What are y’all thoughts about buck beds. Do y’all hunt them? The so called experts say that a buck will bed with wind the most priority. . But most areas in south the wind swirls constant and blow ever direction. II believe they bed on cover first priority then sight and finally wind. What do y’all think? Just curious what y’all think.

Whild Bill in 3,2,1...

I found a buck bed one day turkey hunting in eastern Wilcox Co. It was on a small knob off the side of a larger ridge. The top wasn't more than 10 feet across, couple three beds in the middle, found a shed there also. Nothing could get close without being seen of smelled. All he had to do was drop offf the other side and he was safe.

The next deer season I shot a huge OLD eight point on the other side of the bigger ridge. Last I saw he ran up the ridge maybe 200 yards from the bedding area I had found. We lost the blood trail, then I thought of the knob. We headed over there, climbed up and there he lay dead. He ran for hime and bedded. I aged him at eight years, weighed 250 pounds.

In my opinion an older mature/post mature buck will pick a bedding shot that is out of the way of almost all human traffic, is not bothered there. I may be 1/2 mile deep in a clearcut or 100 yards behind the camp house in a spot NO HUMAN TRAVELS YEAR ROUND. This buck was in one of those places, you had to go out of your way to walk even close to it.

and NO, I do not ever bump a bedding spot on purpose except as a very last resort.

They seem to like some structure around them.....Blown down tree tops are one place I've seen them use a good bit...….It could other things too like a big log that they lay down by or a rock outcropping, etc....sorta like a fish....they use structure to their advantage. I think one of the big factors for them has to do with how the air flows across the terrain. Its something we don't often perceive well but they are probably very in tune with and able to "see" with their nose. I imagine some of the places they choose to bed are where the terrain funnels the air flow to them and allows the to cover a whole holler or maybe two hollers from where they're laying.... something like that.....They seem to like creek bottoms too and that may likely be why....the air flows down the bottom and brings scent to them from a long ways away. They may not understand thermals but they recognize how the air flows in different directions rising and sinking....I think they especially use sinking air to their advantage. At night they can probably "see" a really large area around them through their nose due to the air pressing down and flowing long distances across the terrain. Scenting conditions change drastically at night and may be one of the very reasons why they like to be nocturnal by nature. If we could see how the air is actually moving we would have a much better understanding of why they choose some places. There's way more going on that just a wind out of the north or west....Its pretty dynamic.

They also like to bed of edges.....maybe its so they can see what's coming from one direction.... smell in another....and be able to quickly escape into thick cover. Don't expect them to be deep off in a cutover but rather right near the edge where the timber changes.....I'll tell you something else they will do that may surprise you....If you do jump an old buck out of his bed he'll circle back around and come right back to it....He'll come back in from down wind of course but don't assume they are gonna take off and run 1/2 mile or something.....that exposes him.....he'll just slip right around you go right back to his spot. This is probably what those bucks are doing that dog hunters report moving back into the area the dogs just busted up. I've tracked deer that we jumped and chased trying to bay and the hunter later found dead 20 yards from where we jumped him. If you ever do jump an old one....find a place where you can watch down wind and just go sit down immediately. Another thing them slick bastards will do is dip their head down and lay there while you walk right by them....I mean close to....So close you would look at it and think there's no way....We walked all over this buck last year tracking in a pretty open mature pine thicket and he never budged. We stood there and had a conversation with in 20 yards of him and he just laid there. It was only when the wind shifted and Otis caught his scent and took off toward him that he got....Blew my mind how close he was to us.

found a spot just as you describe last year hunting my buddy’s club one wknd. Shot at my biggest in 20 years running that ridge the next day. No way you could approach it from any direction without being busted

They are very difficult to locate. We make our own buck beds and put into strategic locations and try to entice the bucks to use the beds. That being said it like any other real estate. It’s all about location, location, location.

I'll second what Troy and CNC said. Big bucks find bedding areas that cannot be approached without alerting him to your presence, and will have thick covered escape routes.

Also, they will hold tight in a spot and let you walk right past them. They know you when you are just passing by, and will only bolt if you turn directly towards them. If you ain't ready for it your heart will skip a beat when it happens.

Whild Bill, what material have you found that big bucks prefer to lay on?

Good question. Once you find the spot, and I agree it will be in a location that there is no way anyting is coming close without the buck knowing and smelling way in advance. you have to use the natural materials in that area. Pine needles in a pine thicket, hardwood bottoms are a hot spot. A buck loves a good blow down tree to make a bed.Over many trials and errors we have learned it has to be local materilas. We tried using hay but it didnt work because it wasnt local. Without divulging too much of our IP (almost struck a deal last year with C'mere Deer) we basically build a bed with local materials, add a little food and have a formula we made up thats kinda like ever calm that we add to the bedding. We just like trying new things to keep it fun and interesting and we just know what works for us!

I killed a good buck one time running dogs. My dogs jumped a doe in a thicket. So I turned and went down this knob covered in holly bushes. The dogs went 20 yrds from there. I hear breathing and an 8 pt was under all the holley bushes. He never moved.

Around here some bucks like memory foam and others prefer sleep number

The “experts” hunt the Midwest

I see all sorts of weird things using cameras. Open woods with thick pines nearby to the middle of a nasty 5 year old cut

They do most of their killing a month before and after the rut

Hard to do here

I’d say cover first, wind second and sight third. Majority of the buck beds I have found were on knobs.

As someone who blood tracks with dogs I’ve had the idea beat into my head that dogs don’t perceive the world in the same manner that we do as humans. Their nose is their greatest sense and it's for that reason that they “see” things differently than we do as humans who tend to use our eyes firs and foremost. I feel like deer are likely much the same. Most of what they do or don’t do etc…. is gonna revolve around their ability to perceive the world around them through their nose……Why they bed here or travel there…..You can probably trace much of it back to how it effects their ability to smell the what’s going on.......or that will at least be a big factor in "why"

For mature bucks I believe the priorities in hill country are (1) wind and (2) cover. The reason I put them in that order is because a spot can have terrific cover, but without the right wind they won't be there. Dan Infalt covers these really well in his videos - and I've become a believer in what he's saying. If you want to test it out, feed about 150-200 yards from a ridge point you suspect bucks to be using for bedding. If you get buck pictures at dawn and dusk, the buck is likely bedding on that ridge point. IF you'll cross check the wind for those days, I'll bet you'll find the ridge point was set up perfectly for the wind. Last fall, I found such a ridge on our club - I had dawn/dusk pictures of a 4 year old 8 point on winds that had a westerly direction on a ridge whose point was to the east. I don't know where he bedded with other wind directions, but that was his bedding ridge for any wind from a westward direction. Second day of bow season, I had a westward wind and killed him 10 minutes before dark. Had terrific success last season using Infalt's information - and it's completely changed how I'll do camera work prior to this season. Will be placing feed sites/cameras only on ridges that appear to be choice bedding areas for mature bucks.

When dog hunting we are primarily targeting bedded deer. When I turn my dogs loose the first thing I am looking for is the thickest cover around, That is where they will jump. Also head downhill, rarely do we jump on the tops of hills, or in the very bottom, usually somewhere in between. As far as how wind affects where they bed, I'm not sure. Try to work the dogs into the wind to help the dogs smell better. If nobody kills the deer, It will usually be back in the same spot the next morning, and that is where I'm turning loose.

Did yall forget about the kungflu and blm, yall done went to talking about deer hunting. Whats up with that? To answer the question, to me a buck bed is like some kind of myth or legend. Seems to me like they just appear and disappear in and out of other deminsions. I know theyre somewhere close by but I couldnt tell you exactly where they go.

We sure don't have many hard core hunters participating these days. You can't even hardly get a conversation going about deer anymore. It sounds like a bunch of wimmens in a sewing circle around here.

Killed my big 9 point last year 50 yards away from his bed. I was walking a bench with a rock wall behind it. found rubs and thick droppings close by and I climbed the first tree I could. found the bed at 700 am killed him at 805 or so. Very satifying to scout find and kill within them same morning. They are very specific and after you kill a buck off of them a new buck will find and use it soon or at least the next year.