Deer Scat ID and Advice

[Davidson51]

I'm new to scouting for deer. I've only ever hunted on private land, mostly semi-guided. This year I am determined to hunt deer on public land here in So Cal. I've been reading a lot on this forum and elsewhere, and have done a fair bit of digital scouting and 3 hiking trips into areas that I thought might be promising. Today was the first trip that I think I saw a good amount of deer signs, scat and tracks. It rained recently, so I thought I would see tracks better today and I did. After I pushed up a fairly steep incline for about 1,500 feet through some dense brush and junipers, I found a large clearing with a few pronounced game trails and 10+ piles of deer scat. I think these are from Does not Bucks (the last pic is coyote, I think), but I was hoping someone here could help me confirm.

Since the area I found seems to have a lot of activity, I was also hoping for some advice on how to scout it next time. I walked right through the area, probably leaving my scent all over the place, so I was thinking of waiting a couple of weeks before going back, and next time I'd hike over an adjacent hill as opposed to going straight into the location. That way I can glass down into the area without disturbing it. Really looking for any advice here, and I appreciate any help I can get, even if its a simple as telling me that I found rabbit crap and to move on.

Also, this was my first trip with my new Axis pants and jacket. It was 30 degrees, windy and drizzling, and I was pushing through some dense bushes. I'm really impressed with the comfort and durability of that setup.

Thanks.

 

[Baddog]

Sounds like you got a good plan for next time

 

[wytx]

Some of that looks like rabbit poop to me.

 

[Davidson51]

Looks like it was deer, found these today... first time I've ever scouted and found deer, it was pretty exciting.