Scouting methods

[12-point]

My early season revolves around scouting, I have five key mineral spots i check out.

I put my cuddeback up at five different spots for a week at a time and take it down and move to the next its a ideal way to figure when there traveling, day or night, the time and how they respond to the weather and moon phase.

At my first spot i had 25 pics in a week.

The second had none.

Now im on week three just got it set up on a natural salt lick.

The first spot only had does early morning and late afternoon.

After these five weeks i see which one is having the most buck activity and doe activity then put the camera on other important travel routes that have no minerals out. Around bedding areas funnels edges or crp feilds and water sources.

Whats do you all do to scout for that big buck in early season???

[fly]

I don't use camera's because they would just get stolen. I use my off season scouting time to find new areas to hunt. One can never have too many places to hunt.

[12-point]

thats for sure man. I do a lil of everything and as far as the stolen part goes i know about it too this year we had my cuddeback no flash stolen and my new api lock on too. Least to say i wasnt happy, i mean thats why ppl work to buy stuff they want you shouldnt have to steal. :argue:

[camoman1]

I put out a trail cam in different areas throughout the summer. My favorite way is to sit behind one of the farm sheds and just glass the fields...see if/where a buck is coming out and back track from there.

Unfortunatly, there is a good amount of activity near/in the woods from farm practices. The does and young bucks dont mind it much, but I often dont see any good bucks until the rut. So, I usually set up a few stands to shoot a early season doe from and the rest I set up in likely rut travel routes.

[Tominator]

Scouting is an excuse for hunters that can't hunt, but feel compelled to get out in the woods because they can. Totally unneccesary.

[Rhino]

Scouting is an excuse for hunters that can't hunt, but feel compelled to get out in the woods because they can. Totally unneccesary.

Dang Chris!...get up on the wrong side of the bed?...burr in your saddle or something? :poke:

Maybe it's not in your neck of the woods but down here hunting big woods it sure helps, especailly if you're looking for wallhangers.

Long range scouting on my home turf is virtually impossible. My 4 trail cams help a lot in determining where mature deer are more apt to hang out and obvioulsy what kind of head gear they're wearing. Knowing that allows you to spend your hunting time where those big ones live. It's certainly easier to kill big ones if you hunt where they're more apt to live.

Scouting to me is a lot more than just making trail cam sets. They are great tools but you still need to identify what food sources are going to be available during the season as well as when they are available, locate bedding areas, identify potential stand locations along travel corridors, funnels, edges, corners, and so on. Some of this can be done with the aid of aerial photos and topo maps. Reviewing maps is scouting too.

I prefer to take a low impact approach with my scouting to cause the least amount of disturbance to an area. For that reason I also like to prepare well in advance when possible and then leave the area alone until it's time to hunt. Some scouting during the season is necessary but during the season I try to be as sneeky as possible. I know hunters that don't understand that and more often than not they are their own worst enemy. The more you invade a mature bucks domain, the more apt he is to become nocturnal or worse yet, vacate the area.

Edited June 23, 2009 by Rhino

[12-point]

wow someone is a lil over confident. Plus it does help anywhere bc no one can walk out into the woods the first day of season and be like well i know where to hunt patterns change and if anyone wants to bet against it come to kentucky and i will hand you a 100.00 if you can kill a deer thats a wall-hanger within five days without scouting! ha impossible

[Rhino]

BTW 12 point with trail cams I put mine on mineral licks and food sources during the pre-season. I've found that if a mineral lick gets rain right before or during the week of a set, I get a lot more pics on them than when they don't. As mineral licks dry up they get used a lot less than when their wettest in my neck of the woods. Don't necessarily write one off a mineral lick just because you didn't get many pics or just does at one of your 5 either. I rotate my 4 trail cams along with 2 or 3 others for friends of mine around during the pre-season and hit everyone of our mineral licks more than once before October 1st. We have 19 mineral licks to cover too. Last year I had an early set on one mineral lick and only got about 40 pics of young bucks and does on that 1st week's run. About 6 weeks later I ran a set on the same lick and had two 3.5 year old bucks visit it 2 to 3 times during that week and ended up with over 300 pics there during that week. You just never know.

During the season I typically set my trail cams on scraps and food sources. It's only on rare occasions that I'll set one up on an actual trail crossing. Like I said before though I prefer to choose those sets based on picking low impact locations within that particular area. If I have a food source with a scrape or scrapes on the edge I'll try to set up to best cover both.

[12-point]

your right i bet the 19 mineral sites is a tuffy to handle.:smoke:

[Tominator]

Dang Chris!...get up on the wrong side of the bed?...burr in your saddle or something? :poke:

Nope. Just stating my opinion.

How long does it take to walk in the woods, find a trail, or scrape or two and set up? Not long.

Patterns change constantly.

Impact on deer while you're scouting is probably impacting them more than you think.

How many "wallhangers" can you specifically say you killed because of your scouting efforts? And the question is directed to 12pt, not Alan. Alan is a legend to me and one of my heroes. :pullup:

Scouting = market hype that drives a certain segment of the industry. Period.

[Randy]

This is how I do my scouting. I sit up here and watch with binos. If it wasn't for this tower......

I'd of never shot this "big wallhanger" the second day of the season. ; )

Here he is the first time I saw him from the tower. (far right)

Edited June 24, 2009 by Randy

[Rhino]

How many "wallhangers" can you specifically say you killed because of your scouting efforts? And the question is directed to 12pt, not Alan. Alan is a legend to me and one of my heroes. :pullup:

Thanks for the comment Chris. I will say for a few seconds there I was putting together a mental list to begin typing. :yes:

I seem to recall you saw your 2008 buck from a backyard a time or 2. JMO but wasn't that low impact scouting?

BTW...great example of how you got it done in WI Randy.

Edited June 24, 2009 by Rhino

[Ohiobucks]

I do all of the scouting for Chris.......

Guess I don't need to be sharing any of the trail cam pics that we get from this summer then.

[Tominator]

Thanks for the comment Chris. I will say for a few seconds there I was putting together a mental list to begin typing. :yes:

I seem to recall you saw your 2008 buck from a backyard a time or 2. JMO but wasn't that low impact scouting?

LOL---well, if you consider sitting on the deck swing with my wife after a cookout scouting, yes.

Now consider this--I see those two bucks, I go out there and set up a trail cam and a stand and pester that area until season. Do I see that deer? Who knows. I do know that I don't go much beyond my fence starting in mid August or so while all the other "scouters" are out there pestering deer right on to me, and I appreciate it. You wouldn't believe the deer my little 3 acre patch holds come gun season if nobody goes back there.

Scouting, unnecessary.

Guess I don't need to be sharing any of the trail cam pics that we get from this summer then.

For scouting purposes? Nope, you can have them. For novelty items to see what the neighbor's gonna kill, sure, I'll take a gander.

I do all of the scouting for Chris.......

Debatable, but I'll keep my mouth shut seeing as you have my 3 biggest deer--that I got in the absence of scouting, btw.

[ILAntlrAddct]

Nope. Just stating my opinion.

How long does it take to walk in the woods, find a trail, or scrape or two and set up? Not long.

Patterns change constantly.

Impact on deer while you're scouting is probably impacting them more than you think.

How many "wallhangers" can you specifically say you killed because of your scouting efforts? And the question is directed to 12pt, not Alan. Alan is a legend to me and one of my heroes. :pullup:

I agree to a certain extent, however finding sign in the woods and setting up on it can sometimes be rather useless granted that its not a fresh rubline. That sign can be a beat down trail thats been run for years (bed to feed) and now changed due to the crop rotation. Also, if your hunting for a mature buck, Ill garantuee you that buck is not going to be running that trail, that most does will frequent in early season.

You said it yourself...patterns change but thats when scouting comes in handy. If you scout right you will not have a negative impact on the deer herd, and this means glassing with binos from a far distance. Also its safe to enter the woods months before the season opens to get an idea of new property. Topo's & Ariels will help you to an extent but nothing gives you a better lay of the land then being there and seeing for yourself.

Scouting also depends upon the area and pressure it receives, the higher the pressure the harder it is to scout and find what the deer are doing. Most of these areas the deer dont get into the field until at/near dark making deer more tricky to pattern or pinpoint their enter/exits

Edited June 24, 2009 by ILAntlrAddct

[Ohiobucks]

Now consider this--I see those two bucks, I go out there and set up a trail cam and a stand and pester that area until season. Do I see that deer? Who knows. I do know that I don't go much beyond my fence starting in mid August or so while all the other "scouters" are out there pestering deer right on to me, and I appreciate it. You wouldn't believe the deer my little 3 acre patch holds come gun season if nobody goes back there.

What happened to the pics you took of those 2 deer, right after you saw them and threw on a camo jacket in the middle of summer, in an attempt to get closer to them just to snap a picture? How is that not interfering with them? That is more of an interference than a trail camera or a walk through the woods and accidentally bumping deer.

I can only comment on 2 of your 3 big bucks though, and I agree, there was no need to scout those areas you shot them in. 5 acre hunting areas leave the stand location possibilities very limited.

400 acres of farm land with smaller woodlots may not need to be scouted very hard either, but 200 acres of woods needs to be scouted pretty well to hunt effectively IMO.

That scouting can and does include: in season scouting, post season scouting, shed hunts, turkey hunts, mushroom hunts, etc.

Again, just my $0.02. :flex:

[Rhino]

LOL---well, if you consider sitting on the deck swing with my wife after a cookout scouting, yes.

Only because you were observant enough to see them and consider the sightings when it came to hunting those bucks. I presume you'll sit back there this year with the wife watching for that bigger buck you saw last year. Hope you have a telephoto lense for your camera so you can entertain us. :yes::camera:

Now consider this--I see those two bucks, I go out there and set up a trail cam and a stand and pester that area until season. Do I see that deer? Who knows.

No arguement here. No reason to pester them if you can watch them from your back yard, deck, or swing with or without binocs. Now I'd probably hang a stand well before the season and then leave the area alone if theft wasn't a problem. Unfortunately stand theft is a problem for you so that's not an option.

I won't say anything about the points Tom asked you about (the infamous photo attempt) until I have the pleasure of reading your response.:cool2:

[fly]

Different situations call for different tactics. I've shot 3 deer over 130 inches and had never seen them prior to shooting. Scouting can be defined differently. I don't scout for a particular deer but I do scout for areas that deer frequent. I also scout for trees that will work well with a climbing tree stand.

I see the advantage of knowing what type of deer the property one hunts holds. If you frequently see 150-170 inch deer on the property (via binocs, trail cams, whatever) then one might want to hold off on a 130 incher on opening day.

[The_Kat]

I can assure you that you will have to scout a property in Oklahoma to hunt it effectively. In Ohio your hunting fields with small woodlots. It's somewhat easy so find the deer as they stick to those smaller patches of woods for cover. Here in Oklahoma we are mostly hardwoods, with smaller fields, and creeks. Not saying you need to spend hours of time in the same area, but it is important to get in the woods to find the acorns, and trails. Not many places here you can sit in a tower blind and see much farther than a 100 yards.

When I scout I walk through a property looking for deer sign and good trees for my climber. My favorite sign is fresh poo. If I can find lots of poo I'll hunt there. I don't necessarily chase rubs, scrapes, etc.

[Orion_70]

I just joined a lease in Fl. that's 3200 acres. I've never hunted it before. It's flat pine, swamp, and some oak hammocks somewhere reportedly. The only way to Scout is to put your boots on the ground. I've looked at topo maps, but the terrain doesn't vary that much. Aerial photos are old so they don' thelp that much.

You can bet I'll be using all resources I can to find some pinch points, food sources, trails, old rub lines, etc

[12-point]

back to tominator... i like your methods to but entering the woods and watching a scrape doesnt always work. Most mature bucks only check scrapes at night how do i know the camera dont lie. Now hunting trails yeah you may get lucky but to know its gonna happen you have to have a reason to sit there by that sign and when you sit there watching little bucks and does it tests your patience all im saying if you did your homework you wouldnt be restless and blow the oppertunity on a gaint bc you gave up on the spot. I respect you killed some big deer no doubt but when you scout before season you make yourself a better hunter. I learn something everytime I go into the woods no ones perfect but it feels good to be better at it.

[Tominator]

I agree to a certain extent, however finding sign in the woods and setting up on it can sometimes be rather useless granted that its not a fresh rubline.

I've been bowhunting since 1987, and if I can't identify a fresh rub from an old rub, I don't belong in the woods. I'm not saying I find rub lines and set up on them all the time, it's just part of the whole package.

Also, if your hunting for a mature buck, Ill garantuee you that buck is not going to be running that trail, that most does will frequent in early season.

You can guarantee that? In other words, there's no way a mature buck uses beat down trails early in the season? Tell you what, bottle that guarantee and sell it, cuz' you stand to make a lot of money. In my experience, there's no guarantees when it comes to whitetail.

If you scout right you will not have a negative impact on the deer herd, and this means glassing with binos from a far distance.

How do you glass 200 acres of hardwoods? The only long distance scouting with spotting scopes or binocs you can do is fields, and what does that tell you? That tells you a deer is coming out around a particular spot, around a particular time of day (usually after shooting hours for big bucks), and more importantly, it's doing this behavior in the summer, which is pretty much useless once the deer start to feel pressure when the season is on, and when the crops come out. The only concession I'll give you is if you can pattern a deer and take him during the first few days of the season. Mike Rex arrowed a 203" on opening day here in Ohio, and I'll give you that, he scouted and patterned that deer, but how many times does that actually happen?

Also its safe to enter the woods months before the season opens to get an idea of new property.

LOL-sure it's safer, but are the deer doing the same things in October and November as they were in July and August? Don't think so. Certainly not where I hunt.

What happened to the pics you took of those 2 deer, right after you saw them and threw on a camo jacket in the middle of summer, in an attempt to get closer to them just to snap a picture? How is that not interfering with them? That is more of an interference than a trail camera or a walk through the woods and accidentally bumping deer.

Exactly my point AF. I was taking their picture for the sake of novelty, not scouting. Who in their right mind sees a deer in a flat, 3 acre field and says to themselves "I'm going to arrow that deer this year." Maybe a naive kid, but there was no way in heck I was counting on getting a shot at that deer last year. In all honesty, I thought I might see that deer again, maybe during gun season when they head for cover, but to get that deer at 12 yards? No way. No sense in "scouting" him.

I can only comment on 2 of your 3 big bucks though, and I agree, there was no need to scout those areas you shot them in. 5 acre hunting areas leave the stand location possibilities very limited.

Biggest deer for me, 5 acre lot, 2nd biggest, 10 acre lot, 3rd biggest, 660 acre lease, 4th biggest 119" down at Elanora's, 40 acre farm. So only 1 of my top 4 deer came from any sizeable tract of land. On that night I dropped Steve off at his stand and drove down the road a little and walked a gas line intending to head to another spot, but I noticed a rub and scrape line, fresh btw, going down the gas line so I decided to set up there, you know "just winging it..." 1 hour later, Mr. 9 shows up.

400 acres of farm land with smaller woodlots may not need to be scouted very hard either, but 200 acres of woods needs to be scouted pretty well to hunt effectively IMO.

That scouting can and does include: in season scouting, post season scouting, shed hunts, turkey hunts, mushroom hunts, etc.

Agreed, but, once again, some of that stuff is just an excuse to get in the woods, as I've stated earlier. That's all scouting is. LOL.

Only because you were observant enough to see them and consider the sightings when it came to hunting those bucks.

Lord's honest truth Alan, I sure hoped one of those deer would be in bow range sometime during season, but 15 years of watching deer out there has provided 1.5 chances at shooting a nice buck with a bow. Lord's honest truth, I was just hunting that night because I had the time and got extreeeeeeemely lucky.

I presume you'll sit back there this year with the wife watching for that bigger buck you saw last year. Hope you have a telephoto lense for your camera so you can entertain us. :yes::camera:

I watch that field on a daily basis. I have seen one nice bachelor group so far. At least one of those deer will be a whopper. Our house is now on the market, so I might not even own this land come September, at least, I hope not.

I won't say anything about the points Tom asked you about (the infamous photo attempt) until I have the pleasure of reading your response.:cool2:

Tom tries to make points to my arguments, and the sad thing is, he's too stubborn to listen to his OLD buddy. If he'd only listen to his OLD buddy, then maybe someday maybe.....well, like I said, he has 3 of my deer heads right now, so I have to watch what I say. Suffice it to say, he could learn a thing or two if he'd listen to the sage that I am and stop succumbing to market hype.

Different situations call for different tactics. I've shot 3 deer over 130 inches and had never seen them prior to shooting. Scouting can be defined differently. I don't scout for a particular deer but I do scout for areas that deer frequent. I also scout for trees that will work well with a climbing tree stand.

I see the advantage of knowing what type of deer the property one hunts holds. If you frequently see 150-170 inch deer on the property (via binocs, trail cams, whatever) then one might want to hold off on a 130 incher on opening day.

Now this guy knows what he's talking about.

back to tominator... i like your methods to but entering the woods and watching a scrape doesnt always work.

Once again, careful about pinning one tactic on me. Scrapes are just part of a package. It's not like a find a scrape and hang a stand over it like a vulture.

[Ohiobucks]

Tom tries to make points to my arguments, and the sad thing is, he's too stubborn to listen to his OLD buddy. If he'd only listen to his OLD buddy, then maybe someday maybe.....well, like I said, he has 3 of my deer heads right now, so I have to watch what I say. Suffice it to say, he could learn a thing or two if he'd listen to the sage that I am and stop succumbing to market hype.

Wwwwwaaaaahatever. I guess you'd rather hope to be lucky than good.......

BTW, I'm going down to Micheal's this weekend, and possibly look at that new 500+ acre tract that Woody farms, wanna go? It won't be scouting though, Lord no, that would be just plain dumb. It will be just a walk through the woods, making mental notes about topography, tree stand locations, finding food sources outside of the big ag fields, etc. Not scouting though......

[Rhino]

I was taking their picture for the sake of novelty, not scouting. Who in their right mind sees a deer in a flat, 3 acre field and says to themselves "I'm going to arrow that deer this year." Maybe a naive kid, but there was no way in heck I was counting on getting a shot at that deer last year. In all honesty, I thought I might see that deer again, maybe during gun season when they head for cover, but to get that deer at 12 yards? No way. No sense in "scouting" him.

In all honesty Chris can anybody really count on getting a shot opportunity while bowhunting a specific deer? Especially when your talking about mature bucks!! We can do some things to better our odds but in a fair chase situation you sure can't scratch a notch in your bow before you have the shot opportunity. That's just hunting.

Lord's honest truth Alan, I sure hoped one of those deer would be in bow range sometime during season, but 15 years of watching deer out there has provided 1.5 chances at shooting a nice buck with a bow. Lord's honest truth, I was just hunting that night because I had the time and got extreeeeeeemely lucky.

As the old saying goes...you must be present to win. Sounds to me like you were overdue for a change in luck. I'd rather think of it more so in how often you were able to hunt that area than in the numbers of years vs. shot opportunities. Over those 15 years you have had issues that kept you from being out there. We all understand that and we're all happy to see you've overcome that adversity so far. Still pulling for you to be around bouncing the grandchildren on your knee someday too. Once again...glad it all came together for you last year. Hope to see your smilling with another wallhanger this year.

Just curious...what is a 0.5 chance of killing a buck?

I watch that field on a daily basis. I have seen one nice bachelor group so far. At least one of those deer will be a whopper. Our house is now on the market, so I might not even own this land come September, at least, I hope not.

Keep up the observations and get the camera out so you can share it with us. :camera: Don't forget to ask the new happy home owner if you can bowhunt back there before you sign on the dotted line. :clown:

BTW, I'm going down to Micheal's this weekend, and possibly look at that new 500+ acre tract that Woody farms, wanna go? It won't be scouting though, Lord no, that would be just plain dumb. It will be just a walk through the woods, making mental notes about topography, tree stand locations, finding food sources outside of the big ag fields, etc. Not scouting though......

Now there's a friend that knows how to work his OLD buddy.

Hey Tom...don't forget to ice down some cold ones too so it's more like entertainment. :beer:

[Tominator]

Wwwwwaaaaahatever. I guess you'd rather hope to be lucky than good.......

Say that out loud to yourself.

BTW, I'm going down to Micheal's this weekend, and possibly look at that new 500+ acre tract that Woody farms, wanna go?

Eskimos and Pollocks pretty much melt in 90 degree high humidity, don't they? But, if that's a serious question, I'm in.

As long as it's not scouting, that is. :cool2:

It won't be scouting though, Lord no, that would be just plain dumb. It will be just a walk through the woods, making mental notes about topography, tree stand locations, finding food sources outside of the big ag fields, etc. Not scouting though......

Right, not scouting. Just taking a walk, checking on things.

Just curious...what is a 0.5 chance of killing a buck?

One morning before church, I was checking the field as I always do and noticed 3 little bucks in the neighbor's field, then I noticed a shooter buck, 10 point, heavy kind of narrow rack, probably in the 140's. There happened to be a hot doe bedded down back there, and the 10pt was guarding her just waiting for the opportunity. I decided to put the stalk on. Long story short, about 2 hours into the stalk he got within about 40 yards, I went to a knee as a plane flew overhead that I figured would mask my sound, it did, but the doe had had enough and she took off, taking all the boys with her. I consider that a half attempt.