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Sunday, February 9th, 2025

Breaking News for

Sportsmen Since 1968

Hunting a whitetails’ security cover: Here are keys to consistent success

Morken shot this Minnesota 10-pointer with his bow at 10:30 a.m. a week after the state’s firearm season in 2023. The buck, and many other deer, felt comfortable moving within security cover that morning despite there having been plenty of hunting pressure on this property and others that surround it during the gun season. (Photo by Eric Morken)

Growing up deer hunting during the shotgun season in southern Minnesota, I learned there was a general mindset about hunting deer-bedding areas: Just don’t do it. You’ll chase deer from a property.

Honestly, doing so never felt necessary. The heightened hunting pressure was enough to get deer moving along river bottoms and through small woodlots. Thus, that mindset was hard to abandon, even after jumping into bowhunting after college in 2007.

This buck from an out-of-state hunt in 2022 came out of a bedding area that Morken had scouted twice before – once the prior November and again in August, just a few weeks before the deer was shot on opening weekend. Dissecting security areas to better understand how deer bed is a difference-maker when it comes to hunting so close to these locations. (Photo by Eric Morken)

I limited myself to the same pre-set stands from which I’d hunted with a gun. The older bucks I saw back then, which were few and far between, always seemed to skirt bow range. They were content to remain near thick cover when moving about during daylight.

It was during a mid-October hunt a few years later that I became frustrated enough to change. I was hunting from a familiar ladder stand when a good buck appeared about 100 yards away, moving through cover along a river.

That next day was hot and windy – the kind of day when many bowhunters would stay home during the “October lull.” Climbing into that same ladder stand would accomplish nothing, so I grabbed a hang-on stand and some screw-in steps and went to find a tree near where that buck had been.

The wind covered up much of my approach and movement that afternoon. By 3 p.m., I was covered in sweat but positioned next to a trail on the edge of thick cover along a riverbank.

I almost couldn’t believe it when a huge-bodied 9-pointer worked his way to within 20 yards, with over an hour of daylight remaining. That was the first mature buck I shot with a bow, and it taught me much about the power of being mobile and taking chances around security cover. Today, after much trial and error, my hunting philosophy revolves around those two things.

MORE WHITETAIL COVERAGE FROM OUTDOOR NEWS:

Joe Shead: Shed hunting tips after a non-winter

Shotgun zone, DNR oversight debated at Minnesota Capitol

Video: Fantastic buck movement, and why not all pinch points are created equal

Hunters who have control over the habitat and human pressure put on their hunting land may find success by utilizing a less aggressive hunting style. That never worked for me. I don’t own land and have never hunted a property that’s managed for whitetails.

You don’t need control over hundreds of acres to shoot deer consistently. But it may take a commitment to understanding where deer spend the majority of their time during daylight.

Here are the things I consider the most important to having good hunts within or close to bedding areas during multiple parts of the season.

This big scrape and well-worn trail were found while scouting public property this February in Minnesota. The area is surrounded by habitat diversity that draws deer — a mix of cattails, water, conifers, and agriculture on neighboring private land. That diversity, and the fact that this timber features thick cover at ground level that deer should feel comfortable in during daylight, makes it a location that Morken is excited about for this upcoming fall. (Photo by Eric Morken)
Do things others won’t

The No. 1 key to successfully hunting security areas is doing things many people will not do.

That means scouting when deer are not on most people’s minds, and going to great lengths to make sure your access into an area works when at all possible.

Scouting is a difference-maker when it comes to deciphering bedding areas. I try to know how deer use the area and have a detailed plan regarding the exact tree or ground setup.

What defines a bedding area will differ based on terrain, but in many situations, it’s a location of thick cover into which deer can disappear. Get in there and learn everything you can.

Spring is a perfect time to scout, when deer sign jumps off the ground before green-up. Go wherever you want this time of year with no fear of negatively affecting your future hunts.

Eyes, ears, nose

I have also used late summer and days during the fall to scout security cover, and that’s led to filling tags later in the season.

In my experience, walking all over a bedding area in early September has no effect on the area once you’re back out there in October and November. The Minnesota buck I shot Nov. 19, 2023, came a week after leaving my scent in a bedding area while preparing a tree in which to hunt.

Quit worrying so much about bumping deer, but don’t overdo it. Focus on going in once – to learn everything you need to know to strategically set up in the future.

If most beds are on high-points or on the edges of where thick cover meets open terrain, deer are using their eyes as part of the way to detect danger. Some areas set up for deer to be deeper in security cover where it’s clear they’re using their ears or nose (or both) more so than their eyes.

Understanding how deer are bedding is your indicator of what you can get away with in terms of a setup. I use a hunting saddle instead of a stand, and will often find myself less than 10 feet high in a tree during afternoon sits. You run the risk of bedded deer seeing you by going higher.

In these areas of really thick cover, there often are small openings. Trails consistently intersect here, making them great ambush locations.

If you find this scenario, stop and look. Is there a tree to get into? What wind would work? Is an afternoon hunt doable, or is this just a morning location?

Answer these questions the best you can and then set a waypoint.

Access is never more important

Access in and out of stand locations is important. That’s especially true when you’re hunting security cover.

This buck was shot early on a November morning in 2021 after Morken used a kayak to go up a river and sneak into a tree without bumping deer that feed on an adjacent agriculture field. Doing whatever you can to achieve great access in and out of the stand will pay off over the course of a season.

Perfect access into hunting spots is not reality in all situations. I’ve crossed areas off my list because of it. The toughest-to-access spots might be locations you try once or twice a year. Maybe only during the rut, when deer are simply on their feet more frequently.

Security areas with great access – think water routes such as slipping in the back door to a tree right off a river bank – can often be hunted multiple times throughout the whole season.

I’ve walked through chest-high water in waders, slipped along muddy riverbanks, crawled under downed timber in dry creeks, and taken motor boats and kayaks into hunting locations.

You’ll sometimes wonder why you go through this effort after having fruitless sits, which happens often. But I promise you will get out of it what you put into it over time.

Build up spots and wait for the right conditions

The more spots you have accumulated, the more aggressive you can be throughout the season.

Morken’s daughters inspect a big bed found within cattails while scouting on Feb. 18, 2024. Deer bedding will differ based on terrain and times of the year, but trees like this within cattails are great places to check due to the consistent protection they offer for deer. (Photo by Eric Morken)

I have hundreds of waypoints on onX that I’ve found while scouting during the course of years. That allows me to hunt a bedding area on a morning in September and October when it’s a riskier proposition than doing so during the rut. I’m not pressuring the same area over and over again.

Build up these types of locations over time, and then wait for the right conditions to hunt them. Never ignore what the wind is doing.

Wet, quiet days after a rain can be awesome. So can high winds on an afternoon that masks both sound and movement if you take your time.

Near 40-mph winds allowed me to get inside the edge of a bedding area in South Dakota on an afternoon hunt this past November. It resulted in shooting an 8-pointer at less than 10 yards.

Be strategic about when and how you hunt security areas, but don’t be afraid to take chances. You will make mistakes, and that’s fine. Learn from it. Then adjust.

Hunting is not meant to be easy. It’s OK to enjoy the process of becoming a little better every day as a deer hunter, and that often means learning from failure.

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