Scouting methods


12-point

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I am done with preseason scouting in the woods. After hunting the same areas forever I pretty much know where the deer are coming and going at different times of the season. I'll do some long distance scouting where my presence will not have much impact.

I am also going to leave the trail cams at home and use them to watch the place. Sure, it's cool to see what deer might show up on your hunting ground, but I'd really rather have that giant, I don't know is there, surprise me one day. Just like that fish you never see that you bring to the net. Walking in and out to check out the cams every other week has never been a benefit to me. I have come to realize that the deer here are hunted 6 months out of the year here if you include a month for scouting. They get enough pressure. No wonder they run like the dickens when you slow down to try and get a look at them.

This guy was at around 100 yards when I stopped

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At 150 yards I didn't get a second look at these boys

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Edited by ruttinbuc
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Ha thanks guys scouting or no scouting its funny to get stuff started between hunters it just shows how much everyone enjoys it. Good luck to you all this year and tominator i wanna see any huge buck this year too ha and when your tag is full you can share the luck...

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I am done with preseason scouting in the woods. After hunting the same areas forever I pretty much know where the deer are coming and going at different times of the season. I'll do some long distance scouting where my presence will not have much impact.

Exactly.

I am also going to leave the trail cams at home and use them to watch the place. Sure, it's cool to see what deer might show up on your hunting ground, but I'd really rather have that giant, I don't know is there, surprise me one day. ....I have come to realize that the deer here are hunted 6 months out of the year here if you include a month for scouting. They get enough pressure. No wonder they run like the dickens when you slow down to try and get a look at them.

You am smrt!

:D

Ha thanks guys scouting or no scouting its funny to get stuff started between hunters it just shows how much everyone enjoys it. Good luck to you all this year and tominator i wanna see any huge buck this year too ha and when your tag is full you can share the luck...

LOL--OK, you got me. Truth be known, most of what I've posted in this thread is tongue in cheek just to get some debate going. I do believe in a little scouting, but I don't spend a lot of time doing it, and I do believe too much has a negative impact on the deer.

As far as luck, well, I may have used all mine up last year, but you never know. The fun is in the trying and thanking God that I am able, and I have a great friends to share it with---that's what's important to me.

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I've got areas I've hunted since I was a kid that I can walk into the woods and take you straight to a rub line or tell show you trees where scrapes will be in the fall, and pretty much every trail in those blocks. Those areas, I dont' scout, I just slip in and hang a stand. The deer use the same travel routes every year, scrape under the same trees.

Hunting new land.. I use topos and aerials to identify likely areas then go in and see if my hunch was right. Pretty much the only way to scout though is to put your boots on the ground....

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