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Post by Catscratch on Jan 7, 2023 14:09:21 GMT -6
7yrs ago the hilltop was grass and the "doe" area held 7-10 does yr round. I put a bunch of brush piles up there and let the thickets grow. Removed cattle completely and just let it grow. Now I see bucks all the time. Since the doe area is bedding I only stomp around in there for sheds or mushrooms. Curious what I'll kick out of it this spring. What says you guys; can a doe bedding area be converted into buck bedding? Pics show cover compared to the deer I'm seeing in it. Started last yr, big change from before.
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Post by wklman on Jan 7, 2023 16:00:34 GMT -6
You took the cattle out and thickened it up. You made 2 things bucks love. More cover and more seclusion. Those were always the top 2 things I thought bucks wanted on a property. Pretty simple.
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Post by Sandbur on Jan 7, 2023 16:09:52 GMT -6
7yrs ago the hilltop was grass and the "doe" area held 7-10 does yr round. I put a bunch of brush piles up there and let the thickets grow. Removed cattle completely and just let it grow. Now I see bucks all the time. Since the doe area is bedding I only stomp around in there for sheds or mushrooms. Curious what I'll kick out of it this spring. What says you guys; can a doe bedding area be converted into buck bedding? Pics show cover compared to the deer I'm seeing in it. Started last yr, big change from before. Do the bucks bed there year around or only after velvet shed?
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Post by Catscratch on Jan 7, 2023 16:10:15 GMT -6
Maybe I should clarify my question; do you guys think doe bedding areas can be converted to buck bedding? Will the bucks run the does out and take it over?
To clarify the situation a little better. The hilltop is a travel route to the bedding in the bottom. I'm not seeing deer bed up there much, just passing through on their way to the bottom that had previously been dominated with does. The bedding in the bottom has always had great cover and has seldom had cattle on it.
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Post by Catscratch on Jan 7, 2023 16:14:12 GMT -6
Now that I have great cover in the adjacent hilltop I think the doe bedding area may now be a buck bedding area.
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Post by smsmith on Jan 7, 2023 19:53:53 GMT -6
Maybe I should clarify my question; do you guys think doe bedding areas can be converted to buck bedding? Will the bucks run the does out and take it over? To clarify the situation a little better. The hilltop is a travel route to the bedding in the bottom. I'm not seeing deer bed up there much, just passing through on their way to the bottom that had previously been dominated with does. The bedding in the bottom has always had great cover and has seldom had cattle on it. I personally have not seen that. That doesn't mean it can't/won't happen though. From what I can figure out, bucks and does don't really compete for bedding.
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Post by caveman on Jan 7, 2023 20:13:17 GMT -6
It sounds like what may be happening is that the does moved out of the old bedding area creating less traffic which made the area tolerable for the bucks. It's not that the bucks ran the does off, they left on their own.
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Post by Catscratch on Jan 8, 2023 8:21:56 GMT -6
Hmmm. I wonder what could make does want to leave but not be intrusive enough to keep the bucks out? This is interesting. Like I said before, I'm not in the bedding so I don't know what's happening for sure but the flow of deer in and out has sure shifted.
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Post by smsmith on Jan 8, 2023 9:28:01 GMT -6
Hmmm. I wonder what could make does want to leave but not be intrusive enough to keep the bucks out? This is interesting. Like I said before, I'm not in the bedding so I don't know what's happening for sure but the flow of deer in and out has sure shifted. Bedding is interesting to me too. I'll be the first to admit that I certainly don't have bedding "all figured out" When I bought this place, it was pretty much mature oak/birch/aspen/maple with an ironwood (hophornbeam, and hornbeam) understory. Thanks to those ironwoods, there wasn't much growth where the deer needed it for food. Back then, I got a good number of buck pics on trailcam during summer and early fall. Fast forward to now when I've removed a great number of ironwoods as well as mature aspen. I've got ridiculously thick understory growth. What I don't get now is summer time/early fall buck pics. Loads and loads of doe and fawn pics all year long though. Bucks start showing up on trailcam in late September for the most part.
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Post by Catscratch on Jan 8, 2023 9:33:53 GMT -6
Hmmm. I wonder what could make does want to leave but not be intrusive enough to keep the bucks out? This is interesting. Like I said before, I'm not in the bedding so I don't know what's happening for sure but the flow of deer in and out has sure shifted. Bedding is interesting to me too. I'll be the first to admit that I certainly don't have bedding "all figured out" When I bought this place, it was pretty much mature oak/birch/aspen/maple with an ironwood (hophornbeam, and hornbeam) understory. Thanks to those ironwoods, there wasn't much growth where the deer needed it for food. Back then, I got a good number of buck pics on trailcam during summer and early fall. Fast forward to now when I've removed a great number of ironwoods as well as mature aspen. I've got ridiculously thick understory growth. What I don't get now is summer time/early fall buck pics. Loads and loads of doe and fawn pics all year long though. Bucks start showing up on trailcam in late September for the most part. So you've seen a shift via sex due to cover changes too. I'm really excited for shed season to kick around in there and see what this winter's sign looks like!
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Post by Bwoods11 on Jan 8, 2023 9:44:35 GMT -6
Hmmm. I wonder what could make does want to leave but not be intrusive enough to keep the bucks out? This is interesting. Like I said before, I'm not in the bedding so I don't know what's happening for sure but the flow of deer in and out has sure shifted. Bedding is interesting to me too. I'll be the first to admit that I certainly don't have bedding "all figured out" When I bought this place, it was pretty much mature oak/birch/aspen/maple with an ironwood (hophornbeam, and hornbeam) understory. Thanks to those ironwoods, there wasn't much growth where the deer needed it for food. Back then, I got a good number of buck pics on trailcam during summer and early fall. Fast forward to now when I've removed a great number of ironwoods as well as mature aspen. I've got ridiculously thick understory growth. What I don't get now is summer time/early fall buck pics. Loads and loads of doe and fawn pics all year long though. Bucks start showing up on trailcam in late September for the most part. I don’t have bedding figured out either. I’ve actually seen does and bucks bedding in the same area. The doe bedding area during the rut is important in strategy!
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Post by Sandbur on Jan 8, 2023 10:51:01 GMT -6
Hmmm. I wonder what could make does want to leave but not be intrusive enough to keep the bucks out? This is interesting. Like I said before, I'm not in the bedding so I don't know what's happening for sure but the flow of deer in and out has sure shifted. Bedding is interesting to me too. I'll be the first to admit that I certainly don't have bedding "all figured out" When I bought this place, it was pretty much mature oak/birch/aspen/maple with an ironwood (hophornbeam, and hornbeam) understory. Thanks to those ironwoods, there wasn't much growth where the deer needed it for food. Back then, I got a good number of buck pics on trailcam during summer and early fall. Fast forward to now when I've removed a great number of ironwoods as well as mature aspen. I've got ridiculously thick understory growth. What I don't get now is summer time/early fall buck pics. Loads and loads of doe and fawn pics all year long though. Bucks start showing up on trailcam in late September for the most part. Several factors for the late September shift that you (and I ) see. 1. Velvet shed/ buck group break up. 2. Hunting pressure on adjacent lands. 3. Leaf fall and consequent cover changes. 4. Crop harvest (silage corn) changes cover. The last few years, I seem to see few bucks staying in my woods from about the time of corn reaching waist high until that late September period. They spend time in willows along wet lands and in corn fields. I suspect the summer time deer flies in the woods and summer heat are some of the reasons they leave the thick woods.
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Post by caveman on Jan 8, 2023 13:06:54 GMT -6
Hmmm. I wonder what could make does want to leave but not be intrusive enough to keep the bucks out? This is interesting. Like I said before, I'm not in the bedding so I don't know what's happening for sure but the flow of deer in and out has sure shifted. It's not that they may have wanted to leave, but rather that they found someplace else they would rather be.
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Post by smsmith on Jan 9, 2023 8:05:35 GMT -6
Bedding is interesting to me too. I'll be the first to admit that I certainly don't have bedding "all figured out" When I bought this place, it was pretty much mature oak/birch/aspen/maple with an ironwood (hophornbeam, and hornbeam) understory. Thanks to those ironwoods, there wasn't much growth where the deer needed it for food. Back then, I got a good number of buck pics on trailcam during summer and early fall. Fast forward to now when I've removed a great number of ironwoods as well as mature aspen. I've got ridiculously thick understory growth. What I don't get now is summer time/early fall buck pics. Loads and loads of doe and fawn pics all year long though. Bucks start showing up on trailcam in late September for the most part. Several factors for the late September shift that you (and I ) see. 1. Velvet shed/ buck group break up. 2. Hunting pressure on adjacent lands. 3. Leaf fall and consequent cover changes. 4. Crop harvest (silage corn) changes cover. The last few years, I seem to see few bucks staying in my woods from about the time of corn reaching waist high until that late September period. They spend time in willows along wet lands and in corn fields. I suspect the summer time deer flies in the woods and summer heat are some of the reasons they leave the thick woods. My observations indicate that bucks prefer more open areas for summer time bedding. I imagine flies/skeeters play a role in that for sure. I've always guessed that bucks also are at least somewhat protective of their growing antlers and don't want to be banging them around on saplings/undergrowth.
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Post by Bwoods11 on Jan 9, 2023 10:43:47 GMT -6
Pheasant hunting is a good way to learn about bedding n farm country . I can remember vividly the big bucks that we’d kick up while hunting. Cattail sloughs, small willow and dogwood thickets, CRP. Tree lines, cedars, shelter belts also had their share of bucks!
The biggest buck I’ve ever seen was in a small wetland complex of cain grass, cattails and willows with a few scattered trees. It was a 200+ incher. I also kicked up two 145-150 inch brutes out of my 2 acre sorghum a few years ago…bedded together . That was an eye opener!
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