Scouting more than you hunt?

[bowhunter15]

I definitely need to do more scouting. The problem for me is, I haven't been in one location long enough to really get to know an area. NE WI, northern MN, Twin Cities, western WI... I'm always finding new land to hunt and never know which places to spring scout because I don't know if I'll be hunting them again the next year. As a result, I've gotten pretty good at internet scouting. But also as a result, I haven't been seeing the biggest bucks of the woods. Lots of does and little bucks. School and extra curricular activities for me, as well as jobs for others, make it pretty easy to want to spend what time you do have with a bow in hand, even though it's often not the best thing you could be doing.

[gjs4]

I like scouting more than hunting. I know i do more, but can suffer from polluting my family farm (as it changes yearly and has varied travel patterns resulting) by scouting too much.

There are no brainer spots that are based on topography and yearly/rut timing.

I havent noted it in this thread but i hang observation stands just to overview areas to break down areas. Obviously cams, looking down and looking up all the time. Mock scrapes for inventory in additon. I glass from roads (faking cell calls) or use creating spotter mounts and talk to folks in an area.

Scouting all the time all day every seasoon......but to end how i started; sometimes it is to a fault. Your better off scouting with quality than scouting with quantity IMO

[dan]

I like scouting more than hunting. I know i do more, but can suffer from polluting my family farm (as it changes yearly and has varied travel patterns resulting) by scouting too much.

There are no brainer spots that are based on topography and yearly/rut timing.

I havent noted it in this thread but i hang observation stands just to overview areas to break down areas. Obviously cams, looking down and looking up all the time. Mock scrapes for inventory in additon. I glass from roads (faking cell calls) or use creating spotter mounts and talk to folks in an area.

Scouting all the time all day every season......but to end how i started; sometimes it is to a fault. Your better off scouting with quality than scouting with quantity IMO

Good point.. There is a difference between checking areas and bedding once a spring and constantly walking bedding areas or known areas occasionally all year... My scouting year round is pretty complex. I like to look at the beds and kill positions in spring and scout from a distance the rest of the year unless its a new spot found at a different time of the year. In season scouting often has me with a stand on my back when I actually put leather on the ground.

[Sweet Shot 7]

Bump....

[BassBoysLLP]

Bump....

Thanks for reminding me of last week's "death march"

[Sweet Shot 7]

Bump....

Thanks for reminding me of last week's "death march"

Right! Dont feel left out I was doing it too!

[Buckfever]

Reading this thread it just occurs to me that the common theme is that it isn't hunting unless you've scouted. Whether it's going in with the stand on your back and finding the hot sign and going in and up on a virgin sit or if it's post season scouting and making the sets well ahead of time and again going in and up on a virgin sit. Or it's your hunting a set and scouting via observed buck movement and making the adjustment on a new virgin sit. We're always looking for that undetected high probability set. And unless it's a proven funnel or bedding that always produces it almost always requires more scouting than hunting to get there. But even there as has been pointed out things need to be confirmed, manicured, refined.

For me to hunt without scouting isn't hunting.

[NCmedic]

From what I've heard and read scouting is what makes or breaks you as a hunter. Sure, some hunters get lucky and shoot nice bucks but the ones who consistently kill mature bucks are the ones who put the work in and scouted. As a new hunter this is inspiring and I almost can't wait till this season is over so I CAN put the work in and scout so I can setup on a mature buck!

[PK_]

I have to admit I do not spend nearly as much time in the off season in the woods as I would like. It just isn't possible or practical in my situation.

However I probably log as many hours looking at aerials as anyone else.

Like dan always says, 'I'm always scouting'. If I am not onto smoking hot sign and very confident that I am in a high percentage spot for a good buck, I place in season scouting as a higher priority than hunting. Why hunt a mediocre spot when you WILL find hot sign if you continue to scout.

One thing I like to do is scout midday in new areas, find hot sign, hunt it that evening and the next morning. I now consider that spot burned for the year, I will dive right in and do intensive scouting for beds, etc right then and there, now you know everything you need to be set up perfect next year. Last couple seasons I have been doing this and now I have many more options than before.

If you cannot make it out much during post or pre season, there are still ways to get it done. It isn't as good as having that scouting done beforehand, but it is much better than just settling and hunting the same spots IMO...

[E72]

Sometimes when I do the In season scouting for a new spot, it turns out just before I get there it feels like I am being watched. Sure enough I may take an extra 3 - 4 steps and boom the deer jumps and runs away just in time for me to get a glimps of them verify where they were which is normally about 30 yds away.

Then I mark that spot for future reference.

Good advice. If you bump a deer and especially if you find good sign , it may be game over for that day but give it time . Figure out the best entry , exit and set for that area. Come back to that spot at the right time , right conditions and it's game ON.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[live2hunt]

I definetly scout more than I hunt. Simply because I can scout year round. Any trip in the woods weather shed hunting, chasing turkeys, tree rats, mushrooms even fishing I am constantly absorbing what is happening around me when I am in or around the deer woods. Then I run trail cams. During the season if I don't have anything figured out I will sit observatory stands and glass then move off of what I see. It never ends.

[Footballer]

I don't hunt unless I have a specific buck patterned or at least have a general idea of where his bed is. Fortunately, I hunt private land and the majority of my scouting is via trail cameras.

[keb]

I wind up scouting twice as much as I hunt, I do post seasn scouting to get a lay of the land and familiar with bedding, food and travel and where others have historialy been hunting with the area so I have a good idea where everything is.

Being a traveling public land hunter, I will arrive at my location a week prior, hunt am look around mid day, then hunt the evening. If feel I am off the mark, I will skip the evening and find another spot.

Last year it took me 7 days to get on the buck I took, hunters and pressure had a severe impact on my plans at year. In 7 days, I spent probbably 6 hours in a tree.

[dkoy85]

I wind up scouting twice as much as I hunt, I do post seasn scouting to get a lay of the land and familiar with bedding, food and travel and where others have historialy been hunting with the area so I have a good idea where everything is.

Being a traveling public land hunter, I will arrive at my location a week prior, hunt am look around mid day, then hunt the evening. If feel I am off the mark, I will skip the evening and find another spot.

Last year it took me 7 days to get on the buck I took, hunters and pressure had a severe impact on my plans at year. In 7 days, I spent probably 6 hours in a tree.

Cool to hear! Can you elaborate on what your in season scouting was like during the 7 days? E.g. fresh sign, hunters, hanging stands-hunting them- then moving with the deer patterns, etc? The reason I'm asking is because I'm hunting public land exclusively for the first time in years and want to get an idea of how to be successful. In years passed during the rut, other than hunt funnels, I would hunt areas I felt were frequented by does, find where theyre coming from, then back track them to the thickest nastiest stuff I could find, move my stand to the prevailing down wind edge of the thicket, set up a camera and wait for the bucks to start showing up- indicating a doe coming into estrous then hunt it hard. It always worked out, but I'm not sure how that tactic will work on public land- plus I'm a little apprehensive to putting my cams out.

[Footballer]

I like scouting more than hunting. I know i do more, but can suffer from polluting my family farm (as it changes yearly and has varied travel patterns resulting) by scouting too much.

There are no brainer spots that are based on topography and yearly/rut timing.

I havent noted it in this thread but i hang observation stands just to overview areas to break down areas. Obviously cams, looking down and looking up all the time. Mock scrapes for inventory in additon. I glass from roads (faking cell calls) or use creating spotter mounts and talk to folks in an area.

Scouting all the time all day every season......but to end how i started; sometimes it is to a fault. Your better off scouting with quality than scouting with quantity IMO

Good point.. There is a difference between checking areas and bedding once a spring and constantly walking bedding areas or known areas occasionally all year... My scouting year round is pretty complex. I like to look at the beds and kill positions in spring and scout from a distance the rest of the year unless its a new spot found at a different time of the year. In season scouting often has me with a stand on my back when I actually put leather on the ground.

My method is very similar (but on private land). I find as many beds as I can between spring green-up as well as the trail leading from these beds to the food sources. I mark all of these beds and trails on a map. In the fall, I place all my trail cameras in food plots until I find a specific buck I want to target. Then, I converge several of my cameras into that food source to try and pattern the buck and, most importantly, figure out with trail/direction he is coming from. Once I figure out which trail he is using, I look at my map and trace that trail back to potential bedding areas.

Once I do this, I start developing a strategy for hunting the buck. I study a topo and aerial of the area trying to find possible stand locations as well as the wind directions I will need. By using this strategy, I dramatically narrow down potential stand sites and avoid wasted hunts. Once all this homework is done, I then go in for the kill.