Had it narrowed down to a few spots. Most came up with deer track sign and zero human sign, but no buck activity. Went into a spot I went in during an evening in my only previous visit. Saw a rub that wasn’t there two weeks ago. Couple steps later and I could hear that I bumped one. So I did what any beast would do and followed the noise.
And here’s what I found... a little buck’s batchelor pad, not 40 yards from where I stopped the first time.
The black muck was like 8 inches thick of wet cement before hitting solid ground. No sane human would go there. Played “follow the rub line” and led me right to his bedroom. More rubs and some “hot” sign. Like a steamer.
This shows how much high ground was there. Like 6 inches. Not going to see that on a topo!
Last, Dan often says that you understand why it’s a buck bed when you get in there. Now I know too. This is the view in panorama. Can see and smell on all sides.
I think I will let his rubs get bigger before going back next year or the year after. Nobody else has been there and nobody else knows where his trails converge. There are hundreds of doe trails in the place, but only one spot that matters. And he’s not the first to have lived there. Somebody much bigger lived there before.
I know it might seem weird to get excited about a bed, but it’s a first for me.
Now I’m going to private today where a buddy pulled cam pics of a couple of decent (for me) eights.
Good luck everyone.