[chesterflick]

we have done some scouting and have found the places we are going to hunt. Since it is early season and some fawns still seem to have spots and the young bucks I have seen it pics are in velvet still is there anything I should do other then sit and wait?
should I bleat, rattle, grunt, put out urine?? or is it way to early for any of these things to have an effect.

Thanks

 

[ronn]

doe pee could work non estrus. fawn bawls could work. they should still be in their summer feeding pattern therefore easier to pattern so i'd just find the travel routes sit and wait.

 

[Predator]

yep, all of the above will work good for early season does and maybe a curious buck. up until the rut, does will still allow their maternal instincts of responding to fawns to dictate their response. some curiosity scents may also help, I am trying vanilla and white acorn right now. I may use the right up to the pre rut when I change over to the estrus scents and concentrate on bucks.

 

[chesterflick]

Where I am hunting this year just seems incredible. Unlimited acorn source although the acorns are not here yet.
Where I have set up my blind is where the deer are jumping a fence to get to the woods from a large field. When they do jump the fence it is very obvious that there are 2 trails that seem to go to the same area about 1/8 - 1/4 mile away.
The one trail looks used more then the other. An older hunting friend of mine says the smaller one is a buck trail. I can only assume that the bucks and the does split off but end up at the same place. Any thoughts on this?

 

[ronn]

bucks, especially older bucks, will travel the thicker stuff. their bedding areas and their trails will normally be down wind of the main trails and the doe bedding area. one way to tell is by scouting out the rubs. the rubs on the trails, which also could be just direction of travel, can tell you which ones the bucks prefer. the bucks bedding areas will often times have clusters of rubs. no real rhyme or reason as to which side of the tree is rubbed on, and not in a line just, well, clustered. if you find one of these cluster areas with rubs from over the years its a spot to pay close attention to. figure the prevailing winds. your access so the wind is in your face, not blowing from you to the spot but the other way and set a stand up. get it in early, now would be good as long as it won't be stolen, and down wind of this area of rubs. how far depends on visibility and weapon.

for the early season, it sounds like you have the trails to the field, the food source, so scout it figure out about what time they come to the field and set a stand back up the trail so they come by in shooting light.