Does Bed Hunting Work in the South? 

In the southern Piedmont area of Virginia, where dog hunting is legal I think it changes Buck bedding as well. There is always some form of using dogs around here and I think that makes it a lot harder to pinpoint exactly where buck is bedding.

Iv done it on SE GA public. Saw him 2 times in a row and have never seen the same buck twice before!

I've hunted public land river bottoms in Mississippi my entire life. When I watch shows where hunters talk about buck beds and definite areas to find bucks I just shake my head. I've hunted Wisconsin and Michigan, and it's like hunting a different species. In the river bottoms of MS there are no transition areas. The same terrain stretches out for miles. There's nothing to demarcate one area from another that might encourage a buck to establish something predictable. Then add in our 3 month+ long gun season where people can hunt deer, squirrel, rabbit, racoons, birds...run dogs...ride 4 wheelers...and the big bucks get amazingly creative in hiding. You can ride the roads day after day and never once see a buck in crop fields. Private land is a little better, but public land? LOL. You won't find a THP episode where they harvest a big buck in MS. My hero Dan Infalt likely would do no better. It's a different world down here.

I do think there is something to what they’re saying. I can’t explain what would cause that but it is a change in environment which inevitably will cause a change in behavior.

Prevalence is not the same in most areas in general. It can be completely different from one block of woods to a neighboring block of woods. Each area is unique to its own features and pressure. Great chat!🦌🇺🇸🙏

Same here NE Texas… very difficult

I am sure if you find a deer that is nearly untouched by pressure in a desirable habitat, they will use it regularly. Most folks don't have access to access to that type of habitat .. we're just waking up at 3:30 am to take a 2 mile hike into the far corners of public hoping another hunter isn't already there.

I love watching Dan Infalt, but I understood a long time ago, that his method wouldnt work for me in TN. The terrain is the same for miles and miles, they can bed anywhere.

Everyone in this video is a better hunter than me, HOWEVER, I think a big part that wasn't mentioned is overall deer density in an area. I live in the MidWest, Indiana even same as you Josh, and I still haven't experienced slam dunk buck bedding when you know you're gonna kill one. If quality bedding habitat is plentiful, and there aren't a ton of deer to occupy the all that habitat, then the deer are definitely bouncing around a lot more. I'm sure human pressure also plays a factor too.

Seems like here in West TN it varies based off where you are. I no longer hunt private land, but when I did - Deer used more specific areas to a property. But when I get in public - I never see them in the same place twice it seems. Theres a very big block of public near me where the deer seem extremely nomadic. They'll be in there heavy one day, gone completely the next. I've put cameras in both public and private and the only areas I've seen the same deer use almost a "Route" are always private. Its never the same deer rolling by in my experience on Public, unless its a very small piece of property no one hunts often. Going back to the chunk of land I referred to earlier, my most successful hunts there have been where I see 0% deer sign. And the places I've seen the most deer sign (Including bedding areas, because Dan got me into hunting them lol) never seem to get used over and over. Its something I've always wished he'd come tackle because his style just doesn't seem to work the same way here. Maybe it is just me, but I think southern deer just have different habbits. They can bed wherever they want. If they dont like it, they just pack up and go wherever they want. Its always been strange to me.

It’s all different where ever you go the area , weather, terrain. It’s all different no set standards, absolutely.

Everybody says their state is the hardest to hunt. "Our deer are different its easier up north" ye ye sure, man.