deer bedding areas

[muskieswen]

I have been rifle hunting deer for years and just this year replaced the rifle with a bow. Very fortunate to whack a doe back in October but really just peer luck on the stand placement. I have never really thought much about bedding areas till now being I have to get more up front and personal with the deer as opposed to 100-200 yds away. How does one look for a bedding area? My wife and I see deer all the time in the county road ditches eating away right before sunset so we place our stands a couple of hundred yds in the woods to try to intercept there movement to the ditch. To find the bedding area that these deer are using do I just get on a trail from the ditch and follow it into the woods/cedar swamp area till I magically stumble into it? All of this is more for next years hunt so if I spook them this year I guess it is no big deal. What are your thoughts on this? How does an individual find these bedding areas?

[Musky Buck]

It's all about red willow and tall grass where I'm at, if you have that dry or not they're there. But, but, the wet willow/grass/cattails must have root structures from in my area tamaracs, they bed on those and I found a bucks bedroom last weekend by accident, he was bedding in a 20 foot by 20 foot area I would guess all of rifle season, now that it's frozen he has more options, I found bed on top of bed surrounded by beds, dropppings, and 1 Balsam fur he must have rubbed it 25 times even while laying there, he felt safe there and kept coming back when he left for the nocturnal feed or breed. He was surrounded by water, but the root clumps got him out of the water. Red willow and grass, thicker the better.

[Musky Buck]

oh, hang on, bow, find the best bait there is, acorns right at or after bow opens, that's a good chance at a big buck and you won't have to worry about where they're bedding,also with acorns in my area the deer mop up the acorns that are in the best cover first and they work there way out from there often showing up in our yard(s) after dark to nail what's there, look at an overhead of where you hunt, drive around the section you hunt, if you have red willow/tall grass that's a place they'll hunker down, they feel super safe in that stuff.