Finding Buck Beds - How far do they travel?

[Vinny_HC]

I have a good chunk of wood and dried out slough on my property where I hunt that has a plethora of rubs and large scrapes. This woodlot is sandwitched between two agricultural fields and beyond them are larger wood lots along river valley. Last year my camera showed the bucks only came to this well-marked woodlot in the middle of the night.

So my question is, when I go looking for them along the river ridges, how far do bucks usually travel from their bed so I can locate it?

[steve]

Its hard to desribe in words what a bedding area looks like. Along your river valley is there a "bench" that has lots of old growth and standing pines? That would be my first guess.

[duffy4]

Not sure I am understanding your question.

If you are getting pics of bucks in said woodlot "in the middle of the night" it is not the "bedding area" you should be interested in.

The daytime bedding area will be somewhere else and that is the "bedding area" you should look for. Then sort out the trails and find the ones going to a feeding field (with rubs and scrapes along it) and hunt those trails.

Right now is a good time to be out scouting. The rubs and scrapes from last Nov. will be easy to see and the trails will be visible. Don't be concerned if you don't see deer or fresh sign there now. In Nov. they will probably be back. (unless the agriculture in the area changes a lot)

[Vinny_HC]

Duffy, ya that was the point I was eluding to was that I was only getting the bucks on camera in the night so it was not a good place to hunt, that is why I have been turning my attention to the adjacent river ridge bush. The only trouble is there is next to no sign on these ridges. There are rarely used trails through the bush (which could indicate a buck trail) but I only found 3 small rubs over 1/2 mile so far. Perhaps I need to look closer, but do bucks make a lot of sign near their bedroom or do they save it for the doe-use areas?

[Vinny_HC]

Originally Posted by steve

Its hard to desribe in words what a bedding area looks like. Along your river valley is there a "bench" that has lots of old growth and standing pines? That would be my first guess.

Steve, there are 2 benches in fact. The lower bench has old growth and there is an area thta has small standing pines. There is a lightly-worn trail that runs on the crest of this lower bench. The upper bench is much larger and more open with not much heavy cover. So I'll take a closer look at the pines. Will there be sign other than droppings there?

[depopulator]

In my hunting area, I have a main field and then all bush. There are two main bedding areas: one about 1000 m from the field in a low lying, willow/grass meadow. The other bedding area is about 2 miles from the fields on some high, timbered ridges; both areas are very thick. My #1 stand is about a 700 m from the field edge along a major funnel and hub of several major trails that lead to and from the two bedding areas and field. The big deer I hunt are almost always nocturnal, and my best success has been in the mornings after they leave the fields, and they typically show up at #1 between 9:00 am and 11:00 am.

[coyotekiller]

watch the fields a hour or 2 before sunset. i find that bucks have a daily pattern or route in rut. they always check their scrapes daily and feed usually at the same place every night and or morning