Mature deer & less sign

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Bowhunter4life
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Re: Mature deer & less sign

Unread postby Bowhunter4life » Thu Apr 07, 2016 2:08 pm

hunter10 wrote:Last night I located 2 beds with hair on a ridge behind the farmers barns where I don't think they get much pressure. The beds overlook a swamp. There was no rubs in or around the beds.. How can I determine if it's a buck or doe spot. There was ample trees a buck could of rubbed but it looks too good to be doe..

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You should be able to locate some tracks in that area. Location, in other words does that area recieve much pressure? Limbs or twigs snapped off the trees located near the bed? Size of fresh droppings? A few little things that can help you piece this together.

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hunter10
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Re: Mature deer & less sign

Unread postby hunter10 » Thu Apr 07, 2016 10:11 pm

I could not fully define any forsure buck track due to the recent large rain fall.. Every track looked big. As for pressure.. I have never hunted this ridge and besides the farmer planting or harvesting on the backside of that picture, I don't think it gets too much pressure. Only reason I noticed the bed was hair in the 2 of them

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Lockdown
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Re: Mature deer & less sign

Unread postby Lockdown » Sun Sep 10, 2017 4:45 pm

bump
Hatchetman
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Re: Mature deer & less sign

Unread postby Hatchetman » Mon Sep 11, 2017 12:30 am

In a nutshell, I've always believed the more a buck is pressured the less sign he will leave. This pertains mainly to big bucks during their travels.
As far as right by their beds, I think a lot has to do with the type of trees in the beds close proximity.
Example: Hardwood ridge with a bed on a finger with maybe an old windfall right there. Could be very little good rubbing trees close by. Could be a 5 yo bedding there regularly just no desirable trees close by??
I see this when I hunt SE Mn a lot. Makes it tough to determine buck's size. You have to rely on tracks which is also tough in a heavy leaf covered area with hard ground :think:

Where I live, in eastern central Wi. we have a good amount of swamp mixed in with our hardwoods. If a big buck is bedding in cattail/ tag alder area like we have, there will be rubs 80% of the time on those tags leading into his bed or right in it. Especially if its a small, deer sized hump surrounded by water and cattails. They just can't seem to resist rubbing on those tags.
I'm not so concerned about rub size, cause tags normally are 1.5 - 2" max. but I closely look at any ticking of tines or main beam ends that may be only leaving a slight mark on surrounding tag stems. Some of these tags you will see years of old rub scars on, which obviously is a good sign. I really like the bed if it is very secluded and singular meaning only room for one buck.

On a side note on big buck sign, if we're talking big rubs, In my area those big, impressive,4-8" tree, rubs almost always only show up within a few days of our gun opener. (Saturday before thanksgiving) for some reason. Any one else see this?
I always thought this might be some big buck from out of the area.?? Then again it, it's probably a big buck that was right under my nose all bow season and he , in his own way is kinda just flipping me off!! :roll:
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<DK>
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Re: Mature deer & less sign

Unread postby <DK> » Mon Sep 11, 2017 5:08 am

DaveT1963 wrote:Ive seen it both ways.... I think it is more of an individual characteristic and influenced by buck/doe ratio and age structure of the herd. This is in regard to rubs and scrapes. Big bucks still leave tracks and poop.... It's not whether they leave sign, it's whether we can see and interpret it.

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I agree w this. Seems to be the trend the further I search different areas or terrain. Thanks to the Beast and BH4L himself all I care about is tracks, scat and size of the bed. A rub would definitely make a guy feel more confident hut the key there reading when they are made. Though even this off season I asked for advice about a spot w extreme amount of sign, to the point where it felt odd bc it literally painted the picture too well. Have not found out the full story yet but I assume its bc of the density.
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stash59
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Re: Mature deer & less sign

Unread postby stash59 » Mon Sep 11, 2017 5:48 am

An area I scouted early this summer. Had only a handful of very small rubs mixed in the bedding area. But a strip of aspens that average 2 1/2" in diameter. Has tons of rubs from many years mixed through it. Plenty at heights that indicate 3.5+ YO bucks. This strip ranges from 75 - 300 yards from the actual beds.
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