Early Season Sign Reading

[CEG017]

As we get closer to early season I am thinking about tactics. This season I am trying to be a more structured in my approach to in season scouting. I want to really try and key in on the right kinds of sign. Then after finding that sign really asking myself what it means and how can I use it . For context I live in Wisconsin so we have a mid September opener.

So my question here is what are you looking for in early season and how are you finding it? Are you looking for rubs, scrapes, tracks, feeding sign, etc? How do you use the sign?

I am really curious to hear your opinions on rubs especially. What can you tell from them and do you put alot of stock in them?

[brancher147]

Early season (last Saturday in September in wv) I’m usually using recent trail cam data for the first couple sits, then looking for fresh tracks or especially fresh rubs near known bedding. Sometimes a few real fresh rubs are all you need early season as bucks aren’t going far. If you have history or post season scouting in the area and see fresh rubs you can piece together likely bedding then likely hot food sources and try to get as close to bedding or between bedding and food.

[Stingray713]

Brancher nailed it. Early season rubs are good stuff. Not the whip like trees they use to shed velvet, but bigger taller rubs are not to be ignored.

[szwampdonkey]

As we get closer to early season I am thinking about tactics. This season I am trying to be a more structured in my approach to in season scouting. I want to really try and key in on the right kinds of sign. Then after finding that sign really asking myself what it means and how can I use it . For context I live in Wisconsin so we have a mid September opener.

So my question here is what are you looking for in early season and how are you finding it? Are you looking for rubs, scrapes, tracks, feeding sign, etc? How do you use the sign?

I am really curious to hear your opinions on rubs especially. What can you tell from them and do you put alot of stock in them?

No, not looking for rubs at all in WI in Sept. That first week or so in Sept im focusing more on summer patterns. Think bachelor groups, green beanfields, etc. That pattern changes pretty quickly once the bachelor groups break up and pressure increases but you can have dynamite hunts just hunting 20-30 yards in from field edges along trails coming from the bedding into the fields that first week of Sept in WI.

I personally am starting to like that first week more than any other time of the year as the bucks are proving to be really predictable doing the same thing they were doing all August.

[CEG017]

Brancher nailed it. Early season rubs are good stuff. Not the whip like trees they use to shed velvet, but bigger taller rubs are not to be ignored.

What details about the rubs catch your attention and how do you use them? Do they need to be smoking fresh and wet for you to be interested? Are you likely to set up in close proximity to them or try to relate them back to bedding or food?

Would love to hear your thoughts!

[Stingray713]

I look for rubs that are probably made by an older, taller buck. May not be shredded like a rub in late October, but it’ll definitely be glowing.

Season starts here October 1st, and the deer are usually hitting acorns hard. So I find big rubs around the first white oaks that are dropping closest to where the buck is bedding. The fresher the rub the more comfortable I’d be sitting close to it, but that all depends on how far it is from where he’s laying. Also depends on where the best acorn action is on that day. It’s easier to put together the puzzle if you find a tree that is dropping acorns on your head and your standing on a big buck turd.

I’m still trying to figure it all out. I’ve had some really good hunts the last few years during early October finding this stuff, but I still have questions. I find it a little tougher to read the sign this time of year.

Usually if I set up on it and it looks like little buck sign then I’ll see a little buck. If it looks like decent buck sign I’ll see a decent buck. If it looks like big huge dominant buck sign then I’ll set up and not see squat.

[Bigburner]

Tracks or beat down trails and droppings and cues to what an when they are using food source. And coupling that with hunches and past scouting and knowing my ground. My velvet buck I killed a couple years ago was combo of what crops where in the field closest to bedding areas I post season scouted, a dip in temperature and what kind of traffic was on the trails coming out of bedding. I had a super Highway coming out of bedding area. Droppings everywhere and a big set of tracks. Beans in the field and an overcast day with a NE wind in the first week of September that isn’t at all common for my area. I just knew something was gonna happen that night.
Trails, tracks, food and glassing with our early opening has been a go to. One thing that always kinda threw me was right around two weeks before the opener you’d quit seeing a lot of bucks around me quit coming out in the beans until later in the evening and that’s when I started learning that they were hanging out more in there core bedding areas rather than just hanging close to field edges like when you’d see some mastodon out in the field at 2 PM. And a lot of times the beans would start to harden off and they end up just feeding in the shade line along the field edge that wasn’t getting sun exposure. For me once I’d quit seeing them at a reasonable summer hour I just had to convince myself that they didn’t disappear they were just hanging back until before dark at least the mature ones. And it gave me the green light to push back close to their bedroom. Only other thing I target is isolated water sources like crazy early season especially where I live because its hotter than two rats doing it in a wool blanket. And you can work the thermals around those water holes to your advantage as well. They dip by those water holes almost every night before heading to food in most places I hunt. Great places to whack a doe early to get the freezer filling out of the way too.

[Brad]

Our season here begins on Sept 15th every year. I don't have near the experience of many others on here, but I have never once seen a fresh rub in September or even the first week of October. As far as fresh sign for my September hunts, the only sign I ever see is tracks. If I see big tracks I assume there are big deer in the area. Hopefully that means a big buck, but I am not above shooting a big doe in september either. if I'm not on a big buck (which I never really am in the early season...) I glass fields in the late summer hoping to find bucks still on their summer patterns come sept 15th. I have seen a bunch of absolute monster bucks in bachelor groups throughout August in several locations that I hunt. So far not one of those glassing sessions have actually helped me get near a buck in September. I am out hunting alot for those first 2-3 weeks of the season. I love being out there while most people are still sitting on the couch, but apparently I must be doing it wrong...

[MuskieHunterDave]

Two years ago I read the sign right. I had a line of rubs going through a stretch of pines that eventually led out to an ag field. I set up the first day too far off the path and had the group of bachelor bucks pass by at ~40 yds. The second night I was in the perfect spot and only the monster buck came through - the rest had split. He saw me draw back and I never saw him again. Because of the thick, low canopy and brush, I had no tree option and had to hunt the ground. Not getting a shot on that one still haunts me.

I've only be seriously hunting 3 - 4 years, so my experience is low compared to others here, but it seems to me if you can find a rub line early season, you're in the right spot.

[<DK>]

With that question, I have to share a Beast to Beast early season podcast

BH4L - https://youtu.be/N4BWl496PnY

[Usi05]

First thing I’m checking for is where the people are in areas of interest for me. Michigan public gets hit hard.

After finding the people, I’m looking at a bunch of spots I’ve scouted and others I haven’t and I’m looking at tracks and droppings, trails and rubs.

[Lockdown]

I loooove early season. It is a great time to tag a good buck, but one thing is for sure. If you don’t do your homework you’re not in the game.

My early season system is as follows.

1) Observations. As long as the terrain is suited for it, observations will teach you way more than what trail cameras will. Observing long distance means no intrusion or scent left behind which is huge. The weeks and especially days preceding opener are free intel! You can learn crucial information and you don’t need to waste valuable hunting time to get it. I killed opening day 2019 directly due to observations. 2018 I passed a buck I said I was gonna shoot on the 2nd day of season. He was also located due to in the field observations.

2) Trail cameras. They’re an excellent tool if utilized properly (which is a topic in itself). I check every cam I can on opening day hoping for the right pics so I can capitalize. I don’t check them the day or week before especially if scent may be an issue. I do it the day of and keep the element of surprise in my favor.

3) Hot sign. If cams and observations don’t produce (which does happen), I put boots on the ground and keep walking until I find something so good I can’t imagine not hunting it. It doesn’t take a lot of sign, often it’s singular. A big FRESH track. Big fresh rub or poop. A big scrape. If it’s located in a spot that leads me to believe a big one is in the bedding area, I’m all in.

[CEG017]

I loooove early season. It is a great time to tag a good buck, but one thing is for sure. If you don’t do your homework you’re not in the game.

My early season system is as follows.

1) Observations. As long as the terrain is suited for it, observations will teach you way more than what trail cameras will. Observing long distance means no intrusion or scent left behind which is huge. The weeks and especially days preceding opener are free intel! You can learn crucial information and you don’t need to waste valuable hunting time to get it. I killed opening day 2019 directly due to observations. 2018 I passed a buck I said I was gonna shoot on the 2nd day of season. He was also located due to in the field observations.

2) Trail cameras. They’re an excellent tool if utilized properly (which is a topic in itself). I check every cam I can on opening day hoping for the right pics so I can capitalize. I don’t check them the day or week before especially if scent may be an issue. I do it the day of and keep the element of surprise in my favor.

3) Hot sign. If cams and observations don’t produce (which does happen), I put boots on the ground and keep walking until I find something so good I can’t imagine not hunting it. It doesn’t take a lot of sign, often it’s singular. A big FRESH track. Big fresh rub or poop. A big scrape. If it’s located in a spot that leads me to believe a big one is in the bedding area, I’m all in.

How are you doing your observation sits? Are you talking about in season or before it starts?

[Lockdown]

I loooove early season. It is a great time to tag a good buck, but one thing is for sure. If you don’t do your homework you’re not in the game.

My early season system is as follows.

1) Observations. As long as the terrain is suited for it, observations will teach you way more than what trail cameras will. Observing long distance means no intrusion or scent left behind which is huge. The weeks and especially days preceding opener are free intel! You can learn crucial information and you don’t need to waste valuable hunting time to get it. I killed opening day 2019 directly due to observations. 2018 I passed a buck I said I was gonna shoot on the 2nd day of season. He was also located due to in the field observations.

2) Trail cameras. They’re an excellent tool if utilized properly (which is a topic in itself). I check every cam I can on opening day hoping for the right pics so I can capitalize. I don’t check them the day or week before especially if scent may be an issue. I do it the day of and keep the element of surprise in my favor.

3) Hot sign. If cams and observations don’t produce (which does happen), I put boots on the ground and keep walking until I find something so good I can’t imagine not hunting it. It doesn’t take a lot of sign, often it’s singular. A big FRESH track. Big fresh rub or poop. A big scrape. If it’s located in a spot that leads me to believe a big one is in the bedding area, I’m all in.

How are you doing your observation sits? Are you talking about in season or before it starts?

Both

The last couple weeks before season is a great time to observe. It’s free intel.

I normally observe in the field from strategic vantage points. When I’m spring scouting, any time I find a decent bedding area Iook around at the horizon and see what I can and what I can’t.

Whenever I can watch multiple bedding areas at once, odds go up substantially. Some properties lay out great for observing, others it’s pretty pointless.

It’s not unusual to see a big one where you don’t expect him too.