Hopefully, you’ll spot a buck you want to pursue, and be able to move in super tight in the coming days. If you find this, mark it on your OnX map and get ready to dissect it in all of its glory. An out-of-the-way area that offers an easy escape and allows the deer to monitor its surroundings effectively is prime bedding, and these areas are usually near food and water sources, as a buck will travel as little as possible to conserve energy and avoid predators early in the season. The key is to be on-stand when the deer finally rises and starts to move. You just have to work super hard during the offseason to find where those bedding areas are. During the rut, mature bucks move several hours during … If you accomplish this, you’ve already laid the foundation for a successful early-season hunt. Once you find them, you’ll need to understand why and when deer prefer them. The portion they can see is what Aaron refers to as their safe zone and deer will almost never leave that during daylight. Why To Hunt a Deer Bedding Area. Go deeper, away from the food source from the doe beds, 100-200 yards looking for remote cover away from field edges and away from hunter access. I find alot of them sitting at the tips of draws or half way down them. For example, in the area where I hunt, they like to bed on ridges and points next to thick cover, when possible. Author: Ed Didrichsons April 28, 2017 2 Comments. How can you tell if you’re looking at a doe or buck bedding area? Your homework prior to opening day should have allowed you to place a stand on the perimeter of a buck’s bedding area. Then it’s your job to get inside that bubble undetected. The Hunting Public dives into much more detail in this video podcast about how to find buck beds using aerial maps and how they then hunt them, but in general, there are a few key things to look for: Here’s a prime example of a hunting setup near buck bedding with undetectable access via the creek. Gerald B. writes to ask how to find a buck’s bedding area. Other times it’s not nearly so simple. Hunting buck beds is tricky business, but it’s a lot less tricky if you scout and prepare well before deer season opens. This allows them to smell danger long before they see it and seek out a little warmth in the colder months. Knowing where a buck is bedding can lead to some excellent hunts. If you hunt in an area where hunting pressure is controlled, you … Scouting Bedding AreasSince deer spend so much of their time in their bed, it’s very productive to concentrate your efforts around these locations early in the season. Undoubtedly, there are certainly times to place to play it safe, but NOT always. How to Find Trophy Bucks Bedding Areas For the hunters who chase the dream of harvesting a trophy buck, it usually requires hard work, hunting skill and a little bit of luck. With plenty of Rut Predictions out there…, There are a handful of age-old debates that will never die among deer hunters. The traditional method of scouting—ambling through the woods until you find  deer sign—works just find for finding beds, but using technology to your advantage can be a real help. After mid-summer, I prefer never to violate a bedding area. Follow the rub line. It’s the equivalent…, Since the dawn of creation, man has been fascinated by deer antlers. The presence of multiple rubs near a solitary bed is another indication you’ve found a buck bed. And can I get away with it? But planning where fall bucks will eat is only one piece of the puzzle. Therefore, locating a buck’s bedding area should be your primary focus early in the season. You can identify most of these types of buck sanctuaries by examining aerial photographs for areas of dense vegetation, wetlands, and conifer stands. But across the country, deer season kicks off well before the rut begins. The best method is … Take note of how many beds you see clustered together in one area. In most cases, this means the higher and/or thicker cover is behind them and the lower more open area is out in front. Even some of the most experienced hunters still mess up or bump bucks, but with that, many of them learn a lot. Remember those notes you took while sitting in the actual deer bed during the summer?? by Brad Fitzpatrick - In short, the mature bucks will be wherever the cover allows them to be. If you come across beds, pay attention to how far you are from potential hunting pressure and adjust accordingly. There are a lot of hunters on public land, so there is a lot of deer pressure. If you see four or more beds in a circle, it’s likely a doe bedding area. When it comes to hunting and targeting buck bedding areas that’s one question we have to ask ourselves every time we decide where to sit. The easiest sign that the area is the backyard of a buck is if there are antler rubs on saplings and small trees. An area I often think of for a large bucks bedding area. On infrared photographs, water appears black and conifers appear red. bedding area, buck bed, daytime bedding, Lee Gatzke, Paul Ranft, tactics A Hunters’ Age-Old Quest Of Finding a Tactic That Allows Him to Consistently Kill Deer This buck was one of many attracted to a man-made rubbing post. Similar to heavily wooded wilderness parcels, a large portion of the habitat can be ignored, for your most intense scouting efforts.The phrases of bucks bedding in the "upper 3rd", "sun facing slope", "military crest" or any other specific location used to described the #1 preferred buck bedding area, can be largely ignored when it comes to actually locating highly attractive buck beds … Science in teaching us more about the bedding habits of whitetail deer, too.