Need some more help with scouting concerns

[John 35]

Honestly, it depends on what you want to shoot. I would use a topo map and historical photos. I would take the topo map and look for wet swampy areas. Not necessarily creek and rivers, unless the swampy areas are connected to them. I would then use my historical photos to see the areas that look super thick. Next, I would look for the above areas in the most remote places. That’s where I would start my ”on the ground“ scouting. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of hunting hardwoods, but I do like to hunt the edge of swamps that butt up to hardwoods, as I know the deer will usually make their way to them. Keep in mind, down here in the south, there is usually some sort of browse all year long, so deer don’t necessarily have to move a lot to feed. I would then walk the edge of the swamp looking for trails coming from the swamp to the hardwoods. This is where I would set up, on the proper wind. Also, I see very few deer in the course of my sits. If I see a lot of does and small bucks I will usually move unless it’s the rut. Hope that helps in some way.

This is the kind of thing I was driving at, a break in the hard woods.

 

[Mschmeiske]

Feel free to send me a photo, or post a picture here if it won’t spoil your spot. Some of us might be able to point some stuff out!

 

[Robert loper]

Im usually really good at getting on deer. Have been for about 3 decades.
I see deer almost every time i hunt.
really depends on what your hunting goals are.
Now consider this, what i say is what I do outside of the rut.

Me i hunt in kind of two different ways mostly i try to go after the biggest oldest most educated buck i know is in a certain area. That time of the year.
this is extremely hard and frustrating because you dont see slot of deer and most likely your not going to be successful alot.
When im doing that i stick to seasonal food and the most securebedding close by.
usually it will be on some sort of transition breakup thats really thick.
Points, corners, bowls, fingers, etc.
consider when looking in these spot.
Bucks will want to watch open areas so, thick behind wind over back watching open area.
Regular (lol) deer hunting is alot of the same but does snd younger bucks will bed along some sort of transitions or edge but will usually be a straight line or edge.
bedding will be anywhere thick not like buck bedding.
Hope that makes sense.
First find the food for that time of the year
So many hunters hunt good food sources at the wrong time of the year.
Second follow trails back from food back to thick nasty bedding.
( refer to what i said earlier for bedding).
3rd. Try to take tips from alot of people, dont stick to just one guy like for example someone said earlier (The hunting beast)
Great channel and great info but depending on where you live.
The deer where i live react differently than deer in say Wisconsin.
You will see and learn this over time.
Also Alot more bigger bucks running around Wisconsin-than there is on the east coast.
A ton more pressure on fewer deer on east coast.
those guys are good and straight killers but do not realize what high pressured bucks really are.
alot of these big influencers on you tube are hunting and scouting every single day and most of us do not have that luxury.
feel free to check my channel out i do it strictly for fun.
The buck psych
Good luck and keep it fun. Dont make it a job.

 

[Zoa]

Im hunting the sumter national forest. Its a mixture of hardwoods and pine, no clear cuts. I have an area of 3000 acres and roughly 10. square miles that i am looking at scouting. Its hilly and the elevation ranges from 450ft to 500ft. There are several stream that flow as well as a gas line or something. i hunted ther last season a few time and didnt see anything except for hog. I know it hold deer Im just trying to figure out where to look.

There are plenty of deer in Sumter. My advice for how to find deer for a beginner (hunting them can come later) is this: Look at your 3000 acres. Cross off any large blocks of pine monoculture. Next, walk all of the creeks. There will be creek crossings, and from them you can backtrack deer to where they came from.

To figure out which transition edges to walk first, find spots on a map that have a lot going on. A hardwood/pine edge is cool, but say that edge runs into a gasline. That's another edge. Two edges are better than one. Or mebbe there's a creek flowing by, or all this is happening on a gap in the ridge, or a flat spot on the side of a hill. Or a couple of those things all together. Now we're talking. A place with four or five of those features just has to have deer. Mark all those spots on the map, and go walk em. Walk all the edges, and find the nearest thicket and walk all around it. There will be deer sign.

 

[woodsdog2]

Try to find "complicated" topography within mixed habitat types and concentrate on scouting out those spots. Rule out areas close to roads and other easy access locations. Look for terrain undulations that force deer movement to certain spots within the mixed cover areas. Look for edges that come together like a swamp or creek that is at the base of a hardwood ridge or hillside where there are pockets of thick cover. Animals need food, cover, water, shelter and the adequate arrangement of those factors for decent habitat to live in. Land that is just open fields, or pine barrens, or hardwoods withoug any understory cover..... those places will not hold deer that will be active during the daylight hours.

 

[elk yinzer]

I'd just start looking for good habitat. Namely, thick stuff. You're mostly going to find that by just covering the ground and learning through woodsmanship what good deer habitat does and doesn't look like. Only within the good habitat do you need to start breaking down map features. You can have the most perfect textbook topographical terrain features, but if that doesn't have food and security it is going to be a terrible place to hunt.

 

[SNIPERBBB]

Mature/old growth forests are practically deserts for wildlife. Squirrels are about the biggest game animal you'll find in most of them. Your bigger game is going to be found around the edge. Of course, the edge of any habitat is always where you are going to find the most wildlife. There's just flat more food/more energy on the edge. Even your garden does better when there are more edges to it.. When you look at a map or get on site, anything that looks homogeneous is a no from me dawg. So look for these changes, they dont have to be drastic, a simple power/gas line right of way cutting through the property is good enough.

 

[Mschmeiske]

Not tying to Jack the thread, but I’d love some examples and maybe they would help the member who posted this as well.

 

[Schemeecho]

Not tying to Jack the thread, but I’d love some examples and maybe they would help the member who posted this as well.

I agree, some examples my be more helpful. If i cant figure out how to take a screen shot of my onx map I will post it and you guys can mark it up. I try to do some on line scouting first because I just dont want to waste my time by just putting boots on the ground. That to me would be just wondering around the woods. Hell, maybe that isnt such a bad idea. JUST run through the woods and try to jump deer. ha light bulb just lit up.

 

[SNIPERBBB]

Here's a spot on Sumter you might want to look at. Might not be quite ag land but you can be sure there will be deer going towards that private property and theres a big pond to look at.

 

[swampbuck]

All good advice so far.

You're hunting near a part of SC where I cut my teeth as a deer hunter. Plenty of deer, even on WMAs.

All I'd offer is: feed tree, feed tree, FEED TREE!!! Learn to identify them, learn different species of oak and when they tend to drop. Look for oaks that have nearly bare dirt under them with leaves shoved aside, and confirm with caps, poop, rubs, and fresh tracks. Look around to where the thickest nastiest cover is and setup down wind. It won't matter if you spook them off of it, they WILL come back!

 

[Bogle]

Not tying to Jack the thread, but I’d love some examples and maybe they would help the member who posted this as well.

So, this is the set up I shot my 10 pt from this year in the kill thread. I attached both a topo photo and a regular photo. I’ll post his bed photo and his rubs in a separate reply. Notice you can’t see the wet area from the regular photo but it shows up in the topo. The stands shown are ladder stands that are not mine. The bed is in Yellow and faces the 9:30 positiom. The bed looks out at the 9:30 position over an open swampy area watching the red ladder stand. The bed is basically unapproachable from the back side due to the large and deep creek. The creek at the 9:30 position is only about knee deep. I entered from the purple icons, crossed the first creek, and was headed for the brown X at the 1230 position when I shot him. Notice where the bed was in-relation to the transition line. Hope that helps someone.

 

[Bogle]

So here is a photo of one of his rubs (white icon) and his bed. The thick area backs up to the “big” creek and the bed looks out over the smaller creek and open area

 

[Robert loper]

Here are just a few examples. One of the pics is a straight transition that will if thick enough have doe bedding along it.
the others are transitions or edge with some dort of breakup. Corner, point, finger, etc.
the pic with the really green edge to the south would be considered a hard transition which is usually open and you want to kind of stay away from.
the edges or transitions you want to look for needs to be thick.
they bed on theedge of this thick stuff from the edge and up to 20 sometimes 30 yards in while looking out to the open or edge.
Hope this helps.
I have some really good videos with examples of this on youtube

 

[kyler1945]

I agree, some examples my be more helpful. If i cant figure out how to take a screen shot of my onx map I will post it and you guys can mark it up. I try to do some on line scouting first because I just dont want to waste my time by just putting boots on the ground. That to me would be just wondering around the woods. Hell, maybe that isnt such a bad idea. JUST run through the woods and try to jump deer. ha light bulb just lit up.

I’ve been trying to tell you to do exactly that!

If you’re asking strangers on the internet to help you learn how to find a deer, It’s not a waste of time. Plus, you’re forgetting that what you’re currently doing is already “wondering around the woods”

Haha also Mr. Warren tells us he used to run oak tree to oak tree looking for the hot one.

There’s much to be gained by not having a preconceived notion of what to do when you get out there or where to go. Reason number one to me: deer don’t. They don’t have the internet or people to tell them where to go. They follow their eyes ears and noses. Go try that first. Get some raw data.

 

[CooterBrown]

Here’s a good thread to read over and over (there’s a lot to take in):

My Style of Hunting By Mr. Warren Womack

For all you folks new to mobile climbing methods, or those of us that have tinkered with our system enough to be dangerous.... "Not only is it good practice but it's also a good conditioning program for climbing. I try to shoot every day and climb up to shoot and down to retrieve arrows, about...

saddlehunter.com

Is there a way to save a post like that so you can find it real easy for reference? Thats good stuff IMO

 

[Plebe]

I'd just start looking for good habitat. Namely, thick stuff. You're mostly going to find that by just covering the ground and learning through woodsmanship what good deer habitat does and doesn't look like. Only within the good habitat do you need to start breaking down map features. You can have the most perfect textbook topographical terrain features, but if that doesn't have food and security it is going to be a terrible place to hunt.

Unless it's an area they travel, perhaps between food and security. Sometimes the only option.

 

[MJH]

How much deer sign are you seeing in your travels? droppings, prints, rubs, scrapes, beds?

 

[Nutterbuster]

There’s much to be gained by not having a preconceived notion of what to do when you get out there or where to go.

X2

 

[Tim0712]

Here’s a good thread to read over and over (there’s a lot to take in):

My Style of Hunting By Mr. Warren Womack

For all you folks new to mobile climbing methods, or those of us that have tinkered with our system enough to be dangerous.... "Not only is it good practice but it's also a good conditioning program for climbing. I try to shoot every day and climb up to shoot and down to retrieve arrows, about...

saddlehunter.com

I’ll second mr.womacks thread. I was having a real hard time as well sounds like we were in the same boat and I used mr. Womack’s words as a bible and it Deffinately helped that or start listening to any and every podcast that has John eberhart in it he can be a bit tough to follow but the man is a genius when you make it make sense in your own world