Hiding sign

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szwampdonkey
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Re: Hiding sign

Unread postby szwampdonkey » Thu Sep 29, 2022 1:48 am

PK_ wrote:
Hooks1 wrote:
PK_ wrote:I do the opposite. I make fake rubs on trees and save big buck hooves to make fake tracks. I just like to spread hope for fellow public land hunters…



We need a Like Button on the forum, been guilty of doing the same for about 62 years. Praying for all of y'all in Florida, hunker down. Hope the hurricane doesn't do to much damage to your honey holes, Hurricane Laura in 2020 wiped out 5 of my best spots here in Central Louisiana. Hunting these areas since 1954.


Haha. I was joking, I just think people being so heavily opinionated about something so trivial is strange. But hey, it is what it is.

I step on every big buck track I find on public, always have. Never even crossed my mind that it was unethical in some people’s minds. If you want to find sign, scout where nobody else scouts, which is getting harder these.


Just to be clear, i wasn’t directing anything at you personally just posting for discussion sake as some do seem to have a problem with hiding sign. I recall a video though of Dan himself talking about making fake rubs to throw another guy off he knew was hunting there.

Me, i don’t make fake sign nor do i hide sign but i don’t think either are unethical. Both are deception, no different in my eyes than me parking in one spot then sneaking down the road to the little overlooked spot hiding from cars passing by as i go in an attempt to prevent people from knowing where i am and getting any ideas about checking it out themselves.

Unethical is stealing trail cams, poaching, purposely disrupting another guys hunt cause he’s “in your spot”, etc. Stepping on tracks, making fake rubs, etc seems pretty benign imo.


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PK_
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Re: Hiding sign

Unread postby PK_ » Thu Sep 29, 2022 2:08 am

szwampdonkey wrote:
PK_ wrote:
Hooks1 wrote:
PK_ wrote:I do the opposite. I make fake rubs on trees and save big buck hooves to make fake tracks. I just like to spread hope for fellow public land hunters…



We need a Like Button on the forum, been guilty of doing the same for about 62 years. Praying for all of y'all in Florida, hunker down. Hope the hurricane doesn't do to much damage to your honey holes, Hurricane Laura in 2020 wiped out 5 of my best spots here in Central Louisiana. Hunting these areas since 1954.


Haha. I was joking, I just think people being so heavily opinionated about something so trivial is strange. But hey, it is what it is.

I step on every big buck track I find on public, always have. Never even crossed my mind that it was unethical in some people’s minds. If you want to find sign, scout where nobody else scouts, which is getting harder these.


Just to be clear, i wasn’t directing anything at you personally just posting for discussion sake as some do seem to have a problem with hiding sign. I recall a video though of Dan himself talking about making fake rubs to throw another guy off he knew was hunting there.

Me, i don’t make fake sign nor do i hide sign but i don’t think either are unethical. Both are deception, no different in my eyes than me parking in one spot then sneaking down the road to the little overlooked spot hiding from cars passing by as i go in an attempt to prevent people from knowing where i am and getting any ideas about checking it out themselves.

Unethical is stealing trail cams, poaching, purposely disrupting another guys hunt cause he’s “in your spot”, etc. Stepping on tracks, making fake rubs, etc seems pretty benign imo.


Good post, I was thinking the same thing about parking in different areas or if you are glassing a big buck off a road and another hunter comes driving by, you glass the opposite side of the road hoping they don’t see the big buck. It would be silly to point out the big buck for them to see.

I feel the same about leaving big tracks crossing a road, path, creek crossing or field edge. Most of the best hunters I know say the best thing they can find is a big track. If you are hunting public you are likely sharing the area with some other good hunters whether you know it or not. So if someone wants to leave that neon sign of a big track on the hiking trail, field edge or creek crossing telling the other guys to put more time and effort into that area, go ahead. But hunting mature bucks on public is a zero sum game. If someone doesn’t see that, then they aren’t very serious about it and that is perfectly fine…

Again, just my opinion.
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Brad
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Re: Hiding sign

Unread postby Brad » Thu Sep 29, 2022 2:26 am

Dewey wrote:
Brad wrote:hiding sign in such a way seems ridiculous to me for many reasons. Wouldn't tampering with rubs and scrapes alter the bucks patterns too? I mean if just stepping foot in an area and leaving scent can alter a pattern, doing that plus messing with their ways of communication seems like it would be even more disruptive. I know the deer can tell if I was in an area, but I try to minimize any intrusion. I'd prefer the deer keep acting like they want to act normally.

Yet guys pee in scrapes and bucks go crazy ripping them up later and sometimes even the same day. I don’t make a habit of doing that but some do with success. There are no absolutes in the deer woods.


yea, but peeing in the scrape is a little different, in that the urine breaks down in a way that they don't really know it's a person that peed in it, they just know something peed in the scrape & it's not one of the usual does that did it... at least that's the way I understand it & could be incorrect. So, if thats the case, they'll smell it and think "who peed in this scrape? is there a new doe in town?" but something chopps up his rub with a machete... I would think his thought process would be more like "what the f... what kind of monster did this crazy !!" but I'm not a deer, so again, I could definitely be wrong.
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Brad
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Re: Hiding sign

Unread postby Brad » Thu Sep 29, 2022 2:30 am

szwampdonkey wrote:So what’s worse, hiding real sign or making fake sign in the hopes people will hunt over that instead of in your spot?



I personally think disrupting the real sign that deer layed down is worse, only because it is definitely going to be noticed by deer and effect them in some way. Making fake sign in an area the deer aren't wouldn't disrupt their lives as much. I don't know, I guess I just have a soft spot for these critters and don't like them getting messed with ... well, except for me sneaking in to their homes and killing them...
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Re: Hiding sign

Unread postby Brokenarrow1980 » Thu Sep 29, 2022 3:32 am

To be clear I have no problem with stepping on tracks or kicking leaves on a scrape to see if it's active. Being I trimmed shooting lanes I really can't judge my friend for hacking or cutting every rub he sees. It's all illegal but he takes it to extremes. He is the type of person who takes people in "his spots" personally. I just have a feeling he has done more things then just altering sign, I don't ask and he doesn't tell. I just feel his demeanor and what he does around me makes him seem unethical. I just thought it would be a good topic here and wanted to know everyone's thoughts
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gsquared23
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Re: Hiding sign

Unread postby gsquared23 » Sat Oct 01, 2022 3:25 pm

I’ll go out with a pooper scooper and clean up any of the larger piles that are obviously left by my mature bucks in my spots. I’ll leave some cocoa pebbles so other hunters think there are only squirrels and fawns around.
Bowhunting is not for the faint of heart. But fortune favors the bowed.


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