Reading sign

[mheichelbech]

Noted a comment about learning to read sign in a post about Dan's site visit. Was curious as to how or what cues you all use to read sign and maybe some examples of what some of the less obvious things told you.

Obviously a rub was made by a buck, maybe a big buck, coming from or to his bed or a food source. I am curious about the less obvious things that may be getting missed.

Thanks.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Bbostrom]

One of the things I have been noticing is in a staging area by a primary or well used bed. The browsing on trees and shrubs is a lot more noticeable. I have been looking for signs of heavy browsing more than rubs to identify staging areas lately.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[csoult]

Deer crap where they are comfortable, like staging areas.

Tracks are more important than most people know.

Rubs really can show direction of travel, not always but when they are in clusters.

[Outdoor814]

Not shure if this helps or not but when I'm scouting in swamps and cattails where I can't notice tracks as well I'll not the direction that foliage there walking on is bent to better judge direction of travel.

[ Post made via Android ]

[tbunao]

I think the power of good browse is often over looked. I think they are content with the security of good browse until it's dark enough to move out into ag fields if they are available. I try and not get caught up with deer sign. I'm trying to hunt mature bucks, as I think we all are.

[Hawthorne]

If a mature buck spends 95% of daylight bedded the most important sign would be around his bedding area. Browse on weeds and shrubs is something I've started looking at. I've noticed alot more of it in bedding areas since I've started looking. The best buck bedding I know of has a water source very near their bed. I hunt in limited cover farm country so any thicket with water is usually money. Im putting in water holes this spring in some of my dry bedding areas to get them to hold bucks more often.

[ Post made via Android ]

[wickedbruiser]

Guys are stating browse around bedding. The more I scout post-season the more I have confirmed greenbriar near buck bedding getting mowed right down to about a foot - foot 1/2 off the ground. I don't stomp around buck bedding during the hunting season looking for fresh green tipped greenbriar. But, if I ever come across greenbriar that is green tipped and not yellow that is close to suspected buck bedding; I wouldn't hesitate setting up.

With this said, It never fails to see large droppings within browsed greenbriar.

[mheichelbech]

Besides direction of travel and possibly the size of the deer or buck, what gets missed about them?

One thing I saw this past season but not sure of is in a very thick area with the woody bushes that branch upward then stoop down and outward...area was very thick with them and just up from buck bedding, I noticed a lot of branches broken...it appeared that a buck or bucks had walked through and broken the branches with their rack to make for easier walking. I never hunted the area but probably should have.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Hawthorne]

Besides direction of travel and possibly the size of the deer or buck, what gets missed about them?

One thing I saw this past season but not sure of is in a very thick area with the woody bushes that branch upward then stoop down and outward...area was very thick with them and just up from buck bedding, I noticed a lot of branches broken...it appeared that a buck or bucks had walked through and broken the branches with their rack to make for easier walking. I never hunted the area but probably should have.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Sounds like a autumn olive thicket and they are good hunting. They like them and the bucks will rub on the branches and scrape under them

[ Post made via Android ]

[wickedbruiser]

Besides direction of travel and possibly the size of the deer or buck, what gets missed about them?

One thing I saw this past season but not sure of is in a very thick area with the woody bushes that branch upward then stoop down and outward...area was very thick with them and just up from buck bedding, I noticed a lot of branches broken...it appeared that a buck or bucks had walked through and broken the branches with their rack to make for easier walking. I never hunted the area but probably should have.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Sounds like a autumn olive thicket and they are good hunting. They like them and the bucks will rub on the branches and scrape under them

[ Post made via Android ]

Yes! autumn olive thickets. Branches can be brittle. Located a buck bed 50 yards from a small office building within a autumn olive thicket. I was just amazed how a deer let alone a buck with antlers can slip through it. Found the trail headed out and can definitely tell the buck worked his path. Believe I still have that bed pic. I'll post it if I can find it.


When it's this thick of autumn olive you cannot miss great deer sign. Tons of broken branches breakthrough might just lead you to a great buck bed.

[mheichelbech]

I wondered what they were called and yes I know for a fact that bucks bed in and around them. They definitely require spring trimming for shots and yes I have seen a lot broken branches. Sometimes it looked like they were sparring with the branches.

Are they a preferred browse for deer?

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Hawthorne]

I've seen the young ones get browsed hard but they grow like a weed.They produce a little Berry that are tasty. Some people pick them they are high in antioxidants and lycopene. They are considered invasive in most states. They can take over an area. The dnr recommended planting them to people years ago now they are spending money trying to get rid of them. I have alot of them on my land and they are staying I like them

[ Post made via Android ]

[blizzardhunter]

I've been noticing the role scrapes play in an area that is mainly timber with lower deer numbers. In farm country where I usually hunt scrapes are everywhere and very seldom visited in daylight even by younger bucks. However, where deer numbers are low bucks and does of all age classes seem to frequent scrapes more even in daylight. I believe it is because the numbers are lower so the deer rely on them more to communicate.

[ Post made via Android ]

[stash59]

I've been noticing the role scrapes play in an area that is mainly timber with lower deer numbers. In farm country where I usually hunt scrapes are everywhere and very seldom visited in daylight even by younger bucks. However, where deer numbers are low bucks and does of all age classes seem to frequent scrapes more even in daylight. I believe it is because the numbers are lower so the deer rely on them more to communicate.

[ Post made via Android ]

Also most low deer density areas. Have good buck to doe ratios. A key for using tactics like rattling, calling, scents and scrape hunting!!

[headgear]

All of my better bedding areas seem to have staging in many directions, this mean the bucks has a lot of options for food, does & escape routes. When I dig into an area I really work that area all 360 degrees, see what the bucks sees, look for the concentration of sign, pick out trees, plan for wind, wind swirls and thermals, last but not least doing a little light trimming and tree prep you can. You should spend a decent amount of time there absorbing everything you can.