Scouting Blacktails

As soon as I'd filled my tag with my first Columbia Blacktail Deer, I figured I'd get with some scouting to figure the place out a little bit. Dad doesn't let anyone hunt out there so it was unknown for what the area held for sign, and we'd been a bit hesitant to bust the brush not wanting to spook deer off the place.

Armed with a paper and pencil I walked every deer trail to find out where things led and what was back in there. The map above is the result of what was found and shows some high priority hot spots.

Rubs were all over the place and some bucks had torn up some really thick trees. Has me wondering what kind of larger bucks are sneaking around the lesser known trails. This particular rub (below) was really fun, as it had the two hoof prints of where the buck's front feet were as he beared down on this tree:

The two hot spots are below - they are small relatively cleared spots back in the woods that seemed to be hubs of deer trails and activity. I foresee a tree stand hung downwind and on the fringe for next time!