Is one big fresh buck track enough?

Discuss the science of figuring out our prey through good detective work.
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Bonecrusher101
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Is one big fresh buck track enough?

Unread postby Bonecrusher101 » Thu Mar 08, 2018 2:09 pm

Again this spring scouting season I'm struggling to find the time to scout. Last Sunday I worked my 3rd Sunday in a row at work and have had only one day off in the last month or so. The money is nice but it's been a grind.

Today I had an opening to hit the woods after work. I couldn't stand it anymore and had to get back to my happy place. I had a basic idea of where I wanted to roam through. I had unanswered questions about one area I had hunted fairly often. Last season while hunting here, I had seen multiple does move through but missed the mark on seeing bucks. I know they are in the area, but where?

Before I could get close to the cutover where I presumed the deer would bed, a big doe jumped up and slowly lopped off. There was a yearling with her that followed soon after. Another 200 yards in, I saw another group of does jump up and run off. There were maybe 3 or 4 in the group and they headed into the cutover.

Once in the cutover I realized there was a lot of standing water and that it was more probable that the does were bedding in the open hardwoods than the cutover. Visually seeing multiple deer is a plus, but I never really saw any solid buck sign or beds Until I was walking out.

I found a huge splayed buck track. My heart skipped a beat when I saw it. After following and looking at doe trails this track really stood apart. I admired how much bigger this bucks front feet are against his back feet. His track was long and deep and showed dew claws almost every step. He was walking alone and I tracked him for a while until he crossed another shallow ditch. I've got an idea on his hangout and I decided I'd investigate further another day.

I feel like I don't need trail cameras. I know I'm going to hunt there again this year. I know there are plenty of does that hang in the area and now I know there is a very big buck that cruises the area as well. I feel like seeing a solid set of tracks is enough evidence for me to feel like I'm in the game.

I need another scouting trip to get more Intel. Hopefully soon! Any thoughts?


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Re: Is one big fresh buck track enough?

Unread postby Bonecrusher101 » Thu Mar 08, 2018 2:14 pm

Image
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magicman54494
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Re: Is one big fresh buck track enough?

Unread postby magicman54494 » Thu Mar 08, 2018 2:42 pm

I would want to find the bedding. also, that buck could be wintering over in that spot and be elsewhere during season
I think a lot more intel is needed.
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Re: Is one big fresh buck track enough?

Unread postby KLEMZ » Thu Mar 08, 2018 3:04 pm

magicman54494 wrote:I would want to find the bedding. also, that buck could be wintering over in that spot and be elsewhere during season
I think a lot more intel is needed.

I totally agree on finding the bedding. If you are confident that the huge tracks you found were from a walking buck, then you can assume he beds somewhere fairly close. However, if that track could be from a running or trotting buck, then it could be artificially large looking, and just fooling you. If you are not sure about the track, look up Dan's article about tracking deer.
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Re: Is one big fresh buck track enough?

Unread postby Motivated » Thu Mar 08, 2018 8:37 pm

Bonecrusher101 wrote:Image


Cold muddy clay can make a track look fresher, because it does not dry out as quickly in the cold. Assuming that you did not move anything, the pine needles and stick fell after the track was laid, because they are not smashed into the earth. I has a muddy track fool me one November. The track looked fresh, but the buck was dead and rotting already. Track aging now fascinates me.

Regardless, it looks like a good track to me. I would keep scouting. As someone else mentioned, Dan has a great article here on tracks and some great other threads exist here as well.

Great find, and keep up the good work!
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Re: Is one big fresh buck track enough?

Unread postby Babshaft » Fri Mar 09, 2018 12:29 am

I'm new to looking at tracks for intel and have been fascinated by it.

I'm lucky that I've got snow here. All the tracking I've been doing while scouting is in the snow so I'm pretty spoiled. Yesterday I cut a large buck track and was able follow it right to his bedding area. My dog jumped him. It was great to see a BIG deer take off and even better to discover what looks like a primary bedding area.

When the snow melts, and a single big track is all I can find, it'll definitely get me excited. Hopefully it'll be enough to point me in the right direction to his bedding area.

Cool find man. Hopefully you can find his bedding near that cutover and get a good crack at him in the fall.
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Re: Is one big fresh buck track enough?

Unread postby Evanszach7 » Fri Mar 09, 2018 1:43 am

Had a similar experience recently with an area. During the season: lots of does, fresh buck sign, occasional buck tracks. Found a couple buck beds which resulted in smaller buck sightings, but those didn’t match some of the sign or tracks. Went back and scouted a cutover that I had dismissed due to no good stand trees- overlooked area. Found what I had missed in-season.

This cutover has 2-4 ft briars/grass; just enough daylight cover.
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Re: Is one big fresh buck track enough?

Unread postby strutnrut716 » Fri Mar 09, 2018 2:42 am

Babshaft wrote:I'm new to looking at tracks for intel and have been fascinated by it.

I'm lucky that I've got snow here. All the tracking I've been doing while scouting is in the snow so I'm pretty spoiled. Yesterday I cut a large buck track and was able follow it right to his bedding area. My dog jumped him. It was great to see a BIG deer take off and even better to discover what looks like a primary bedding area.
When the snow melts, and a single big track is all I can find, it'll definitely get me excited. Hopefully it'll be enough to point me in the right direction to his bedding area.

Cool find man. Hopefully you can find his bedding near that cutover and get a good crack at him in the fall.


Very nice Babshaft ! Makes me not complain about the snow we got a few days ago. Going out today to hopefully do what you did ! (I dont have a dog tho..)
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Re: Is one big fresh buck track enough?

Unread postby Babshaft » Fri Mar 09, 2018 8:47 am

strutnrut716 wrote:
Babshaft wrote:I'm new to looking at tracks for intel and have been fascinated by it.

I'm lucky that I've got snow here. All the tracking I've been doing while scouting is in the snow so I'm pretty spoiled. Yesterday I cut a large buck track and was able follow it right to his bedding area. My dog jumped him. It was great to see a BIG deer take off and even better to discover what looks like a primary bedding area.
When the snow melts, and a single big track is all I can find, it'll definitely get me excited. Hopefully it'll be enough to point me in the right direction to his bedding area.

Cool find man. Hopefully you can find his bedding near that cutover and get a good crack at him in the fall.


Very nice Babshaft ! Makes me not complain about the snow we got a few days ago. Going out today to hopefully do what you did ! (I dont have a dog tho..)


Let me know how it goes brother! I was apprehensive to bring the dog at first. He covers a lot more ground than me, he can ruin tracks, he's another foreign scent to the area, and he pisses on everything. I started bringing him anyways because I knew he'd love it. We had a bit of a thaw a few weeks ago and in a few areas I was scouting I lost the snow to follow tracks in. I was standing in a good bedding area trying to figure out all of the exit trails when my dog caught my attention. He'd trot down an obvious trail and then come back. Then he'd go down another trail I didn't even see and come back. And repeat. I realized he could still smell the trails so I just stayed put and watched him. It made it really easy for me to mark all of the exit trails and investigate them further.

Long story short...get a dog just for scouting! Hahaha. In all seriousness, good luck and let me know what you find buddy!
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Re: Is one big fresh buck track enough?

Unread postby Bonecrusher101 » Fri Mar 09, 2018 1:05 pm

A little back story on the area, I had killed a very heavy 7 point out of the cutover my 2016 deer season. That season I saw 3 other bucks cruising through that cutover and I saw that 7 point fight off another buck that I had several chances to kill that season. The smaller buck was a basket 6 point maybe his 2nd set of antlers I guessed him to be 1.5 yr old. There was also a nice 8 or 9 point using the area that had a nicer rack but lesser body size. I guessed that buck to be a 2.5 yr old when I saw him in 2016. The third buck I saw only had one point, a long main beam on his right side without any tines.

Today I went back in there and finished my walk. I accomplished what I wanted to see. I got back on his track and followed them. This area is pretty much contained within aprox 400 ac. I saw him jump up and take 2-3 bounds and he was gone. He was by himself and had a big body and I couldn't tell much else.

He was bedded on a bit of a bluff with water between him and I. I worked my way through the water and when I got to the area he was in I checked my gps. Yep, I was 100 yards from where I had walked through yesterday. I walked through the cutover yesterday and approached from the opposite direction. I was also 100 yards from the best tree I had marked yesterday. Multiple entry exits and close to water and plenty of thickets to hide in.

Maybe I had bumped him out and crossed his track on my way out yesterday. Either way, the area is fairly small and I know it's holding plenty of deer. I saw deer or bumped deer most times I've walked into it. Its not typical bedding and there weren't much for rubs. Mission accomplished though, I found where he was bedding marked a few trees to try and plan to hunt a different area next season.

I enjoy reviewing my season, reviewing my hunts and trying to figure out how to critique my setups to be better or new prospects of the upcoming season.

Thank you for reading and adding advice! Happy scouting!
Be original and Enjoy every step along the adventure.
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Re: Is one big fresh buck track enough?

Unread postby Ghost Hunter » Fri Mar 09, 2018 1:11 pm

Six more months to go and season will be on us. Sometimes it does start with just one track. You just have to start doing your homework then.
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Re: Is one big fresh buck track enough?

Unread postby Babshaft » Fri Mar 09, 2018 1:21 pm

Bonecrusher101 wrote:A little back story on the area, I had killed a very heavy 7 point out of the cutover my 2016 deer season. That season I saw 3 other bucks cruising through that cutover and I saw that 7 point fight off another buck that I had several chances to kill that season. The smaller buck was a basket 6 point maybe his 2nd set of antlers I guessed him to be 1.5 yr old. There was also a nice 8 or 9 point using the area that had a nicer rack but lesser body size. I guessed that buck to be a 2.5 yr old when I saw him in 2016. The third buck I saw only had one point, a long main beam on his right side without any tines.

Today I went back in there and finished my walk. I accomplished what I wanted to see. I got back on his track and followed them. This area is pretty much contained within aprox 400 ac. I saw him jump up and take 2-3 bounds and he was gone. He was by himself and had a big body and I couldn't tell much else.

He was bedded on a bit of a bluff with water between him and I. I worked my way through the water and when I got to the area he was in I checked my gps. Yep, I was 100 yards from where I had walked through yesterday. I walked through the cutover yesterday and approached from the opposite direction. I was also 100 yards from the best tree I had marked yesterday. Multiple entry exits and close to water and plenty of thickets to hide in.

Maybe I had bumped him out and crossed his track on my way out yesterday. Either way, the area is fairly small and I know it's holding plenty of deer. I saw deer or bumped deer most times I've walked into it. Its not typical bedding and there weren't much for rubs. Mission accomplished though, I found where he was bedding marked a few trees to try and plan to hunt a different area next season.

I enjoy reviewing my season, reviewing my hunts and trying to figure out how to critique my setups to be better or new prospects of the upcoming season.

Thank you for reading and adding advice! Happy scouting!


Man that is awesome! And a great reminder that determination and coming at it from a different direction can pay huge dividends. Thanks for sharing that. There’s an area I haven’t figured out yet and you just turned the light bulb on for me.

Cheers
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Re: Is one big fresh buck track enough?

Unread postby Motivated » Fri Mar 09, 2018 1:52 pm

Good job! :dance:
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Re: Is one big fresh buck track enough?

Unread postby Bonecrusher101 » Fri Mar 09, 2018 2:10 pm

Babshaft wrote:
Bonecrusher101 wrote:A little back story on the area, I had killed a very heavy 7 point out of the cutover my 2016 deer season. That season I saw 3 other bucks cruising through that cutover and I saw that 7 point fight off another buck that I had several chances to kill that season. The smaller buck was a basket 6 point maybe his 2nd set of antlers I guessed him to be 1.5 yr old. There was also a nice 8 or 9 point using the area that had a nicer rack but lesser body size. I guessed that buck to be a 2.5 yr old when I saw him in 2016. The third buck I saw only had one point, a long main beam on his right side without any tines.

Today I went back in there and finished my walk. I accomplished what I wanted to see. I got back on his track and followed them. This area is pretty much contained within aprox 400 ac. I saw him jump up and take 2-3 bounds and he was gone. He was by himself and had a big body and I couldn't tell much else.

He was bedded on a bit of a bluff with water between him and I. I worked my way through the water and when I got to the area he was in I checked my gps. Yep, I was 100 yards from where I had walked through yesterday. I walked through the cutover yesterday and approached from the opposite direction. I was also 100 yards from the best tree I had marked yesterday. Multiple entry exits and close to water and plenty of thickets to hide in.

Maybe I had bumped him out and crossed his track on my way out yesterday. Either way, the area is fairly small and I know it's holding plenty of deer. I saw deer or bumped deer most times I've walked into it. Its not typical bedding and there weren't much for rubs. Mission accomplished though, I found where he was bedding marked a few trees to try and plan to hunt a different area next season.

I enjoy reviewing my season, reviewing my hunts and trying to figure out how to critique my setups to be better or new prospects of the upcoming season.

Thank you for reading and adding advice! Happy scouting!


Man that is awesome! And a great reminder that determination and coming at it from a different direction can pay huge dividends. Thanks for sharing that. There’s an area I haven’t figured out yet and you just turned the light bulb on for me.

Cheers


Yeah man, let us know how it goes babs! We are still in front of spring green up and it's a great time to be in the woods!
Be original and Enjoy every step along the adventure.
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Re: Is one big fresh buck track enough?

Unread postby strutnrut716 » Sat Mar 10, 2018 2:10 am

Actually scouted the back door into one of my spots yesterday. I wasn't able to follow a big track back to bedding as there were way too many tracks all over. A good thing for the most part. What I did find was a huge travel corridor that is being used this time of year. Going from the bedding to the ag fields to the north and south. It really is amazing to see the heavy use and the heavy trails, especially in spots where you wouldn't think. Then you sit back and say "Yep, that makes sense". The south trail into ag enters right at a low spot of the field, right where the deer cannot be seen from the blacktop road 1/4 mile to the south. Sure made sense.

Also found a suspected doe bedding area, yep, about 100 yards upwind of the buck bedding area.

Snow is great for those of us learning. The sun gets higher and higher in the sky each and every day. It wont be long now and spring is gonna pop !


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