How much is enough?

[swiftni]

Was out scouting this weekend and ran into the question of how much buck sign is enough sign?

Found a beautiful marsh point with white oaks starting to drop acorns at the start of the point. Cut a good sized buck track coming off the point right around those acorns. Went back into the point (brand new public I’ve never been on, and I wanted the intel even though season is close). Found a bed or two, didn’t seem huge but decent. 0 rubs on the island.

This is on very pressured MI public.

Curious if this would be enough sign to get you guys interested? Should I pocket this spot and continue to scout here post season for more intel? I’m inclined to throw a sit at it just in case.

[magicman54494]

How much do you need?
If there was just one good track I'd hunt it.
If it were me though, I'd stay out of the woods right now and wait for season then scout with my hunting gear and set up as soon as I found sign. Why go in now and educate them?

[swiftni]

How much do you need?
If there was just one good track I'd hunt it.
If it were me though, I'd stay out of the woods right now and wait for season then scout with my hunting gear and set up as soon as I found sign. Why go in now and educate them?

I agree actually, just running on limited time this fall, trying to gather intel when I can. Figure some of these new places I’m scouting can be intel gathering for next year if I blow them up for this year. These areas are used by people pretty regularly with hiking trails etc, so I’m hoping the impact is relatively low.

[Huntress13]

I would throw a hunt at it. When does your season open?

[Ghost Hunter]

I am anxious too. Wanting walk in and just check things out also. But deep down inside I know areas I'm wanting to walk into check is also area I have plans of hunting opening morning. So, I'm staying out till then regardless how bad I want to just go in and take a quick look around.


Give me just little good sign and that's where I will start. I hate kicking can down road when season is just starting.

[swiftni]

I would throw a hunt at it. When does your season open?

October 1 here.

[Ghost Hunter]

I would throw a hunt at it. When does your season open?

October 1 here.

We start September 24th here. I wish you luck this year.

[swiftni]

I would throw a hunt at it. When does your season open?

October 1 here.

We start September 24th here. I wish you luck this year.

Good luck to you! Hope your arrows fly straight.

[Ghost Hunter]

I would throw a hunt at it. When does your season open?

October 1 here.

We start September 24th here. I wish you luck this year.

Good luck to you! Hope your arrows fly straight.

Me too!

[Hawthorne]

Get in there early and hopefully squirrel hunters stay out. Opens sept15. I plan on going to scout some night feeding areas

[mipubbucks24]

You won’t know until you hunt it, based on my experience on Michigan public I would say most likely the deer will be pushed deeper by start of season but if there are oaks dropping and are not eaten yet, then I would hunt it.

[swiftni]

You won’t know until you hunt it, based on my experience on Michigan public I would say most likely the deer will be pushed deeper by start of season but if there are oaks dropping and are not eaten yet, then I would hunt it.

Very possible they get pushed. I’m hoping this is on the overlooked side, didn’t see any human sign off trail in this particular spot. Time will tell! This is my first year really diving into public hard, just trying to learn as much as possible every day.

[oldrank]

Public land bucks change patterns fast. Most scouting I do is not to find bucks from this year but to learn terrain and find patterns of the past. Patterns of the past become patterns of the future...then you can be one step ahead of a buck instead of one step behind.

[mipubbucks24]

Public land bucks change patterns fast. Most scouting I do is not to find bucks from this year but to learn terrain and find patterns of the past. Patterns of the past become patterns of the future...then you can be one step ahead of a buck instead of one step behind.

This is a little golden nugget, stacking those years of experience is so important. Knowing the timing of each spot does not get talked about enough, but can make the difference between holding a rack and tag soup.

[Evanszach7]

How much depends on the area.

High pressured area with sign usually means other hunters. Where's the buck coming from? Some of my better spots don't have sign, not even in the bedding. Or very very little outside of the beds.