What's the sign that made you set up today?

[DhD]

Since everyone is always suggesting finding and hunting hot sign, let's see some real time pictures and explanations of the sign that made you set up recently. What made you set up where you did today?

[greenhorndave]

I’m in.

I’ll report back when I find it shortly.

[DhD]

I’m in.

I’ll report back when I find it shortly.

Excellent! I think this could be a really cool source of information if some people jump in.

[seazofcheeze]

This was Wednesday. A nice 10 pointer tending a hot doe. Cant get much hotter than a visual of a target animal.

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[Kraftd]

Fresh tall rubs in a bedding funnel area and pre gun season action in and around the next set of bedding areas out from the one I’m downwind if that may have loaded this one up. Didn’t get an arrow out yet and two fawns came under me.

[Boogieman1]

In all seriousness the sign that determined where I hunted this morning was a neon flashing fresh donuts. I went to bed early dog tired and woke up a lil late starving to death. I live in in small rural town USA. The kinda place u better make dang sure u got gas for a morning hunt cause they don’t open til 7 and there pumps don’t take credit cards. My hunt location boiled down to a 4 way stop sign. A left would have taken me to better areas but my stomach was sounding like a grunt tube and the only place open at 4:30 for breakfast is a donut shop to the right. So I adjusted my tactics accordingly! No buck sightings but the donuts were 5 star and that makes for a great day.

[MikeK]

In all seriousness the sign that determined where I hunted this morning was a neon flashing fresh donuts. I went to bed early dog tired and woke up a lil late starving to death. I live in in small rural town USA. The kinda place u better make dang sure u got gas for a morning hunt cause they don’t open til 7 and there pumps don’t take credit cards. My hunt location boiled down to a 4 way stop sign. A left would have taken me to better areas but my stomach was sounding like a grunt tube and the only place open at 4:30 for breakfast is a donut shop to the right. So I adjusted my tactics accordingly! No buck sightings but the donuts were 5 star and that makes for a great day.

I like your way of thinking.

[greenhorndave]

Post detailing the hunt...
viewtopic.php?p=805208#p805241

This rub was representative of about 4 others in a rub line on a trail that crossed a point splitting two swampy areas. Shavings still on the snow. Didn't take pics of the tracks and poo, but they were fresh enough to want me to set up. The linked post and one below it detail the outcome.

But I was right to set up on it even though it didn't work out.

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Oh... This one wasn't far from it, maybe 300 yards. Oozing sap.

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[mauser06]

Drag marks leading to a gut pile!



No joke..... Wednesday evening my buddy went to a ridge and killed a good 10 point.

I missed a buck there on November 2nd and jumped his buck while I was setting up my stand. I've seen several other bucks all pass through that area. Yesterday while scouting for fresh sign, I found a buck really near by.


The area is littered with rubs and scrapes. I have NO idea what the draw is. On a topo, it is essentially the hilltop. Live bucks don't lie. Kill them where they are during daylight.



My best guess is it's doe bedding and feeding and the bucks are thick...they just wander through there searching. Really interesting spot because sightings can be frequent...but frustrating as there's no real funnel and really doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason where they move through.


Read my post "if it can go wrong" if you'd like to hear how my hunt went lol.

[Boogieman1]

Drag marks leading to a gut pile!



No joke..... Wednesday evening my buddy went to a ridge and killed a good 10 point.

I missed a buck there on November 2nd and jumped his buck while I was setting up my stand. I've seen several other bucks all pass through that area. Yesterday while scouting for fresh sign, I found a buck really near by.


The area is littered with rubs and scrapes. I have NO idea what the draw is. On a topo, it is essentially the hilltop. Live bucks don't lie. Kill them where they are during daylight.



My best guess is it's doe bedding and feeding and the bucks are thick...they just wander through there searching. Really interesting spot because sightings can be frequent...but frustrating as there's no real funnel and really doesn't seem to be a rhyme or reason where they move through.


Read my post "if it can go wrong" if you'd like to hear how my hunt went lol.

Curious if you have prior history with this spot. Meaning is it a one time fluke for the area or historically it will always be hot around the same time frame reguardless of snow or the freshest of sign. In what I have witnessed those hilltops are the best when there is a lot of side hill drainages at play. Just easier for em to cruise the top vs constantly going up and down around drainage headers. Great find none the less!

[mauser06]

Well, I have a little bit of history which ultimately led me to this area.

I've passed through the area at various elevations looking for bear. I marked some areas on my GPS that looked hot. Last archery bear I was coming through along the "military crest" and came upon a great buck locked down with a doe. Well, my buck tag was filled. I chased him off his bed so I could mark it on my GPS lol. Marked his bed...marked his scrape...proceeded to follow him and Mark his 2nd bed lol.


It's about an hour from my house one way drive....but, I LOVE the habitat...it gets some pressure but not near what my area does in archery....the genetics I know are awesome for big woods bucks.

So I never really did any deer hunting or scouting there....but, shots on 3 mature bucks in A couple of weeks (I think it was October 24th when I first hunted there this year)....I think I am on to something. Plus, my buddies kill and a few other sightings and more 2.5yos than I can count...

I avoided the hill top itself because...well..it's a hill top. Mature bucks are supposed to be at that top 1/3rd elevation. And really, the first one that ducked was cruising that elevation to a tee...and when I was busted by the 10 my buddy ultimately killed, he was cruising the top 1/3rd and just ran into me...


I think the hilltop itself is not because of the cover and food.

My only "issue" may be is if they are only there this year because of acorns....but judging by historical sign, I think it's always gunna be hot. If a tree doesn't have a fresh rub, it has an old one lol.


I plan to devote the rest of the seasons in the area and then really tear it apart scouting post season....right after the season I wanna get all my cameras out....the general area is large...and if a buck survives opening morning of gun season, he's likely to get very old. Lots of ground and lots of hidey holes.


Ive been working to get to a point where I can confidently go hunt any day of the season and know I can get on a mature buck. I feel like this season and last taught me I'm heading in the right direction. Last year I tagged out opening day in a Marsh I thoroughly scouted years prior. The rut phases have always been my downfall....and hopefully now I am onto something...

Weirdest part of the season is the fact I never had a mature doe in view from stand. Everything has had antlers and the last couple of days I've seen fawns wandering lonely.


As far as snow and sign, really, with light snow there was NOT much to right home about....anywhere...but for whatever reason that particular 100yd area seems to be where bucks are going through....


Forgot...best part of it is it's within 250yds of the truck. Not kidding. My stand today was 234.5yds from my truck. There is a old logging road at the truck that I can easily spot check that area.

I don't wanna blow it up early though. Next year I may throw an early sit at it just because I know there's good buck bedding and the acorns it may be one of those spots that's good all season...the rubs and scrapes nov2nd certainly showed me bucks where there early this year....but if the bucks are there searching for does, I don't wanna pressure it early...1 hunt and done till they start cruising hard. Then I think I can get away with pressuring it to a certain extent. ..no joke I could see my buddies boot tracks and drag marks from my tree today.

[DhD]

This has been awesome so far, really good stuff folks!

[treeroot]

20191117_162105.jpg

I setup here on Sunday. We had a NE wind Saturday and a SE wind Sunday which isn't a normal wind for my area. This is on private ground.

Normally I wouldn't have went to this spot, but once I entered the property I could see where someone trespassed and basically walked the whole thing a day before. The choice was either find sign or go home there wasn't daylight left to find different ground.

I remembered finding two faintly used buck beds on the leeward side of the hill. When I found them last year I chalked them up to either a east wind, or rut bed. On a last ditch effort I made my way around the hill keeping the wind in my face.
Once getting closer I came into heavily used doe trails and what looked like an area doe where browsing around in. If you zoom in you'll see tracks essentially everywhere. I cut a set of decent tracks heading towards where I found the beds. The snow had a crusty ice layer on top and I took my time covering the last 100 yards moving during the wind gusts. I would've liked getting another 50 yards but I was already risking it with the snow.

Normally I try to avoid areas where doe mill around browsing, too many eyes, noses and ears to cause problems. But live with what you have. After I got setup 0 deer seen for the first 45 minutes. Then I see a 120-130" eight point stand up out of a bed 150 yards away. He cuts across the area 80 yards out and makes his way up and over the little hill. I had my pistol with me and I limit myself to 60 yards max. I normally don't call but with him leaving my life I gave him a few soft grunts, he didn't care and disappeared over the hill. 20 minutes later I had 7 doe milling around and they ventured off towards the field.

Close but not close enough. Looking back I probably should've gone the extra 50 yards, but whether or not he would've blown out I'll never know. It was a great hunt and I'm looking forward to somewhere new this coming weekend.

[greenhorndave]

20191117_162105.jpg

I setup here on Sunday. We had a NE wind Saturday and a SE wind Sunday which isn't a normal wind for my area. This is on private ground.

Normally I wouldn't have went to this spot, but once I entered the property I could see where someone trespassed and basically walked the whole thing a day before. The choice was either find sign or go home there wasn't daylight left to find different ground.

I remembered finding two faintly used buck beds on the leeward side of the hill. When I found them last year I chalked them up to either a east wind, or rut bed. On a last ditch effort I made my way around the hill keeping the wind in my face.
Once getting closer I came into heavily used doe trails and what looked like an area doe where browsing around in. If you zoom in you'll see tracks essentially everywhere. I cut a set of decent tracks heading towards where I found the beds. The snow had a crusty ice layer on top and I took my time covering the last 100 yards moving during the wind gusts. I would've liked getting another 50 yards but I was already risking it with the snow.

Normally I try to avoid areas where doe mill around browsing, too many eyes, noses and ears to cause problems. But live with what you have. After I got setup 0 deer seen for the first 45 minutes. Then I see a 120-130" eight point stand up out of a bed 150 yards away. He cuts across the area 80 yards out and makes his way up and over the little hill. I had my pistol with me and I limit myself to 60 yards max. I normally don't call but with him leaving my life I gave him a few soft grunts, he didn't care and disappeared over the hill. 20 minutes later I had 7 doe milling around and they ventured off towards the field.

Close but not close enough. Looking back I probably should've gone the extra 50 yards, but whether or not he would've blown out I'll never know. It was a great hunt and I'm looking forward to somewhere new this coming weekend.

Good job on making adjustments and reading it right. I did the same with a similar result (the difference being that a neighbor bumped him out via ATV) but it is somewhat of a confidence builder.

[Walltuckian]

This is my first year of being 100% mobile and trying to utilize all of the tactics/strategies I’ve heard from Dan or that I’ve read from everyone on here. Scouting and setting up on fresh sign without busting deeper into the woods has always stuck out in my mind. Last Thursday, I was scouting and came across a fresh scrape near bedding. It had snowed the previous evening, so I knew this scrape had just opened up.
I immediately found the right tree and played the wind (using milkweed of course). I took my time and quietly set up my Lone Wolf. 2 hours later at closing time, I was fortunate enough to take this Michigan public land 9 pointer with my bow the day before the rifle opener.