ORIGINAL: mobow
Well I don't kill bucks every year, hell, my first was this past season. But what I can tell you is that I've changed where I hunt, completely. I pay very little attention to sign anymore, and hunt funnels and travel corridors almost exclusively. I may not know exactly where they are bedded, and I may not know exactly where they are eating. But I DO know the terrain structure they will utilize to get where ever it is they are going. Since employing that tactic, my doe sightings, AND my buck sightings, have increased dramatically.
Until last year, I wouldn't see my first buck until the first part of November, the seek/chase phase of the rut. Last year, after learning about funnels and travel corridors, I started seeing bucks in mid october. I saw more bucks, and deer in general, last year than any other.
While I agree with your tactics Don, the funnels are also where I find most of my sign. Because the bucks know it will be seen by most of thedoes and other bucks there. So I guess I am still hunting sign but also hunting funnels and pinch points.
I just hunt the sign when it is in the right places.
