How To Find, Recognize And Hunt Buck Bedding Areas

By Josh Honeycutt / North American Whitetail

A leaf flattens underneath my boot, but it doesn’t make a sound. A half-inch of recent rain saturates the ground, making conditions near perfect for slipping into a known buck bedding area. My destination — a nice poplar tree that’s 45 yards from the exact spot a 150-inch 8-pointer calls home. It takes nearly two hours to cover the final 50 yards to the tree, but I get there. Ever so slowly and quietly, I ascend the backside of the tree, positioning climbing sticks as I go.

I halt just high enough that I can see the tips of the buck’s tines, and that’s where I hang the stand. It takes another 30 minutes to get gear in position. Then, after several hours of waiting, the buck stands up, shakes off, grooms for a bit and slowly meanders away from me. I never get a shot. That’s what most successful bedding area invasions look like. Even when you slip into position undetected, the odds are against you. But when it works, man, does it work. And you feel like a true hunter when it does. CONTINUE READING