Bedding can change drastically

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Lockdown
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Bedding can change drastically

Unread postby Lockdown » Mon Apr 26, 2021 5:24 pm

On my way home from scouting today, I was thinking about the property I was on and how things have changed over the years. When I first scouted it, there was an outside corner (think bedding point) that was full of nice rubs and big beds. I couldn’t wait to hunt it. That next fall I bumped one of my target bucks from under my kill tree. But other than that, the following years most hunts were slow. I last hunted that bedding in 2018.

I noticed sign had dropped off, but I was so high on that spot I just couldn’t believe it wasn’t worth hunting. Since 2018 sign has gotten worse. I went through that bedding today and the historical rubs are all there yet. But there was only one new rub and beds are probably 1/5th what they were in 2014.

What changed? Pressure? Yeah there’s definitely more pressure there now. But this bedding has good escape and it’s pretty remote. Why did they leave? :think: maybe a particularly aggressive mature buck spent a few seasons there, he died, and nobody filled the void? :think:

In the big scheme of things, the “why” doesn’t change my course of action. I’m not going to hunt it anymore unless something moves in. But the fact that it used to be drool worthy and now it totally sucks is pretty eye opening.

I can think of several bedding areas that are similar. I can also think of bedding where the opposite has happened. Bedding constantly changes and evolves, and what is good today might not be tomorrow.

The bedding I killed my 2019 buck out of was on fire that year. Last fall I observed it 3 times and never even saw a doe exit. I scouted it and it didn’t look good at all. When I joined the Beast I was expecting to see a lot more consistency when it came to bedding.

DEER bedding is pretty consistent. Big buck bedding can be tricky.

Thoughts? Experiences?


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Re: Bedding can change drastically

Unread postby dan » Mon Apr 26, 2021 9:35 pm

Lockdown wrote:On my way home from scouting today, I was thinking about the property I was on and how things have changed over the years. When I first scouted it, there was an outside corner (think bedding point) that was full of nice rubs and big beds. I couldn’t wait to hunt it. That next fall I bumped one of my target bucks from under my kill tree. But other than that, the following years most hunts were slow. I last hunted that bedding in 2018.

I noticed sign had dropped off, but I was so high on that spot I just couldn’t believe it wasn’t worth hunting. Since 2018 sign has gotten worse. I went through that bedding today and the historical rubs are all there yet. But there was only one new rub and beds are probably 1/5th what they were in 2014.

What changed? Pressure? Yeah there’s definitely more pressure there now. But this bedding has good escape and it’s pretty remote. Why did they leave? :think: maybe a particularly aggressive mature buck spent a few seasons there, he died, and nobody filled the void? :think:

In the big scheme of things, the “why” doesn’t change my course of action. I’m not going to hunt it anymore unless something moves in. But the fact that it used to be drool worthy and now it totally sucks is pretty eye opening.

I can think of several bedding areas that are similar. I can also think of bedding where the opposite has happened. Bedding constantly changes and evolves, and what is good today might not be tomorrow.

The bedding I killed my 2019 buck out of was on fire that year. Last fall I observed it 3 times and never even saw a doe exit. I scouted it and it didn’t look good at all. When I joined the Beast I was expecting to see a lot more consistency when it came to bedding.

DEER bedding is pretty consistent. Big buck bedding can be tricky.

Thoughts? Experiences?

Good post... I have seen this too, generally its contributed to added pressure, it dont take much. I lIKE TO MONITER THOSE SPOTS AND IN THE FUTURE THEY OFTEN COME BACK TO LIFE. I can think of a few great spots that turn on and off over the years, and its certainly pressure related. I can think of other spots that turn on and off based on water levels, both because of dryness, and because of wet... I can also think of many spots that are only hot when a certain food source is abundant. Scouting constantly, having a back up plan, and no having all your eggs in one basket is a good thing... I might also note, that it only takes hunting these spots 3 or 4 times in a season to over hunt them and burn them out... I prefer only hunting my best spots once or twice a season. Every time you hunt or scout a spot you do damage, and work on the resident bucks mind as to the safety of his bedroom...
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Re: Bedding can change drastically

Unread postby Moose » Mon Apr 26, 2021 11:33 pm

This is something I have to keep reminding myself of. I could be the cause of the added pressure and not someone else how I like to think it is.
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Re: Bedding can change drastically

Unread postby dan » Tue Apr 27, 2021 12:05 am

Moose wrote:This is something I have to keep reminding myself of. I could be the cause of the added pressure and not someone else how I like to think it is.

correct... I see that a lot when scouting for other people. they will say things like "there is 0 pressure" and they never consider how much tjey add
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Re: Bedding can change drastically

Unread postby Lockdown » Tue Apr 27, 2021 1:02 am

dan wrote:
Moose wrote:This is something I have to keep reminding myself of. I could be the cause of the added pressure and not someone else how I like to think it is.

correct... I see that a lot when scouting for other people. they will say things like "there is 0 pressure" and they never consider how much tjey add


I can think of quite a few bedding areas that looked good when I first scouted them. I’d hunt it that fall (back when I used to cycle through bedding rather than use hot sign) and typically not see much. Then the following spring sign would be lacking. I always wondered if that little amount of pressure from myself is what caused them to move on :think:

One bedding area in particular, Tyler (Tcjohnsonjacks) hunted it blind opening weekend of 2014 and had an incredible hunt. We’d never been there before, as we joined the Beast that summer and hadn’t spring scouted anything. He jumped a stud 140ish ten that was laying in the grass not even in the cover, then had a nice two year old and shooter three year old come off an island. He tried to kill the 3 yr old but the 2 saw him draw and they busted. Ground hunt.

I scouted that area extensively the next spring and several springs to follow. Sign on the island has never looked the same, and the bucks being there is hit and miss. It used to have a beautiful buck bed on it. I don’t spend a ton of time there anymore, but I’ve yet to see another buck leave that island. But at times they are nearby. :think:
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Re: Bedding can change drastically

Unread postby sagDE » Tue Apr 27, 2021 2:08 am

I have seen that with some bedding too, I have also seen them change travel patterns due to pressure. It is definitely hard to remember that I am the pressure!
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Re: Bedding can change drastically

Unread postby BRoth82 » Tue Apr 27, 2021 12:59 pm

This is a great reminder to newer members that are just learning to hunt bedding. I'm still working on when to hunt an area and the pressure that it puts on that spot just scouting it.
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Re: Bedding can change drastically

Unread postby headgear » Wed Apr 28, 2021 4:13 am

I think over years the bucks kind of sense there is a "beast" is around and adapt. I have had bucks move from the back of a property up to the entrance, best spots have gone cold from repeated hunts/scouting. I think the deer have more options than we know and like to move around a little too, a moving target is harder to find. However if they find a great new spot with zero human scent in it and us beasts have been pressuring spots for years I think their scent based brains say hey nobody is hunting over here now I might as well move and bed there.
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Re: Bedding can change drastically

Unread postby Lockdown » Wed Apr 28, 2021 1:56 pm

headgear wrote:I think over years the bucks kind of sense there is a "beast" is around and adapt. I have had bucks move from the back of a property up to the entrance, best spots have gone cold from repeated hunts/scouting. I think the deer have more options than we know and like to move around a little too, a moving target is harder to find. However if they find a great new spot with zero human scent in it and us beasts have been pressuring spots for years I think their scent based brains say hey nobody is hunting over here now I might as well move and bed there.


I completely agree with this. Especially the “deer have more bedding areas than we know” comment. That’s why I like to know where all the bedding is on a property, then use hot sign or observations to figure them out.

If it’s a really good bedding area, I might have 3-4 sets picked for one spot. Depends on the scenario and of course the size of the bedding. I’m always writing things down in my journal and keeping potential ambush sites in the back of my mind. Quite often I’ll decide a bedding area has potential but doesn’t look good enough to warrant taking the time to prep something. In those instances I will usually pick out a spot on the ground that I can sneak into and prep on hunt day. “Somewhere in here is where I should be.” Then if I see a reason to pull the trigger on that bedding I carefully enter and set up as best I can.

I successfully used this exact tactic in 2019.
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Re: Bedding can change drastically

Unread postby The Silence » Fri May 07, 2021 4:41 am

Another thing that can change bedding are new dead falls/brush piles in an area. Here in Iowa we had a Derecho last year. It was like an inland hurricane that really wrecked havoc in everything it destroyed. Tons of trees fell in one of the areas I hunt. Guess where the deer relocated to? They stayed within their safe zone but they had lots of new cover to hide in. It also slightly changed the wind direction they used in that particular spot.


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