Discovering a big buck’s bed is akin to finding buried treasure. Stepping into this inner sanctum is the jackpot of whitetail scouting, as these locations can lead to high-odds hunts for catching him coming or going from his bedroom or even surprising him in it. Nowadays the aggressive tactic of “buck bed hunting” has become popular, particularly on public land where hunting pressure is high and chances are few at older age class bucks. Private land hunters have also joined the club – manipulating habitat and creating beds with the intent of placing a buck exactly where they want to better keep tabs on and hunt him. But do bucks really use the same beds over and over, allowing us to pinpoint exactly where to focus our efforts, or is it much more complex than that? Whether you hunt private land that you can manage, or traverse miles of public access looking for these hallowed hangouts, understanding the truths about buck beds and bedding habits is essential to becoming a more proficient hunter. Let’s look at what we know of the science of buck beds and bedding areas, and how to leverage this to our advantage.
The Study
In a study done by the University of Mississippi, 60 adult bucks were collared with gps transmitters and tracked for an entire hunting season to answer many questions regarding whitetail – the secrets of buck bedding being one of them. The test region was “cover dense” but consisted of forests, early successional growth areas, ag fields, and food plots. The collars gave locations every 15 minutes and were accurate within a 20 yard radius. To make sense of the large data set, researchers had to first determine what was a “bed” and what was a “bedding area” so they knew what to look for in a sea of numbers. They determined that 4 consecutive transmissions from a collar without movement (1 hour) would be considered a bedding event, and a bedding area would be multiple bedding events less than 100 yards apart.
The Findings
Over the entire hunting season, they found the average number of different bedding areas used by a buck was 31, and each day a buck would bed 4 times between 2 different bedding areas. According to data, bucks seemed to circle back on a “circuit” every 6 days to a bedding area, which decreased to every 1.5 days during the rut. During the rut the number of bedding areas increased only slightly, with bedding areas being 600-700 yards apart as a crow flies.
This is interesting for sure, but for hunters looking to target buck beds the real question is how many beds were used over and over again, thus making them easy targets? This is where it gets interesting. They found that 50% of beds were used once only, and then abandoned and never returned to. The rest were used 2-5 times spread out over the entire season (about 3 months), and a nil 3% were used repeatedly – a whopping 200 times. When researchers tried to determine the commonalities of these beds they found one repeating factor only – they were all in dense screening cover.
Implications
Now keep in mind the area of the study had many potential areas conducive to bedding. This is important to note because landscapes that have a large percentage of area that could be bedding will in theory likely see more sporadic use than areas with limited bedding. Large open fields with few fencerows and small potholes or swails will concentrate where deer bed out of necessity, especially in agricultural areas where corn is used for bedding cover and when it’s harvested this bedding immediately disappears. Swampy areas with relatively few mounds of high ground to get out of the water for bedding are also very limiting to deer, so terrain can greatly affect bedding habits, and assumedly, frequency of bucks reusing beds and bedding areas. Nevertheless, there are some key takeaways to point out.
First is what I just mentioned – the scarcity of thick cover suitable for bedding will greatly affect how many beds and how often beds are used. This is out of necessity. When you look at the areas you hunt keep this in mind. Areas that have limited suitable bedding will concentrate bucks and make them easier to predict, pattern, and hunt since there are only so many areas that meet the requirements. You can and should use this to your advantage. As mentioned, swamps only have so many islands or humps, and sparse fence rows and small wood lots concentrate likely bedding locations. Where cover abounds, a buck could literally bed just about anywhere, making it tougher to predict and hunt. Much like the MSU study where 31 bedding areas were used on average, this makes guessing where he’ll be any particular day much tougher. If a buck revisits a bedding area you’re hunting every 6 days on average as the study showed, without specific scouting data to show exactly when he’s there you’re guessing at best and hoping your paths will cross. This leads to either hunting one spot many days in a row (which typically blows out an area due to hunting pressure felt by all deer), or trying to guess when he’ll be there and choreograph that with your available time to hunt – a poor strategy by the numbers.
Second, let’s talk about the 3% bucks that used the same beds 200 times. Three out of 100 bucks have this tendency, which depending on the deer density where you hunt, might not even include one buck. Yes, if you can pattern that 3% through glassing, boot scouting, and analyzing trail camera data, by all means hunt this predictable deer. The reality is however, these unicorns are few and far between. Because of this it seems that hunting exact beds, or making beds that a buck will take over and sleep in each night, is not a high-odds hunting strategy or reality for most whitetail hunters. But again, look at the cover and terrain in your area, as this is the biggest predictor of potential bedding locations in my opinion.
What Bucks Need
Since 50% of buck beds are never used more than once, I am going to make an assumption to further the discussion – that these beds did not offer the high quality traits bucks repeatedly select for. Bucks bed roughly four times a day, and some spots will “just do” for the time being to get some rest. This is a bit foreign to human beings since we have 1 bed that we typically sleep in each night, but deer can literally plop down anywhere when they get tired and many times do. The beds that were used several times probably offered more of the qualities wanted, and the 3% most likely offered everything a buck needs.
But just what is that? Putting the rut aside, where bucks will bed in most anywhere near does they are seeking, I’ve observed several things bucks select for over the years if they can, and which dictate these repeated beds and bedding areas I believe. Keep in mind thick screening cover is a must in all these locations, and more than that, the number one thing that private and public land hunters should focus on creating or hunting – even more than food. The key factors bucks select for are all centered around safety, and include:
1. Areas humans cannot easily access – This goes hand and hand with heavy screening cover. Thick swamps with small or large humps of dry land in water, briars and tangles hard to crawl through (think rabbit habitat), or slash like willow brush are several examples. On my property where I manage heavily for screening cover, I’ve found bucks typically bed furthest from my activity on the property in an area of willow slash that is virtually impossible for me to walk through. This gives them a shield of protection and plenty of time to hightail it when I get anywhere close.
2. Having easy and multiple escape routes – Bucks don’t like to be trapped, and will allow for several quick, easy ways to escape into other secure cover. In a clearcut I scouted last year I jumped a buck in a thick, slightly elevated pocket of dense early-growth oak. He must have watched me walk by several times before he just couldn’t tolerate me anymore and busted out the opposite way. When I explored his bed in an attempt to see why he chose it, I discovered 3-4 trails all coming and going from it, allowing him to see everything around him and have several known and predetermined exits that he trusted.
3. Utilizing Barriers – Another protective advantage bucks use are barriers, which could be anything that would keep a predator, namely a human, from getting to them on one or more sides. These are typically bodies of water like ponds, lakes or rivers, cliffs or walls, or big blowdowns. Bucks will bed with these at their backs so they can watch the unprotected sides and also orient themselves to smell the unprotected direction. This makes barriers very useful to a wary buck focused on safety. The traditional “oxbow bed,” utilizes three sides of a river to protect a buck, which if needed he can cross to get away from anything coming from the land side in front of him. A pretty rock-solid setup for a buck prioritizing safety.
4. Providing a visual and scent advantage – In hilly country I’ve observed bucks numerous times bedding on ends of ridges with the wind at their back. These may not have thick cover, but if they do the likelihood of finding an often used bedding area here is very high. With the high ground advantage, bucks can see anything coming below them from far off, and can smell anything coming from behind them. This makes an approach virtually impossible unless you have eyes on him and attempt a very surgical stalk. Humps in swamps or slight rises in relatively flat terrain also give this visual advantage, which is why they are chosen.
5. Providing an alarm – In flat terrain, thick cover usually means deer cannot see very far if at all when bedded. In this case they are counting on their nose, but even more their ears to tell them when a predator is too close. Brush, cattails, thick vine tangles, and briars are difficult for a predator to get through and make plenty of noise if attempting to. This acts as an alarm for a deer and gives them ample time to exit the back door, whether they see the intruder or not.
Applications
Private land owners can utilize this knowledge in several ways, both in how they utilize the terrain, how they manipulate the land to encourage where bucks bed, and in turn how they hunt it for increased opportunities. First, plans and efforts should be made to increase cover and hard to access areas so bucks feel safe living on their land. You greatly increase your ability to create “buck bedrooms” by choosing areas they already prefer – ridge points, humps in swamps, or bends in rivers or oxbows. Simply work at enhancing them. By increasing the stem count in these areas through selective harvest of timber, hinge cutting, or even clear cutting, you start “stacking” the factors bucks naturally choose for bedding, thus increasing likelihood they will become a 3% location or at least one of their 31 (or hopefully fewer) preferred areas. Stacking of our five listed factors makes a bedding area more enticing to bucks, and the more you can do this, the better.
I’ve heard quite a bit on making individual buck beds by felling trees, stacking brush, hing cutting, and then clearing leaves down to the dirt in an attempt to enhance a bedding area and get a buck to bed in one spot. Although not bad to do, I do not feel this is necessary. Since the odds of finding a 3% buck that will bed in once spot 200 times are low, hunting a particular bed on private land makes little sense, and if attempted will ruin the entire area with your highly intrusive hunting. Your goal should be to make as many of the highest quality bedding areas possible on your land so bucks will choose them over alternatives and spend more time there. Setting up your land to have multiple bedding areas that can hold and isolate different bucks, and keep them free from human intrusion allows them to make it their preferred home. Then, engineering ways to funnel these bucks moving to and from them and hunting these strategic transitions in a low intrusion way is your best strategy for consistent success.
For public land hunters who cannot manipulate the land, finding as many of the five bedding factors already established at one location is the goal. On public I have to be much more aggressive to have a chance at a mature deer. In my opinion other hunters have become increasingly aggressive and done so to a fault. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve seen stands hung or trees prepped over small bedding areas, and these hunters pushing into these spots the first day of season, effectively putting all deer in the area on high alert. With the popularization of public land hunting, the saddle hunting craze, and podcasts and YouTube videos all telling hunters to do the exact same thing, it’s no wonder these areas are becoming hunter magnets – trashing them in the process. On public land nowadays, you have to be smarter, finding bedding nooks and crannies hunters overlook or just won’t access.
The challenge has never been higher, nevertheless when you find several of the five factors, figuring a low intrusion way to hunt the location is essential. Again, I’d choose to hunt a bedding area over a bed, but the difference here is I will get inside a bedding area in the morning, and much closer or into the edge in the evening. The best bedding areas usually become morning or all day hunts for me with very early entry, long before deer return to these bedding areas prior to daylight. This allows making some of the noise required to get in, get set, and wait for deer to come to me. Similar studies also show bucks are more active in daylight in the morning, giving a hunter an added advantage. When I look at my success, comparatively speaking, I’ve taken three times more bucks in the morning than the evening, and bedding areas is the place to do that.
Whether hunting private or public, finding the 3% buck using the same bed over and over is highly unlikely, despite what some experts claim. However, finding or creating better bedding areas, and low-intrusion ways to hunt them are the key to effectively hunting buck beds and bedding areas.
