jmbuckhunter

The 125 acre woods I hunt in IL is one big bedding area. It consists of a small creek running the lenght of the woods, that has a water flow year round, with smaller ditches and rolling hills. The woods itself is pretty thick in most places, with lots ofgood cover. There are 4 guys hunting this woods, but 2 aren't that serious, and I usually only hunt weekends. I have found deer bedding from one end to the other and anywhere in between. They can be on top of the ridges to laying right next to the creek in the bottom.Now they do have a few favorite spots, like a couple of really thick overgrown ditches, that are great spots to sit in during the rut.

But to answer your question, NO it is not cut and dried where they will be bedded on any specific day.

cal516

Right in my back yard is a strip about 200 acres, but the area I hunt in is only about two acres. One of my neighbors is clear cutting his property line. I have never failed to see deer back there. I jump at least three of them when I am walking back there in the day. I have intercepted 3 deer going to and from it. I usually sit about 3-400 meters off. I am going to push closer next year during bow to see what I catch. This bedding area is only 2-300 meters from houses with chain saws going all day...doesn't seem to disturb the deer which is good for me because they are more desensitized to human activity.

PreacherTony

Atlas, I know exactly what you mean .....it's the same way where I hunt .......it has to be the area like Chuckles said .....

vmartin

consider this, this year i found a great bedding area, i saw 2 150-170" bucks staying in it. it is on public hunting land right off the road. people park 100 yards from the spot every day and most of them overlook it. first time i saw them i tried to go in and get a shot, i didn't get the shot. the next day i sat down where one of the bucks exited prior and had my buddy push out the area, well it worked and the buck came running right for me, i didn't get the shot off again. i believed the bucks would never come back after that so i gave up on it. later that week i told 2 out of state hunters right where i had the encounter and told them they were more than welcome to hunt it. they did the following morning and shot my buck as he was walking back into the bed. the buck was a 10pt 160, lesson learned.

rybohunter

That is one of the biggest dislikes I have about my area. They can, and do bed anywhere. It never used to be like that back in the day, until logging created ideal habitat to do so. It makes it very tough to hunt anywhere but the edges, because unless you can 100% go in well before light and sit all day, you have way too much chance of spooking deer on half day sits.

Rick James

It's likely because of lack of ideal bedding cover, and too much pressure. They weren't as predictable at my place until we created the cover and stopped pushing them all over........you really need sanctuary if you want them to be predictable. Find a nice south facing hillside, drop some trees in it to create browse and cover, and then leave it alone.............draw a line between that hillside and whatever the primary food sources are and look for pinchpoints along the way to setup on (or create some) and now you will see some VERY predictable movement.

atlasman

Just not an option Matt.........Idon't have the luxury of knowing that if I did all thatI would reap the rewards.Too many guysout there that eitherdon't know what the heck they are doing and/or just don't care. I have tried too many times toimprove the lands I hunt only to see those efforts wasted by everything from ATV's to just plain stupidity.

Not griping.......because these people all haveas muchright to the land as I do........just reality.

bawanajim

Atlas if you do buy land,you will really see the difference keeping stupid people away makes. One idiot is all it takes to mess up a great stand.

MNpurple

Yes, they have areas they typically bed in but I think when many of us think of a bedding area we want it narrowed to to a 5 acre patch. All deer have their bedding areas but it may be an area that is 10 acres, 50, 100, 150, etc. Its not always as small as we think it is.

I also think they have multiple bedding areas that they may rotate to depending on the food source.I think this is very overlooked. If the acorns are hot in an oak grove a mile away, well they probably have a different bedding area while they are using them and the same goes for corn or beans or anything else they key in on throughout the year. And remember a little pressure, running into a coyote, running into another buck, all can change where they may bed that particular day.

In my part of the country, the key is to know where they typically bed. Sure they may not be in there everyday, but if you know typical locations, eventually it will pay off.

atlasman

Agreed.