Lets talk in season scouting....

[GRFox]

So a lot of us talk about scouting with the stand on your back and setting up on "Hot Sign".

My take on this is, in the marsh, you are walking transitions and looking for buck sign, rubs, tracks, scrapes, exit trails ect. ect. In hill country you are walking that top 3rd elevation or just above it looking for the same thing. In farm country, walk transitions (field edges) again the top 3rd, if there is good bedding on it.

What about in a big woods setting? or in my case a suburban setting? I have so many spots that the traditional or common bedding locations wouldn't work because, there is a shopping center, or development on the prevailing wind side of a ridge, the top third of the terrain has a road running through it or is in a back yard, and the variables go on. Also a lot of these spots are 200, 300, 400, acres, sometimes add little as 60 acres though. Is that enough area to walk around with the stand on your back?

I feel like I would just be walking around aimlessly looking for sign, which in turn would burn up that spot in one hunt.

Below I posted a picture of one of my spots, I can hunt almost the whole thing (I didn't draw property lines).





What exactly are your tactics when you are scouting with your stand on your back? Please feel free to get detailed regardless of the terrain you hunt, tell us what you look for and how you find it, and even offer some tips on how you might approach suburban areas.

[NatureBoy]

When I scout with stand on back, I do so with the intention of hunting a specific spot. That spot has proved to be successful in the past, same time of year, or late season activity dictates that the deer should be using it early season any given year. I'm looking for sign that it's active this year. I need some sign to be able to set up and hunt it. If the sign isn't there, I move on to another area looking for the same thing. Thus the "death march" that Dor mentioned. But it's better than sitting on cold sign, IMO. I'm still hunting the whole time, with release on, and one arrow in hand just in case.
Thanks for starting this post. I'm looking forward to learning from what the others have to say...

[Edcyclopedia]

In suburia I usually look for the best "in-between spots"...

Why would the deer want to go from this side of the street to the other?
Take a walk or mtn. bike ride in the neighbor hoods and slow down searching for deer sign in between the house lots
Look for eaten vegetation to 4 or 5 feet high.
Slight trails where a deer will cut through in-between houses.

I find some deer like to have a patterned humans and hang out 50 yards from the house.
Although trying to get to them is another story as they seem to know their buffer zone clearly and either take off like a bat out of or hang back to watch you pass.
If you stop they bolt!

I usually listen to people and their deer encounters and pick a house a few doors down and access inbetween adjacent houses for a sit.
I've had luck but not on anything big, however my buddy is quite successful but relies mostly on rut timing (late Oct on)

[cwoods]

Last year I feel like I improved on in season scouting alot. If I entered the woods and had a bad hunch I just kept walking until I found something that gave me confidence to hunt it.

As far as surburban bedding, this can be tuff. One small parcal I can hunt I found a nice buck bed in a small 20yd bamboo area. I crawled hands and knees thru it till I found his bed. Only 30 to 40 yards away from the bamboo is an old abandon barn thats almost collasped. Right by the door is a single bed. The tree I hunted out of is only 40 yds from the barn but its all in a 5 acre subran wood lot. Those were odd places to me but thats what my scouting found.

[magicman54494]

In a big woods setting I have found it very hard to scout / find sign / setup right away. Topos can show me where to look but keying in takes legwork. This usually burns the spot. My goal (because I live so far away and it's hard to get there to scout) is to find spots for future hunts. I have found that bedding areas usually are good for many years.
During the rut I scout for hot rut sign. Super hot rut sign. If I find rut activity I try to set up right away because the spot will only be good for one day. I'm looking for chase sign (lots of leaves turned up, running, fresh rubs, fresh scrapes. even signs of a fight.

[Schultzy]

In a big woods setting I have found it very hard to scout / find sign / setup right away. Topos can show me where to look but keying in takes legwork. This usually burns the spot. My goal (because I live so far away and it's hard to get there to scout) is to find spots for future hunts. I have found that bedding areas usually are good for many years.
During the rut I scout for hot rut sign. Super hot rut sign. If I find rut activity I try to set up right away because the spot will only be good for one day. I'm looking for chase sign (lots of leaves turned up, running, fresh rubs, fresh scrapes. even signs of a fight.

Totally agree with Todd here.

[Bwhtr125]

GRFox I notice you are from NY. Where abouts? I have lived and hunted Suffolk County on Long Island for alot of years and have had good success hunting a suburban bucks. As you may be aware, huntable properties are very small, and the good beeding areas even smaller. My spots range from just a few acres to generally a max of 30 acres and there is ALOT of pressure. I have also hunt the midwest and Canada, and I have come to find is that most tactics that work throughout these areas just don't work in this highly suburban setting. With respect to in-season scouting, all I do during the season is spotlight food sources (many times residential homes/yards) at night near potential bedding areas, and scout for other hunters. I look for the thickest cover that is almost impossible to hunt, or in other words I take an educated guess where a mature animal will be when the pressure is on. I do not step foot into these areas until the time is right. The only time I will scout these areas is when I am unfamilar with an area that I want to learn for the next season. Once you find a good area, these spots just keep producing from year to year.

[PLB]

If I find a spot good enough to hunt in big woods, I hunt it immediately...The spot is burned regardless so I ain't waiting for it to cool down. I don't wander all over and stink up the area during season. I pick out spots based on my topos and walk them midday. If they warrant a hunt I come back that evening wind permitting....

[ Post made via Android ]

[headgear]

In a big woods setting I have found it very hard to scout / find sign / setup right away. Topos can show me where to look but keying in takes legwork. This usually burns the spot. My goal (because I live so far away and it's hard to get there to scout) is to find spots for future hunts. I have found that bedding areas usually are good for many years.

I have the same problem, you might find hot sign but the place you need to hunt is a half mile away. When I do get time to scout I am checking some food sources and trails for fresh/big tracks. Any other sign is a bonus. Once I find the sign I try to figure out where he is coming from or going to, the key is to know the area well and know where are the buck bedding areas are. I am basically trying to connect the dots and take an educated guess on where that buck might be bedding and hunt it. Obviously sign close to the bedding area is better but sometime the woods are so thick its hard to find the sign close to his bedroom.

[Brandon]

stand on the back scounting means to me to scout when you can hunt.... if you find super sign, most guys would come back... and even more guys would set a stand up, trim and wait.

our, or Dans strategy is to eliminate that "burn" and hunt the 1st time you disturbed the woods.

For example, to key off anothers post if it was the rut... Im scouting with my stand in a new area, a likely area Ive already picked from maps, topos, previous knoweldge or whatever but when I find tore up leaves from chasing and wet deer crap everywhere, I want to hunt NOW!

Thats just 1 example, if Im looking for bedrooms... and I find a buck trail, with large tracks or whatevr... and I think Im close to his bedroom... and feel its possible he's in there, I want to hunt NOW. If I come back, and he WAS in there that evening... he would smell I was there and may not return. Howver If I hunt my 1st time in, he has no clue and is much more vulnerable.

The element of surprise is the goal.

[dan]

Well said Brandon...

GRFox,
In the map you posted I would 1st drive the perimeter and look where people access from. Not just hunters, but everyone who does anything on that land. I would then determine what areas are the least disturbed by people, and what areas are over looked or ignored... I would go into those areas with regard to the wind and scout along interior transitions in the brush.

[Stanley]

Years ago I used to hang a stand and hunt it. Most times I would just leave the stand and hang another for the next hunt. It wasn't long and I had a potpourri of stands set up on different properties. I could hunt the stands again or not, depending on the situation. I don't use this strategy anymore, too stinking old.

[MOBIGBUCKS]

I always like to focus in on areas where my scouting has told me there are bucks frequenting. However, I have learned a few things from Dan on posting about this topic in the past. In season scouting has always been one of my weaker areas and I have tried each season to get better at doing it. I guess In season scouting to me is finding the freshest intel available without doing maximum damage; this might be making a move after seeing a deer in the distance moving from one area to another. I have also tried hunting less and glassing more in areas where I can. Out in KS this is my primary tactic...Instead of waisting stand time in the wrong area, I wait and find the right area first from a distance. My in season scouting takes a more methodical approach than maybe some of you other guys.

[GRFox]

Well said Brandon...

GRFox,
In the map you posted I would 1st drive the perimeter and look where people access from. Not just hunters, but everyone who does anything on that land. I would then determine what areas are the least disturbed by people, and what areas are over looked or ignored... I would go into those areas with regard to the wind and scout along interior transitions in the brush.

Cool thanks Dan, I know exactly where I will be headed, the north east corner is all barberry, and briars. I missed a nice chocolate racked 8 point in there last year, should be a nice P&Y this year.

Years ago I used to hang a stand and hunt it. Most times I would just leave the stand and hang another for the next hunt. It wasn't long and I had a potpourri of stands set up on different properties. I could hunt the stands again or not, depending on the situation. I don't use this strategy anymore, too stinking old.

You must have had A LOT of stands Stan.

[moondoondude]

In season scouting in smaller parcels is still possible, but it can be more destructive than good. I have hunted tons of suburban parcels, most of which are small. 10,20, 30 acre parcels are pretty common here and I have killed some great deer in these types of places. Most of the times I don't rely on in season scouting in these places - I rely on past experiences. In these smaller suburban type settings, just like in bigger parcels, certain areas typically hold mature deer consistently. There are certain characteristics of each parcel that a mature deer desires in every setting, but especially in suburban settings where space can be limited (usually security). By observing patterns and finding sign in the offseason, you can usually set up in smaller parcels and reduce the amount of your in season scouting. I try to be especially low impact in these types of places. People will argue that your suburban deer are accustomed to intrusion and human contact but I find that to definitely be false. A lot of times they find small parcels that are almost never intruded or disturbed and they hold tight to them most of the year. Some of the suburban deer have summer/fall/winter/spring patterns like you hear preached about, but the majority of mature suburban deer do not. They hold tight to a given area consistently throughout the year. They know the area extremely well.

My best tactic for finding these mature suburban deer is shed hunting. I can't tell you how many times I have looked at somewhere on a map and said nope, too small or to urban, not worth shed hunting. Later on I have decided to jump in the woods and I am floored by the size of an antler I find or the location of the antler. That is a dead give-away to the location of a mature deer. For in season scouting on smaller parcels - I think that you should minimize the amount of intrusion. Minmize your time spent walking around and minimize your distance covered on smaller parcels when you have a stand on your back.