if u remember i was asking about where all my deer went....normally there is good sign on the hillsides with the hardwood trees and nuts ect....but i noticed a lack of activity on them trails...few rubs trails barely used...i went on top of the hill top and found TONS of berrys grapes aldaberrys ect ect...the top of the hill is pretty thick...the wind comes out of the river bed and takes down trees all the time and its leveled out except for a few big trees standing..i mean theres trees but not like a hardwood forest...and all kinds of thick growth and vines and the old fallen trees are in there too...well i decided the deer couldnt have gone far and maybe they just went to feast on the summer food on top....i never REALLY looked to hard for anything on top..its too thick and i never noticed all the food up there(never thought summer scouting was worth it)..i have walked down the atv trail that runs up the middle of the top of the hill many times...noticed a little deer sign but thats about it..nothing major at all....but i wasnt looking either...well i went out today to see if they were in that thick stuff or not....i bust in and start looking....find a little sign...a faint trail but nothing major..i was getting mad..wasted all that time and busted all that brush for nothing...(i did bust along ways zig zaging so i dont miss anything) so i go back out to the trail and think...i was standing there thinking looking for a squirrel in the tree dropping nuts on my head and looked down and seen a deer track in the slick dirt....a big deer track! i looked to where it was going and about screamed in excitement...a deer highway! i finally found it...these trails are more like ruts in the ground....i didnt get to follow much of them becuase dark was fast approaching and i had a nice hike home but i seen enough...its thicker then you can imagine on the outside....but you get on the inside its not too bad..i mean its thick..a 25 yard shot is a far one...but man the sign....on both sides of the ATV trail..leading to the hardwoods but not really used yet...you can see where they break off of the trail to feast on the grapes berrys and all the trees are actually walnut trees...i didnt know that either....i always seen the trails they use to get to the hardwoods but never followed them or cared much about them.....the season starts oct 18th for me..a doe season for muzzleloaders..me and the hawken will be in there somewhere...1 more scouting trip in 2 or 3 weeks to find my sure spot and thats that..no more scarring them out of there...and the good part is both sides is completly safe to hunt with a rifle(if u remember its an urban area...houses and a shopping center near by) if i dont tag my buck up the mountains i dont even care....i can hunt behind the house and i think i can do pretty good...and the good part is noone else has what it takes to go into that stuff the only guys ive ever seen hunt it is bow hunters or a few rifle hunters that sit in the hard woods....i cant wait....this should be a good season...i was starting to get bummed thinking i have no good muzzleloader spot or a good close to home deer spot period until today....man that was a good find! if i wouldnt found that one deer track id prolly be walking across town tomarow to another set of woods to scout.....

Congrats on finding there trails, and good luck the 18th! Today i found a ton of trails/tracks heading into some Persimmon tree' s who are loaded, got a nice blind settup out of tree' s the landowner bulldozed down, cant wait till Oct 1st =).