Importance of buck sign

[570Beast]

How important is it for you to have buck sign at your set up this time of year? I’ve gone on quite a few blind hunts on public this year and am struggle to find hot buck sign. There has already been multiple hunts that I never even set up because I couldn’t find anything that made me feel confident. Are you willing to sit a spot that doesn’t have any mature buck sign or do you feel like it’s a waste of time? I’m a pretty aggressive/impatient hunter and I’ve been debating with myself about whether I’m making a mistake walking by some spots that look really good but don’t have the buck sign. Could the bucks be using these areas but not be making any rubs or scrapes? I’ve been looking for big tracks as well but the tracks don’t show up at all in some areas.

[Lockdown]

It’s tough to know what to do. What I would recommend is busting some of the marginal bedding. If it’s something that you aren’t sure of, and you aren’t sure if it’s a legit spot in the first place, rather than skip it just walk it and see what runs out. That way you’ll learn more about that bedding and the area in general.

It’s especially helpful to do that this time of year. We’re at the point in the season where the bucks are on the verge of laying down tons of sign. If you go in there now and there’s nobody home and no buck sign, but there’s sign all over when you check it out in the spring, now you have a time line!

Very valuable information.

And if you do end up kicking a big buck out… that is also very valuable information.

The spot I sat last night had zero buck sign. Couldn’t cut any big tracks either but the conditions aren’t favorable for that (very dry). The only reason I decided to sit it was because I busted that bedding last year on opening weekend. Same deal there was no buck sign outside the bedding, but there WAS some inside the bedding. Several deer went crashing off too.

So due to the historical info (I’ve also seen big bucks in the area preseason) I decided to sit it. Passed a doe, two fawns, and a 6 pt. It’s possible something big was home and took a different exit trail. Multiple ways out of there.

Moral of the story, you don’t want to go crashing through ALL of your best bedding. But don’t be afraid to get aggressive and bump a few deer.

[Burningbootleather]

I prefer there to be sign at least nearby, but not required-if I do hunt this time of year

[<DK>]

That would be frustrating for sure. You mentioned youre looking for tracks and I would say keep at it. They cant hide tracks! If its dry out then try to locate spots on the map that may be damp enough to catch a track.

[MichiganMike]

With how warm it is I usually find they are bedding near water sources. Creek or river bottoms are a good bet in my area because it has good vegetation along with it. It’ll have Mud or at least a softer floor too to get some tracks. I’ve been seeing which look to be velvet rubs in there, nothing aggressive yet. But he’s in there somewhere..