I couldn't hunt today, so I did a walkabout on some new ground.
WOWZAS!
I was only finding scattered sign when all of the sudden I crossed the marsh grass and BOOM. I jumped 2 deer out of the labeled beds. I didn't see either of them, but I believe the big buck was in the bed further north. It sounded like a BIG deer moving through the woods and I could hear his rack hitting branches. It's so thick! The beds were less than 30 yards from me when the deer spooked, and I never saw either of them.
The yellow dots are all giant rubs (the third rub below is as big as my thigh), scrapes, or potential saddle locations. The rubs were all very fresh. The shavings were still visible in the mud. These are the biggest I've found in GA. This is a BIG BUCK.
They're in a really hard to hunt spot. The wind was blowing from the Northeast. I'm assuming they felt safe with the marsh to their rear and the wind coming from the same direction. They were more than likely watching and listening for predators coming from the mainland to the west.
I came in from the southeast so they probably never smelled me. They must have heard me coming across the marsh.
NONE of the saddle spots are ideal. My plan is to wait for a North or Northeast wind and hunt the SW corner of the little marsh finger. There are some heavily used trails there. On the eastern side of the marsh is a BIG live oak flat with 2,000,000 acorns dropping. On a westward wind I'll come in from the other side and find a spot in one of the live oaks. My blood is PUMPING!