Nice isolated thick area, but no beds???

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comeback_kid
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Nice isolated thick area, but no beds???

Unread postby comeback_kid » Tue Feb 20, 2018 2:13 pm

I was out scouting a new piece of public this AM and had a real hard time finding beds. The terrain was hilly and very thick, in a way I haven't seen before like where it was hard to see very far and everything looked the same. I walked the military crest and followed some trails but couldn't find one bed except for the one with lots of hair in it. There was so much hair I thought maybe a deer died there and maybe it was not a bed?

The reason I keyed in on this spot is that it is by far the hardest to access in the area and the area manager told me no one ever goes up there.

But it was so thick and the brush so continuous that even if a buck was bedded there he could not see very far at all downhill. I did find a mature buck track up there and a bunch of doe droppings, but hardly any buck poop. I wonder if this might not be a good spot b/c it's too far from the food?

I really thought I would see a lot more sign and I didn't. Very few rubs of any size. Still trying to figure the area out and why I had such trouble finding the beds ?


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Re: Nice isolated thick area, but no beds???

Unread postby tgreeno » Tue Feb 20, 2018 4:53 pm

Were you on the leeward side?

Possibly a high pressure area? Not secure enough?
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Re: Nice isolated thick area, but no beds???

Unread postby Lockdown » Tue Feb 20, 2018 5:43 pm

I've commented on other similar photos in the past, but to me that looks pretty open. Granted its a completely different part of the country and terrain than I hunt.
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Re: Nice isolated thick area, but no beds???

Unread postby comeback_kid » Wed Feb 21, 2018 4:58 am

Lockdown wrote:I've commented on other similar photos in the past, but to me that looks pretty open. Granted its a completely different part of the country and terrain than I hunt.


It may not look like it in the photos but the understory was pretty thick for this area. Typically open hardwoods might look like this around here:
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in the thick area the understory looked like this:

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Re: Nice isolated thick area, but no beds???

Unread postby comeback_kid » Wed Feb 21, 2018 5:04 am

tgreeno wrote:Were you on the leeward side?

Possibly a high pressure area? Not secure enough?


I can't say for sure about the pressure, but judging on how thick it was, I don't thick it gets hunted much. I targeted it for scouting b/c of how isolated it was. I did find a mature buck's tracks which was encouraging as a 4+ year old around here is pretty rare. So it was cool to cyber scout the area and then put boots on the ground and find sign of a mature buck right where I thought he might be. Now I just gotta find the beds which is easier said than done.

I was on the leeward side but possibly for the wrong prevailing wind for the area.

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Re: Nice isolated thick area, but no beds???

Unread postby creepingdeth » Wed Feb 21, 2018 10:25 am

If you have a little spare time, its worth a 2nd or 3rd trip. You sound like me...nothing like cyber scouting, going out, and finding what you are looking for...
Remember, sometimes we "think" a buck will have wind to back and a good view in front. Just read a singing Bridge post (old) on cedar swamps.and he related how a buck would circle around the edge to Jhook into the wind, step on the island, turn 180 deg. like normal, but have a view of only 20 yds. to watch his backtrail...a bucks nose is that good.
Even if the leeward isn't right for prevailing winds, its good for some kind of wind. I personally didn't plan well enough for last year by having good spots for prevailing and we got a week of Easterly winds...not very normal for here. Didn't have enough "good" spots for an East wind.
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Re: Nice isolated thick area, but no beds???

Unread postby harold » Sat Feb 24, 2018 1:48 pm

The sign won't lie. So either you are looking in the wrong spots or it plain doesn't exist. The area based on your photos looks pretty monotonous. Try to look for anything that is different: steep hill, downed tree, etc. I'd also walk the edges of the thick area(s). If you still aren't finding anything after a second scout I'd write it off. Just because it is remote and not hunted doesn't mean it is good.
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Re: Nice isolated thick area, but no beds???

Unread postby perchsoup » Sat Mar 03, 2018 4:09 am

One of my challenges as I am learning is I often try to find "the spot" in each area I scout. Even if it looks like it should be good but there's no sign of it actually being good, I need to get better at moving on.
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Re: Nice isolated thick area, but no beds???

Unread postby tgreeno » Sat Mar 03, 2018 4:29 am

perchsoup wrote:One of my challenges as I am learning is I often try to find "the spot" in each area I scout. Even if it looks like it should be good but there's no sign of it actually being good, I need to get better at moving on.


Great insight! You're hunting mature bucks...not particular spots!

My light bulb went on a couple years ago. I used to always say, "This looks like a good spot". The sign should tell you if it's a good spot or not! Without buck sign, I move-on.
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Re: Nice isolated thick area, but no beds???

Unread postby backstrap19 » Mon Apr 16, 2018 1:57 pm

I try to scout only isolated thick patches. They are not all created equal. Some of them just don't have enough other things going on to be worth the usage. In order to most efficiently scout these patches, I try to map out the edges of it via cyber scouting if possible. then I lay myself down a track that I can follow on my phone or gps, and i walk the perimeter of the thick cover. If it is getting used, you'll see heavy trails going in and out, and some rubs on the edges. Tracks and scat are also helpful in these locations. If you aren't seeing much of this evidence on the edges, move on. I have a specific spot that I go back and scout every few years because I just can't believe it isn't better than it is. It seems so perfect to me, but for some reason, it gets little use. I leave disappointed everytime. ha. to make a long story short, map out and walk the entire perimeter and decide after that if it's worth more of your time.
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Re: Nice isolated thick area, but no beds???

Unread postby d_rek » Tue Apr 17, 2018 1:44 am

I too fall into the trap of thinking that just because it's thick that means deer must bed there... as others mentioned you have to look at what's going on around the thick stuff too. Is there food? Water? And if the sign isn't there the sign isn't there so you gotta move on.

Your picture reminds me of a riverbank I scouted last season. I was so excited because the open hardwoods began to break up on the floor with thick understudy. I followed a good deer trail straight through that nasty stuff without finding any other sign. Once on the other side it opened back up into mature timber - but then a few hundred yards away was a REAL bedding area - marshy with some isolated mast and bumps (turns out it was actually good doe bedding). But I had to upload all of my GPS pins and look at topo maps again to really understand what was happening in that area.

I have noticed that low understudy beneath mature canopy - like in your pictures - is usually only a transition area and not bedding. I find heavy trails in the thick understudy like you're showing in your pictures but very little bedding.
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Re: Nice isolated thick area, but no beds???

Unread postby d_rek » Tue Apr 17, 2018 2:02 am

comeback_kid wrote:
Lockdown wrote:I've commented on other similar photos in the past, but to me that looks pretty open. Granted its a completely different part of the country and terrain than I hunt.


It may not look like it in the photos but the understory was pretty thick for this area. Typically open hardwoods might look like this around here:
Image


in the thick area the understory looked like this:

Image


I looked at your pictures a little more closely. Very similar to areas i've scouted and hunted.

Your first picture I wouldn't put much stock in unless there is food or bedding adjacent to that. In my experience deer don't necessarily bed in saplings unless on the edge of some other terrain feature.

The bottom looks like bramble/nettle understudy. It will be thick early season but will quickly lose any qualities that make it preferred bedding for deer as the season goes on. You may find deer bed on the edge of that stuff or inside a small cove tucked into that stuff in the early season but after the foliage drops they won't spend much or any time in there. Especially if there isn't any other reason for them to be there (food, water, etc.).
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Re: Nice isolated thick area, but no beds???

Unread postby dan » Tue Apr 17, 2018 2:17 am

Couple of things.... Someone above said "the sign don't lie" and that is absolutely true. Along with another response "You need to know when to move on"

However, it makes me wonder how good you are at seeing the sign, and what your deer density is? Have you walked other hilly areas on leeward sides and found beds? do you know what your looking for? Don't take that as an insult, in some areas, especially dry land areas like hill country it can be hard to see beds, especially if its rolling and has low density.

It might be worth a closer look... But either the bucks are there, or there not. Based on the land managers recommendation, I would say they are probably there somewhere, and your missing it. Is there swamp ground nearby? or is it all hilly? I can say I have places that have great bedding but its real hard to find the actual beds... But there is usually some sign. All bucks rub. There should be rubs somewhere if there are bucks.
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Re: Nice isolated thick area, but no beds???

Unread postby mspaci » Tue Apr 17, 2018 3:10 am

what direction wind is the spot for. I have spots here that I wait for easterly winds blowing over the top. Not much sign but they are there when the wind is right. Could be an off wind spot. Mike
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Re: Nice isolated thick area, but no beds???

Unread postby <DK> » Tue Apr 17, 2018 5:09 am

Your last pic looks real good. Some areas can be tough to pin point exact locations. I agree w others, re visit the area once more. Personally, I would check it pre/early season once everything is green it will be even thicker. Could just be a good deer bedding area.

Concentrate on the track! One single track in the hills can be golden. Pull up the map and figure out which way he could have come from and which way he was going. Reference the weather leading up to when you found it and try pin point WHEN it was made. Get the wind direction, take some guesses and dive back in


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