Spring Scouting

[Cedarsavage]

Anybody else spring scouting? I did my first bare ground scouting trip yesterday. I drove a couple hundred miles and put 5 on my boots in some new country. I had heard there were some oaks in that area, which are a hot commodity here, so I went on a wild goose chase. Found a bunch of scrapes, and some respectable rubs, picked out a couple camp sites. Think I'll target that area hard the last 2 weeks of October. Even found some beds on terrain features where I expected to see them. I wanted to spend today in the woods with my dog but we got 2" over night with more snow coming. Hoping it'll be gone next weekend. Tell me what you're finding. I enjoy scouting as much or more than actually hunting.

 

[PAhntr91]

Been out twice. Just learning the terrain and habitat a little more. Only hunter this property one season. Found more rubs, hopefully some food rut funnels, and beds that bucks can see hunters walking down the two track.

 

[Lowg08]

I’ve been going every chance I’ve gotten since season closed. I think I’ve been every Friday but 2 and a couple Saturday expeditions. I have found more sign and possibly closed in on a couple bucks bedding/ home range.

 

[wileskelby]

Did some out of state scouting a few weekends back. Found some good looking ground.

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[Cedarsavage]

Been out twice. Just learning the terrain and habitat a little more. Only hunter this property one season. Found more rubs, hopefully some food rut funnels, and beds that bucks can see hunters walking down the two track.

Nice, I kinda bide my time scouting terrain when there's snow cover. I'm always chomping at the bit once it leaves.

 

[Cedarsavage]

Did some out of state scouting a few weekends back. Found some good looking ground.

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Nice one. I kept debating on doing some out of state, but I think I won't have quite enough to time to go to another state for whitetails. Just traveling to better areas around home.

 

[Drenalin]

We don't get much snow here, so I've been scouting about a dozen times since December. A lot of it is checking places off, but I've gotten into some pretty good stuff too. I love being in the woods before green up.

 

[Jfitz]

Done a lot of spring scouting this year and feel much more prepared for the upcoming season. Work and time in the woods will lead to better results.

 

[Foggy Mountain]

Spring scouting is good, any scouting is but spring tells you where they were not where they’re gonna be this fall. Also not early fall.
Im not saying not to do it, any information gives you spots to check but imagine all those rub concentrations you saw, they do nothing early season most times. That’d be best summer scouting watching food sources develop that have zero actual sign right now but are going to be hot. Scout ahead. Spring scouting is scouting ahead but just keep in perspective it’s later fall info you most often gain if conditions remain similar.

 

[Brian Fahs]

I have been playing this game for 45 years and every year the fire burns hotter.
Spring scouting is a great time to learn the ground. Really anytime you step foot in the whitetail woods there is something to learn.
I don't get too caught up in thinking specific sign will lead to a specific buck I might kill in the fall.
There are too many variables in reading old sign. Is the buck still alive? Will the mast crop vary this year from last? In farm country will the crop rotation change deer habits?
What I do pay most attention to are buck travel corridors and bedding areas. The places mature bucks bed and travel will be repeated pretty much from place to place. When you learn to identify these areas and why they use them you will see and kill more bucks quickly.
More so that finding good buck sign I enjoy pondering WHY the sign is there and specifically why the buck was there to make the sign.
The best deer hunters I know always understand wind and thermals and how bucks use them to their advantage. Sometimes even the hottest sign is in a place that can not be hunted effectively due to fickle winds. Knowing when and where not to hunt can be more important than when and where to hunt at times.
In the end the best hunters are the best students of the woods.

 

[Foggy Mountain]

I have been playing this game for 45 years and every year the fire burns hotter.
Spring scouting is a great time to learn the ground. Really anytime you step foot in the whitetail woods there is something to learn.
I don't get too caught up in thinking specific sign will lead to a specific buck I might kill in the fall.
There are too many variables in reading old sign. Is the buck still alive? Will the mast crop vary this year from last? In farm country will the crop rotation change deer habits?
What I do pay most attention to are buck travel corridors and bedding areas. The places mature bucks bed and travel will be repeated pretty much from place to place. When you learn to identify these areas and why they use them you will see and kill more bucks quickly.
More so that finding good buck sign I enjoy pondering WHY the sign is there and specifically why the buck was there to make the sign.
The best deer hunters I know always understand wind and thermals and how bucks use them to their advantage. Sometimes even the hottest sign is in a place that can not be hunted effectively due to fickle winds. Knowing when and where not to hunt can be more important than when and where to hunt at times.
In the end the best hunters are the best students of the woods.

That’s a great post. I’m also another one at it over 40 years and it’s still about all I do.
Great insight about the why, that’s a point many overlook and it’s key even more so than the actual sign.

 

[Brian Fahs]

That’s a great post. I’m also another one at it over 40 years and it’s still about all I do.
Great insight about the why, that’s a point many overlook and it’s key even more so than the actual sign.

Thanks for the kind words.
I have mentored some really good bowhunters who truthfully are better at it than I.
My number one thing I taught them was to pay attention to what you see and what is happening in the woods. Your brain is your most effective weapon and only gets more deadly with experience.
How you react tomorrow from what you observed today defines you as a woodsman and hunter.

 

[Foggy Mountain]

Sounds like me again, I mentor all sorts of folks and try to always explain why we set up in this spot, what’s going on now or about to go on and what the signs may be, etc etc in order to teach the new hunter how to actually hunt for themselves.. Best thing in the world mentoring. Thanks for passing it on brother

 

[Brian Fahs]

Sounds like me again, I mentor all sorts of folks and try to always explain why we set up in this spot, what’s going on now or about to go on and what the signs may be, etc etc in order to teach the new hunter how to actually hunt for themselves.. Best thing in the world mentoring. Thanks for passing it on brother

When we are gone from this earth and our antlers and mounts have been donated or discarded, the shared wisdom will live on and on and be cherished by many.

 

[Foggy Mountain]

Amen to that

 

[Glendon Mullins]

While I turkey hunt i am deer scouting, while i look for mushrooms I am deer scouting, diggin ramps, yep deer scouting, hiking with family=deer scouting as well. Gotta stop on the way home and pee on side of road, yep looking for deer sign lol

 

[Tank9]

Was up at camp a few weekends ago scouting an area I had seen a bruiser in during rifle season. I think I found his bedding area near a bunch of oaks that had produced a hellacious amount of acorns. Hung a camera on the outskirts and probably won't be back up there for a few weeks, hoping to see him in velvet and that he made it through winter.

 

[Foggy Mountain]

Tank deer prob aren’t near the oaks now. Unless they’re dropping or another food source is available there.
To me that’s a best thing about scouting, I can check oak ridges until fall, I’ll never spook a deer and I know where they’re going and which trees are gonna have them going to. . I use the preferred food sources in priority than move back. Start with the white oaks, learn which white they prefer near you and use that, than move to the next, when all those are gone you can move to secondary oaks as now they’re a priority if the only types left.
Idk if anyone noticed this or if it happens by others. Around here when a tree gets active, squirrels climb up, chew tree tops off and throw them down. You’ll see fresh green cuttings under that tree. Deer are prob coming there tonight too. Once they’re brown and dead the tree is used up of sorts. Scan for the next fresh cutting area and set up there.
Only saying this so if you don’t see him it might not necessarily mean he’s not there. It’s hot and the heat, bugs, etc etc could change where he rests, beds Least around here. It’s only a consideration for you. Hope you don’t mind

 

[yakattak]

I have been out scouting a couple times in the last month or so. It’s a new piece of public ground for me so I’m still getting my bearings on it. So far I have found a good bit of sign though. A handful of active community scraps and a number of older rub lines.

 

[Tank9]

Tank deer prob aren’t near the oaks now. Unless they’re dropping or another food source is available there.
To me that’s a best thing about scouting, I can check oak ridges until fall, I’ll never spook a deer and I know where they’re going and which trees are gonna have them going to. . I use the preferred food sources in priority than move back. Start with the white oaks, learn which white they prefer near you and use that, than move to the next, when all those are gone you can move to secondary oaks as now they’re a priority if the only types left.
Idk if anyone noticed this or if it happens by others. Around here when a tree gets active, squirrels climb up, chew tree tops off and throw them down. You’ll see fresh green cuttings under that tree. Deer are prob coming there tonight too. Once they’re brown and dead the tree is used up of sorts. Scan for the next fresh cutting area and set up there.
Only saying this so if you don’t see him it might not necessarily mean he’s not there. It’s hot and the heat, bugs, etc etc could change where he rests, beds Least around here. It’s only a consideration for you. Hope you don’t mind

I don't mind at all and that is great advice. The surrounding areas were cut heavy a few years ago so there is some great regrowth and browse for them, keeping them in the area. There is heavy sign in the area so it will be worth checking on several times prior to the season. Gotta love checking cams, I always feel like a kid on Christmas morning scrolling through the pics