New Science on Buck Bedding Areas
“Everybody needs a safe, comfortable place to sleep, even deer,” says Pennsylvania biologist Jeannine Fleegle, who contributes to the great Penn State University Deer-Forest blog. Penn State’s research shows that the best security cover is vegetation thick enough to hide 90% of a deer from observation at a distance of 200 feet or less. “That’s pretty thick,” Fleegle notes. “Saplings and shrubs do the job very well.” Is that thicket 70 yards ahead of you dense enough to hide 90% of a bedded doe with a rut-crazed buck standing guard over her? Or shield a big buck that is rubbing or scraping? Think like that and look with binoculars that as you still-hunt or approach a blind. Also, mature bucks use multiple [...]