: Fall Bed Camera- 7-8 year old public land buck

Unread postby Tim H » Thu Jan 04, 2018 2:39 am

Those are some awesome photos! Gives me the idea of giving that a try where I hunt! Also that buck looks really similar to a buck I chased for a couple of seasons, but quit hunting that area. Awesome post and thanks for sharing!
User avatar
Killtree
Posts: 353
Joined: Tue Oct 03, 2017 12:24 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Fall Bed Camera- 7-8 year old public land buck

Unread postby Killtree » Thu Jan 11, 2018 2:36 am

Good stuff in this thread. Awesome Intel that others can learn from.
:violence-bowandarrow:


  • Advertisement

Return to “Scouting”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 39 guests