Arizona Hunting Club & Outdoor Adventure Group

Deer and Elk Bed Photographs

You here a lot about finding deer and elk beds, but what the heck do they look like and where do you find them?

Most elk beds will be 1/3 of the way down from the top of the hill, especially if they can find a bench that has some thick cover.

Elk and deer love alligator pines like this one because they provide a big canopy with lots of low branches to hide in.

Elk and deer also also love clumps of young trees which are dense and easy to hide in. Pines and oak trees both provide food for the animals while they are bedded down for the day.

These pictures don't do a very good job, but look at the following pictures and try to envision an oval where the elk's body rubs a hole in the ground.

Bull elk pee in the middle of their beds.

Cow elk will pee at the edge of the circle.

A favorite spot for beds is in fingers of canyons or at the top of a drainage like this one.

Be cautious when looking for beds, you never know when you will bump a elk or deer. Scout the woods early in the morning or late in the afternoon, when the animals have traveled downhill into grassy fingers to feed.