Find hidden travel trails

Reading deer sign is something that has always made sense to me. It gives me more knowledge of the animals, where they feed, where they travel, and in the end, it's this knowledge that makes hunters more successful.

I'm so mindful of a big buck from several years ago. I'd seen him on two or three occasions but didn't know where he lived. It took me a week of reading October deer sign to pin down his whereabouts.

The area was in fairly heavy cover. I knew the buck had an exceptional 8-point spread, and reasoned he would be working over some big trees to strengthen his neck muscles before the rut began.

Big bucks make big rubs on trees. I'd moved slowly through the heavy cover without seeing much buck sign except for a few small rubs on some tag alders. I came out the other side of the tag alders, and entered a 25-yard by 25-yard stand of cedars and pines. That is when I worked out this whitetail puzzle.

One cedar was scarred by a pre-rutting buck. Lower limbs were broken off, and the trunk was scrubbed hard from a foot above ground to four feet off the ground. Mind you, I couldn't circle my hands around the tree trunk. This big rub was truly made by a big buck.

Checking around was a faint trail that ran toward another cedar, and it too was rubbed by the same buck. Three trees within 25 yards formed a minor rub line, and the trail exited the cover I had just walked through. This buck was leaving the tag alder to rub the cedar and pine trees, and most likely, the deer was moving out just before dark.

A nearby tree was perfect for a stand. There would be no clattering and banging required to erect a tree stand here. I'd attached a rope to my bow and my belt loop, lay the bow down flat, climbed 10 feet up the tree and stand on too thick parallel limbs that grew close together. Another limb came out at waist level, and I could stand on two limbs and lean back against the other one.

A precarious perch but good enough for one night.

Two nights later as the sun was sinking into the western sky I caught the glint of sunlight hitting brownish-white antlers. The buck went to the first tree, thrashed it hard for several minutes, looked around, and went to the second tree and repeated the process. Fifteen minutes later it arrived at the tree just 15 yards upwind of me.

It took a minute for the buck to rake the tree to a pile of fuzzy bark curlings at the base. He nosed his handiwork, lifted his head, moved around the tree to work on the opposite side. The deer was quartering-away at 15 yards, and it was an easy shot.

I don’t advise anyone to stand on cedar or pine boughs and lean against another one, and I don't suggest you follow my lead. However, I knew the limbs would support me for one evening of hunting. I was certain it would lead to a shot at the big buck on the first night, and it did.

That buck was a creature of habit, and such habits can put a deer in trouble. Once the buck stopped rubbing and visiting the nearby scrape, this idea wouldn't have worked. My adventure with that big buck was timed perfectly, and that is where knowing something about the rutting activity comes in handy. From the end of October through mid-November, that tree might not have paid off as the buck hazed does through open fields and thick cover.

Hunting one buck is an adventure, a matter of going after them one on one. It means knowing as much about the area as is possible, and being able to translate that knowledge into an action plan.

There are countless other ways of reading deer sign that will pay off in a big way, and we'll cover some other examples in the weeks to come. The important thing to realize is that studying deer sign is as much a part of deer hunting as carrying a bow into the woods.

Be alert to deer sign, read what it says, and you'll be on your way to becoming a better deer hunter.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors