831 - Why the Most Worn Deer Trails Can Lie to You

In this listener Q&A, we get into why the most worn-down trail on the hillside might only see one doe a week, and how to figure out which trails are actually worth hunting. Then we run through your questions and hot takes as bow seasons open across the Southeast.

In this episode:

- Why heavy, carved-in trails can fool you, and why you should follow them until they meet other trails

- The great moon debate: phase vs. position, selection bias, and why weather still wins

- Inside corners and field-edge pinch points (plus a listener who killed one in a spot we found map scouting)

- How to know which direction deer should be coming from, morning vs. evening, in Southern pine woods

- Can thermals swirl when there's no wind?

- What a thermal hub actually is, and the case for ridgetop hubs

- How to pick a tree when trails come from every direction

- How high to hang for bow vs. gun, and hunting low in big cedars

- Scanning with binos every 10–15 minutes, and the one time you shouldn't

- Why track shape tells you more about a deer's age than track size

- Reading feed trees: why beds underneath can make it an evening-only spot

- Trusting your gut on stand selection

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