How To Create Better Bedding Cover

Ask ten hunters what makes a great deer property, and most will start talking about food - food plots, ag fields, acorns, and browse. Food is important. There's no question about that, but if you've ever hunted a property with great food and very few mature bucks, you've already learned an important lesson – food alone doesn’t hold deer, cover does. More specifically, bedding cover. 

If deer don't feel secure spending time on your property during daylight hours, they'll often feed there and spend the rest of their time somewhere else. That's why improving bedding cover is one of the most effective habitat projects a landowner can take on. 

The good news is that creating better bedding cover doesn't always require expensive equipment or massive acreage. 

What is Bedding Cover? 

At its simplest, bedding cover is any area where deer feel secure enough to spend extended periods of time resting. For mature bucks, security is usually the key factor. A bedding area doesn't need to provide food, and it doesn’t need to look pretty. It just needs to provide enough cover for deer to avoid danger while still allowing them to monitor their surroundings. 

That's why some of the best bedding cover often looks messy to people. What appears overgrown, neglected, or difficult to walk through may look perfect to a mature buck. 

Not All Cover Is Good Bedding Cover 

This is where many landowners get tripped up. A property may have plenty of trees and still offer very little bedding cover. 

Walk through a mature hardwood stand and you'll often notice how easy it is to see long distances through the woods. While deer may travel through those areas, they rarely provide the security mature bucks are looking for during daylight hours. 

Good bedding cover usually exists much closer to the ground. Think about things like 

• Young trees

• Regenerating clearcuts

• Native grasses

• Briars

• Shrubs

• Early successional habitat

These areas provide visual screening at a deer's level while making predators and human intrusion easier to detect. 

Sunlight Creates Cover 

A huge misconception in habitat management is that cover comes from planting something. Sometimes it does, but more often cover comes from sunlight. 

When sunlight reaches the forest floor, vegetation responds. Trees begin growing, brush develops, and native vegetation grows. Without sunlight, very little of that happens. 

One of the best methods of creating bedding cover is hinge cutting. Smaller trees, maybe 8 inches in diameter or less, are perfect candidates. Cutting them 3/4ths of the way through and about 3-4 foot from the base creates ground cover, improves sunlight penetration, and the top remaining connected to the trunk lets the tree continue to produce the woody browse that deer love. Remember if the goal is deer bedding, make sure this is being done in areas that receive no pressure and is naturally a likely area for bedding.  

That's why many habitat improvement projects focus on opening the canopy rather than planting new vegetation. 

Edge Feathering Creates Immediate Benefits 

If you've never heard the term "edge feathering", the concept is simple. Instead of having a hard transition between a field and timber, trees along the edge are cut or hinged to create a gradual transition zone. 

The result is thicker cover, increased browse, and more security along field edges. Deer naturally gravitate toward these transition areas because they provide both cover and easy access to food. 

Don’t Put Bedding Everywhere 

This may sound strange in an article about creating bedding cover, but it's important. Many landowners try to improve every acre of the property at the same time. The result is often a property that's difficult to hunt. Good bedding cover works best when it's part of a larger plan. 

You still need travel routes, food sources, access routes, and huntable transitions. You don’t want to create a property that is completely impenetrable. You want a property with secure areas that encourage deer to spend more time where you can effectively hunt them. 

Small Properties Can Still Benefit 

One of the biggest myths in habitat management is that bedding improvements only matter on large properties, but that’s not true. Even a few acres of quality cover can influence how deer use a property. In many cases, smaller properties benefit the most because cover is often the limiting factor. 

You may not hold every mature buck in the neighborhood, but creating secure bedding cover can dramatically increase the amount of daylight deer activity you experience. 

Bedding Cover and Food Plots Work Together 

This is where many habitat improvements start paying off. A food plot provides a reason for deer to visit. Bedding cover provides a reason for deer to stay. 

When the two are located near one another, deer often spend more time on the property and move shorter distances between security and food. In my experience, the best food plots are the ones with the best balance of food and cover. 

Think Like A Deer 

One of the easiest ways to evaluate bedding cover is to stop thinking like a landowner and start thinking like a deer. Ask yourself 

• Would I feel secure spending all day here?

• Can I see danger approaching?

• Can danger see me?

• Is there an easy escape route?

The areas that answer those questions well are often the areas deer choose for bedding. 

Creating better bedding cover is one of the most effective ways to improve deer habitat. While food plots attract deer, quality bedding cover helps keep them on the property during daylight hours. By increasing sunlight to the forest floor, encouraging young vegetation, improving edge habitat, and creating secure areas for deer to rest, landowners can build properties that hold more deer and provide better hunting opportunities.