I wish I knew more

[TheYote]

I've never really scouted for deer. To be honest I don't even know where or what to look for. I hunt on a 400 acre lease with 4 other hunters. So I have plenty of room. The area I chose to hunt has deer trails all over it. It's near a creek. And north of this woods is a field snd south is a field. The area I hunt is a small narrow spot in a wooded area that from an overhead map view looks to be a place deer would use to cross from one field to the next. According to other articles I've read it's called an oxbow.
Other than that, that's all I know. Anyone recommend videos, books etc to learn about scouting.

People talk about buck beds. How do you know it's bucks and not doe? Where do you look to find them? What about deer and water, me hunting that creek, am I wasting my time because deer dont like to cross water or would it be a good spot?

As you can tell I'm very inexperienced at scouting and deer habits. I guess all the ones I have killed have been just blind luck because I've never even thought to scout until really getting into saddle and bow hunting.

 

[flinginairos]

Get all the dvd's made by Dan Infalt and the Hunting Beast and Precision Bowhunting by John Eberhart. Just do it. You will knock years off the learning curve!

 

[BCHunter]

I've never really scouted for deer. To be honest I don't even know where or what to look for. I hunt on a 400 acre lease with 4 other hunters. So I have plenty of room. The area I chose to hunt has deer trails all over it. It's near a creek. And north of this woods is a field snd south is a field. The area I hunt is a small narrow spot in a wooded area that from an overhead map view looks to be a place deer would use to cross from one field to the next. According to other articles I've read it's called an oxbow.
Other than that, that's all I know. Anyone recommend videos, books etc to learn about scouting.

People talk about buck beds. How do you know it's bucks and not doe? Where do you look to find them? What about deer and water, me hunting that creek, am I wasting my time because deer dont like to cross water or would it be a good spot?

As you can tell I'm very inexperienced at scouting and deer habits. I guess all the ones I have killed have been just blind luck because I've never even thought to scout until really getting into saddle and bow hunting.

Post some overheads and topos

Sent from my moto z3 using Tapatalk

 

[marko_mrko]

Mapping Trophy Bucks. Awesome resource.

https://www.amazon.com/Mapping-Trophy-Bucks-Brad-Herndon/dp/0873495039

Also, I second the Eberhart books and DVDs.

Have a great time scouting this year!
Marko

 

[Slingpredator06]

Good advice here. I would do what @flinginairos suggested. But to help you in the short term for this season, tactics vary by region as do deer patterns and food sources. But to keep it real basic seek out food and water sources. Edge lines along fields also provide a good surveillance point and deer tend to post up in these edge lines prior to dark before going out in the open. Pay attention to your entry and exit routes and let the wind dictate which routes you take. Regarding doe vs buck beds, does tend to bed down in larger groups and closer to food sources. Bucks tend to put the does between them and anything that could be a danger. Buck beds can normally be found high up on hill sides with the wind at their back so their nose covers their back and their eyes can cover them to the front.

 

[SkylineReaper]

Not sure if your hunting season on your lease property is over or still going if your season is over you can start doing post season scouting now if your season is still going pick an area that you believe possible big bucks are in and find a distant observation place and do some scout sits and observe what they are doing. As stated above anything from John Eberhart or Dan in falt is great information you can get a lot of free information by listening to podcasts and going on YouTube tons of free information from both of these options and or just ask away on here many people will be willing to help with any questions you have. Good luck and always remember that you can learn a lot from Videos books and other resources but nothing beats actual personal experience in the woods get out there and enjoy it everyone makes mistakes just learn from them.