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- Dec 25, 2018
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- 1,978
So as everyone probably knows, scouting two weeks before season isn't ideal. With family commitments, work, school, etc. before you know it you're 2 weeks or a month out and haven't checked out the hot spots yet. I still don't believe all is lost. I just wanted to start this thread for anyone out there doing some last minute scouting and we can share what has worked or hasn't worked for you guys in the past.
For a little background, I just want to highlight what I've done in the past and it's been pretty successful for locating good deer populations and once and awhile a nice buck. It started several years ago with our state putting out paper catalogs for public land and publicly accessed private land for us to use. These were great because it allowed us to drive to the areas and put "boots on the ground" and check out the areas. In the era of online maps and "virtual" scouting, this has significantly improved our time commitment and allows us to "scout" several properties in a couple hours as opposed to a couple days.
When I'm map scouting, I'm looking for anything that stands out to me. Contour changes, topography, edge habitat, water locations, funnels, I even go a step beyond and turn on a filter that shows different vegetation types, historical fires, etc. Historical prevailing winds are a key item to look at too. Next step is to highlight these areas on the map and go check them out. Once I'm at these areas, I can generally check off most of the areas I had highlighted and center my deer search on a small parcel or parcels within a large piece of land. I look at terrain features and where I can hang or sit with the right wind. There have been several times when the areas I think are going to be hot spots turn out to be duds so it's time to head back to the drawing board and check out the less thought of areas like the little grassy waterway in the middle of the corn field.
Remember your rubs, and scrapes are going to be pretty non-existent this time of year. I key in on old rubs in a decent secured area close to water and food with fresh turds, freshly used browse and fresh tracks. I found an old rub yesterday that looked really old but the broken licking branch still had the leaf attached, so I'd assume it was from last season. It seems like scouting this time of year is much harder and you have to look at the more subtle clues. Then sometimes, you'll find the first 4 rows of corn knocked down like it's already been combined. I'm not saying there won't be any rubs or scrapes, but you have to look at the old sign, fresh turds, freshly browsed plants/crops, tracks, etc. The deer around here tend to be seasonal to an area too depending on the time the crops get taken out and the type of crop planted which is why scouting this time of year tends to make more sense to me.
Alright, so before saying, "You need to stay out of these areas you're only 2 weeks out." I tend to go against the grain because I know John, Sally and his 4 kids have just walked through the same area to go fishing or look at butterflies and the deer don't discriminate against pressure. In heavily pressured areas I think the deer are used to this activity and will go right back to their old habits before season begins. If it's a good area, it's a good area. They'll be gone out of the area before you get to them so in their minds, their safe place worked and prevented an encounter. Our goal is to find a way to sneak into their safe place unsuspecting. Bumping them too much checking trail cameras, food plots, getting to your fishing hole, etc. might make them leave the area for the season though.
I try to get as many places scouted and looked at before season begins. I still have those "ones that got away" from last year in the back of my mind and documented so I know these are decent areas and don't necessarily have to scout so aggressively. I'll maybe do a hunt and scout once just to make sure there is still deer activity in the area and come back in when opportunities are ideal. By scouting and hunting more areas more days of the year, you're effectively putting odds in your favor. Keep in mind they probably won't handle too much pressure and ultimately that's up to you to decide what is too much.
I hope others have successes, failures and criticisms to add because I think collectively if we all share our ideas we'll in turn become better hunters.
For a little background, I just want to highlight what I've done in the past and it's been pretty successful for locating good deer populations and once and awhile a nice buck. It started several years ago with our state putting out paper catalogs for public land and publicly accessed private land for us to use. These were great because it allowed us to drive to the areas and put "boots on the ground" and check out the areas. In the era of online maps and "virtual" scouting, this has significantly improved our time commitment and allows us to "scout" several properties in a couple hours as opposed to a couple days.
When I'm map scouting, I'm looking for anything that stands out to me. Contour changes, topography, edge habitat, water locations, funnels, I even go a step beyond and turn on a filter that shows different vegetation types, historical fires, etc. Historical prevailing winds are a key item to look at too. Next step is to highlight these areas on the map and go check them out. Once I'm at these areas, I can generally check off most of the areas I had highlighted and center my deer search on a small parcel or parcels within a large piece of land. I look at terrain features and where I can hang or sit with the right wind. There have been several times when the areas I think are going to be hot spots turn out to be duds so it's time to head back to the drawing board and check out the less thought of areas like the little grassy waterway in the middle of the corn field.
Remember your rubs, and scrapes are going to be pretty non-existent this time of year. I key in on old rubs in a decent secured area close to water and food with fresh turds, freshly used browse and fresh tracks. I found an old rub yesterday that looked really old but the broken licking branch still had the leaf attached, so I'd assume it was from last season. It seems like scouting this time of year is much harder and you have to look at the more subtle clues. Then sometimes, you'll find the first 4 rows of corn knocked down like it's already been combined. I'm not saying there won't be any rubs or scrapes, but you have to look at the old sign, fresh turds, freshly browsed plants/crops, tracks, etc. The deer around here tend to be seasonal to an area too depending on the time the crops get taken out and the type of crop planted which is why scouting this time of year tends to make more sense to me.
Alright, so before saying, "You need to stay out of these areas you're only 2 weeks out." I tend to go against the grain because I know John, Sally and his 4 kids have just walked through the same area to go fishing or look at butterflies and the deer don't discriminate against pressure. In heavily pressured areas I think the deer are used to this activity and will go right back to their old habits before season begins. If it's a good area, it's a good area. They'll be gone out of the area before you get to them so in their minds, their safe place worked and prevented an encounter. Our goal is to find a way to sneak into their safe place unsuspecting. Bumping them too much checking trail cameras, food plots, getting to your fishing hole, etc. might make them leave the area for the season though.
I try to get as many places scouted and looked at before season begins. I still have those "ones that got away" from last year in the back of my mind and documented so I know these are decent areas and don't necessarily have to scout so aggressively. I'll maybe do a hunt and scout once just to make sure there is still deer activity in the area and come back in when opportunities are ideal. By scouting and hunting more areas more days of the year, you're effectively putting odds in your favor. Keep in mind they probably won't handle too much pressure and ultimately that's up to you to decide what is too much.
I hope others have successes, failures and criticisms to add because I think collectively if we all share our ideas we'll in turn become better hunters.
