RE: All the talk of "sign" hunting...
I wouldn’t call it so much as taking a chance, as it is an educated guess. And since our mature bucks are very nocturnal, it’s pretty easy to assume 90% is made at night. If it’s a field edge, or non-secluded area, I just assume night time activity and don’t bother to hunt it, but certainly like to know it’s around. Now if it’s back deeper in the woods and tight to a bedding area, I’ll take my chance that it could be day or night activity. If it’s in a travel corridor, I don’t care if it’s made day or night, as once the seek phase kicks in,(when I will actually start hunting that location) I feel that if they were traveling those areas during the night time, they will probably travel them during the day too (especially if it is a “safe” corridor).