Public Land - Singular Sign - PULL THE TRIGGER!!

[Singing Bridge]

I always find myself, at this time of the year, making statements along this line. We have so many new Beasts....

In heavy pressure, public land areas when you encounter fresh, singular sign of a mature buck and you already have kowldedge from pre-season scouting of buck bedding areas... pull the trigger and hunt the buck immediately !! One finding of oversized droppings, a single oversized track, a single / fresh rub appearing, a new scrape just outside of mature buck bedding... and it is time to pull the trigger and hunt... IMMEDIATELY !!

Even when you don't know exactly where the mature buck bedding is... think about where it may be and MAKE YOUR PLAY!! I and many others have pulled this off successfully.

I think a lot of new Beasts think that there will be a plethora of big buck sign when a big buck moves in to a bedding area... whatever the reason... but on heavy pressure public land that is almost never the case.

Bridge

[Tufrthnails]

That's one of the mistakes I made when I first started trying this I wanted to huge rub coming out of the buck bed and blew an area up trying to figure out where the buck was that left the sign I had come across working my way into a target area instead of setting the fresh sign. and putting the rest of the picture together as I figure it out.

[Singing Bridge]

That's one of the mistakes I made when I first started trying this I wanted to huge rub coming out of the buck bed and blew an area up trying to figure out where the buck was that left the sign I had come across working my way into a target area instead of setting the fresh sign. and putting the rest of the picture together as I figure it out.

Great post... more Beast hunters need to realize this.

[Dpierce72]

The single best hunt I had last season was in a new area where I came upon 5-6 piles of extremely large/fresh droppings. Not the kind of sign that excites you like a huge rub or giant community scrape, but it was enough. Saw 2 mature bucks ...but got busted by the one w/in 20 yards. They were NOT traveling together, but came through ~3 hours apart.

[Singing Bridge]

The single best hunt I had last season was in a new area where I came upon 5-6 piles of extremely large/fresh droppings. Not the kind of sign that excites you like a huge rub or giant community scrape, but it was enough. Saw 2 mature bucks ...but got busted by the one w/in 20 yards. They were NOT traveling together, but came through ~3 hours apart.

Now that's an excellent example. Anything, and I mean anything a good buck does to give himself away needs to be reacted to immediately.

I have taken more than one buck after discovering a single pile of fresh droppings... if I can equate the droppings to known buck bedding I make a move. If I encounter singular, big buck sign in an area that I do not know the buck bedding- I closely examine aerial photo's and topo maps to determine where I believe the buck will bed and then I move in and hunt immediately as well. I have killed bucks and had numerous close encounters in areas I'm not familiar with by doing this. Even during the rut, high pressure areas will only have so much buck bedding that is secure and hunting for spots like these can really pay off.

[Lockdown]

Great post Bridge.

Big track, large turd, fresh rub, hot scrape. Any of the four are good enough for me to set up. Seems if I find more than one it’s always a good hunt.

[AfootTrack56]

This is great advice! I’m typically hunting low deer density areas and the deer are fairly nomadic. So once I find ANY fresh sign of a good buck, I’m working up a plan immediately. I don’t always seal the deal, but more times than not there is an encounter of some kind. I wish there was a red carpet of buck sign laid out, but it’s rarely that obvious. Attention to detail will get you in the game.

Excellent topic Bridge.

[greenhorndave]

I've never been so eager to see a giant turd as I am now.

[Singing Bridge]

I've never been so eager to see a giant turd as I am now.

Coke Can droppings deep in a swamp... an average pellet length of an inch and a half... they don’t get any bigger than that. If someone thinks that came from a big doe, they may want to take up knitting instead. I hear it’s very therapeutic.

[greenhorndave]

That's a turdrific picture.

(sorry, couldn't help myself)

I'm hoping to find some of those in a couple weeks.

[Edcyclopedia]

I've never been so eager to see a giant turd as I am now.

Coke Can droppings deep in a swamp... an average pellet length of an inch and a half... they don’t get any bigger than that. If someone thinks that came from a big doe, they may want to take up knitting instead. I hear it’s very therapeutic.

That's how my buddy craps - nickname Sir Crap Alot

[Singing Bridge]

I've never been so eager to see a giant turd as I am now.

Coke Can droppings deep in a swamp... an average pellet length of an inch and a half... they don’t get any bigger than that. If someone thinks that came from a big doe, they may want to take up knitting instead. I hear it’s very therapeutic.

That's how my buddy craps - nickname Sir Crap Alot

Ed, Ed, Ed... we ain't gooin fishin without Trileeene !!

[Lockdown]

The biggest I’ve found...

Speaking of this I need to get back to that spot. Found in Sept last year.

[greenhorndave]

The biggest I’ve found...

Speaking of this I need to get back to that spot. Found in Sept last year.

That is a big shile of pit.

[BBH1980]

I always find myself, at this time of the year, making statements along this line. We have so many new Beasts....

In heavy pressure, public land areas when you encounter fresh, singular sign of a mature buck and you already have kowldedge from pre-season scouting of buck bedding areas... pull the trigger and hunt the buck immediately !! One finding of oversized droppings, a single oversized track, a single / fresh rub appearing, a new scrape just outside of mature buck bedding... and it is time to pull the trigger and hunt... IMMEDIATELY !!

Even when you don't know exactly where the mature buck bedding is... think about where it may be and MAKE YOUR PLAY!! I and many others have pulled this off successfully.

I think a lot of new Beasts think that there will be a plethora of big buck sign when a big buck moves in to a bedding area... whatever the reason... but on heavy pressure public land that is almost never the case.

Bridge

Thank you for this. While I have bowhunted for 27 years I am a new member here I have over 100 miles scouting this winter/spring on public for the first time ever. This will be my first year beast hunting and I noticed this very thing while scouting so what your says re affirms it for me. I was looking for way to much and over thinking it. Thanks again