how big must a bedding area be?

[ksJoe]

I've got 71 acres. 30 of ag, 10 of fairly dense trees, 10 of less dense trees, and the rest is grassland and sparse trees. I'm surounded by ag and have some of the best cover for a few miles.

Yesterday I was looking at an area maybe 80 yards into the trees from my big deer blind that's open. Its a clearing with no trees. Maybe a 30 or 40 yards across. I think it would be hard to hunt because there's not good access. But if I could get deer to bed there, I could hunt the trails coming and going. There's some Johnson grass, but otherwise mostly short grass. There's established trails crossing through it.

Is this big enough to be a useful bedding area? If I want to get them bedding there, what should I plant?

 

[Bill]

Check it for beds this summer. Summer bucks like open areas to bed when their antlers are soft. I would also think an open space like that in the timber gets some doe use for bedding also.

But to answer the original ? I don't think it takes a big area for bedding. I've seen bucks bedding in 3 trees.

 

[bwoods11]

I have seen bucks bed in small thickets, willow areas, creek bends .

Make it thick and it could very well work !

 

[DRG3]

Sounds like you’ve got good potential. I’m a believer in working with what you have to make it as good as possible. I have 51 acres and took the 25 open out of ag. Made 5 acres of nwsg cover and made about 2 acres of bedding in the woods. Different layout that yours but just meaning to say that what I had to work with so I did.

As far as results I saw more fawns and poults this year than before i did these things.

Best of luck.

 

[Kooch]

Out in SD farm country bucks seem to bed in the middle of a wide open section next to farmer’s rock piles. There is no sneaking up on them.

I don’t think it takes much. What it takes is security. If nobody messes with them and only drives by with a tractor four times a year they are happy.

Doesn’t need to be large. It just needs to offer security.


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[ksJoe]

Our annual tree seedling order should arrive this week. I've got 25 each of roughleaf dogwood and smooth sumac. I might put some of them in this area.

 

[H20fwler]

Around here deer like to bed in old tops left over from logging or up next to blow downs in winter, summer and winter they bed in the tall native grasses. Summer the does with fawns prefer the tall pasture grasses.

 

[ksJoe]

This idea was sorta an afterthought Saturday after I started some work down there and got a glance at it. I hadn't given the area a thorough enough look yet. I had a better look today. If we only count the open area, its a lot smaller than 30-40 yards. But if we count the low & horizontal limbs bordering it, it might be a little bigger than 30-40 yards. And those branches enclose it pretty well. So since go goal is a secure bedding area, the low thick branches count towards the size.

Here's some photos.

At the south end, looking north


In the center, looking east (there's a steep drop into a creek immediately past those trees).



In the center, facing west



At the north end, facing back to the south. Where it narrows there were tree branches mostly blocking it off. So that was the end of it until this morning. Now its longer. I removed them this morning so I could get the tractor in to cut the trench (for networking cable, for POE cameras).




I'm thinking: don't cut the rest of the low branches. Start some good browse shrubs (dogwood, sumac, etc) growing up in the low branches, so the the deer can't destroy them before they're established. And maybe some shrubs in the center, but they'll need cages. I'll have good camera coverage on the entry & exit. If they use it, I'll probbaly add another camera (maybe a PTZ up high looking down on it).

Thanks for the input guys!