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New Scouting Video Series (looking for ideas)

I’m looking forward to seeing what y’all put together. I have no particular skill but would be glad to make a trip and work a camera.
 
Get the book mapping trophy whitetails if you can - I think it will give you a great starting point. Then get a topomap app for your phone.... go to an area and bring up the map - this will absolutely show you better than I, or anyone else, can film it. I will cover some of it in videos but really that book and getting out into your areas will show you/teach you far more than i can in a video. just being honest here. Topo maps are not hard to read and visualize once you get some first hand with them. To me it is a two part process - first read the book and learn "how" they are drawn and what features look like - step two practice out in the field - try to visualize the map you are seeing and then pull it up and verify it.

Also - IME/O, A lot of funneling features are not evident on the best of topo maps - they are subtle changes that are found by boots on the ground.
THANKS! That is kinda what I was looking for a GOOD reference, Add that to my Amazon list
 
Ok. I read this post and would love to know how the Buck enters and exits his bedding area.....wind, topography and cover influences on his entrance and exit.
 
I have a question and will first say I have not watched all your videos but plan to. I started with the 2018 aerial video and scouting plan and have moved into the Jan scouting videos but would like a spoiler. Did you kill/see any big bucks while hunting in the area you scouted in the 2018 videos? Thanks
 
Just binged all your scouting videos and really like your approach. You try to be real thorough setting the scene, explaining expected movement and end with your hunting time either day time or time of the year/season.

I just in the last year maybe 2 have really tried to understand sign to differentiate buck from does, or read travel directions and purpose and let me tell you it's a steep learning curve from "multiple tracks and poop I'm setting up here and crossing my fingers". If I could make a suggestion for the next round of scouting or even just as a post on here, a general almost 10 (or however many you think there should be to justify a setup) commandments or steps. 1. Find scrape 2. Locate nearby scrape (none found, abort single random scrape) 3. Find nearby bedding area or j hook trail or food source. To 10, 8 or whatever you think it would be, entry day time etc. Doesnt have to fit all situations or habitats but would really straighten me out when I'm in the woods talking circles in my head. Would especially help going in blind where I cross 10 trails going in and on the 11th figure well guess this should do it guess I'll setup here.

This year I went in blind (except for cyberscouting) more times than ever before, probably 85-90%. It was exciting and I always got on deer, nothing mature, but my entrance would be wrong or i would go too far and bump them or they would come in from the opposite side and me not being able to read what I was looking at kept me walking probably too far or not enough.

Anyways take that for what it's worth. Again, like the videos and look forward to this year's bunch. Glad you straightened out the camera/phone, my neck was starting to hurt from the first few .

Edit: after jumping from your videos to my usual ones it was refreshing to not have an intro or commercials on each one. Appreciate that.

Sent from my SM-J337V using Tapatalk
 
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Food sources in the woods. Areas without corn and beans

@DaveT1963 and I are fortunate enough to have had a Texas Parks and Wildlife research paper to guide us on this very subject.
The TPWD performed a stomach content survey spanning 2 years, with multiple deer harvested per season (spring, summer, fall, winter) and across a large swath of North-Central Texas. Although this was performed in Texas, the Flora is very similar north into central Oklahoma, and west into the starts of the Texas panhandle. As such it is applicable to basically everywhere I hunt.

I found this document 5 years ago and have studied it over again every summer since. I have tried to learn to ID as many of the plants listed as I can as well. Also, I started checking stomach contents on my own when cleaning deer to further my knowledge.


I would check with your state biologists and see if there has been anything similar in your state.
 
I would love to see a video of the type of Terrain that runs through swampy like areas of south Louisiana through Florida. This stuff is so hard to hunt there are no large terrain features other then small ditches and flooded land. Food is everywhere’s and the thickets can be the whole woods. Finding trails can be a hassles yet there barely used more then once a week. Hunting anything with hills I find easy but down here it’s a hassle.
I think it’s awsome you are asking for input from others. I have watch some of your videos keep up the good work.
 
Any information on how you decide what will be good morning setups vs evening setups would be helpful as well as comments on picking the “right” tree once you identify a target area.
 
If I didn’t live a state away I’d give up some hunting sits to run a camera just to absorb some knowledge!
 
Ok we will start with maps. Wish I was set up to do live Q & A. Send me your map questions.

As far as big timber, I'll see what I can do but the nearest to me is 4 hours. That might be easier if you send in maps and we can break them down.

I get flat land :) it really is hard to capture all the nuisances on a phone video. Anyone want to tag along as a camera guy?
Is this video series on YouTube? And what's the video series called.
 
And where in North Texas are you? I am coming to Texas to shoot hogs if you need a camera man I got you.
 
I would like some more, in-depth learning on what you have been doing all along. Let me make that clearer. I was watching your YouTube video last week, a 2 part one, where you had your maps, circled for areas you wanted to explore and had the red and blue lines for am\pm. I understand (i think) transitions and creek crossing, but sometimes I fail to grasp the hot spots of ,say, a thicket on the edge of hardwoods, should be a not spot but where and why, I did learn something new about ox bows watching that series. And also learned that boots on the ground are key. It does help to be able to pick where your boots should be walking though. There is a lot written on scouting with aerials, if you have some favorite please share. My hunting area is flat a a pancake so there aren't really any saddles but picking up high points to see if deer are getting out of the water and bedding, I use Google earth and on X, anything better, gaia?

Hi. I’m relatively new to hunting/scouting and basic woodsmanship. I’ve been watching Dave’s videos as well. He seems to pick hot spots in three steps. First, where is the food. Second, where is a good place for a deer to bed where he/she will feel safe and have access to food. Third, transition areas and staging areas that are identified with rubs and scrapes.

I really think Dave did a great job explaining deer bedding in his 2018 scouting videos. The deer use the ox bows because the creek gives them a natural early warning system, they can probably hear a large animal try to cross
the creek and they lay facing out of the oxbow and have wind blow from behind and they use their sight to look out away from
The oxbow. So they are trying to use all their senses and use terrain to protect them. Even if you are hunting an area with no creek or terrain changes, I think this principle still applies. So a buck will bed in a heavy thicket that’s has good cover on on three sides and the wind blowing over his back and he will look out the only way into the thicket.

Or he will bed in a point of timber with field on three sides and that way the same sort of thing applies. He can use the wind, sound and sight to identify danger before it reaches him and make an escape.

Or he beds in the outside of the oxbow, looks into the creek, uses sound and wind to identify danger to the left/right/rear and he uses the creek for an escape.

Once you identify the food and find the active buck beds. You can scout the deer trails around the beds and spot the rubs and scrapes and that tells you it’s a buck bed and where they stage and where they look for doe in the rut.

Anyway. I think the principles of how Dave is identifying the hotspots can be applied in Almost all terrain, you still have to get boots on the ground and go confirm what you are thinking is not insane.
 
I’d like to see some how to’s on scouting/hunting/accessing spots close to parking/access that everyone walks past. Found good evidence of nice deer being within spitting distance of access this season, and seeing others’ approach to hunting them would be cool
 
@DaveT1963 , Thanks for the encouragement in your video last night. It did cut off abruptly at the end. Hopefully you didnt cut off the secret to success.
 
Dave, Thank You for doing this ,some of the things I'd like to see are how to identify the present ,, food source,how to keep track of other hunters and the best way to access a location even if the if the wind direction is a little off to access it Thanks again Dave !
 
@DaveT1963 download the Filmic Pro app from the google play store. It is $14.99, but is an absolutely phenomenal video recording software.

It will let you use manual settings for EVERYTHING.

Resolution, ISO, frame rate, white balance, focus, exposure... everything.

It also has a lot of tools to make sure you have the exposure correct and aren’t blowing out the shot or running too dark.
 
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