I wanted to talk about how bucks set up to bed in parcels that are relatively small and/or have a lot of human activity. I’ve got a few stories about bucks I’ve seen bedded, but wanted some more info from hunters who have a lot of experience finding buck beds. I hunt a lot of parcels less than 40 acres love those weird setups.
I live pretty far out in the country and I’m the last house on my dirt road. Behind the house there’s 40 acres of mostly woods and then a dirt road and it’s cattle pastures. My landlord who owns the land likes to hunt and has gone through the old school route of putting a 2 acre food plot dead in the middle of the property and vowing never to shoot a doe. Basically the entire property is a doe factory. We’ve got a ton of them here, and a few immature bucks run with them. About 50 feet To the east of my house is a huge bank to the neighbors big pond. It’s easily 60 feet tall and has pretty thick cover. More than once, mostly in late season when the woods aren’t as thick I’ve stepped out of the door and seen bucks stand up from their beds on the ridge. They have a great view of the house and I know they’re just sitting there watching me.
Another time, the veterinarian I worked for and I were going to a clients deer farm to look at his herd of deer. Near the main pen where the deer are worked, trailered, people park and all the main human activity is always taking place there is a large ridge with decent cover. Again in late season when the cover was not as thick we pulled into the lot and saw a buck that easily would have scored 160 bedded on the ridge. It was a true giant less than 100 yards away. We looked at him for 15-20 minutes and he never even stood. We even thought he must have been a domestic deer that had escaped but all of the clients deer were accounted for.
So has anyone else seen this activity out of bucks? Especially mature bucks. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to set up 100 yards from a parking lot and not feel stupid, but I may give it a go if I feel like a buck will bed there.
I live pretty far out in the country and I’m the last house on my dirt road. Behind the house there’s 40 acres of mostly woods and then a dirt road and it’s cattle pastures. My landlord who owns the land likes to hunt and has gone through the old school route of putting a 2 acre food plot dead in the middle of the property and vowing never to shoot a doe. Basically the entire property is a doe factory. We’ve got a ton of them here, and a few immature bucks run with them. About 50 feet To the east of my house is a huge bank to the neighbors big pond. It’s easily 60 feet tall and has pretty thick cover. More than once, mostly in late season when the woods aren’t as thick I’ve stepped out of the door and seen bucks stand up from their beds on the ridge. They have a great view of the house and I know they’re just sitting there watching me.
Another time, the veterinarian I worked for and I were going to a clients deer farm to look at his herd of deer. Near the main pen where the deer are worked, trailered, people park and all the main human activity is always taking place there is a large ridge with decent cover. Again in late season when the cover was not as thick we pulled into the lot and saw a buck that easily would have scored 160 bedded on the ridge. It was a true giant less than 100 yards away. We looked at him for 15-20 minutes and he never even stood. We even thought he must have been a domestic deer that had escaped but all of the clients deer were accounted for.
So has anyone else seen this activity out of bucks? Especially mature bucks. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to set up 100 yards from a parking lot and not feel stupid, but I may give it a go if I feel like a buck will bed there.
