Hunting hot sign while it's still hot

[Amarty734]

I've been watching a lot of Dan Infalt's videos and he talks about hunting sign while it's fresh. Usually I'm doing my scouting in the post season. How do i know when certain areas are going to be hot in the season without going in again and blowing them up? I know understanding when deer are on certain food sources are important, and that pressure will also dictate where they are. What is your method for always staying on the hottest areas besides just historical knowledge from past sits. I'm going to do a handful of 3 day hunts over long weekends since i don't have college on fridays. I'm thinking a good tactic might be to sit on or in bedding areas, and if I don't have luck or its not being used then still hunt late mornings and afternoon until I find hot sign to sit during the evening. Is this a good use of my time, or are there better less intrusive ways to find the most active spots.

 

[philsanchez76]

I think your plan sounds pretty dang good. I completely see the dilemma. How do you know sign is fresh without going in to look at it. And how do you go in to look without blowing up the area?!! Historical sign is definitely there for a reason. Only thing I have noticed is that sometimes there may have been a ton of sign from post season but then ZERO fresh sign this year in certain places. This seems to always be food based. So before a hunt; I'd wanna verify what crops were planted or not planted or where acorns were dropping. I have a bedding spot that is just riddled with deer sign, but this year absolutely nothing. And it's cuz the closest field was not planted with anything so the deer have moved. Dan also always says don't be afraid to bump deer. I think that is his way of saying, relax a little bit man.

 

[Kurt]

I would personally avoid going into known bedding areas, or even suspected bedding areas if I was unsure if they were being used, or if I didn't have a fair grasp of how( entry or exit) they were being used. I'm a big fan of setting up near but not to close to suspected bedding areas and using the morning stand to observe deer activity. If terrain allows try to get a view to see how deer are using the area. If nothing is going on then by all means go ***** footin around, to find some sign. Like @philsanchez76 said look for or know where the food is and then find the specific draws or ridges the deer are most likely using to go to and exit those feeding areas. If your watching does come into the food during day light but the bucks are staying off the food till after sun down then I'd try hunting back off the food towards where I think the bucks are bedding. That's where the saddle shines in my opinion.

 

[Rg176bnc]

If you have the bedding areas to burn there is no better way to see and kill big deer and heres several reasons its not a big deal

Let me preface this by saying if you are sharing private land with others or you only have a parcel or 2 to hunt this isn't a good idea.

Now to the good stuff. The truth is deer change bedding areas a lot. Few and very far between is the place that you will find deer bedding thru the entire season. Typically they will start out the early season in an area and may very well scoot to another when the ladies start acting right. Let the food source change (acorns and beans turning yellow are a biggie) or leaves start dropping and he may switch again.

Let that wind come out of the NW at 30mph and all the earlier spots you found them previously could very likely be void of any deer. Check out AT come mid December and watch peoples observations. They are seeing a ton or none.

If a deer can get to a food source without being deterred by ice or snow they can eat all they need in about 20 minuets. If they know trouble is in the kitchen its just easier for them to wait you out.

A very sound tactic is to go right into a bedding area and see who runs out. Odds are good he'll be right back tomorrow. They are even better you wont get a third chance if you spook him on number 2.

Knowledge of your area is the ace in the hole for a hunter but it certainly isn't mandatory to kill a good'un. I'll stop there and let you learn some of the nuances yourself. That's where the fun is for me.

 

[kyler1945]

Deer are better not better at recognizing patterns than humans. They just don’t have clouded minds, and are driven by instinct to pay attention to the patterns presented to them. If you blow a buck out of his bedding area once, he’ll come back. Why? Because it worked. It saved his life. And deer just want to live till tomorrow. It’s all they know. But blow him out twice, and he’ll recognize the pattern. Just like we would. But money, or time, or kids, or work, or cars, or some other nonsense would make us disregard the patterns presented to us, and rationalize staying in an unhealthy situation. A buck? Naw man. He wants to make it till Tomorrow. And he knows his odds of doing that go way down if he gives someone a third chance.

Some might learn slower than others, and those are the ones easy to kill.

Don’t be afraid to walk through a bedding area. Just don’t make it a habit. And pay close attention and learn while you’re in there

 

[will4554]

A very sound tactic is to go right into a bedding area and see who runs out. Odds are good he'll be right back tomorrow. They are even better you wont get a third chance if you spook him on number 2.

I have unintentionally observed just that a few times. My mistake was not figuring out the scenario exactly. I plan to be far more aggressive with those situations this season. Figure everything out, and try to kill those deer.

 

[Rg176bnc]

I feel like I kinda skipped part of the OP's original question. Don't be afraid to spend your 1st day of your long weekend scouting. Your looking for tracks 3.5 inchs or longer here in the central U.S. If you have a case pocket knife that's the perfect size. I'll let you use your imagination on the fastest ways to cut these tracks and where to go from there.

 

[Patriot]

You got to push it. Dan says he has a general plan and location in mind but he often doesn’t make it there because he follows the fresh sign and pushes the limits. The THP guys also push the limits.

If we are too scared to find fresh sign because we think we are too close and going to mess up the hunt that is 100% irrational logic. Fresh sign makes the hunt it doesn’t ruin it.

But as others have said, being aggressive means you need a menu of locations bc you will burn some. But I’d rather go thru 12 different locations of hunts on public where I was in the game and on the edge of “too close” each time then have 12 hunts at 3 locations where I spent 4 sits at each spot working my way in closer to bedding.

I’ve read a lot about “hunting your way” in progressively as the season progresses and I went from obeying it to thinking that tactic is stupid. They are laughing at us from afar I’m sure.

And if you hunt pressure areas and you hunt public you are INSANE not to be aggressive bc someone else is going to do it so it might as well be you. What are you saving the spot for everyone else in the county?

I had that epiphany a few years ago. I don’t own private, I’m not saving crap, I’m going to get after it.

 

[kyler1945]

Also, read @WHW ‘s hunting style sticky.

He doesn’t hunt bedding areas necessarily. He just walks, heck he used to run, covering ground, find sign that ‘takes your breath away.’ And he doesn’t hunt till he finds it.

Be content to scout more than you sit in a tree. My sightings and killings have gone way up since I committed to covering ground, learning, paying attention, and not settling for old sign

 

[MathewsShooter7]

The best unobtrusive way to key in on the right spots to look for sign is google earth or something of the sort. Find the food, find the bedding, study the terrain and how deer will use it to and from. You can eliminate a lot of area generally speaking right away. Then boots on the ground but scent free as possible and not like a marching band! rubber boots and look do not touch! As was said above, I do not try to do it, but jumping a big buck is not the worst thing in the world, at least you know where he is and he is not going to completely blow out of the area over a soft bump (especially a rut phase deer). I will scout a lot of times like this following a morning hunt or scout hunt into an evening sit. As far as bedding areas i like to stay on the downwind edges rather than smack in the middle at least at first and then maybe ease in further as they go from seeking to breeding. Bucks will almost always stick to the downwind edge and scent check the whole bedding area when seeking. Not saying this is the only way just what I was taught and has worked for me. Every area is a different puzzle you just have to see the big picture and put it together. Hope some of this helps, best of luck to you

P.S. Patience and Persistence pays off!

 

[shwacker]

So hard to do sometimes, especially on a limited time out of state or wherever hunt. But yes to the OP question, don’t just all day sit where sign once was post season. It’s a good starting point but you have to scout. Find the sign and hunt it. I generally try to scout, hang an afternoon, come back to it in the morning, then scout again midday and repeat. If I hit something pretty good and didn’t close the deal I maybe repeat in a few days for a second try.


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[tree_ghost]

You got to push it. Dan says he has a general plan and location in mind but he often doesn’t make it there because he follows the fresh sign and pushes the limits. The THP guys also push the limits.

If we are too scared to find fresh sign because we think we are too close and going to mess up the hunt that is 100% irrational logic. Fresh sign makes the hunt it doesn’t ruin it.

But as others have said, being aggressive means you need a menu of locations bc you will burn some. But I’d rather go thru 12 different locations of hunts on public where I was in the game and on the edge of “too close” each time then have 12 hunts at 3 locations where I spent 4 sits at each spot working my way in closer to bedding.

I’ve read a lot about “hunting your way” in progressively as the season progresses and I went from obeying it to thinking that tactic is stupid. They are laughing at us from afar I’m sure.

And if you hunt pressure areas and you hunt public you are INSANE not to be aggressive bc someone else is going to do it so it might as well be you. What are you saving the spot for everyone else in the county?

I had that epiphany a few years ago. I don’t own private, I’m not saving crap, I’m going to get after it.

Great post! Mimics my thought process to a T. You can’t be afraid to make a mistake pushing in too close IMO. I have learned 10x as much 3x as fast by pushing it too hard and actually seeing the situation and setup unfold in front of me vs. trying to ease in hunt by hunt and learning where that threshold is. I put my Nose to the wind, stand/saddle on my back, and bow in hand and work toward an area of interest I have either from previous years scouting or cyber scouting. I move slowly and when the sign is screaming at me to setup I do. It’s paid off BIG time for me and the wall is the proof.

 

[ImThere]

I agree with most all above.
One thing to add is you will build history with a property. Once you learn food sources this yeas they will be the same next year so if you do blow the spot up hopefully the buck will be back next year with more inches of bone and you have the area dialed in and are able to take him!
A good reason for a good journal.


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