That may be true in MS about 30 yards, but its not in ND. Most professors have a lot of book time and little field time from what I have seen.

I would be concerned the straw would keep native vegetation from growing in the spring. Maybe the straw is not too thick.

I been going from an open slate trying to create bedding. Let the goldenrod take over, some dogwood and been splattering Norway spruce Xmas trees.. Norway spruce cause deer don't eat them. Roughly 4 acres of bedding.

And on either side of the bedding bulletproof access to acre food plots that are wrung with apple and pear trees and another layer of chestnut and white oak...

Orlando. I only put out 3 small spots for deer to bed in. Like a 4x4 foot area.

If I was serious about creating bedding aeas for deer I would plant several aeas of switchgrass that was maintained to keep woody growth and unwanted weeds and such under control In other words do not let it go back to weeds I have in my area never seen more deer bedding preference habitat than solid stands of switchgrass And about all that is needed to keep therm active
is some spot spaying and perhaps mowing every 2 to 4 years . ALSO those same fields ae magnets to trap near by for foxes and coyotes .

W Side. This is woodlands (pics), I don't think switchgrass would do very well.

Interesting adventure.

Its certainly worth a try.

Don’t know if ragweed will grow up there, but plant that and you’ll have some serious deer bedding areas.

Don't want weeds. Goal is woody browse and secure bedding area.
Surrounded by corn,sunflowers, beans and sugarbeets. My foodplots keep them here in the fall,early wintertime.

I was wondering how good hinge cutting really works for bedding. Are you wanting them to bed there during the winter or is this to improve during the summer/fall too?

JP, I started hinge cutting bout 15 years ago. However, nothing seemed to have any benefit for browse.
I only do it now to create (structure).
If that makes sense?

I agree that you are dealing with wooded area But a little bit of creative activity with a small dozer could give you the room to plant some .25 to .50 acre areas and than clear some pathways connecting them together plant The bedding cover does not need to be a big square area in order to have deer use it A bunch of smaller sized patches of cover along with the new growth
browse created by opening the areas at the edge of a bunch of small switchgrass spots would hold deer It would be the same a if you had a harvested cornfields that has some Johnson Grass patches in i Deer will seek out those out of the way spots of heavier cover then the immediate area and bed there It becomes the ae as hunting pheasant rabbit or quail the game always seeks out the heavier cover Took another look at your pictures and I see places that are open enough that with some removal of smaller size trees you would have clearings that would be 12 x12 of maybe even larger And as I mentioned opening those spots would generate new growth browse .Add a 10 foot wide pathway connecting 5 or 6 12x12 places of solid switchgrass would give a deer lots of cover to hang out in I am not saying it is the best way to go But rather one way to look at getting what you want to create some bedding cover near food plots and near to stands in place to hunt .

As of now 151, grass of any kind are not gonna happen. I just bowhunt for deer and most of my stands are hung in thick timbered travel corridors (I like shots close).

So your deer bed in fallen trees and you make straw beds for them? Or is the straw food for them to get attracted to the trees?

Wanna be. Deer don't eat straw (wheat). At least I've never seen it.
I just do it for fun in a couple very select spots.
This is northern MN. Winters can be brutal. The straw beds I put out are in heavy overhead canopy.
Been doing it for 15ish years. Never heard of it done before I started. Posted it on a few forums and now, hunting celebs are doing it.
No idea how well it would work down south but in cold county
, it works great..
It's seems important to do it in a spot that just feels right.. experience is learned here.
This pic I will gauretee will be a Hotspot for years as long as the overhead canopy doesn't drop and ruin it.

So aftr 15 years are you putting the straw where the deer have told you they want to be or are you choosing sites that you hope they wiill adopt?

Bryce

Tell the truth. You made those hoping to get a pic of Sasquatch so you can get on Tv!
Heck that team is squatch hunters are making millions!! I bet those are birthing beds for female Sasquatches

Which celebrities are making straw filled lean tos?

Nice to see how others approach bedding areas

Bryce, it's just a fun project I do.
I'm guessing I've made 50ish straw beds over the years. As long as it's in a good spot, the deer use them heavily.
Have got 2 beds 30 yards out the back window. Does n fawns use them all the time. Flat ground and some kind of backing ( log) seems to be important.