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It was a transformation that naturally took place. I never walked through the woods processing information in that manner before. I always processed everything mostly with visual stimuli as a human. Yep, that is a rub. Yep, that is a scrape. Yep, that is a bed. Now, temperature changes, all the smells, wind changes, thermals, trees, plants, and vegetation, all catch my attention. They seem to affect my feel for an area like never before. It is becoming an instinct for me to know when and where I should find sign before I even walk upon it and see it.
Dave also has me conditioned to slow down where I should, places I use to whip through the same as every where else. The Dog Gone Guy has me trained to - Stop and Smell the Roses - so to speak. If you do not think this is an important quality for Big Buck Scouting, stand by for the following.
I wish I could say I found it which would make me the shining student, but Dave was the one whom found a single hoof print. This hoof print measured three inches by three inches with a one eighth inch gap and a one inch and deeper impression in solid hard clay. If those dimensions do not impress you or mean anything to you, allow me to qualify that print for you. The bigger bucks in my area and in most areas usually lay hoof prints down measuring two and a half inches by two and a half inches, if you can find any that big.
To give you an idea of how careful you have to be, that print was the only one we were able to find in this bucks entire area. He was a true ghost. He left no tracks as he crossed a fifteen yard wide bare dirt gas line. That said, if Dave had not found that single track, we would never have known this Monster existed. That is why you have to be thorough and that is how sharp you must learn to hone your senses and instinct. That is what will start to emerge in you if you spend enough time with Dave learning to scout for big bucks.
One more thing could happen to you when you are out learning to scout deer with Dave. You will have a good experience. Quite possibly a religious like experience when your true animal instincts begin to kick in, and most of all you will have fun.
Thanks again Dave,
Frank Kovash of Pa.

V. lease.
I had at the ready all maps, aerial photos of my hunting area and a few other items Dave requested upon his arrival. He first spent a very patient amount of time at my home meticulously pouring over the maps. He precisely measured, marked and finally announced, -I want to see these places I have marked on the map.- I have hunted this area for many years and was amazed when I looked at the map that Dave was working on. He picked all the spots that I hunt on, in those woods. He did it without ever stepping a foot on any of the acreage. I quickly thought to my self, I may not learn anything new here. I too have put maps to work on my own when scouting, but very quickly realized as I looked at Daves map work, my previous map work was sorely lacking.
We began our field work with an overview drive around the entire area. Meanwhile, Dave was all the while orienting himself and keeping track on the topographic map. Next we entered the woods to ground truth Daves map work. We were not five yards in the woods when the lessons began. In fact, they never stopped for long after that. Though I have scouted with Dave before and already knew that he - stops to smell the roses - so to speak, I was once again amazed at the amount of information Dave retrieved from the deer sign we encountered. Trust me, the man does not need a trail cam, he figures out in short order what deer there are, where they are going and why.
I began leading Dave to one of my tree stand locations a short distance away when he stopped me and said he wanted to look at something first. He began laughing fiendishly, as I soon learned he had found what he calls the proverbial -12 Ring -(in 3-D talk) for big buck tree stand locations. He went on to explain all the sign to me and where exactly I wanted to place my tree stand. I confessed to Dave that I had walked past that spot a hundred times and never noted it as a spot I wanted to hunt. He then exclaimed - I let the bucks tell me where they want me to be.- He says that all the time. You can not argue with that logic. I then took Dave to my second stand location, where I just knew once we got there I would be adjusting the location on that one too, after he was done picking the deer sign apart. Because, another thing Dave will constantly say
is -Twenty Yards is and Eternity.- The difference this time was there was more ground to cover and more scattered sign to decipher. Dave utilized a map to organize all the sign, as he neatly and accurately plotted the information, also using a G.P.S. for increased accuracy. He then began drawing and connecting lines when he was satisfied he had found everything he needed to find. When he finished it was as obvious as the nose on my face, that he had located another twelve ring and of course I would be adjusting my stand location, not the Eternal Twenty Yards, but thirty five to forty yards. He made it all seem so easy, simple and obvious. It did not take him long despite the rough terrain that I hunt.
Trust me, if you really want to learn how to scout for Big Buck stand locations, give Dave a call. He will put you at the beginning of where you want to be, because as I noted to myself, he is not only a good deer scout, he is good at teaching it also.
It is my personal opinion that if you do not understand the gravity of Daves deer sign interpretations and you do not think you are getting your moneys worth, maybe a set of golf clubs instead of a bow is a wiser purchase. I can not thank him enough for the gift of deer knowledge he gave me to use for the rest of my life. I will do my best to ensure that my children and grandchildren receive the joys of this gift as well. Thanks David
Frank Kovash Pa.

He first looked at the maps and we studied them together. Since first joining the lease I am really beginning to understand topographic maps. I never used them before, but listening to David, I am reading them, and starting to see how mature bucks like to use the land. I identified some spots to David that I thought were good deer sign. (As he would say, we then went physically to the areas to Ground Truth them. ) It was good deer sign, but not good buck sign. David asked me, and I quote : Are you hunting deer or are you hunting bucks? Unquote. So we proceeded with some other parts of the property and came to a spot that really drew David′s attention. A spot I had thought about hunting for years but never did because I was looking at the wrong sign. We discovered a natural crossing, large hoof prints and a series of scrapes. I could not believe it. It was June 1st and we were finding buck scrapes. ( Another class on mature whitetails that he teaches ) One scrape that I was lying down in was over 6 feet in length! David helped me pick the best stand location. ( Another system he teaches ) A simple approach, but very effective. Something I will now be doing to all my tree stand locations. David was only here for several hours and helped me locate a mature buck on my property that I didn′t even know was there. Thank you, David. Since talking with you, studying maps and one on one scouting, I learned so much. Just because there is a lot of deer sign doesn′t mean it is the right deer sign. My only wish is that I would have met him twenty years ago when I first started bow hunting. I hunt totally different now thanks to David. David is a man of his word and he will help you become a far superior bow hunter than you ever were before. Thanks, David and God bless.

Scott Kinley