#1 sign of deer, when on public land

[freedomhunter]

What do you all think is the one thing you look for if you cant use a trail camera.  I find all kinds of stuff scraps, rubs, prints, and scat.  I have yet to see a deer this year for I believe 2 reasons.  

1) it's so thick that even if they are around you really have to be almost in shooting distance when you see a one.  

2) I think Fl deer seem to always be nocturnal the majority of their life.

I found what I thought would be a nice spot area between 2 trails crossing a small creek.  At one end (The north side) is a cow pasture and I thought that maybe the deer would be going on the edges of that at night from the swamp to feed.  (The south end) is really thick and nasty.  The squirrels though are so thick from all the oaks and hickory trees in this area.  I thought maybe the deer would be feeding on the acorns as well.  

I don't know this year has just been rough.  Not shooting anything is part of hunting but not even seeing anything, makes me feel like I am really failing at something.

[RC]

Walk and check oak trees until you find one that it looks like cows have been under. Fresh and old droppings and an approach to the stand down wind. I walk and scout MUCH more time than I sit in a tree but when I do climb I expect to kill something. I checked 100`s of oak trees this week and found 3 that are hot. I feel confident I`ll kill a deer next week on one of them .RC

[freedomhunter]

Well under some oaks I have found where deer have been eating the mushrooms that are growing at the bases.  Deer prints are everywhere and lots of the mushroom tops are bit off.

The cows are separated from the Oak's as there is a fence to this big pasture, which I cannot cross.

[RC]

Mushrooms will not draw deer like I`m talking about. find one pouring acorns.RC

[Tajue17]

If no scat or old buck sign I will carefully move all leaves away from a spot where I think they are walking and see what the dirt under the leaves say you would be amazed at all the hoof prints under the leaves.

[bigbadjon]

If there is a fence walk down the wire to see if you can find some hair stuck in it to indicate a crossing. Deer around here have too much stuff that they eat and so its hard to stake out a food source. Its generally better to find a route that gets some traffic.

[J. Holden]

I look for intersecting trails and ones that have fresh poop on them.  Then it's a waiting game.  Good luck!

-Jeremy

[3arrows]

Make sure you are using the wind to your advantage,don't go into a area with the air movement is from you to the prey.Walk the boundarys find the trails and hunt downwind.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

I try to find fresh sign. I would follow RC's advice he is a deers worst enemy.

[Wallydog]

Public land deer are educated deer. I have had best luck waiting till late season when most hunters have given up. Look for areas where they cross into private land. Rut is the very best time on public land.

[nineworlds9]

I agree with all of the above.  Also scout for water sources and food that's near water sources.  I think you're on the right track looking for an area where multiple habitats and terrain features intersect, that method has always ended up with me at least seeing some critters if not having one move nearby my position.  I'm still looking for my first deer but doing what the guys mentioned above along with the habitat intersections has gotten me my first 20yd stalk on a deer this year even though it didnt end up in a shot.  Learn to find the highways in the forest.  Stare at the bush until you suddenly see all the trails criss crossing and take it from there.  Its amazing how many game trails there really are.  I have followed them right into where a deer is/ or was bedding before.  Good luck.

[CLOVIS]

If you find something you like you had better keep your mouth shut. A lot of lazy and know nothing hunters will move in on you. This comes from experience.

[Hoyt]

If you have Live Oaks in your part of Fl. check those for acorns and scrapes around the edges.

On public land in Fl. most areas of Live Oaks are known and hunted..but if you go into cypress heads and big swamps you can find little hammocks that will sometimes have Live Oaks and not be as well known by other hunters.

[freedomhunter]

Another night, with no sightings.  I found the fence line today, but was to hard to follow all the way due to the creak zig zagging back and forth and the mud.  I see deer tracks everywhere found a few rubs and that's about it.  I believe your right that it is a waiting game down here because everywhere I look acorns, these purple berry looking things, and green foliage.  

Now how much am I hurting my hunting area by walking around scouting so much.  I mean I have a tree here and there that I have sat in from time to time,  but when it's slow or like tonight I decided to do more scouting than hunting am I pushing the deer out more from my scent?

[philos]

Originally posted by Wallydog:
Public land deer are educated deer. I have had best luck waiting till late season when most hunters have given up. Look for areas where they cross into private land. Rut is the very best time on public land.

Public land deer adopt habits that allow them to move about much different than deer unmolested.  

I hunt mostly private land now but used to hunt only public land with a fair amount of pressure and will always remember some of the things those deer taught me.

The deer I hunted would move at mid-day much more than early am.  I actually started going to my spot around 9:00 am or even a bit later.  I saw many deer from 9:30 to 1:00 pm.  I assumed there were 2 possible reasons this was happening.  Many hunters were leaving or moving around after their morning stand hunting became boring and possibly pushing deer around or the deer somehow knew most folks were gone by mid morning and they were comfortable moving about at what us hunters consider odd times.

Also we are slaves to the wind-no matter how much sign you see if the wind alerts deer to your presence-game over.  I would recommend always having some type of wind detector with you-I like the powder type detectors.  This is not fool proof as swirling winds can be tough to deal with and terrain can re-direct currents, seemingly more so on creek bottoms.  That said I never go into the woods without some way to help detect wind direction.

Lastly sometimes it is as simple as hunting where no-one else does.  Every hunter sees road crossings and can follow those into the woods a short distance.  If you can find a location that is overlooked or has difficult access-that can work wonders many times on public land.  Some of the best places to hunt pressured deer are travel routes that offer little food or water but offer deer a secure way to move about and many hunters overlook these places while looking for the acorn lottery.

Sorry for being long winded but it takes me back.  I used to think my body was made of deer repellent.  I know how frustrating it can be but you will get the hang of it before you know it.

[cahaba]

I'm with RC on this one. When you find a oak tree that looks like a rotor tiller has been ran under it shots happen.

[Altiman94]

I hunt public land nearly exclusively.  I usually have fairly good luck seeing deer on a majority of my trips.  I don't get shot opportunities every time but typically see deer.

Things I look for:

-Pinch points and intersecting trails
-Bedding areas and travel routes to food or water
-Escape routes - think where the deer will go when other hunts leave and enter the woods.

What I've found is that most hunters will hunt in the morning for 2-3 hours and afternoon 2-3 hours before dark.  So, if you hit mid day hours you'll see deer moving as they are being pushed by other hunters - thats why I recommend escape routes.

If you just have a passing through area - hunt that when the deer would move to bed or food.  The main thing is finding some sign and figure out where they are coming & going.  Usually you will have some sort of pattern there - but if the parcel is hunted hard - go back to the escape route plan.

Would be ideal to find an area that has food, water, and cover for bedding.  While not always possible, you need to have at least 1 of the 3 to have the deer around.  Based on what you have - you can time your hunts accordingly.  I.E. you may end up with one area as your morning spot and one area as your evening spot.

Also, hunt the wind.  You need to really watch your scent on public land.

[RedShaft]

Me personally is to find the hottest food/oak being hit. Hunting edges of cover. Regular wood to thick stuff and poo. I seen lots of sign. But If there is not fresh poo I just don't seem to see deer. Scout way.... More than you hunt. Maybe stop hunting. Spend more time with bow in hand scouting. And hunt when you know your on a kill set. Only way to do that is a out hard n hunt less. It's hard but it will pay off for you.

[RedShaft]

Originally posted by Wallydog:
Public land deer are educated deer. I have had best luck waiting till late season when most hunters have given up. Look for areas where they cross into private land. Rut is the very best time on public land.

Listen to this guy. He is rite. The rut is where it's at on public land. We have slim pickins on state land here and its pounded with hunters. If you are not hunting the hottest freshest sign in either the heaviest cover or cover that is over looked you won't see anything. Unless it's the rut.
Find an area that had doe sign or near a doe bedding area or funnel type area and sit all day during the rut when it's at its peak and they are chasing and seeking does hard. I really think guys don't s out enough n hunt to much. It's way better to take a week or more of your season to scout. Then to keep guessing at unproductive spots. Like rc said. Only sit n hunt when you are confident if you sit there your going to get a shot.

[freedomhunter]

So I decided that I am leaving the climber at home tomorrow a.m. and bringing my pack, hammock seat, and bow.  I will hunt first light for maybe an hour or two and then pack up and scout some more.  I just got done reading all the post from the Topic "Ground Hunting" and just seems like I can cover more if not lugging around a climber.  I will post back tomorrow luck or no luck.

Have a good night everyone and thanks for your advice.