GR8atta2d

Jeff, I wasn't saying you were wrong..In fact I have a couple areas just like yours.. But when time and opportunity allow, I like to hunt Bucks in their territory, and not wait on them to come to mine. It's usaully a weekend when I have that kinda time. Otherwise I'm on the edges of suburbia with you!
I see more deer..hunting suburbia..but I see better bucks, more commonly hunting the Nasties.

GMMAT

I know that...(not that it might have been true!!)....I was just explaining why I don't go into the areas you speak of (I can't!!).

I honestly, last year.....worked my way closer and closer to the sanctuary......as time went by. It was pure, blind luck that my season worked out the way it did. If I'd known where the deer were......earlier....I'd have barelled in there and screwed it up. By easing back in there......I kept JUST enough pressure to be where they were.....without blowing them out.

I'll hunt it the same way, this year ('07).

Good luck.

AR Bowhunter

I hunt where there is rubs, acorns, droppings, scrapes, an no people unless I am hunting a certain buck, then everything changes. I look for does during the rutting phase.

buckeye

The closest I generally come to "hunting does" for bucks is by hunting near known doe bedding areas. I prefer to set up with the terrain vs hunting does if this is possible depending on the areas topography.


[/align]Hunting does like sign IMOcan behit or miss as well. I am sure it is a little different in GMMAT's area than minethough as his deer are more restricted in their homeranges than the deer out this way. In my area food sources change frequently so if you aren't on top of your game with stand observations of their feeding preferences hunting does can leave you behind.


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Bullet Hole Bailey

i was wandering the same thing

TEmbry

welli hunt where there was plenty of sign and does this year, but i didnt see a mature buck the ENTIRE season. saw three in one day last year. my little 20 acres i hunt is surrounded by perfect deer hunting so the deer pass through. but being 20 acres i am greatly restricted as to where to hunt. i think this year the deer actually just started movin through there at night.

im movin over to my uncles farm next year. the deer stay there 24/7 early early season and during summer because he has 100s of acres of beans and corn. even has an alfalfa plot that he bales for the cattle. i will hunt where the feeding sign is early season trying to target bachelor groups (sept.)then does during rut(nov.) then back to food during late winter(dec. and jan.).

Madeline

Keep in mind deer are social animals and are creatures of habit!!!!!!!! if you have a area that has alot of sign rubs scrapes and sign of a big buck early in the rut and you hunt there and dont have any luck dont give up!!because chances are those deer using the area especialy the older deer are coming through at night !!! now as the rut heats you will start seeing these buck more during day light !!!!deer put scrapes and rubs in high traffic areas and high visable areaswere does and deer in general are using!!!you may wont to back track and get a little closer to were they may be bedding!!Also dont get the idea that if you got a piece of property that is smaller and there is not big rubs and alot of scrapes doesnt mean that theres not mature bucks in your area!!!!!

dukemichaels

Like Buckeye stated.. it's hit or miss. Always use the terrain!

But if you use a little common sense when hunting sign you are already that much a better hunter. What I mean is this..

1. I find a scrape or two and a couple rubs coming from a really thick bedding area within 60-100 yards/ and it follows a saddle that allows deer to sneak through some open woods without being seen.. HUNT IT.

2. If I find 4 or 6 or 8 rubs and a good sized scrape on the edge of a field that you know the deer don't visit til after dark. They're simply bedded to far away. DON'T HUNT IT. But use it as a puzzle piece.

I don't hunt sign.. but I use it to determine movements of deer. I hunt topography and funnels. But I will hunt good sign within topography or funnels.

Sliverflicker

I will stick with the Buck sign, I know he's been there, and it's only a matter of time till he comes back, I just got to be there when he is! I don't hunt does, some are under a misconsception that Bucks do all the seeking, whena Doe is in standing heat and hasa need to breed, Trust me, she will leave the groop and find her mate. I spend most of my time hunting around Primary and Community scrapes if possable, or good Rub lines leading into such areas for this reason. Different areas call for different tactics depending on Buck to Doe ratio, and lay of the land. But like I said, I will pick the Buck sign, even if it is only a track. If there ain't no sign, you are hunting Blind!!!

davidmil

Unless you have the luxury of glassing your hunting spot and no one else is hunting it to find "A" particular deer, you have to hunt the sign. You don't hunt all sign... but you hunt it. Based on what you see, tracks your find, knowledge of the woods and deer sense, you hunt sign early season. It's easy to find the does, you hunt them before, during and right after the rut. If you're hunting in Sept or early Oct and want to shoot a buck, they aren't going to be with the does. You have to hunt the sign as you read it. A series of rubs can tell you bucks are cruising an area. The size can generally give you some idea of buck size. Tracks in scrapes help. I personnally don't hunt rubs or scrapes, but rather use them as guides to where the bucks are moving. You have to add all that to the food sources to get a true picture. So to say, "DON"T hunt the sign" is really pretty short sighted. Unless you can sit there for a month and glass and see a buck come out everynight in a field at a particular spot what do you do? If you've read the sign correctly you can figure it out without the glassing. You can read the sing in a new strange woods you've never hunted and come up with a deer. If you ignore scrapes, rubs and all that, you're just hoping you're lucky. GMMAT says he didn't hunt the sign, he observed and cautiously moved in over a period of time. What better sign is there than visual observation. He said he didn't want to pressure them. However, we've all heard how the neighbors pressured them and shot several by wandering all over. And even later GMMAT shot another. If you read the sign, hunt the wind and do low impact hunting you can go just about anywhere you want with a bow. Most of us have limited hunting days. I prefer to put myself in a spot to shoot something everytime I go. If I don't get back to the area for a week they've forgot me.