How many need a visual?

[Singing Bridge]

Glassing and shining are a low odds proposition when it comes to being effective at scouting my northern conifer swamps... there is no agriculture and the cover is incredibly thick, seeing a target buck on a woods road isn't likely. I only have a few trail cams and they can't keep up with all the bucks and buck bedding areas I hunt.

I keep track of bucks through sign- tracks, droppings, rubs, scrapes, beds... and only when I get very lucky will I get a visual on any significant percentage of the bucks I am hunting.

[PLB]

SB you say droppings, is there any definitive way to tell the difference between mature buck droppings vs does and fawn droppings?? I know this has probably been debated before on here??

[ Post made via Android ]

[NatureBoy]

I try my hardest to get a visual on a shooter every year. If I dont get one on camera or through scouting then I really dont hunt much, just keep scouting until I find something kill worthy.

I like it!

[whitetail007]

I try my hardest to get a visual on a shooter every year. If I dont get one on camera or through scouting then I really dont hunt much, just keep scouting until I find something kill worthy.

that right there is my favorite part of hunting, the hunt. killing a nice buck is just the final chapter.

[Singing Bridge]

SB you say droppings, is there any definitive way to tell the difference between mature buck droppings vs does and fawn droppings?? I know this has probably been debated before on here??

[ Post made via Android ]

Whether it is rubs / scrapes / tracks / beds or droppings, there are no "absolute certainties" when it comes to sign interpretation. However, there are tendencies that can be exploited the majority of the time. When I find droppings, whether they are clumped or not, I really start to pay attention when the average pellet length is 3/4" or longer. I am nearly always able to equate this finding with a potential target buck for me on public land. Most of the bucks 3 1/2 yrs. of age or older in my hunting areas of Michigan and Ontario will have an average pellet size in this range or perhaps even longer. The bucks I am monitoring for the upcoming hunting season have droppings with an average pellet length of this size. I certainly do not just "walk by" this type of sign and ignore it, I have found it to be worthwhile to pay attention to.

The best example of this is from a friend of mine, whose walls of mounts would get any Michigan public land hunter to stand up... he was walking out from bear hunting and took a different route than normal. He stepped onto a small ridge that dumped off into a conifer swamp, and noted several fresh sets of droppings with an average pellet length in the range mentioned above. There were no rubs or clearly visible tracks, but the terrain and topography indicated that a buck was likely bedding on or near the transition line of the ridge and swamp. He put up a stand to cover the route, and the first time he hunted it he arrowed a 3 1/2 year old staging out of the bedding area.

We are certainly not the only ones that pay attention to this type of sign, but we are in the minority.

[PLB]

SB you say droppings, is there any definitive way to tell the difference between mature buck droppings vs does and fawn droppings?? I know this has probably been debated before on here??

[ Post made via Android ]

Whether it is rubs / scrapes / tracks / beds or droppings, there are no "absolute certainties" when it comes to sign interpretation. However, there are tendencies that can be exploited the majority of the time. When I find droppings, whether they are clumped or not, I really start to pay attention when the average pellet length is 3/4" or longer. I am nearly always able to equate this finding with a potential target buck for me on public land. Most of the bucks 3 1/2 yrs. of age or older in my hunting areas of Michigan and Ontario will have an average pellet size in this range or perhaps even longer. The bucks I am monitoring for the upcoming hunting season have droppings with an average pellet length of this size. I certainly do not just "walk by" this type of sign and ignore it, I have found it to be worthwhile to pay attention to.

The best example of this is from a friend of mine, whose walls of mounts would get any Michigan public land hunter to stand up... he was walking out from bear hunting and took a different route than normal. He stepped onto a small ridge that dumped off into a conifer swamp, and noted several fresh sets of droppings with an average pellet length in the range mentioned above. There were no rubs or clearly visible tracks, but the terrain and topography indicated that a buck likely bedding on or near the transition line of the ridge and swamp. He put up a stand to cover the route, and the first time he hunted it he arrowed a 3 1/2 year old staging out of the bedding area.

We are certainly not the only ones that pay attention to this type of sign, but we are in the minority.

Thanks SB!!

[bonemonger]

never worried about a visual, i have 5 farms i hunt and there is always a good one on all them.

[NatureBoy]

never worried about a visual, i have 5 farms i hunt and there is always a good one on all them.

Some guys have all the luck.

[virginiashadow]

In the 12 years I have hunted public federal land I have only had one year where I had a visual on a buck before the season began. That was in 2004 and it was only a 2.5 year old 7 point, maybe 75 inches. I arrowed that buck the first week of the season.

Spotlighting is illegal here and the perimeter of the base has been seriously tightened down due to 9/11. That means you can't access the base to scout before sundown as all scouting has to be done prior to 4pm and only at specified times throughout the year. Trail cameras are also illegal on the base. And to further complicate my ability to get a visual is a virtual lack of crop fields. So what does that all mean? Getting a visual is nearly impossible in the thicker woods with no crop fields.

Everything I do is based on scouting and attempting to read the sign and other hunters.

[whitetail007]

anyone ever have worries about a buck being to visible?

[Milk Weed Seed]

I would stop spending money on trail cameras if I wasn't getting a visual on bucks I want to kill. Reading some of the posts, I see how it could be difficult to take an inventory. But ever since I started hunting, trying to find whats out there was and still is most of he fun. I would feel unprepared if I didn't have a few target bucks at my closest spots.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Bigdaddy-yoyo]

SB you say droppings, is there any definitive way to tell the difference between mature buck droppings vs does and fawn droppings?? I know this has probably been debated before on here??

[ Post made via Android ]

Whether it is rubs / scrapes / tracks / beds or droppings, there are no "absolute certainties" when it comes to sign interpretation. However, there are tendencies that can be exploited the majority of the time. When I find droppings, whether they are clumped or not, I really start to pay attention when the average pellet length is 3/4" or longer. I am nearly always able to equate this finding with a potential target buck for me on public land. Most of the bucks 3 1/2 yrs. of age or older in my hunting areas of Michigan and Ontario will have an average pellet size in this range or perhaps even longer. The bucks I am monitoring for the upcoming hunting season have droppings with an average pellet length of this size. I certainly do not just "walk by" this type of sign and ignore it, I have found it to be worthwhile to pay attention to.

The best example of this is from a friend of mine, whose walls of mounts would get any Michigan public land hunter to stand up... he was walking out from bear hunting and took a different route than normal. He stepped onto a small ridge that dumped off into a conifer swamp, and noted several fresh sets of droppings with an average pellet length in the range mentioned above. There were no rubs or clearly visible tracks, but the terrain and topography indicated that a buck likely bedding on or near the transition line of the ridge and swamp. He put up a stand to cover the route, and the first time he hunted it he arrowed a 3 1/2 year old staging out of the bedding area.

We are certainly not the only ones that pay attention to this type of sign, but we are in the minority.

Thanks SB!!

Good Post SB........thanks for the info

[dan]

I don't need to physically see a big buck to know one is around... Seeing them is great, and should add confidence ( although during season I have noticed some people get frustrated at seeing but not killing. I am always happy to see good bucks ) However, tracks, rubs, and other sign can tell you a big buck is an an area without ever laying eyes on it.

[PK_]

A big track and some good rubs is more than enough for me.

[UntouchableNess]

I think it was the 2009 season that I had a couple of bucks on trailcam that I vowed I would kill, nothing less would tempt me.

I sat so many hours in the stand that year that I honestly did physical damage to where one sits (pressure sores). I passed Scar twice, a buck I had history with (should post that saga), because I was intent on "better" bucks.

Since then, I've realized that bucks will drift through around the rut, most times at night, odds of killing them are lotto-esque. So I try to target what I think is a good or above average buck for my area, and enjoy the hunt.