This is a two part question of asking how to be more efficient while post season scouting as well as whether you prefer to speed scout vs scout more thoroughly? I’m still trying to hone in on my methods so just looking for different opinions. For me it depends on where the sign is located and whether or not I find areas I’m content with. I found that I don’t even pay attention to sign out in the open but areas near bedding with good security cover I tend to be very tedious with how I scout. I can find good looking sign but I’m never fully satisfied until I keep scouting to see where it begins and where it ends (I understand it’s never 100% accurate but I want as good of a picture as possible). I’m always wondering what’s over there? Sometimes there’s nothing but other times I end up finding even better sign that’s in areas probably less obvious as there’s no hunter sign and often times it’s not on a “hot” terrain feature we hear on all the podcasts.
Overall, if I can find legitimate buck bedding areas with high rubs and scrapes nearby as well as some doe bedding nearby then I’m going to scout that pretty thoroughly and try to identify when it’s being used, how it’s being used, how I can access it, wind map it, trees to hunt from, etc. Where I hunt food is everywhere but if I find buck bedding with good rubs within it and an isolated food source then I’m gonna be all over that as well. Where I tend to speed scout is when I don’t have known bedding or destination food sources down I’ll walk edges until I can find an area to trace back. I still feel like I’m spending too much time scouting too thoroughly as I feel like I should have more spots but the way my mind works is I’d rather have a good idea of how that areas being used than run through it and miss a lot of pieces to the puzzle.
How do you guys approach post season scouting on new pieces? Any feedback would be awesome
Overall, if I can find legitimate buck bedding areas with high rubs and scrapes nearby as well as some doe bedding nearby then I’m going to scout that pretty thoroughly and try to identify when it’s being used, how it’s being used, how I can access it, wind map it, trees to hunt from, etc. Where I hunt food is everywhere but if I find buck bedding with good rubs within it and an isolated food source then I’m gonna be all over that as well. Where I tend to speed scout is when I don’t have known bedding or destination food sources down I’ll walk edges until I can find an area to trace back. I still feel like I’m spending too much time scouting too thoroughly as I feel like I should have more spots but the way my mind works is I’d rather have a good idea of how that areas being used than run through it and miss a lot of pieces to the puzzle.
How do you guys approach post season scouting on new pieces? Any feedback would be awesome