Editor’s Note: Deer sign sometimes lies to hunters. If you could trust all deer sign, you’d bag a buck near every deer sign you find in the woods. But how do you know when deer sign lies, and when it tells the truth? How can you tell if the deer has made the sign during the day or the night, today or three weeks ago? To hunt deer successfully, you must not only find deer sign – you must interpret correctly what that sign tells you.

One of the nation’s best bowhunters ever was the late Jerry Simmons of Jasper, Alabama. If you had to bet money on any archer taking a deer with his bow anywhere in the nation, you would choose Simmons for finding, reading and interpreting deer sign. But even Simmons sometimes was stumped.

“Once I was hunting a wildlife-management area when I found an acorn tree where the deer were feeding,” Simmons said. “This spot had all the right signs. Three different trails converged at the tree, and I saw fresh deer droppings at the site. Too, empty acorn hulls indicated that the deer had been feeding there. I noticed plenty of acorns on the ground that the deer could continue eating, and from all indications I thought this place would be an easy spot to take a deer. However, after hunting this feeding site for three consecutive mornings, I still never saw a deer.” Simmons decided the deer must have fed in the afternoons under this tree, because he found fresh sign there every day, even when he didn’t see deer. But then he spent two afternoons hunting this site without spotting a deer. Although frustrated by this lying sign, Simmons still believed he’d locate deer feeding there and would arrow a buck at this site.

“I decided that if the deer were coming to that tree during daylight hours, I was going to see those deer,” Simmons explained. “I packed a lunch and other supplies, climbed into a tree before daylight and resolved to stay until black-dark. At 11:45 am, I saw the first doe appear and then several more. At 12:15 pm, a nice buck moved into the feeding area and turned broadside to me. I drew and released my arrow and finally took a buck.” Apparently, the deer had learned they would experience the least amount of hunting pressure in the middle of the day when most hunters had left the woods to eat lunch and only felt comfortable feeding under the oaks in the middle of the day.

Many hunters overlook the importance of pinpointing the time when deer feed at a feeding site that exhibits plenty of sign. Deer normally come to food early in the morning or late in the evening. But when pressure causes them to stay in cover early and late, often deer will feed in the middle of the day. “Since I learned this lesson many years ago, I’ve been able to take several nice bucks on public lands by bowhunting in the middle of the day,” Simmons told me. “Oftentimes the fine print on deer sign should read, ‘Consider other factors that aren’t visible when reading deer sign.’ Weather conditions, hunting pressure, buck fights, coyote attacks and dogs running through an area all influence deer sign. Factors such as these can keep deer sign from revealing all the information a hunter needs to know to make a decision about when and where deer probably will show up.”

To learn more about hunting for deer, check out John E. Phillips’ bowhunting book, available in Kindle and print and soon to be available in Audible, “Jim Crumley’s Secrets of Bowhunting Deer” at  http://amzn.to/XYTCEY. You may have to copy and paste these links into your browser. (When you click on the books, notice on the left where Amazon says you can read 10% of the book for free). To see more of John’s deer-hunting books, visit http://www.amazon.com/author/johnephillips. John and Denise Phillips’ new book, “The Recipes You Can’t Live Without,” that’s full of delicious, time-tested recipes for cooking wild game and fish and also ideas for breakfasts at your hunting club just was published in print this past week. Go to  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MYTMSMH?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860 to learn more.

Tomorrow: Hunt Invisible Bucks