Stuck in a rut

[Sean952]

I got on a hand full of new spots this year with good to great sign and got sucked into not jumping around to new new places. What are some of the ways other beasts keep from getting stuck going back to the same spots?

[HunterBob]

Right now is a great time to scout in areas outside of your normal spots with the rut. Learned this lesson last year as my trailcams and hunting spots all of a sudden went dead for about three weeks. They will return back to their normal patterns in late season, so get out and scout a new territory now! I will be doing this on Wednesday and will feel good about it even if I don't find what I am looking for.

[Ghost Hunter]

If I have no history with a spot. No solid intel to keep me there. . Sign is not there. Im not there. I move. When rut is on things move fast.

[EdC]

no sign no deer

this year normal places I hunt had no acorns
it's been very hard to find out where the deer went to eat

we had a little snow and I was right deer are gone

so I'm moving from one spot to the next

found a couple of deer and the actual bed they laid in during a snow storm
but not enough sign to keep my interest

normally I see sign everywhere so this has kept me in some areas longer than I should
this year no sign I move on, I've got about 30 spots I cyber scouted this year and going to do in season scouting
at least I won't be bored sitting waiting for nothing

Prior to seeing the sign and bed I had gone into 2 swamps previous saw no sign
got home before dark didn't even setup never did this before I would of waited for nothing
in my area the deer have moved to food sources I am not familiar with when acorns are not falling
this explains everything those years I saw no activity

in your case with good sign, you might be in the wrong areas for setup or timing is bad
got to move around from what I am learning, they say first sit is the best

[Evanszach7]

When you see the places slowly having less and less sign, when you get less and less pictures, when the spot is void of mature animals the following year, you tend to not do that anymore

It’s happened to me enough times that I can finally have a great hunt (kill a deer, encounter with a shooter, or pass a couple deer), and not go back for at least 3-4 weeks, if at all that season. I’ve went back the next morning, evening, or weekend lots of times and 95% of the time it’s not a great hunt. Now, I’m thankful for the experience and if I encounter a mature buck I’m playing chess anticipating his next move and my spot (if it’s not really early or late season). The more I think about it, I’ve never encountered the buck I was chasing in the same spot that year. I’ve seen them in observation sits, but once I’ve moved in to hunt, the first time has really been the only good hunt.

[EdC]

.. that dan guy is pretty smart.. he should have a website