Started the hunt for sheds again. Bait store was closed so couldn't ice fish today. Decided to try a new area that I suspected could have some deer. Had only about 1 1/2 hours to look. I can't wait for the snow to melt it was incredible the amount of sign I saw. I think I was a little overwhelmed and searching clearcuts makes every little piece of wood look like a tine. Anyways looking for a few tips on how to approach a new area. Mostly a ridgline with sections of clear cut in big woods. Trails all over the place. How would you approach this?

Ordered a video on-line to help narrow the search areas. Just too many trails and sign all over the place to be able to concentrate on one area it seems.

The best way is to show a bunch of fellow hunters the area and let them help... :btu:

Seriously, look for bedding areas. The best book I have seen is Rubline tactics, written by a guy named Miller..

Found sporadic beds. The one anlter I found last year was in a lone bed under a pine. Lots of area to cover so it takes a while to thoroughly go through it. Bill, if you want to make a ride I can show you some woods. Best part is not many out looking.

thought this was funny

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c66/ravenob1/elk.png

Hiked 1.5 on Thurs and 3 miles on Friday. Still too much snow. Concentrated on the sunny sides and saw a lot of sign but no drops.

I discovered this rub line on the back side of a hill in some thicker woods. A little confused as I have never seen rubs so high. All were just about 5ft plus at the top. About a dozen trees had similar rubs. Wondering is it definitely a deer or possibly a hunter?

Wow, according to the book Miller says that a small deer will rub a small tree. That is a thick tree, hence that is probably a huge deer. Also when they rub that high, it usually means a wider rack according to this guy in the book. See if there is a line of them and follow it. Good chance it will lead to a feeding area or a bedding area.

There were a bunch in this one area. I marked it on the gps and will head back when the snow isn't close to 2 ft. Miller must give out some out some incredible secrets for it to cost $112 used looks like a better price.

Tynan19, That looks more like moose than deer also most deer don't make scrapes much more than 4' off the ground but moose will make then up to 6' or more. :)

This past weekend in Maine I went off the trail on my snowmobile because I was looking at the same type of scrapes. Also the Maine ones were made where there were other Moose Sign. That would be a bonus finding a Moose Rack in Ma. Beware of ticks. Hiked 3 miles on some powerlines yesterday and the wife and I each had to flick off close to 50 ticks apiece. Also found 3 large piles of hair but no carcass. Looks like coyotes got one or found a winter kill.

THATS SCRAPES 5' OFF THE GROUND ARE ACTUALLY MOOSE EATIND THE BARK OFF OF TREES. THOSE ARE TEETH MARKS.

It is funny you say that because since seeing those marks I have seen a lot of them in Maine on my sled. I have all the areas on my GPS so I hope to get into them on quads later this spring after mud season.