Buck Beds

[mrex]

Following the tried and true techniques of Tony Lapratt, I made this buck bed by bending 5 blades of fescue in the shape of a pentagram…

The deer where I hunt bed where they get tired.

 

[brock ratcliff]

Did I ever tell you about the folks up in MI that had Tony come to their property? I have never seen anything like it anywhere else. Missed the pentagram part, but wouldn't be surprised if it's part of the plan!

 

[bowhunter1023]

HA! Good stuff Mike. One of the things I've always struggled with is finding a "bedding area" that a mature buck will use more often than not. There are just so many areas down here that would suffice, finding one and relying on it to produce encounters is just something that I can't see to do.

 

[finelyshedded]

Lmao Mike!

 

[JD Boyd]

So I take it you attended his "Boot Camp"??? lol

 

[jagermeister]

I got a buddy that spent a big chunk of change to go to Tony's boot camp... shoulda been called loot camp.

 

[JD Boyd]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=UpjTkTboZi0

Here's another one...lol

 

[hickslawns]

Never heard of such a thing. Not sure what to think of it. I guess my initial thoughts would be: Nice crocs. Way to sweat it all up. You are trying to improve your buck to doe ratio by adding buck beds? Guy says he is trying to bring in the 1.5yr old deer which are kicked out of the doe groups? Thanks JD. I will remember to make some beds for my bucks next year. lmao

I realize this is NOT the time of the year to mess and experiment with this. I just don't see this working. Making 15 buck beds a day seems a bit crazy to me. I could be wrong. It just seems odd. The guy in JD's video spent all his time talking about the bed and soil. I think more time spent on where he was making the beds, and how he was hinge cutting the trees to provide more cover would make more sense than spending 9:34min describing how to make a flat bed of dirt.

 

[rgecko23]

I cant see the video at work, but is it the guy who who is raking up all the dirt, and breaking branches, etc? What a loon

 

[bowhunter1023]

What a crock of shit...

 

[Gern186]

I like how he wears his hard hat when he's digging all that dirt, but makes sure he's not wearing it when he drops the tree lol.

 

[hickslawns]

I like how he wears his hard hat when he's digging all that dirt, but makes sure he's not wearing it when he drops the tree lol.

I thought I was the only one that noticed that. lmao

 

[jagermeister]

I agree with you guys that this is all most likely a waste of time. However, there is one small truth that I heard stated in that video that JD posted. Deer are very curious and ARE attracted to freshly tilled or exposed soil. They especially love piles of concrete sand. I have made countless inspections of new sand mound sewage treatment systems, and damn near every one of them gets trampled by deer the night before being covered with topsoil. I know it sounds funny, but I honestly believe that if I placed a fresh pile of concrete sand in front of one of my treestands I could kill a deer over it within a day or so.

 

[Beentown]

I agree with you guys that this is all most likely a waste of time. However, there is one small truth that I heard stated in that video that JD posted. Deer are very curious and ARE attracted to freshly tilled or exposed soil. They especially love piles of concrete sand. I have made countless inspections of new sand mound sewage treatment systems, and damn near every one of them gets trampled by deer the night before being covered with topsoil. I know it sounds funny, but I honestly believe that if I placed a fresh pile of concrete sand in front of one of my treestands I could kill a deer over it within a day or so.

Do it. Sounds like a fun experiment!

 

[jagermeister]

Do it. Sounds like a fun experiment!

Are you going to push the wheelbarrow up the ridge and through the woods for me??? lol

 

[Beentown]

Sure if I lived closer. I make a pretty damned good pack mule. Ask Curran. lol

 

[hickslawns]

JB- No doubt they are curious. No doubt they love the smell of fresh dirt. Like I said, a little more info about how he did the hinge cuts, why he placed them where he did, and general info about creating bedding habitat would be helpful to some. Grabbing a shovel and making a 9 1/2 minute video in your crocs mainly about the bed itself doesn't help much.

Nearly every time we have worked dirt (in areas deer normally visit) we come back the next day to see fresh tracks. I would imagine if JD left a camera on his excavator or dozer every night they are left on job sites, he would have images to enjoy daily.

 

[buckstar25]

Man, haven't herd that guys name in a long time! I was pissed I wasted the time to go see him speak at the expo! I still have his pamphlets somewhere at camp, may have to dig around to find them.

On the fresh dirt thing, I have a buddy who swears by clearing a big circle on te ground where he wants to shoot his deer. He shoots almost all his bucks while they are standing in the freshly uncovered dirt, noses to the ground. Gotta be some truth behind his thinking.

 

[Buckmaster]

Yes, the fresh dirt resembles possible scrap activity for them thus acts as somewhat of an attractant or curiosity scent.

 

[brock ratcliff]

I have always been a believer that deer lay down where they get tired. However, having seen some of Tony's theory put into play on one property, I think there may be something to it. If I had the time, land, and desire, I would give some it a try. Some of it just makes sense to me. For example, a couple of the areas I can count on to hold deer have numerous blow-downs, and ground vegitation. Tony's thoughts on bedding areas basically say if you don't have naturally occurring blow-downs with escape routes, make 'em! I think he's onto something there.