- Joined
- Nov 1, 2018
- Messages
- 8,113
Scouting has been going well. With the use of boots on the ground, daylight deer sightings, in conjunction with several cameras. I’m learning a lot about the area I hunt how deer use it. I still don’t have the whole picture but it’s slowly coming together.
I still have the struggle of scouting when I I’m not confident I’ll kill a deer in a location but I’ve been doing a lot better. I’ve done more scouting and spent less time in the tree and I’ve seen more deer. I’m still working on seeing more bucks but that will come eventually.
I almost gave up on acorns when I finally found a good white oak tree that was being used and also had buck sign around it. I placed a camera on it and have gotten many deer photos almost daily. I hunted the area twice with no luck. I went to remove the camera the other day and discovered a row of scrapes every 80 yards as well as a big rub nearby.
Another new area I scouted was very swampy and had very little deer sign, and food source but could possibly be used as bedding. I’m still trying to understand how the deer use the area as I do have deer crossing a beaver dam into it. They may just be cruising through, especially the bucks.
A third recent area I scouted proved to be jam packed with huge acorns and a decent amount of food and sign or browse. I ended up setting up on that price instead of scouting more because it looked “pretty good” which was a lot better and fresher than the sign in the other spots I visited. That evening I did see 10 deer at sunset but they escaped me right out of stick bow range. I returned in the morning and had a few yearlings and fawns in shooting range but no deer of any size. After the morning hunt I found a white oak tree that is still dropping. The leaves on the ground were absolutely torn up and there was multiple scat piles. I wish I had just went a little further to that sign that you just cant not hunt because it’s that good. It was only 100 yards from the other acorns but it was clearly the primary feed tree for the deer on this section of land. I haven’t had another chance to hunt it but I’m hoping to set up on it after work maybe one day this week for an afternoon hunt. Like y’all said, good deer sign is hard to miss. You either see the deer or the clear sign of the deer.
I’ve spead up my scouting even more at least for now while there are still oaks dropping. It’s evident to me that I’ll know clearly if the deer are feeding there or not. This will save me an incredible amount of time next year early season when I focus on oaks. I’m hoping I can still capitalize on this now as it is late and leaves are changing and the acorns are finishing up. White Oaks are really about done but I have some strong red oak patches I hope will continue to hold deer.
I’ve started minimizing what sign I mark on OnX. I’ve been mainly marking actual deer I’ve seen in the woods scouting and from a tree as well as primary feed trees. I have marked occasional scrapes as they’re starting to pop up, but I’m unsure how I’ll capitalize on them at this time.
I still have the struggle of scouting when I I’m not confident I’ll kill a deer in a location but I’ve been doing a lot better. I’ve done more scouting and spent less time in the tree and I’ve seen more deer. I’m still working on seeing more bucks but that will come eventually.
I almost gave up on acorns when I finally found a good white oak tree that was being used and also had buck sign around it. I placed a camera on it and have gotten many deer photos almost daily. I hunted the area twice with no luck. I went to remove the camera the other day and discovered a row of scrapes every 80 yards as well as a big rub nearby.
Another new area I scouted was very swampy and had very little deer sign, and food source but could possibly be used as bedding. I’m still trying to understand how the deer use the area as I do have deer crossing a beaver dam into it. They may just be cruising through, especially the bucks.
A third recent area I scouted proved to be jam packed with huge acorns and a decent amount of food and sign or browse. I ended up setting up on that price instead of scouting more because it looked “pretty good” which was a lot better and fresher than the sign in the other spots I visited. That evening I did see 10 deer at sunset but they escaped me right out of stick bow range. I returned in the morning and had a few yearlings and fawns in shooting range but no deer of any size. After the morning hunt I found a white oak tree that is still dropping. The leaves on the ground were absolutely torn up and there was multiple scat piles. I wish I had just went a little further to that sign that you just cant not hunt because it’s that good. It was only 100 yards from the other acorns but it was clearly the primary feed tree for the deer on this section of land. I haven’t had another chance to hunt it but I’m hoping to set up on it after work maybe one day this week for an afternoon hunt. Like y’all said, good deer sign is hard to miss. You either see the deer or the clear sign of the deer.
I’ve spead up my scouting even more at least for now while there are still oaks dropping. It’s evident to me that I’ll know clearly if the deer are feeding there or not. This will save me an incredible amount of time next year early season when I focus on oaks. I’m hoping I can still capitalize on this now as it is late and leaves are changing and the acorns are finishing up. White Oaks are really about done but I have some strong red oak patches I hope will continue to hold deer.
I’ve started minimizing what sign I mark on OnX. I’ve been mainly marking actual deer I’ve seen in the woods scouting and from a tree as well as primary feed trees. I have marked occasional scrapes as they’re starting to pop up, but I’m unsure how I’ll capitalize on them at this time.