If there is one thing my new friend Bill Vale of pressureddeer.com has taught me is that in order to truly attack scouting mature bucks one has to become a detective. When you find sign it is always going to tell you directional information yes, but can you determine why it was headed where it was, when it was or why it was? A great example of this occurred this season.
As I've stated before my father and I have picked up an awesome new spot (outside having to back out come gun season) and it is teeming with food, tons of bedding cover and great sign. On our last visit there together my father and I came across a track that blew our minds away. Now we've had extreme drought condition and the ground was dry (not damp) and yet this deer left a track that looked like it had 4 hooves the dew claws were pushed so deep.
We followed the track to see what path this bad boy is using, but that was it. I knew the second we left I'd not done enough to fully interpret the tracks, mainly due to laziness on my part (it was very hot that day!). I didn't back track the track, instead simply wanted to see where it was heading, which is fine but both are crucial to know! I also didn't rake the tracks as to better ascertain on later visits if Quad, the deer's coined name, was utilizing this path consistently.
Later the next day and after discussing things with Bill I logged on to the National Weather Service website in order to obtain the wind conditions, barometric pressure and temps those tracks were more than likely made during (knowing they weren't over 48 hours old. This information was logged into a binder with a picture of the track and notes as to exactly where it was found and the path they took. We hope to add many more pages of track prints and hopefully trail cam pictures of this buck throughout the coming months. I feel that if I do my part my father or I should have a decent attempt at this buck come the fall...if all my detective work pans out like it should. By cross referencing the weather sheet with signs I can begin to see with what winds and conditions does Quad use this trail...and also if other conditions are present where is he going instead. With that information and the ability to use his survival instinct against him hopefully my father or I get this bad boy on the ground come October.
This is just one example where the old Ty, before reading Bill Vale's book, more than likely would have just seen huge tracks and been excited but that is it. While that excitement can keep you in the stand, it doesn't necessarily put you in the stand at the right moment...research will at least make that more likely.
So remember when you're out scouting every single deer sign is directional and can tell you many different things about the animal's habits...will you utilize them? Are you willing to take the extra steps of logging everything you can take from the sign...is it worth it for that elusive big buck your chasing? As always do as much as you can and keep it fun, after all if you're not having fun with it you won't keep up with it.
As I compile more scouting information I'll try to share a few examples of some of the information I'm keeping logged. An example of the page though that I printed out would have looked similar to this one I pulled for Indianapolis, click here.
Good luck out there...detectives.
