I'm moving from Indiana to Minnesota in August. With a wedding in September, there's no way I'll be doing any scouting of new land before hunting season. My plan for this year is to go back to Indiana to hunt for a few weeks but to spend a little bit of time scouting my different MN public land options to see what places receive the smallest amount of pressure. I would then scout the actual land in February-March-April, and choose my best options based on the combination of perceived pressure and actual deer sign.
That being said--I would welcome any thoughts on how to scout the hunters, so to speak. I don't want to interfere with anyone's hunt, but what else can be done other than driving by the perimeters/parking lots to see how many trucks are parked nearby?
Scouting Other Hunters
- nater
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Re: Scouting Other Hunters
nater wrote:I'm moving from Indiana to Minnesota in August. With a wedding in September, there's no way I'll be doing any scouting of new land before hunting season. My plan for this year is to go back to Indiana to hunt for a few weeks but to spend a little bit of time scouting my different MN public land options to see what places receive the smallest amount of pressure. I would then scout the actual land in February-March-April, and choose my best options based on the combination of perceived pressure and actual deer sign.
That being said--I would welcome any thoughts on how to scout the hunters, so to speak. I don't want to interfere with anyone's hunt, but what else can be done other than driving by the perimeters/parking lots to see how many trucks are parked nearby?
Walk the properties you plan to hunt.... human/hunting presence is often easy to spot... trimmed shooting lanes, left up stands, walking trails to and from hunting locals, tacks on trees, ribon markers, built ground blinds, bait piles, trees that have been climbed routinely
"When a hunter is in a tree stand with high moral values, with the proper hunting ethics and richer for the experience, that hunter is 20 feet closer to God." Fred Bear
- Crazinamatese
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Re: Scouting Other Hunters
Does MN have MFL and FCL properties? If so that is another option. Its almost a a guarantee any public
Land is going to see tons of pressure during gun season. During bow season might be different. Some public areas seem to attract legions of hunters while some don't get any attention at all. You just gotta gamble with it and take a drive around during the season.
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Land is going to see tons of pressure during gun season. During bow season might be different. Some public areas seem to attract legions of hunters while some don't get any attention at all. You just gotta gamble with it and take a drive around during the season.
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The cave you fear hides the treasure you seek!!!
- hunter_mike
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Re: Scouting Other Hunters
A lot of the parking areas you can see right where the majority of hunters go because there is a worn path right out of the parking lot where everyone walks. Dan's videos showed that really well too.
The beautiful thing that I'm finding to be true lately is that even though there are a lot of hunters, that doesn't mean a big buck does not exist. Less hunters does not always equal better hunting, some areas just hold piles of deer even though they get hunted hard. The majority of hunters are hunting in the wrong spot to kill a buck
The beautiful thing that I'm finding to be true lately is that even though there are a lot of hunters, that doesn't mean a big buck does not exist. Less hunters does not always equal better hunting, some areas just hold piles of deer even though they get hunted hard. The majority of hunters are hunting in the wrong spot to kill a buck
“The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.”
- Crazinamatese
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Re: Scouting Other Hunters
Or some hunters don't even hunt. They go in, sit and hope the fairy godmother will bring them a deer to kill. That said, get an upper hand by identifying where that big buck is hiding out. Like huntermike said. Dan's swampbucks dvd illustrates a good lesson when he found a big buck hide out close to a parking area. You can get a good start by looking at topo or aerial photos.
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The cave you fear hides the treasure you seek!!!
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Re: Scouting Other Hunters
Look for hard to access marshes and swamps... Most guys won't put in the effort required for these areas, and they generally grow big and old in these areas...
- muskieman
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Re: Scouting Other Hunters
What part of the state are you planning on hunting? I hunt SE public a lot so if that is where I could give you a few pointers...
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Re: Scouting Other Hunters
Your average hunter leaves more sign in the woods than a big buck does
Wear out some boot leather walking the properties and you will realize most guys don't want to walk more than 300-400 yards from their truck or quad or climb more than a 100' hill.
Wear out some boot leather walking the properties and you will realize most guys don't want to walk more than 300-400 yards from their truck or quad or climb more than a 100' hill.
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Re: Scouting Other Hunters
One if the things I learned to do years ago was to use a GPS and go in there well before daylight. I walk the 2 tracks and field edges with a flashlight to locate tacks. This helps speed things up a bit if your looking for hunters who go deeper than field edges. The reasoning for going in early in the AM is that way should something happen, you know daylight is coming rather than facing hours and hours of darkness.
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- uncleron
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Re: Scouting Other Hunters
Hunting "new" areas, late muzzle loader season, with snow on the ground is one of my favorite ways to hunt! Tracking in the snow makes it easier to find where the deer are, and the people aren't, RIGHT NOW! You can scout/hunt at the same time, and cover a lot of land doing it.
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