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

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

Unread postby Dewey » Mon Dec 18, 2017 7:42 pm

Nothing is cooler than a bed cam. Awesome. 8-)

I like how he is out cold in a few pics. :lol:

Just goes to show you why we get skunked so much on buck beds. They may only use them for a few days a year and only during specific winds. More often than not nobody is home when you hunt them unless you have that pattern figured out and even then it’s not easy.


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

Unread postby pewpewpew » Tue Dec 19, 2017 12:23 am

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

Unread postby Scoutking07 » Tue Dec 19, 2017 5:21 am

Here is a aerial image of the general set up. I added a few topo lines just to help show the layout of the land. The bed is marked in red. Top is north, bottom south etc...

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

Unread postby RDubs44 » Wed Dec 20, 2017 5:50 am

haha the sleeping photos are great... :D
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Re: Fall Bed Camera- 7-8 year old public land buck

Unread postby rutjunkie » Wed Dec 20, 2017 10:38 am

Great intel scoutking. Seen somewhere where they put a peice of flagging tape in picture frame, so u can see in pic wind direction. Now I would use some yarn or something not as noticeable to draw attention to your camera site.
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Re: Fall Bed Camera- 7-8 year old public land buck

Unread postby Scoutking07 » Wed Dec 20, 2017 12:29 pm

rutjunkie wrote:Great intel scoutking. Seen somewhere where they put a peice of flagging tape in picture frame, so u can see in pic wind direction. Now I would use some yarn or something not as noticeable to draw attention to your camera site.

That’s a really great idea. I remember reading that somewhere also. Wish I would have remembered that when I hung the cam haha.
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Re: Fall Bed Camera- 7-8 year old public land buck

Unread postby rfickes87 » Wed Dec 20, 2017 2:21 pm

Scoutking07 wrote:
rutjunkie wrote:Great intel scoutking. Seen somewhere where they put a peice of flagging tape in picture frame, so u can see in pic wind direction. Now I would use some yarn or something not as noticeable to draw attention to your camera site.

That’s a really great idea. I remember reading that somewhere also. Wish I would have remembered that when I hung the cam haha.


I did this same thing with a bed of a buck of the same age class. Using weather underground just as you did I noticed he would only use a perfect leeward wind to bed down. For my buck he needed a SW wind. 5 out of 6 SW winds he was on camera in the bed. Not always laying down, but just passing thru or laying down. Its amazing what you can learn by doing this correctly. I could do it a lot more often if I had a wireless camera AND cell service in the areas i hunt. Unfortunately i dont so I let the cams soak for months at a time.
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Re: Fall Bed Camera- 7-8 year old public land buck

Unread postby cameron » Wed Dec 20, 2017 2:52 pm

Scoutking07 wrote:Here is a aerial image of the general set up. I added a few topo lines just to help show the layout of the land. The bed is marked in red. Top is north, bottom south etc...

Image


Awesome man, thanks for posting the pic!
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Re: Fall Bed Camera- 7-8 year old public land buck

Unread postby Scoutking07 » Thu Dec 21, 2017 5:10 am

rfickes87 wrote:
Scoutking07 wrote:
rutjunkie wrote:Great intel scoutking. Seen somewhere where they put a peice of flagging tape in picture frame, so u can see in pic wind direction. Now I would use some yarn or something not as noticeable to draw attention to your camera site.

That’s a really great idea. I remember reading that somewhere also. Wish I would have remembered that when I hung the cam haha.


I did this same thing with a bed of a buck of the same age class. Using weather underground just as you did I noticed he would only use a perfect leeward wind to bed down. For my buck he needed a SW wind. 5 out of 6 SW winds he was on camera in the bed. Not always laying down, but just passing thru or laying down. Its amazing what you can learn by doing this correctly. I could do it a lot more often if I had a wireless camera AND cell service in the areas i hunt. Unfortunately i dont so I let the cams soak for months at a time.


It really was a great learning opportunity. I knew that I would not be able to hunt this area due to some time constraints this fall so it was the perfect opportunity to set the cam and leave it. Even if this same buck is no longer around, its a safe bet that under similar conditions another bigwoods monarch will be showing up.

rfickes87, were you able to hunt your spot at all after collecting your intel?
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Re: Fall Bed Camera- 7-8 year old public land buck

Unread postby Scoutking07 » Thu Dec 21, 2017 5:18 am

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

Unread postby pewpewpew » Thu Dec 21, 2017 6:38 am

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!



Where do you from here? How will you use this next season? Will you focus on beds, cover, food, funnels?
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Re: Fall Bed Camera- 7-8 year old public land buck

Unread postby SMS79 » Thu Dec 21, 2017 6:42 am

Scoutking07 wrote:
rutjunkie wrote:Great intel scoutking. Seen somewhere where they put a peice of flagging tape in picture frame, so u can see in pic wind direction. Now I would use some yarn or something not as noticeable to draw attention to your camera site.

That’s a really great idea. I remember reading that somewhere also. Wish I would have remembered that when I hung the cam haha.

X2! One thought to add...a small feather on piece of thread would work the same and be almost impossible to spot by a chance passerby.
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Re: Fall Bed Camera- 7-8 year old public land buck

Unread postby rfickes87 » Thu Dec 21, 2017 9:34 am

Scoutking07 wrote:
rfickes87 wrote:
Scoutking07 wrote:
rutjunkie wrote:Great intel scoutking. Seen somewhere where they put a peice of flagging tape in picture frame, so u can see in pic wind direction. Now I would use some yarn or something not as noticeable to draw attention to your camera site.

That’s a really great idea. I remember reading that somewhere also. Wish I would have remembered that when I hung the cam haha.


I did this same thing with a bed of a buck of the same age class. Using weather underground just as you did I noticed he would only use a perfect leeward wind to bed down. For my buck he needed a SW wind. 5 out of 6 SW winds he was on camera in the bed. Not always laying down, but just passing thru or laying down. Its amazing what you can learn by doing this correctly. I could do it a lot more often if I had a wireless camera AND cell service in the areas i hunt. Unfortunately i dont so I let the cams soak for months at a time.


It really was a great learning opportunity. I knew that I would not be able to hunt this area due to some time constraints this fall so it was the perfect opportunity to set the cam and leave it. Even if this same buck is no longer around, its a safe bet that under similar conditions another bigwoods monarch will be showing up.

rfickes87, were you able to hunt your spot at all after collecting your intel?


Well last year, he was bedded along an overgrown brier field on SW winds. Weeds, briers that were above my head and very difficult and painful to walk thru! He had such good back cover. When hunting season came around I went in and had unfortunately found that a tractor had come thru and mowed it all down. My guess was the game commission wanted to clear some of that field out for rabbit hunters. So obviously he shifted his bed somewhere else.

However this year the field didn't get mowed and actually grew quite high again. I scouted it back in early Sept and found hair in the bed again so i hung a camera. If its him this will be the 3rd year in a row he used it. I think he would be 5.5 years old. I haven't been back to check the camera yet. I posted 2016 pictures of him in a thread on here. Ill try to find it for you...
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Re: Fall Bed Camera- 7-8 year old public land buck

Unread postby brancher147 » Fri Dec 22, 2017 12:04 pm

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

Unread postby Scoutking07 » Sat Dec 23, 2017 9:19 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.


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.
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