Hot/Warm sign?

[Z7WIBoy]

I was watching Dan's video's again last night - it was said before but you pick up something new every time you watch them. It is mentioned scouting with stand on back and if there is hot sign or warm sign setup. Based off the season stages (early, rut, and late) what would you consider hot/warm sign for each stage? I would like to hear info on marsh, farm, and hill countries if you wouldn't mind sharing.
Thanks in advance

[Hunter74]

I think more what Dan was getting at in the video is more like sneaking in and scouting close to where you know or suspect a buck is bedding and if you find hot sign like fresh tracks and rubs set up...

It's been my findings most of the time that in or around the rut if your finding and setting up on hot sign such as rubs and scrapes your already behind the action...

In the rut finding hot doe sign and were there at could be productive

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[dan]

That was actually one of my expartners who pushed to put that in the DVD. Bare in mind, that he was supposed to just be a video editor, and had never shot a P&Y buck ever at the point of the 1st DVD release...
I disagree with the statment of hunting hot sign... and that shouldn't of went in that DVD. I set up on hot sign immeadiatly if I find it scouting a transition or area where I expect daylight movement, however, I would not suggest going into one of your better pre-scouted spots and then leaving cause there is not much sign... Some of the biggest bucks I have shot, or should I say the oldest ones, did not leave much sign. The majority of rubs and scrapes are put down by 2 & 3 year old deer. The older they get the less they leave sign, and if they are bedding in a certain area, a lot of the younger bucks that leave the sign will stay away... aLL BUCKS RUB AND MAKE SCRAPES, but the older ones seem to do it less, and seem to do it less by there bedding areas.
My biggest buck scores in the 180's and I watched it from a distance use the same bed often over a 2 year period, and watched another big buck use that bed. I picked up one of his sheds in the bed, and ended up shooting him right in that bed... There was never a rub or scrape within 100 yards.

[Zap]

So other than a sighting, large fresh tracks would be the best hot sign?

[Z7WIBoy]

Thanks for the info - greatly appreciated.

[dan]

So other than a sighting, large fresh tracks would be the best hot sign?

Fresh Tracks are the best hot sign... But they are not alway easy to see.

[PLB]

I see your old buddies call themselves NEXTBUK outdoors now??

[Swampthing]

I see your old buddies call themselves NEXTBUK outdoors now??

Yes, and did you see the article in Bowhunting World. One of them has an article in the November issue.

[ Post made via Android ]

[BigHunt]

I see your old buddies call themselves NEXTBUK outdoors now??

ya i made a thread on that

[Zap]

So.......fresh tracks and fresh droppings.

You find some then what?

Try to follow back close to bedding?

[BackWoodsHunter]

This is an interesting concept and topic and it depends a lot I think on your goals what you are hunting. I have yet to kill a "big buck" and it's not even my goal. I am trying to get on deer, maybe kill one, and do some filming here and there. When I am going in blind and scouting for fresh sign in areas I haven't pre set I look for spots that seem to have a lot of deer activity and activity that is recent. If I see a spot with a lot of use it just kind of tells you that its being used fairly regularly. I try to back track the sign a ways, I usually have a map too. And get further from the sign and closer to where ever it is the deer are coming from and get set up. I had a lot of success this season on a couple hunts in different spots doing this.

[moondoondude]

"Hot" sign to me is visually observing a deer do something - at that very moment. The hottest sign to me is the freshest sign - and nothing is fresher than the present. If I can make visual contact with an animal that I am pursuing, I almost always end up killing him. There are a couple reasons why. Part of it is confidence, observing something gives me an extra mental edge I think. Also, when you observe an animal, particularly if you can see that animal travelling or staging in a certain area, you can move in on them. A lot of times from a simple "encounter" or sighting you can infer where that animal was coming from and make a plan that should be put into action as soon as possible. I almost always use hot sign when hunting... unless the wind/elements/surrounding of the animal absolutely prevents me from doing so. I have killed my last 3 or 4 big bucks interpreting and/or using hot sign - no guessing and/or random spots. I had a plan with each - two years ago the plan came through in maybe one or two hunts. Last year the plan worked the first hunt. This year I couldn't even put a number on how many times I tried until the plan worked.

As for "warm" sign I interpret that as older sign - sign that tells me a buck or deer for that matter has been here recently, but I don't know exactly when. The best warm sign I can find is antlers on the ground. Poop is good warm sign too, no pun intended. That tells me a buck was here at some time or another - and sometimes you can interpret why he was there. If you find a shed in some high ground in a swamp, you can infer he was probably bedding there. If you find an antler laying in your food plot, the buck was probably eating there. Not too tough to figure out.

[ozzz]

That was actually one of my expartners who pushed to put that in the DVD. Bare in mind, that he was supposed to just be a video editor, and had never shot a P&Y buck ever at the point of the 1st DVD release...
I disagree with the statment of hunting hot sign... and that shouldn't of went in that DVD. I set up on hot sign immeadiatly if I find it scouting a transition or area where I expect daylight movement, however, I would not suggest going into one of your better pre-scouted spots and then leaving cause there is not much sign... Some of the biggest bucks I have shot, or should I say the oldest ones, did not leave much sign. The majority of rubs and scrapes are put down by 2 & 3 year old deer. The older they get the less they leave sign, and if they are bedding in a certain area, a lot of the younger bucks that leave the sign will stay away... aLL BUCKS RUB AND MAKE SCRAPES, but the older ones seem to do it less, and seem to do it less by there bedding areas.
My biggest buck scores in the 180's and I watched it from a distance use the same bed often over a 2 year period, and watched another big buck use that bed. I picked up one of his sheds in the bed, and ended up shooting him right in that bed... There was never a rub or scrape within 100 yards.

So can you elaborate on how you get on to these types of areas without the sign?

[Zap]

"Hot" sign to me is visually observing a deer do something - at that very moment. The hottest sign to me is the freshest sign - and nothing is fresher than the present. If I can make visual contact with an animal that I am pursuing, I almost always end up killing him. There are a couple reasons why. Part of it is confidence, observing something gives me an extra mental edge I think. Also, when you observe an animal, particularly if you can see that animal travelling or staging in a certain area, you can move in on them. A lot of times from a simple "encounter" or sighting you can infer where that animal was coming from and make a plan that should be put into action as soon as possible. I almost always use hot sign when hunting... unless the wind/elements/surrounding of the animal absolutely prevents me from doing so. I have killed my last 3 or 4 big bucks interpreting and/or using hot sign - no guessing and/or random spots. I had a plan with each - two years ago the plan came through in maybe one or two hunts. Last year the plan worked the first hunt. This year I couldn't even put a number on how many times I tried until the plan worked.

As for "warm" sign I interpret that as older sign - sign that tells me a buck or deer for that matter has been here recently, but I don't know exactly when. The best warm sign I can find is antlers on the ground. Poop is good warm sign too, no pun intended. That tells me a buck was here at some time or another - and sometimes you can interpret why he was there. If you find a shed in some high ground in a swamp, you can infer he was probably bedding there. If you find an antler laying in your food plot, the buck was probably eating there. Not too tough to figure out.

Good stuff.

[Zap]

I remember walking in the woods with a fellow, looking for good fresh sign to hunt.

We would come across droppings....I picked the up to squeeze and see how fresh they were..

Man he looked at me like I was nuts....