One of the most powerful tools a hunter will use is his knowledge, and his greatest weapon is his mind. The ability to find and harvest games animals rely greatly upon mans ability to think and react, and to plan. Gathering information while scouting is the key to success.
The information we gather can vary greatly depending upon the particular game animal we will hunt. There are many similarities in the information we gather from game sign of different animals, and many differences in some cases. Example, we would go about searching for Coyotes in a very different manner than when we are searching for Deer. One being a predator and the other prey, they have different mannerisms, and thus leave different sign. In this article we will use the Whitetail Deer as an example and occasionally expand upon instances to help give a basis for the types of sign to look for. It is a good idea to keep notes on a particular area on and off season of the sign found, this can help show the movement habits of game animals year round, and greatly improve the potential of harvesting game.
Tracks and Trails - Tracks leave us a variety of clues about an area and the game within. Size of a track and the depth as well as the stride of tracks can indicate the size of an animal. The amount of tracks upon a trail can indicate how many animals are in an area as well as how often particular trails are used by game animals. The direction of tracks points the direction of travel and may indicate where the animal is traveling to as well as where they came from. This information in turn can be used to decipher when the animal might most likely be using the trail. This can be true for many species of animals, and some trails hunters will find a wide variety of tracks.
Scrapes - Scrapes are area upon the ground which have the earth exposed due to some sort of animal activity. In the case of the deer, they will use their hooves to clear back area of leaves and debris that is usually oval in shape. Both Does and bucks use scrapes, bucks will urinate within a scrape to leave his scent and does will leave their scent by scraping the ground and rubbing their tarsal gland secretions within the soil. Like a big signpost telling the other deer who's been there. This is usually a good sign that an area is used for breeding. Many times these scrapes will be located under a low hanging branch that the animals have chewed and scraped by bucks in an attempt to display their presence in an area. In the case of turkeys "dustings" will appear more round and usually a bit larger than a deer scrape, and they are also good sign that the area is a good breeding ground.
Droppings - Scat can tell a great deal about an animal. It can show how well the animals are eating in an area. If droppings in an area are both old and new this will indicate that an area gets used often throughout the season. Droppings can be used in some cases to tell the sex of an animal, and size of droppings can indicate size as well as health of certain species. Other species will leave details of their diet within their scat, which can help the hunter in planning his hunt by knowing what food sources the animals are most interested in at the time.
Hair and Feathers - Hair on fences, dropped logs, and low lying bushes as well as in bedding areas indicate the presence of deer to an area. Areas with bunching of feathers that look complete but without blood can indicate the presence of birds in an area, whereas bunching of feathers with blood can indicate that a predator is active in an area.
Rubs - Rubs are caused by the head and antlers of a buck being rubbed against a tree. These serve multiple purposes for the animals. First the buck rubs trees due to itching as its antlers come in rapidly. This rubbing scrapes back the bark of the tree leaving a mark, which can then signal things to other deer in the area. Some hunters believe that deer use rubs to convey different messages to each other. Most importantly to the hunter the rubs indicate the presence of a buck and can help the hunter decide where to set up to find this buck. Rub lines can be found usually running from a bedding area to a food plot and are great ambush locations for a tree stand, or blind. These are just a series of individual tree rubs that extend in a line along a given trail. Rubs of different ages (indicated by the color of the exposed flesh of the tree) can tell the hunter that bucks regularly frequent the area.
Food and Browse Materials - Deer need huge amounts of food especially immediately before and after the cold months of winter, during which food is scarce. Animals will bulk up before the winter period to give themselves a better chance of survival during the lean months, as spring arrives and the new shoots begin to sprout everywhere the deer is eating to regain its strength. Does will be eating heavily in spring in preparation of birthing and bucks need lots of energy to grow their antlers each year. Browse materials are the tender tips of plants of various types. Studies have shown that deer eat hundreds of types of browse material. These browsing areas can be found by looking closely at the plants for torn branches and twigs. Deer also enjoy many of the common crops that are grown by humans. Soybeans, corn, wheat and peas are favored as well as grove crops such as apples and persimmons also make up much of a deer's diet. Food sources for predators might include small game such as rabbits and mice in an area and they are quite fond of chickens and other small farm animals as well.
Hunters use signs left by the animals to learn about the wildlife in an area, signs that give the hunter solid information on which he can plan and improve his chances of harvesting game. Remember scout often, and use the most powerful tool in your arsenal as a hunter year round. A hunter's greatest weapon is his mind.
Happy Hunting!
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Greg_Bruning_Sr.
