Hunt the sign or find thickets near it because of pressure?

[EastTNcowsNwhitetails]

I scouted ohio over the weekend and found 6 scrapes and a bunch of rubs. Ive never found scrapes here in east tn this early. Is this the sign of a mature buck? Most scrapes were over licking branches that looked to have been broken last year. I also found rubs where the bucks snapped 2 different trees in half and carried the top part of the tree around before dropping it off. Ive found this before here in east tn but only during the rut as far as i can recall? Should i hunt these rubs and scrapes on public land or should i find the thickest cover close to these and sit there on opening day and hope the other hunters scare the deer off their patterns and into thick cover where i would be waiting? Im trying to decide whether to hunt close to the ridges where i found the sign or move to the thick areas that i found beds in. I know its a bedding area but it also looks like a place a deer would run to escape because the lake funnels them into that thicket if they are pressured. Hope this is interesting to some of you and maybe you can help this tn boy put a big buck down in the buckeye state on public ground. Ive got a feeling im onto a big buck but i know the pressure is going to dictate where this guy goes on the first few days of season. Thanks in advance for any advice or input. Ive got a good idea but i want to bounce it around some other skilled and veteran hunters.

 

[Winchester]

Re: Scrapes??

This time of year im hunting food sources, bucks have little to no interest in Does right now.

 

[Powerstroke]

Re: Scrapes??

X2 with Winchester ,But probably is a mature buck When the velvet comes off and the days start getting shorter there is a little rise in testosterone in them and they start feeling frisky ....

 

[EastTNcowsNwhitetails]

Re: Scrapes??

I guess what im trying to ask is should i focus my attention on this sign or since i know other people will be hunting all around me, should i ignore the sign i found and go to the thickets near the sign and hope the deer are bumped in the dark when people are walking in and head to the thickets for safety. If they get bumped, id say they probably wont be showing there faces at the oaks and places where i found the rubs and scrapes... most of the scrapes and rubs were next to oak trees so i know the food was drawing the deer there. But thats preseason before all the hunters start walking around and scaring everything. Thanks

 

[TDW05]

Re: Hunt the sign or find thickets near it because of pressu

If you know where they are bedding and where they are feeding then find a trail and set up. They feel no pressure right now but as season goes on and pressure picks up I'd be right on the edge of the thicket.

 

[Mike Belt]

Re: Hunt the sign or find thickets near it because of pressu

I know nothing about the area you scouted. The food source will draw bucks and does but generally the bucks will stay separated from the does. Much of this is determined by when the rut typically starts in your area and what time of the year you're planning on hunting. If you're still a month away from the rut I wouldn't put to much store in the scrapes you found. Sometimes in areas where they feed they make what I call nervous scrapes that have nothing to do with breeding, and most of those are done nocturnally. Depending on when your season starts in conjunction with rutting activity, I'd probably advise looking for any available food sources near or adjacent to thicker areas. Edges here seem to make for excellent travel corridors particularly if they are away from most of the heavy hunting pressure.

 

[dsa5455]

Re: Hunt the sign or find thickets near it because of pressu

Edge of thick stuff comes to mind from my view.

 

[lungpuncher1]

Re: Hunt the sign or find thickets near it because of pressu

I guess what im trying to ask is should i focus my attention on this sign or since i know other people will be hunting all around me, should i ignore the sign i found and go to the thickets near the sign and hope the deer are bumped in the dark when people are walking in and head to the thickets for safety. If they get bumped, id say they probably wont be showing there faces at the oaks and places where i found the rubs and scrapes... most of the scrapes and rubs were next to oak trees so i know the food was drawing the deer there. But thats preseason before all the hunters start walking around and scaring everything. Thanks

Are you hunting this during the rut?

There's no blanket answer for your question. Time of season will determine everything.

If hunting the rut on public land in Ohio then yes thick stuff is king. Most of the sign you see up there is made 99% at night.

 

[Hunt 365]

Re: Hunt the sign or find thickets near it because of pressu

Hunt between food and the sign...thick is ok, but food more important until pressure

 

[TN Whitetail Freak]

Re: Hunt the sign or find thickets near it because of pressu

You can use the sign location to guide you to the food source theyre using but most I'd assume we're made under darkness, I'll start hunting sign last week of October

 

[lungpuncher1]

Re: Hunt the sign or find thickets near it because of pressu

Hunt between food and the sign...thick is ok, but food more important until pressure

It's not that simple on Ohio pressured land. They go out of their way to stay in cover up there.

 

[Powerstroke]

Re: Hunt the sign or find thickets near it because of pressu

I know you were trying to decide between a couple different public areas ,Which one did you finally decide to hunt on ??

 

[EastTNcowsNwhitetails]

Re: Hunt the sign or find thickets near it because of pressu

Ill be there opening day. Sept. 30th thru oct. 3. But the deer are already feeling the oressure in this spot. I talked to the park ranger and while i was on the phone with him 2 vehicles were parked where im talking about up there scouting just like i had done the weekend before. Ive got a gut feeling that says ignore the good sign and go far away into thickness because theres going to be some crowded woods on opening day i do believe.

 

[EastTNcowsNwhitetails]

Re: Hunt the sign or find thickets near it because of pressu

We went to salt fork but im not so sure we made the right choice. We will try it out this year and go from there for future trips. We moved the hunt up a weekend so we could be there opening 4 days rather than a week later like we originally planned because we aaw a lot of hunter sign and we wanted first crack at them.