How important is it to you to find sign? Rubs, scrapes, trails, etc...? when you enter a piece of woods, are you hell bent on finding these things before you will hunt that are? say if you find a spot like a swamp or a strip of hardwoods mix in the middle of a cutover or thick pines or even select cut pines or just a spot that opens up and runs for a long stretch or where ever there is a change in timber....small thick cutover/pines into taller pines or swamp.....we all know that deer love these edges or changes, but what if there is very little or no defined sign of deer? do you still hunt it and believe that deer will come thru? I have hunted sign on these new properties and seen very little, although I did take another doe today, I still don't see the deer that are leaving this sign....but I see way better looking spots that have no sign..they just look well, deery to me and I wonder why the sign is not there...should I hunt just because I think they should be there? do deer always leave sign or can they just walk thru like ghost?
IMO, sign is good. Sightings are better. I have a place I hunt that will be GOOD for the next month - but all you'll find are tracks. And a dinky rub here and there. BUT - we've seen the big deer there, year in and year out.
Some of those spots that look deery but lack sign might be different in a couple of weeks. Be patient and give them a go.
If there is not a concentration of rubs and scrapes close together, or a huge scrape, I really don't pay it much attention other than maybe the height of the rub and size of tree it is on.
so Jeff, what types of terrain are you hunting? let me tell you what I got at one property and you tell me what you would do.....basically it's all cutover that's now growing into pines with broom straw, very thick. there are swamps that are left with big trees and hardwoods because they couldn't cut them when they timbered...I see a lot of sign on the man made paths that we have, but actually in the woods there is little sign..but the these swamps and strips of big timber look ideal for them to travel in, are they traveling these places and just not leaving sign? or will the sign come in the next 2 weeks? If someone could tell me how to draw a line around the property and download it off google earth I will post it.
Hunting sign is becoming less and less important to me. Hunting sign in the right spot is the "right stuff". Last night I was hunting a spot that I picked off a topo map. Luckily when I got there I found small scrapes all over and one large rub. I hunted off that run-way and put it all over my left shoulder, just in case a buck showed. Sure enough, 10 minutes to sundown that buck comes through and rubs that tree and sniffs some of those scrapes. Right place and right sign=very interesting. Wrong place and right sign=not really interesting to me.
I want to see sign. I can have all the funnels & terrain features, but if no deer live there, so what. The 2 states I hunt seem like worlds apart. PA ton of deer, sign found nearly everywhere, so you have to focus on terrain or food to pick your spots. OH few deer, sign VERY tough to come by (compared to what I am used to). But you find the sign, you WILL find the deer. BUT IMO because there are less deer, the bucks travel more so you can also hunt terrain, between areas of sign & do well.
I already know the areas I hunt hold deer,as a result, I pay little attention to sign. When I started hunting terrain instead of sign, things got good. Terrain can be as simple as a downed fence, shelf on a ridge, or a small funnel down wind of a doe bedding area. Knowing how deer, especially mature bucks use terrain is a huge asset that is best learned with experience in the woods. I used to hunt some heavily pastured timber that would literally be void of any deer sign when I set out the stands . I had to completely rely on the terrain in picking stand sites. I learned a lot from that experience, and had some great hunts when the cows were removed.
this is really good help guys...this is my first yr in this property and it's 1500 acs with tons of places for them to bed, but there are about 4 or 5 decent sized swamps that were left when they cut the place b/c they couldn't get in there...these swamps are currently dry...I find most of the scrapes and rubs along the bush hog paths, but I know that is likely not where a mature buck will leave his mark..am I correct in trying locate the right swamp in and around these thick cutovers and pines...? will they be coming to those at some point during the rut..another hunter yesterday saw a nice 135" 8 in the biggest swamp eating acorns.. I don't think that was pot luck...I hunted the river yetserday and yes there is sign there, but I have only seen does... I rarely see more than two deer at a time, most are by themselves and really close to dark, even the does.. they are pressured. help me figure out the right terrain. there are no ravines or saddles or benches, just low swamp bottoms and flat ground with thick pines and cutovers bordering the swamps....I walk through the swamps and see an occasional rub and the occassional scrape, and NO trails...but see where the swamps will narrow and get wider within the thick pines and cutovers...can anyone tell me how to post a still shot from google earth?
1) Control Print Screen 2) Paste it into the Paint program 3) upload it to Photobucket or something 4) Post it!
Its a good thing I don't hunt sign, or I'd never hunt in Oct. I don't know what it is about where I hunt...but I don't see much sign at all until the rut really gets kicking. I have not seen a rub or scrape yet here at my house. Of course I'm not stomping all over looking for it either. The area's I have my stands located will produce sign next month for sure. I hunt terrain more than sign, on both properties - but don't ignore sign if I see it. I'll evaluate it and decide then.
