Subtle SIGNS

BEGIN YOUR SCOUTING EFFORTS WITH A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF WHITETAIL BEHAVIOR TO LOCATE DEER HOT SPOTS BEFORE THE FALL.

By Brad Fitzpatrick

It was late February, and I was following a pack of beagles in hot pursuit of a cottontail on a patch of public ground in Ohio. Rabbits tend to like heavy cover. Intercepting them as they circle ahead of a dog pack often means hunters must wade through some gnarly brush. I managed to locate a well-worn deer trail that cut directly through the mass of honeysuckle and Russian olive. It made walking easier, and I was astounded by the overlapping layers of whitetail deer tracks. This was a virtual deer highway. It also wasn’t a secret to the local whitetail hunters. As I made my way along the lonely trail, I came upon the remains of one stand site and then another. All told on that quarter-mile trail there were…

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Game & Fish West (Digital) - 1 Issue, June/July 2024

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