BEARFIELD TOWNSHIP — The only thing deer hunters enjoy hunting more than deer is hunting for deer sign. From tracks to bedding spots, Ohio hunters have been honing their outdoor skills for generations in an effort to fill freezers with venison. Today the norm for many serious deer hunters has bags of corn just as important as their ammo.
The controversy that has been swirling on the water with technology has changed the standard for what makes the best angler. Deer hunting is not without its technological advantages for hunters. Trail cameras strapped to tree trunks can alert a deer hunter the moment a deer intersects the camera lens even if a hunter is at work or watching TV in the living room.
Food plots, hunting huts, ATVs, automated deer feeders, and straight walled rifles are all in a deer hunter’s potential playbook. While I must plead guilty to taking advantage of a few modern deer hunting aids, I have taken a step back this year in attempting to pattern the deer on my property. Much of the motivation is the November 4th surgery on my right elbow that has made pulling a rubber band the impossible dream.
There’s no way my crossbow or bolt action slug gun can be in play. Even a six shooter fired lefthanded is a ridiculous thought since I‘m a righty. I practiced diligently with a pistol for three months a few years ago. Never hit the paper plate from 20 feet one time. However, after three pounds of spent brass, a small tree ten feet behind and slightly to the right of my target fell during my last practice session like it had been chainsaw bait.
So, I have taken to scouting for all the classic deer signs the last few weeks. Tracks are nearly non-existent in our drought plagued corner of Ohio, but bucks are leaving plenty of other sign. A friend explained to me that finding a telltale rub is usually one stop in what he called a rub line. Over the years I have confirmed his statement, especially this fall. A buck decimated a small pine tree that’s only a few feet off the main path to my pond, and I have traced his path that meandered through the woods for 100 yards.
The first scrape I located could have been found by a child because it was in the middle of the mowed lane to the pond ten yards from that rubbed pine. I found a second scrape deeper into the wooded area forty yards from the first scrape. Same deer?
At my pond a tree that had not been touched two days ago was rubbed raw this afternoon. It was also the largest diameter tree I had found rubbed this season. I had found a rub and a nearby scrape on the lower trail at the north end of the property earlier, so I decided to work my way through the woods to the far east side of my property.
In previous years I mowed a path around the property but when John Deere bit the dust, so did my trailblazing. Remnants of that original mowed path remain. While I haven’t walked that old trail for years, the deer have found it very inviting. Antler rubs on small trees stretched the full length of the trail until I came upon a considerably larger pine that had been ravaged very recently. The scent of pine made the small area around the rub smell like an ad for Lysol.
Not far from this rub was the freshest scrape I have ever seen. I slowly peeked over my shoulder to see if the buck responsible for this autograph was watching me as well. With the rut imminent or already started, my next challenge is to find a spot where I can get a clean shot of this buck, or maybe I’ll shoot two or three bucks. Forget pointy sticks, slug throwers, and black powder one shooters, I am bringing out the heavy artillery for this hunt.
I will be covered in scent drowning sprays, perched under my treestand , and armed with a fully automatic Canon complete with a silencer. I have taken deer with a crossbow, slug gun, and a muzzleloader, but I am really excited about shooting a big buck with my camera.
Good luck to every deer hunter in the woods this season. Remember the orange outerwear and the written permission to hunt on private property. Even with all the cutting edge hunting tools out there, it still comes down to a well-aimed shot and the tracking skills to find your deer.
And for all the rookie deer hunters hitting the woods this season, no deer has ever said “moo.”
Deer signs
This tree had a deer rub that appeared on a Tuesday afternoon but was not present two days earlier
Deer signs
I found deer scat in a grassy area near a honeysuckle patch that looked to be a bedding area for the deer.
Deer signs
Deer signs
