How much sign is enough sign?

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Zfrantz
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How much sign is enough sign?

Unread postby Zfrantz » Tue Nov 15, 2022 1:02 pm

On a recent hunt, I came into a few scrapes that looked relatively fresh.. but their were leaves in it.. also rubs, quite a few rubs near.. I’m and not proficient at aging rubs and have no clue if they were recent or this past month or so.. I kept pressing on due to it being an evening hunt and didn’t want to hunt in the bottom because of dropping thermals.. I keep asking myself if I should have seen that and set up down wind of the area? Any how I thought I would post on here to see thoughts and recommendations from more experienced people!


Moose
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Re: How much sign is enough sign?

Unread postby Moose » Tue Nov 15, 2022 2:01 pm

Dan has a lot of good YouTube videos about scouting and how fresh rubs and other deer sign is if you haven't seen it already it would be very beneficial. As for the rubs and scrapes it would depend on how far away they are from bedding if they are worth sitting or not. Scrapes can be difficult to tell how fresh they are with all the leaves falling and on windy days. Rubs will look bright in color, wet looking and a tacky feel to it like sap. Also you may find shavings from the tree on top of leaves.
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NorthStar
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Re: How much sign is enough sign?

Unread postby NorthStar » Wed Nov 16, 2022 5:18 am

For me, it all depends on if I have confirmed beds in the area or not. Confirmed via pre-season or in season scouting. If I don't have that intel and I start to find buck sign while walking, I usually stop and look at maps on my phone to make a best educated guess. River bottoms for example...If I start finding sign in a river/creek bottom, I will look for an oxbow on the map and slowly follow that sign to the oxbow. If I get 100-150 yards of that oxbow point and sign is increasing as I get closer, I will hang and hunt that spot if the wind is right. Last week I was walking a creek bottom for a half mile and there was scattered rubs and scrapes as I walked the straight river edge but as soon as I got to a super windy river bank, I started seeing sign like crazy! I got too aggressive and ended up bumping a shooter buck when putting my 4th stick up! He would've been 20 yards from my stand!
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G-Patt
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Re: How much sign is enough sign?

Unread postby G-Patt » Wed Nov 16, 2022 5:45 am

Rubs that are tacky; scrapes with exposed dirt, wet and reek of urine (yes, smell them); upturned leaves and glistening, moist or green poo = fresh sign within 24 hours. Trial & error, time and experience will tell you if that's enough sign.
On my deathbed, I will receive total consciousness. So I have that going for me, which is nice!
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hunter_mike
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Re: How much sign is enough sign?

Unread postby hunter_mike » Wed Nov 16, 2022 6:15 am

X2 on watching dans videos and attending his scouting workshop.

In my mind, buck sign is proof that a buck was there but isnt the whole picture and I find that thinking about/or knowing where the nearest buck bedding is, is what really helps me interpret why the sign is where it is and how i should react to it.

Was the sign made at night? Where should i sit in relation to this sign? Knowing or having a real educated guess of where the bedding is --- that will get me in the action.

Sign might be somewhat old and a buck could still be in the nearest buck bedding
“The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.”
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szwampdonkey
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Re: How much sign is enough sign?

Unread postby szwampdonkey » Wed Nov 16, 2022 6:33 am

Any sign that tells you a mature buck is around is enough. What you do with it is up to you.

For example, i went for a midday walk a few weeks ago at one of my “dating the fat chick” spots. It’s super easy access, right nex to the road, 75 yards from a small office building they use, bracketed by homes on both sides, etc. You feel like a real dummy hunting this spot with so much human activity. HOWEVER, i came across two fresh (it rained the day before) buck tracks that were huge. No joke, almost 4 fingers wide. That made me pause and think about where he was and how he was using the spot. Long story short, i almost sealed the deal on him, a perfect 10 pointer, but he came from the private across the road when i thought he was coming from the cattails that surrounded the small lake next to the property. My wind was blowing from the cattails to where he came in behind me and he i would assume caught my scent and hung up at 45 yards. He spotted me turning to look behind me when i heard him make some noise and we had a staring match at that 45 yards until he turned and bounded back the way he came. But man i was close, just guessed wrong on where he was bedding and he caught me with my pants down.

All that though based on only two big tracks and nothing more. There isn’t a rub or scrape on the property.
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greenhorndave
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Re: How much sign is enough sign?

Unread postby greenhorndave » Wed Nov 16, 2022 7:42 am

That's a good one, Szwamper.

I have similar issues with what's good enough. I know what the killer fresh sign looks like and have set up on it to good effect, but the older stuff or lack of visible sign (tracks, poop) due to the type of canary grass or whatever makes it hard sometimes for me to know what looks good enough.

One spot from this weekend was new to me and I thought I knew potential bedding areas. But the sign (rubs) looked older and I wasn't excited about it, so I got a little careless where I walked because I wrote it off mentally. A few steps later and I bumped something big. Never saw it but the low-frequency thuds in the cattails sounded very different from a lighter animal. In hindsight, I should have just set up for the wind in a small funnel and just observed.

Another tall canary grass spot was one I set up in. Had several deer come through, but nothing I wanted to shoot. The trails in that stuff were not well defined and no poop was visible, but there were subtle creases in the grass. But they were more visible when in the stand than on the ground. Another case of more subtle sign that didn't lie... But it looked nothing like I've experienced before.

The long and short of it is to throw a sit at it. You might be in the game or might observe something. Like my last example, stuff that didn't look great looked better when I observed it elevated. Never know until you give it a shot until closing time.
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