First 2 days attempting to hunt a new area here close to home. Spent a fair number of days and covered a ton of miles scouting a mountain area nearby back in the early spring and some during the summer. Focused on finding compound terrain features with buck sign from the previous season. Hung 8 cameras, all set on video, scattered over several thousand acres. Have not been back in those woods since late june or early july. Went in Thursday morning to the easiest cam to get too. Only had one clip of a 80 inch type buck loping through in the dark. No current sign of any kind but also no acorns. Backed out and drove around to a different area that would let me access a few cams. 50 minute drive to get around there and started hiking. Ended up checking 4 cams and was over 8 miles for the day. One cam had several clips of does and 2 different bears one time each. The other cams had nothing. Not a single one of those areas that had been littered with scrapes and rubs last year had any evidence of a deer being anywhere in the area and none of those areas had any acorns to amount to anything. Literally only saw 2 white oak acorns and not enough caps to fill up a cargo pocket in over 8 miles. Obviously that cast a sour outlook on the hunting prospects and had basically wiped out the day by that point. As I was hiking back out to the truck, I thought about the fact that I had seen several single or pairs of does cross the road in front of me on the drive to relocate areas. They all crossed at lower elevations than any of my cam spots and were all in or close to drainages with heavy cover. As I started driving out, again I started having deer cross in the same or similar areas including one really nice 8 point travelling with a doe. I dropped a pin on that spot. Friday morning, I investigated the area where the buck and doe crossed. As i eased up into those woods I found an area that had been select cut a few years ago and is now a jungle of heavy cover. Checking the maps, there was a drainage that headed out at the NW corner of the cut area. With south wind, I thought that might work well to catch deer working that edge and the bonus of the drainage heading out at that corner. As I made my way up the edge, there were noticeably more acorns and feeding sign but not a lot by any stretch. Also there was a distinct rub line. At the corner was a big scrape but not a tree I was confident trying to hunt. The woods opened up a lot there and every thing was bad funky or light poles with no cover at all. I backed up a bit the way I came, maybe 50 yards and found a nice double trunk white oak with good back cover and went up. Stayed there the rest of the day. Weather was warming up and I didnt see a deer until 6pm. Had 3 big doe's a little one come by in bow range but didnt take a shot. Hoping the buck from the previous day or a different buck might work through but no dice.
A few things of note, historical sign can be feast or famine. Got to take into consideration all relevant conditions. Last year was a great year for acorns, this year not so much in that area. If you hike 8 miles and dont bump a deer or get blown at, it's time to relocate. Pay attention to all deer sightings no matter how insignificant they may seem, could be your clue to getting on deer. I put a good bit of effort into post season scouting but didnt have the time to do any preseason scouting, both are important. Learning to hunt a new area and esp. a new type of terrain is never easy. Keep an open mind for when a plan fails and stay observant. I pulled 2 cams to relocate but left the rest. My plan was to let them soak and see what uses those areas. Just cause they arent there now doesnt mean they wont be at some point but I think the only reason for them to be there this year will be if pressure pushes them into those places. If your season is not off to the start you hoped it would be, evaluate what is happening in your area and make the adjustments you need to in order to get back in the game.