Went on my first scouting mission today picking up where I left off during flintlock. Covered new area across the road from where I normally go. Cut several tracks down low by the roads but nothing up top. No beds and no tracks. It was like having the run of someone’s house while they were away on vacation. Anyhow did find a few real big rubs but nothing to get overly excited about as far as hunting the area. The terrain and cover just wasn’t impressing me. I will give it another look come fall though just because of the big rubs I found and usually things look a little different that time of year. In season scouting is my most productive scouting anyhow. Regardless it’s never a bad thing learning new terrain and having options. Also helps eliminate areas as well. I will wait about another month to hit some of the better spots I discovered this season. Want to give the bucks more time for their antlers to drop. Walked 5.4 miles today . Also didn’t cut any coyote tracks which surprised me.
I am going to be using this thread all the way up until archery season to keep track of things. There are times I just simply forget where I have been or something I may want to revisit later on.
Anyone that wishes to add their own personal experience feel free to do so. I would really like to hear what you got going on in regards to scouting.
The fresh mountain air also helped cure most of my hangover that I had when I got up this morning.
Nice. I am itching to get back down to camp to do some scouting. Got some stuff down around the house this weekend instead. Maybe next weekend as long as the polar vortex has moved out. I did some scouting in the late gun and muzzleloader seasons, but I still got some places to check out. Have a few places that I want to go back and look at again too. I am already excited for the next season to get here.
I was thinking today that one of these excursions may very well lead me to a spot I might be successful in come October/November. You just never know for sure where you will end up hunting come fall.
steelhead125 you have to Edit - resize your photos for them to be right side up !
I wanted to get out on the mountain this weekend to switch out my trail cam cards but the snow and ice on the mountain won't let me get back in there ! I want to check and see if the bucks in the area have dropped there antlers before I go scouting and push them out of the area and maybe drop them somewhere else ! I also want to use this snow to mark some trails and find some bedding areas and the main used trails !!
Every year we adventure on the other side of the road from the farm to squirrel hunt after Christmas till end of season in an 10 acre woodlot. This year was no different from years past, very few deer tracks in the snow. We weren't scouting, but we do take notice theres only a few deer tracks. After winter season? The place is loaded with deer on trail camera's & coming deer season, archery & rifle, thats the place to be to see deer & have a greater chance harvesting a deer vs across the road behind the farm in the woods.
Theres alfalfa, soybean,corn field's all around this patch of woods, but we never see more than a few deer tracks in the wood lot and in the fields in the winter months, plus cameras do alot of sleeping, nothing triggering to wake them up. My point is. Snow on the ground with very little tracks, deer sign, no trail camera photo's etc. some would think the area bite's. Coming fall that area could be the best spot than anywhere else.
That probably has to do a lot with the thermal cover available there in addition to easy access browse for the deer. If you don't have these things they will winter elsewhere. My property has both. However, in the summer months there are hardly any deer on our property. The colder it gets the more deer move in.
I'm fortunate to have family in Virginia and North Carolina. Hunting NC for the first time this year and will be trying new areas in Virginia.
I started my scouting in earnest by looking over topo and aerial photo's on my computer. I've also talked to Biologist and/or Land Managers for the areas I'll be hunting. The information I've gathered is priceless and has allowed me to eliminate certain areas ahead of time. One huge piece of information I gathered about two of the areas I had selected is they run dogs for deer. I haven't decided yet how to play my strategy. One area also has a bow only zone that can be hunted during rifle season. Debating to find thick cover in the rifle zone with dogs pushing or take a shot at arrowing one in the bow zone. Not an easy decision especially since them dogs tend to push hogs too and I've never killed one of them.
Each area has been marked up with access roads, trails, likely funnels, pinch points, habitat edges, obvious terrain features and the areas of highest interest. I probably won't have time to scout on foot so I will depend on prior knowledge of reading maps for starting points. I will also scout while on the hunt especially while driving access roads or walking to and from stands.
I haven't started my scouting around home. I usually hit the woods in February and March.
I got out yesterday to scout a couple hundred acres by my house. I hunted it last fall because I got a DMAP for it but had never set foot on it before last season. I shot a doe in archery and even though the evening I shot that doe I saw 11 others, I never saw a buck in there. I didn't find much of any buck sign yesterday and have been thinking because of topo maps that the best bedding for buck is on private posted land nearby.
That piece of land is cut in half by a highway and I need to check the other side for sign. Maybe that area will have better buck habitat.
I'm still hunting geese and small game but I'm always scouting for deer sign while hunting other stuff. Last week while squirrel hunting, I saw 3 nice racked bucks that all still had both sides of their head gear. They were following what looked like a very small doe. I've seen more nice racked bucks after deer season then I can remember. It should be a great year for nice buck next year.
Finally had a chance to get back out today. Scouted for a solid six hours in a area that I hunted during flintlock. Phone said I walked 8 miles. No new groundbreaking intel but a reaffirmation that I will definitely be hunting this area come fall. Have a pretty good idea of my entry points and even the trees I will want to hunt out of. Also found a my first winter shed ever . I was surprised how excited I got when I found it. Practically stepped on it before I noticed it. Looked to be a 1.5 or maybe a 2.5 year old but had some nice mass. May be a shooter according to my standerds come next archery season.
It blows my mind that guys go out and find sheds ever year. I really think to be a skilled shed hunter, especially in the mountains you have to be meticulous with your search and move slow. I can’t seem to turn the scouting side of me off and just want to cover as much ground as possible. Find myself always looking at rubs, terrain features and trees to climb instead of scanning the ground. I am sure I have walked right by dozens of sheds over the years.
Also went by an area where someone shot a coyote during rifle season and left it lay. I was expecting to find fur and scattered bones but the thing looked the exact same as the day it was shot. This really shocked me because I would of thought for sure something would of eaten it or been picking at it. There wasn’t any signs of decay either.
Found a few more ladder stands and reflector tape that were put out during rifle season. Really ticked me off and was half tempted to rip them down but in the end decided I would be the better person and left them alone . They were in stupid spots anyhow.
So that’s scouting mission number two. Hope you guys are getting out there gathering intel as well and maybe finding a few sheds. I will be posting again in a few more weeks.
Walked about 3 miles today, picked up 3 cams that have been out since New Year’s Eve. One spike and a young shed buck. Found some big rubs on a buck Ive been hunting..haven’t been able to verify if he survived. My last time there for the season but he’s very visible in the summer so he’ll show in July if he made it. Been a poor post season for cams. Doesn’t mean they aren’t there but I certainly missed them if they are. Did find a deer leg.
One thing I was thinking a lot about yesterday is my conditioning. I have no problem walking to all these spots but the grind of the season will start to wear me down if I am not in shape. My way out will be a 3O to 40 minute walk mostly uphill in the dark . The thought of dragging a deer is weighing heavily on my mind as well. I hunt too far away from home to expect many guys to come help Basically have my dad who is 66 and my brother. Even though my dad will argue with me I won’t let him drag much for fear of a heart attack. Heck I am at the age now where I could have one. Guess I could quarter it right there but that would take away part of the enjoyment taking it home and showing the kids. Going to really concentrate on cardio and strength training so I can handle the physical challenges.
SH a deer cart will help. My brother and i bought one many years ago. We had a mile and a half walk. We are now 49 and 55 in decent shape yet BUT are in the range that we need to be more careful.
Been out scouting twice covered a couple miles each time. Always loved winter scouting. Thats the time to figure things out for sure.
An old timer once told me, where the Deer are in Feb. & March is where you'll
find them come Oct.
Found 2 sheds recently when I was pulling my cams for maintenance but weren't this years drops.
Not sure about the February-October thing but the deer usually use the area the same, if, can be a big if, if they are there. But Feb usually has the evidence to paint a better picture.. snow.
Scouted/walked for 4 hours yesterday. Was able to walk 'cattle paths' through a clear cut. Man these deer have it worn down. Walked these tails and found zero sheds. Walked a field as well with no luck. Looked in all the beds and feeding ares with no luck. The snow makes it really nice to find all the activity going on right now. Felt good to get out and start breaking in the new boots.
Was out yesterday checking out my tree stands and looking for tracks and deer signs. While sitting in one of the stands a nice wide 6pt came waking in with both antlers still in tacked. He will be a nice one if he sticks around until next season. After about an hr. I moved down the hollow a ways and sat next to a tree overlooking a bench about 60 yards below, after about a 45 minute sit and getting dusk a big 8 and another big buck came in I couldn`t make out how many he had , but it was a nice big rack for sure. They both had their racks as well....Needless to say I can`t wait until next archery season rolls around.....
I've scouted two pieces of public ground thus far. One area I've never hunted and the other was an "inadvertent" scouting adventure while pulling a stand.
The first piece of public ground is a river bottom area with an adjacent high ridge. Focusing on one area that's about 10 acres in size. Found large buck sign and picked (4) stand locations based wind and trails he used the most. I also speed scouted another 100 acres and found some promising sign to include a heavily used trail that parallels the river. Could be good for pre-rut activity. Will scout the high ridge next for bedding locations.
The other public ground is going through a Gypsy moth issue and I believe "dead oak" disease. At least that's what I've been told. Either way, the oaks are dropping like fly's. This was my go to rifle spot. Been hunting there since 1987. I was in there to simply pull a stand out when I cut a set of impressive tracks in the fields below. During the walk up the mountain I continued to cut these tracks and started running in to rubbing activity. The last time I found this much sign below the stand, my son had an opportunity at the largest buck I have ever seen on this piece of ground and that was in 2010. Knowing a big buck is alive, this area just ramped up to my #2 area.
I haven't scouted the private ground I just started hunting last year. We will probably hit this area in March. Giving the bucks a reasonably good chance to shed before scouting. I'll be looking for additional bedding areas to hunt and trying to find one particular bucks favorite spots to lay. Will also be throwing out some trophy rock. Cameras go out on this property in July.
Two layers of snow and ice now. Might be a while. Not good for the deer either especially if they get bumped by a yote. Have 7 cams to pick up yet, 4 been there since the last Friday of rifle. Nobody hunting there this year so I’m wired up. Looking for a double droptine 10 pt. Got a glimpse of him on November 7, but he couldn’t hear me calling.
I got out for 4 hours this afternoon and dropped a pin on my map for a possible place to sit, found a great trail deer are using higher than where I was previously sitting on a ridge, and did a walk through a blueberry patch and found a buck bed. I've never hunted from a ground blind but the blueberry bed is in an area that no trees grow so I am going to throw a camera in there and see if it's worth putting up a cheap blind.
Spent about three hours scouring a farm where I connected on a nice doe last fall. Found one bed in a hedgerow on the top of a hill with cut fields on both sides. That deer can see a mile in both directions. He will be tough to say the least. I think I will wait to see what the farmers plant this year before deciding on how to approach him.
Also, found a couple of American Chestnuts that I'm sure every deer on the farm will probably visit next fall. Plenty of options for a treestand there without having to climb into a chestnut tree, too!
I will explore the rest of the farm after things dry out a bit...also, found a deer that didn't make it through the winter. She was quite a ways from the nearest road along side a creek. A lot of corn spilled in the field, might have been what did her in.
Was out on this farm for the 3rd time this winter on the 22nd. Only 2 hrs thats a total of 8 hrs scouting this farm this winter. Had 5 cams out in the same spots since before bow season.
Haven't checked the cams in about 3 weeks. Had a few thousand pics to go thru. Still have bucks carrying about half of them lost at least one or both a few still carrying both.
Was able to clean some limbs off some trees i want to climb. It will make a couple spots better for wind options. Should have a good crop of buck this fall. Saw lots of turkey tracks. Time to start gearing up for the spring.
Sharpen the end and you got a nice toothpick right there or perhaps turn it into keychain.
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