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Pre Season Summer Scouting

MrTumnus

MrTumnus

Active Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2020
Messages
117
Howdy folks! I would love to hear what strategies and timeline you guys follow for preseason scouting. I pretty much exclusively just run a bunch of trail cameras on feeding areas and travel corridors while keeping an eye on the acorn crop.

I hear a TON of folks talking about glassing fields, but I do not hunt open farm country....I hunt mixed pine/hardwoods of varying age class in the upstate of SC. So I feel that observation stands/glassing is not a super viable or realistic option for me without blowing up the woods with my scent; however, getting impatient and checking trail cams too often likely is blowing up the woods just as much if not more.

Let's hear how you guys keep an eye on bachelor groups and what your strategy is behind it. I'm an adult onset hunter and am therefore a sponge, ready to soak up any wisdom offered...
thanks
 
I am a late bloomer when it comes to hunting as well. I dont know if your trees loose their leaves,but here in NY the best scouting for me is in the spring before the leaves are out. Seems like that just happened a few weeks ago. Generally you can still see last years scrapes and the rubs for sure. It is also nice to find areas that are thick even without leaves on the trees.
I check saddles and suspected bedding areas and travel corridors for sign. I dont glass much because it is more wooded than open fields here,and also hilly. Some of the state land i am planning to hunt the first time this year borders on some ag fields,i may glass there just to see if any bucks are out feeding before dark,i will probably save that for just a few weeks before the opener. So mid summer is the lull for me as far as scouting goes. Once the season starts i will scout with bow in hand.
 
Bowmanmike said:
I am a late bloomer when it comes to hunting as well. I dont know if your trees loose their leaves,but here in NY the best scouting for me is in the spring before the leaves are out. Seems like that just happened a few weeks ago. Generally you can still see last years scrapes and the rubs for sure. It is also nice to find areas that are thick even without leaves on the trees.
I check saddles and suspected bedding areas and travel corridors for sign. I dont glass much because it is more wooded than open fields here,and also hilly. Some of the state land i am planning to hunt the first time this year borders on some ag fields,i may glass there just to see if any bucks are out feeding before dark,i will probably save that for just a few weeks before the opener. So mid summer is the lull for me as far as scouting goes. Once the season starts i will scout with bow in hand.
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@Bowmanmike good to hear I'm not the only one late to the game haha. I did a fair amount of post season scouting to see last year's rut sign, which was super informative. Everything is green and thick now!
 
I hunt big woods exclusively. During the summer and into the season I run cams to see what is in the area. Trail cams is almost a separate hobby to me. It's fun to see what is in the area but I don't base whether I'll hunt there or not just off a trail camera. I'm hunting that spot based off the sign I found during scouting and if I get a big buck on camera that's a bonus. I do a ton of scouting during the late season and post season and into early green up. Once I'm into May I try to get all of my preset trees I want based off this scouting prepped during May and into June. If it goes into July, so be it but for all of this I'm in there once and not back until I hunt. Time is precious and I never stop scouting if I have some free time. Once summer really hits I'll usually try to go and hike new areas to explore for future hunting. Sometimes I'll find something that looks really good and end up coming back and setting something up for this season, or I'll just have it marked and come back mobile during the season. Regardless I'm in there once or twice at most before I hunt it. Sometimes you have to be able to adapt. One season I wasn't seeing much of anything in my spots so I went out on a Sunday afternoon and did some scouting and prepped a tree. I went back in that Thursday and shot one of my top 3 bucks. I think deer will tolerate minimal disturbances and return to their habits. Going in one time to scout/prep is much different than someone going in weekly to check a camera or hunting the same stand over and over.
 
I have been hunting for many, many moons (including SC as you indicate). Contrary to what most others tout, my best bucks have been taken not as a result of post or pre season scouting. They have all come as a result of in season scouting and seizing the moment on the right sign. I still try to do post and pre season scouting too, but I don't put as much value in those for my hunting style. Your cameras and focusing on the food sources is a good strategy for where you hunt.

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I'm changing my methods this year for scouting, I'm looking for pine thickets and if the deer are using them. If so mark it and hunt come season. Not overthinking it this year.
 
redsquirrel said:
I hunt big woods exclusively. During the summer and into the season I run cams to see what is in the area. Trail cams is almost a separate hobby to me. It's fun to see what is in the area but I don't base whether I'll hunt there or not just off a trail camera. I'm hunting that spot based off the sign I found during scouting and if I get a big buck on camera that's a bonus. I do a ton of scouting during the late season and post season and into early green up. Once I'm into May I try to get all of my preset trees I want based off this scouting prepped during May and into June. If it goes into July, so be it but for all of this I'm in there once and not back until I hunt. Time is precious and I never stop scouting if I have some free time. Once summer really hits I'll usually try to go and hike new areas to explore for future hunting. Sometimes I'll find something that looks really good and end up coming back and setting something up for this season, or I'll just have it marked and come back mobile during the season. Regardless I'm in there once or twice at most before I hunt it. Sometimes you have to be able to adapt. One season I wasn't seeing much of anything in my spots so I went out on a Sunday afternoon and did some scouting and prepped a tree. I went back in that Thursday and shot one of my top 3 bucks. I think deer will tolerate minimal disturbances and return to their habits. Going in one time to scout/prep is much different than someone going in weekly to check a camera or hunting the same stand over and over.
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before do you check your cameras in one big swoop a couple weeks before opening day to let things settle? I think in the past I just plain checked them too much....can't help it, it feels like Christmas morning
 
tmturnbull89 said:
before do you check your cameras in one big swoop a couple weeks before opening day to let things settle? I think in the past I just plain checked them too much....can't help it, it feels like Christmas morning
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It depends. I have a bunch of cell cams now which helps so you don't have the urge to go check. The other cameras I put out I may or may not check them once or twice in the summer. Often I'll pull the camera when I go in to hunt the area the first time during the season to check it. I have a camera that has been out almost a year that I need to go pull, and another one that I put out during the season that I haven't touched. Cameras are a blast, everyone loves getting pics of big bucks, but I look at them as fun with any information gained a plus for future hunting. Most of the information I'm looking for is are deer really using this like I think they are from scouting. A camera only covers one spot. If you're up in a tree over a camera you'll see a lot of things the camera would miss. I would rather have the buck mounted on my wall than a picture on the computer.
 
Jwiggins762 said:
I'm changing my methods this year for scouting, I'm looking for pine thickets and if the deer are using them. If so mark it and hunt come season. Not overthinking it this year.
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I marked everything on OnX. Then discovered the massive burns they did on Perdido River and now have to go check everything.
 
Tr33_n1nj@ said:
I marked everything on OnX. Then discovered the massive burns they did on Perdido River and now have to go check everything.
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I've been up there a few times since turkey season went out and haven't seen any recent burns, they burned a lot this year?
 
I have a really nice spot that I found when spring scouting. Found a really nice buck bed with a rub in it and another big rub on a cluster of islands in the alder swamp maybe 50 yards from said buck bed. I am really tempted to drive up this summer(it’s about 2 hours from my house) and sneak a camera in there and then pull it in late Aug or early Sept in full scentlok. Thoughts?
 
Where I hunt its mostly hardwoods mixed with clearcuts. Winter post season scouting does me absolutely no good where I hunt as the deer have moved from the hardwoods i hunt into winter feeding yards and the snow is deep enough to cover any existing sign until spring

I do the vast majority of my preseason scouting in the spring turkey hunting time frame. Drives my daughter nuts while we're out turkey hunting (her favorite season) when she catches me deer scouting. She caught me scanning the ground looking for white oak leaves this year as we walked through the woods and said as only a daughter could . . . "I see what you're doing." :) This is the best time though for me to find what the deer did the previous season as the snow has matted all the undergrowth leaving trails and sign very visible at this time of the year.

I actually scout very little during the summer months other than an occasional observation sit. However, if the full truth is to be told those are generally more to try out new climbing/platform ideas in a hunting situation than to really scout for deer. I hate the bugs too much to hang out in the woods that much in the summer. I don't know how you southern guys take it. I'll take the cold weather over mosquitoes any day.

As others have said, once season starts I find I can adapt my hunting to where the hot sign is at any given time. I generally have pretty good ideas of places to hunt with given wind directions and will work my way into them and sit the hot spots, be that feeding areas, scrapes or trails depending on what's the hot thing of the time of the hunt.
 
boyne bowhunter said:
Where I hunt its mostly hardwoods mixed with clearcuts. Winter post season scouting does me absolutely no good where I hunt as the deer have moved from the hardwoods i hunt into winter feeding yards and the snow is deep enough to cover any existing sign until spring

I do the vast majority of my preseason scouting in the spring turkey hunting time frame. Drives my daughter nuts while we're out turkey hunting (her favorite season) when she catches me deer scouting. She caught me scanning the ground looking for white oak leaves this year as we walked through the woods and said as only a daughter could . . . "I see what you're doing." :) This is the best time though for me to find what the deer did the previous season as the snow has matted all the undergrowth leaving trails and sign very visible at this time of the year.

I actually scout very little during the summer months other than an occasional observation sit. However, if the full truth is to be told those are generally more to try out new climbing/platform ideas in a hunting situation than to really scout for deer. I hate the bugs too much to hang out in the woods that much in the summer. I don't know how you southern guys take it. I'll take the cold weather over mosquitoes any day.

As others have said, once season starts I find I can adapt my hunting to where the hot sign is at any given time. I generally have pretty good ideas of places to hunt with given wind directions and will work my way into them and sit the hot spots, be that feeding areas, scrapes or trails depending on what's the hot thing of the time of the hunt.
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I feel like I spent the whole turkey season with whitetail deer on my mind. More morels and rubs found than Tom’s for me!


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SaddleUpPartner! said:
I have a really nice spot that I found when spring scouting. Found a really nice buck bed with a rub in it and another big rub on a cluster of islands in the alder swamp maybe 50 yards from said buck bed. I am really tempted to drive up this summer(it’s about 2 hours from my house) and sneak a camera in there and then pull it in late Aug or early Sept in full scentlok. Thoughts?
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If you have a cell can I wouldn’t think twice about making that trip in August to do that


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I am with Red in that trail cams have become about as much fun as actual hunting. I still feel like I am hunting deer, just armed with cameras rather than a bow or gun. When I scout I sneak around the woods just like I am hunting. My goal every time I am out is to bump some deer. Once I either bump some deer or find some really good sign or heavy trail crossing, I set up a camera. The camera is really there to confirm what I've already witnessed and to make sure deer are using the area like I am hoping and as frequently as I am hoping. I used to save my money for guns or bows, now I just get excited about the latest trail cams. Cell cams are awesome.
 
tmturnbull89 said:
If you have a cell can I wouldn’t think twice about making that trip in August to do that


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I just have a cheapy camera from a few years ago. It’s nothing special but it does the job. I’m 50/50 on doing it. If I leave the deer alone then I won’t spook him but if I take a chance and put a camera up, maybe I can pattern him a little easier.
 
I do most my scouting right after season closes. I try to get into areas that I was unable to or afraid to disturb during season. Leaves are down and cover is low so it's easy to get around and if I blow a spot out there is plenty of time for it to recover before season.

I have pretty much given up on cams as a scouting tool. I run a mineral site or two during the summer and I'll put a cam over them. But, that's it. My views on cams have evolved from 'you gotta have them' to something more like @redsquirrel says above. I actually feel like overall they were a net negative to my success rate (at least the way I used them). I'm not a "target buck" kind of hunter so I'm just looking for sign and then will shoot whatever gets my heart going during season.

If I get access to a new spot over the summer, I'll scout both to find sign and to check out how I'll access the property.
 
I do a mix of @redsquirrel and @dlist777 methods. The properties I hunt serve more as transition zones or feeding areas for deer so I hardly see the same ones twice or if I do they're in transit. I mostly scout to see if deer are using/in a given area then might hang a cam to see how often and activity levels. The only property I constantly run cams on is a ranch and that's to monitor for yote activity. My kids love looking at trail cam pics, it's kinda like treasure hunting or yard saling at this point. Never know what we're gonna see. Pulled a card from a cam off a property I hunted regularly this past season and got a pic of a pretty good sized black bear.
 
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