4 Deer Bedding Habitats You Need On Your Small Parcel

There are many ways to create great deer bedding areas, however these 4 varieties of deer bedding habitat types encompass them all and you should work to include them all on your small deer parcel. Grasses/weeds/briars, conifers, shrubs and hardwood regen make up the 4 basic types of deer bedding cover that offer the deer enough variety of habitat to last the entire hunting season and beyond.

[@courtofficermcilvaine7928]

Loved the video. I'm retired form the NJ State Police but when I worked my last 5 years at our State Headquarters in Trenton, I would always try to take a walk or ride during lunch time to check out the substantial deer herd in our nearby 10 acre Autumn Olive Grove which was used to park confiscated motor vehicles on. It was without question one of my favorite places ever to look for deer. Thanks Cris

[@stevegermain1222]

Great info thanks as always Jeff

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

You are very welcome Steve!

[@rfb7117]

Jeff.....great comments. We have put in the water holes, hinge cut, planted and sprayed the buck wheat as you suggested. We are just waiting for July to prepare the fields for the food plots. thanks, Bob

[@scottf3553]

In my 35+ years of hunting and observation (understanding there are always exceptions) while I agree cover is great I’ve seen topography and seasonal changes influence location and types of bedding. I grew up in Pennsylvania where thermals rising would cause bucks to bed above plateaus on a mountain side. Deer follow terrain and the plateaus held scent plus and in some cases increased vegetation. The leeward side or typically a southern exposure especially in the colder months I find tons of beds again I assume the warming factor increases the attraction for bedding plus predominate wind direction. I live in Michigan now and my 150 acres hold few deer beds but the swamp to my south on points and islands there are a concentration of deer beds. I hold the food source so the travel routes are very predictable but it mirrors the safety and security factor and I am more than happy not to compete and try and create my own bedding areas.

[@tedzimmerly]

Took your advice from a previous video and moved all my trail cams at least 6' high. Pulled the SD cards last weekend and not 1 of over 3000 pictures showed a deer looking at the cam. Typically I would have at least 100 pictures of deer looking straight at the camera. Deer seemed more at ease and not "spooked" by the flash. Thanks for the tip

[@backcountrysurvivalists]

Love the red dogwood and conifers!!

[@collinkeel3457]

Jeff, whats your thoughts on buckthorn?

[@randlerichardson5826]

Cover is why I talk the landowner into leaving certain hillsides to grow up on my lease. We Bush hog them every 3-4 years to keep the trees from getting to big. Great video brother I appreciate every one of your videos. LORD WILLING we will get together and hunt in a year or two. Since were leaving some of it to grow up I’m seeing woodcocks and quail rabbits come back to my lease now. Turkey Are using it more now. Be safe out there brother GOD BLESS.

[@MySliceOfHeavenoutdoors]

great info jeff

[@bedwards733]

Great info ! Thank you

[@brianlenneman5032]

Great video Jeff!!!! Boy you have been on fire with the videos lately!

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Thanks Brian 😊 got some really cool stuff coming I think

[@dmouse522]

Crazy winter..our Autumn Olive were severely hurt and some outright killed. In addition to habitat we make lycopene loaded jam from them too.

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Wow that's unusual! Really unusual. I bet the jam is good...what's it taste similar too!? Very cool...

[@baller235815]

Great video!

[@DB-oz2ki]

North or South facing slope?

[@huntwarbukz4117]

👍as I mentioned just before we bought 50 acres above running east-west ...to our existing land line that touches ...so we expanded land ...It’s mostly old pine that has large bottle necks down to larger ravine then rd ...they use it to travel but I wanna change at least a few acres of it to make bedding as we have a large food plot on our old side which is north of new land should I clean cut a section ?

[@baileydressler2000]

Hi Jeff, I love your videos and have to thank you for sharing all of your knowledge with us every week! I recently put my first water hole in on my property and the deer have been showing up on a regular basis already. I do have a question though, the water seems to be getting stagnant in the tank and I'm not sure how to control this. I was curious if you have any tips on how to keep the water from getting stagnant in my tanks, thank you!

[@randlerichardson5826]

I wouldn’t know what to do if I seen that many deer in one set on a stand. We used to see them like that till the guys from east TN moved in here. We had either sex muzzle loader they didn’t and they’d come down where we hunted on state land and pile the does up. Took a big toll on the deer population in my county.

[@fred4outdoors620]

great video! Do you recommend that these be in a small area so that you can have 1 region of bedding area? I'm able to make a grassland pocket, TSI area, and cedar pockets in a 10-15 acre area. I've already seen good deer bedding in the cedar pocket, but not quite as much activity in the young grassland pocket I made. Haven't done the TSI area yet.

[@jimmydet115]

I’ve watched a lot of your videos. Like this video, you say what’s good to have. If you don’t have it, (the 4 habitat types), how do you get it? That’s what’s not explained. What do do if you don’t have it.

[@Needagoodnamebutcantthinkofone]

That's a really good point about autum olive.... I had never thought of it like that, I've been killing it everywhere I found it on our 22 or so acres because it was invasive, though it has an established itself that greatly it was just individual scattered bushes... To me it doesn't make sense but I figure I'll ask a professional, would you recommend leaving scattered bushes that were easily more than 15 feet apart each though there were probably sixty or seventy of them, at least, on the property?

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

The only thing bad about them is they are labeled invasive. Other than that they are an incredibly powerful wildlife bush that does not take Iver the habitat like some of the professionals would have you believe. I actually like clumps of 3-5 of them...more cover for wildlife and hollowed out they make great hidden bedding areas or rooms for deer.

[@Needagoodnamebutcantthinkofone]

@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 great info, thank you, I'll have to start managing them to creat those clumps!!

[@Quinn4999]

I have about 80% of 1 and 2 on my land and 5% of 3 and 15% of 4. I just find it hard to manage and kinda fine and create the specific bedding areas and making feeding areas due to it being so wet all the time. I have so much small game on my land but I feel like I have a nocturnal parcel in west central MN. You have any tips on managing just the grass and shrubs?

[@ChipsOutdoorChannel]

I see what you're saying about balancing Autumn Olive if deer eat everything else. I'll flip that to say that if you plant autumn olive where nothing else has grown, you'll have an infestation of autumn olive instead of an invading species which is no good. I'm not criticizing in any way, because I understand the moral of what you're saying. Native species provide higher quality feed. *IF* those can be planted, I agree that those should be planted! Great video!

[@travisethridge4062]

Jeff, what do you think about hinge cutting on property line of neighbors? Don't know him very well but know he let's his sons hunt and would hope that creates barrier?

[@dustangrieshop9258]

Good Info Jeff, On my Ohio Property I dont have as much Autumn Olive but I have a lot of Bush Honeysuckle. What is your opinion on Bush Honeysuckle? Is it the same as Autumn Olive? I know it is decent cover but have heard it is not good food value.

[@HuntinTN]

Jeff, how do you feel about mountain laurel for bedding and cover? I live in East Tennessee and there is tons of Mountain laurel. I notice you speak a lot about northern and Midwest hunting habitat but don’t mention much about the south east hunting habitat.

[@tjweaver7683]

I hunt Hawkins county in east Tennessee I agree buddy not much mention of the lay of the land down here...

[@suzmell1]

Hey Jeff you never mentioned the property I own is that the type of property you would buy for yourself in other words is it in your opinion good enough to sustain wildlife primarily whitetails & again once this masterpiece is competed will I have at least 3 of what you’re talking about in this video

[@lucasschultz4395]

Is there any chance you start selling merch?

[@plram3054]

Hi Jeff Does the cottle influence the deer in positive way or it's a bat think to have it while you are hunting Thanks

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

The cattle can be very bad...taking valuable resources of food and cover. They really do displace deer herds...

[@haroldcallahan4887]

First thumbs uo

[@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751]

Ha, hope it makes sense Harold! Appreciate it 🙂

[@haroldcallahan4887]

@@whitetailhabitatsolutions9751 yes always get something constructive from your videos. We have Russian Olive as an invasive species here and it makes great deer cover

[@tjweaver7683]

My land has so much cover it's hard to hunt on my 47 acres

[@ChipsOutdoorChannel]

Can you cut some trails through it strategically?

[@randlerichardson5826]

Hey brother

[@garrettcrocker5683]

Autumn Olive is a nitrogen fixer. If managed correctly it will benefit your land. I'm currently using it in a permaculture orchard.

[@dennisb1224]

You could do a whole video on Autumn olive. It’s invasive, I believe but the patch on my place hides rabbits well. The berries are eaten by birds, raccoons, and bears. Bears stand on the branches and eat the berries. Deer eat the new growth in July only it seems. And the thorns , they are like needles. Young fawns hide in them as well.