backstraps.......I appreciate the exchange of thoughts. We do seem to agree on most angles here.
The deer above was taken from the heart of Hatchie Bottoms. It was taken from the same area that all the deer below were taken from...all of these deer were taken from the same travel corridor...
both of these within a week of each other from the same stand and area
as was this buck .....
I spent the majority of 11 years hunting this property, yet only began taking these type deer with any regularity when I found the sweet spot.....and began to hunt all day. Note....I never saw any of these bucks other than the day I shot them. You must be prepared to take advantage of their mistake quickly,imo.
The difference in the first buck at the top and the rest of them is this. My stand was close enough to a cane thicket that I could easily see a deer coming to and from it, I could easily see all sides of this thicket .....I was in the stand an hour before daylight and killed this buck a little after 4:00pm. Believe me when I say that i am not someone that plays video games or sits so still that he can't see around him. I look around all the time, I never fall asleep or take my mind off the hunt while on stand. I remember being stunned when I looked at the cane thicket, turned away for maybe 2-5 seconds then looked back at the cane thicket and this buck was walking out of it headed away from me. I had one opening and within five seconds of first seeing the deer, he was down.
After much thought, I believe that this buck was bedded down in that thicket all day and just stood up at that moment. Was he there when I walked in about 5:00 am? Maybe, actually probably! I made little noise as I walked within about 50 yards of him bedded down in the dark so he saw no need to run. I climbed my tree and sat there while this deer was easily within range the entire time, yet I could not see him....I have little doubt that if I had come in at midday and he was there, I would have bumped him as he would have not been as secure sitting tight in daylight as he was in the dark. My point is that you never know when or where a buck will bed and if it's an older deer, the chances of predicting a bedding pattern gets harder...imo.
I have noticed or maybe the best way to say this is that I have decided that deer will not necessarily leave an area they prefer just because you are there. Instead, they will figure out quickly a way to avoid you. I have watched deer run through an area, not because they are spooked but yet because they do not feel safe there, there is a difference in the two.
I have seen deer blow at and flag an area, not a person or another animal.....maybe they picked up a scent, I have no idea, but I do believe that they retain some sort of memory about places they deem dangerous. Now, when I say that, i do not mean that if you spook a deer in an area, it will avoid it all together. What I am saying is that in my mind the deer will get an uneasy feeling when it comes back through that area. Now, this feeling may subside and eventually go away all together in time, but for a few days or maybe longer , the deer will be every cautious walking through areas that they deem dangerous. My point here is that when a deer spends most of it's day in one location (bed or feed), it seems to absorb everything in it. It knows this place better than anywhere else it goes in a 24 hour period. Such as with a travel corridor, a cautious deer will come back through there getting to it's food or bed, but probably wouldn't bed or feed in an area that it feels uncomfortable...hence the events like deer sprinting through a clearing or cautiously flagging as it walks though areas even though they found little reason to bolt.
the reason that i avoid the bedrooms and the dinner tables is because I believe, like I said, that when deer spend the majority of their day in one location, they know that location better than you ever could. they know every tree, bush, squirrel and every scent associated with that location.
Where a deer may pass through a dangerous area every day, it likely would not bed or feed there....
if you find a bed that seems to be used yearly, then be assured that it was chosen for a reason. And if you plan to hunt this area, you will be detected fairly quickly.
Now, if you are slipping in at midday and setting up several hundred yards away from this area on obvious travel corridors, then that is not what i would call bed hunting.
I was under the impression that you were trying to set up within site of these beds....a huge no-no in my book...lol.
Again, any style hunting should be based on terrain.....
bed hunting in vast timber is not advantageous, imo. No matter the time of day. maybe in cropland where timber is at a minimum thus making bedding areas easier to find and depend on...Since I rarely hunt field edges and actually prefer timber, I do not depend on anything more than my knowledge of how deer move through the area and my ability to be patient.
A different way to look at is this......while traveling via vehicle or on foot, just our movement alone detracts from our abilty to concentrate on things around us. We are very much more in tune with our surroundings while sitting still than when moving. Deer's senses are better than ours, no doubt, yet the sound of their own movement, the fact that they can tell less about motion when they are indeed in motion and even passing though areas that may comprise of differencet scents makes them more vulnerable as they move from point A to B than when they are actually at points a or b....
Again, my tactics lead to quick shots and unless you can judge a deer quickly, make the shot accurately and be willing to move 30 yards to get a better shot angle, then sitting on cropfields or near areas where deer congregate for long periods of time may be your best tactic..(speaking to everyone here). Me, I hang a stand in the thickest, nastiest places I can find on a piece of property (after much aerial study)and am prefectly happy when deer pass by me and are gone within seconds....I get busted less that way...lol.
goodluck and thanks again for the discussion....
if my rambling confused anyone, please don't hesitate to ask/discuss..LOL!!!!!!!
I am no expert, to say the least, but I do know what seems to work for me....
