Let’s talk deer sign & scouting

TH7

Eight Pointer
Found this on a short scouting trip this a.m. after the doves decided to do something different and struck out on them.
 

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ABBD

Ten Pointer
Contributor
Found this on a short scouting trip this a.m. after the doves decided to do something different and struck out on them.

Hard for me not to wonder what was the demise of skull found deer.
 
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TH7

Eight Pointer
Hard for me not to wonder what was the demise of skull found deer.

Exactly. It's cool to find but also a let down he wasn't found or someone didn't search hard enough? was he poached and not recovered? hit by a car and expired? He was two hundred yards or so from a heavily used road. I saw no other bones with it. I saw that was the case with a newer find in the forum as well.
 

ABBD

Ten Pointer
Contributor
First shed hunt scheduled for this Sat... I believe I’m a week too early at this spot but they tend to get picked up quick there.
 

lasttombstone

Kinder, Gentler LTS
All the full antlered deer in my area are still carrying. I have seen sign on the cameras that some of the cowhorns and such have dropped.
 

CutNRun

Ten Pointer
Contributor
This is the time of year to cut shooting lanes too. Deer will have long forgotten about the intrusion by the time bow season starts. Right before the archery season starts, I wait until a day or two before heavy tropical storm in summer to trim any new growth that may have grown into the lanes. My scent is washed and there's usually enough other storm damage that any changes aren't out of place.

Jim
 

ABBD

Ten Pointer
Contributor
Good day in the woods searching for sheds with my oldest daughter (9). She gets more excited than her daddy when we find one.... if she only knew how much I value our time in the woods together. Found a matching set and one side to a old eight point I’m familiar with.
 

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ABBD

Ten Pointer
Contributor
Scouted out a game land the other day and came across a spot I have over looked for quite some time... and feel confident others have as well. It’s approximately a 3 acre block of mature white and red oaks surrounded 360 by almost impenetrable cover. I manage to find an out of the way drainage ditch that got me to it. NW wind would be perfect conditions for access and stand location and is common in for us in the fall.

It was loaded with last years scrapes and rubs. Multiple main trails with crossing trails every 30yds or so. Drainage ditch eventually opened up to a pocket that looks like it would hold water even in the driest conditions.

Perhaps the most notable fact is this is all located within 300 yds from a gravel rd. Looking forward to getting back in there this fall!
 

buckman4c

Spike
My scouting for the year is quickly coming to a close here in PA. But, in light of the situation I will continue scouting/walking the mountains close to home. Extra time with my immediate family in nature is good medicine.

I scouted (3) parcels, two public and one private. I selected specific stand locations on the private land except for one area. On the river bottom public land I have several areas I want to hunt with planned entries but limited specific trees for stands. On another large piece of public ground I thoroughly scouted an area I've been bypassing for several years. Its closer to my access and allows for quick hunts when time is limited. The area is also below a high ridge where I've killed my last two bucks in rifle season and appears to be used heavily during the pre-rut.

I added some pictures of the better sign I found on the public lands to include a dead head. The hidden scrape is one of four along a scrape line in a dense rhododendron, sapling, pine and hemlock thicket. I'm 6' tall standing next to the rub. Jug is quart size at base of another rub. Dead head is a 10pt..

SGL rub height.jpegHidden scrape(1).jpegIMG_0988.jpegDeadhead SGL.jpeg
 

bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
The day I ended up killing this deer was Nov. 1st on the first sit. It was after the big cold front that moved through on Halloween. After the front moved through it offered the perfect wind to hunt the area as well as a 20 degree temp drop. I got settled in 45min before first light and ended up shooting the deer at 9:45am working a scrape line.

I don’t think I would have paid much attention to the spot if it wasn’t for the added sign seen at that particular rub line. It added some confirmation and confidence knowing there was a big buck utilizing that particular block of woods.... and I wanted to chase him.

Blessed it all came together.
Do you have a picture of the deer?

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bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
Adding rub pic
b22575c98d048782c49834a4802a4084.jpg


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Is this rub? At first, I thought it wasn't and just some tree related disease. However, I thought I'd take a pic and ask. I've also read that other animals (like squirrels) will pull cedar bark for nests and such, so could be that too.
 

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Blackwater

Twelve Pointer
A friend and I started some preliminary scouting this weekend, mostly looking for spots to locate cameras. Early last summer we found two bedding spots adjacent to each other which were showing heavy usage but by the fall they had been pretty much abandoned and the deer had moved off to an adjoining property to bed. We were approaching the bedding spot yesterday and busted four deer from that spot so we'll avoid it from here out. It's perfectly located behind a crescent shaped screen of deadfalls, nice and shady with several escape routes to the creek and adjoining property. It's next to impossible to approach without busting them and all the deer we saw in this parcel were traveling from adjoining property with all the bucks but one going nocturnal; a tough place to achieve success. I had to settle for a doe last year though I'd prefer to find a barren one if possible.
 
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