Hunting spots blind (cyber scouting only)

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dan
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Hunting spots blind (cyber scouting only)

Unread postby dan » Wed Aug 13, 2014 4:41 am

This year the number of people picking me to scout there properties really increased, and I traveled a lot more distance to scout for people. Whenever I scout a property I 1st map it. And one thing is clear, predicting bedding can be hit or miss... Cyber rut hunting is more effective "for the beginner" than scyber bed hunting. When I cyber scout I do a much better job than most because I can walk near a potential bedding area and tell if it really hold bucks based not only on sign, but by eye based on what I have seen over the years.
Sometimes its hard to tell how thick, or how open an area, or if your looking at grass or cattails, etc... Sunday I scouted an out of state public property and found heavy pressure and hunter access trails cut thru the forest you can't see on a topo, and, by far, it was the worst topo of an area I ever saw. It did not show secondary points at all and kept getting me off track... Guess the point of this post is to say that just cause I put a dot on a map does not mean that its a guarantee. There is still some work that falls on you to scout, and to learn how to see bedding...
On the property I scouted Sunday, due to pressure and open woods only about 10% of my picked spots had solid big buck bedding.


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Re: Hunting spots blind (cyber scouting only)

Unread postby Edcyclopedia » Wed Aug 13, 2014 5:00 am

I'll take a 1 in 10 chance in NH ;)

You are correct because people see your dot (or read your dot) doesn't mean it's a given...
Quantifying the variables w/ the bedding will give you "time on the property"; a much needed ingredient for success.

I find that 2-3 seasons ups my odds tremendously with variables like hunter pressure, entrance routes, changing food sources, escape routes and deer bedding, etc...
BOTH Buck and Doe bedding!!!

Great reminder Dan, I think the less experienced hunter can gravitate towards an authority very easily w/o putting the "experience" into the suggestion(s)...
Last edited by Edcyclopedia on Wed Aug 13, 2014 5:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Hunting spots blind (cyber scouting only)

Unread postby cbay » Wed Aug 13, 2014 5:04 am

Some of the areas around here are very hard to visualize by looking at google earth; especially different points in time on the maps. Some of the regrowth / thickets are incredible cover for deer but would have a hard time seeing that from the most recent "space maps".
Dan i get a great deal of insight from your "red dots" in seeing the tendencies of how bucks bed. Not that they all have to pan out.
There's no time limit on the learning experiences either. Eventually some of the locations may get used and have the pleasure of figuring out why.
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Re: Hunting spots blind (cyber scouting only)

Unread postby HoosierG5 » Wed Aug 13, 2014 5:05 am

10% is better than my rate:)

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Re: Hunting spots blind (cyber scouting only)

Unread postby johndeere506 » Wed Aug 13, 2014 5:15 am

[quote="cbay"]Dan i get a great deal of insight from your "red dots" in seeing the tendencies of how bucks bed. Not that they all have to pan out.
quote]

I agree with this. When Dan and others do us favors by marking up bedding and other info, its just a starting point. I would hope that anyone getting to the land and seeing those marked spots didnt hold bucks, would have a better idea of where ELSE to look. A marked map should be a tool to get started, and not be thought of as the "key" to the land. This is just my opinion.
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Re: Hunting spots blind (cyber scouting only)

Unread postby dan » Fri Aug 15, 2014 4:31 am

When I cyber scout bedding in hill country my percentage of dots matching big buck beds goes way up on properties with high big buck populations, and goes down on areas with low deer numbers. I do think most of the dots do get bedded at, but maybe not to the frequency that I would want to hang a stand at...
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Re: Hunting spots blind (cyber scouting only)

Unread postby Thermals » Fri Aug 15, 2014 4:49 am

I will stand behind you Dan on the maps you have marked for me not all of the dots have beds or at that exact spot but it's a good start. Just because a topo map shows the right point were he would be dosent mean he will bed there, which I have found there could be something there now that keeps them from bedding or just not having the right cover or such. But I don't get mad if you mark a spot and there is nothing there and I hope everyone else would do the same.

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Re: Hunting spots blind (cyber scouting only)

Unread postby backstraps » Fri Aug 15, 2014 7:19 am

I think its very understandable that not all your dots are buck beds. Like you mentioned the area may hold or not hold elements needed for bedding that isn't visible on topo and aerials.....

However, speaking from my own experience with your dots on my maps its became easier for me to identify what an area "should" look like to hold a buck bedding site v/s an area that I can bet will not have a buck bed on it.

I can also say the maps you have marked for me, well you are batting far better than 10% Then last map you marked was so accurate a person would've thought you had scouted it prior :)

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Re: Hunting spots blind (cyber scouting only)

Unread postby dan » Fri Aug 15, 2014 7:25 am

I can also say the maps you have marked for me, well you are batting far better than 10% Then last map you marked was so accurate a person would've thought you had scouted it prior :)

The out of state property I did Sunday was pretty rough... It was mature forest that looked like it had not been logged in 100 years, and there were trails cut across or near some of the bedding areas... Some areas are certainly better than others for cyber scouting.
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Re: Hunting spots blind (cyber scouting only)

Unread postby headgear » Fri Aug 15, 2014 7:39 am

I'm pretty good at picking bedding areas, pretty much anyone can do it, there are often beds all over the place once you know what to look for. The biggy is mature buck bedding, there just needs to be the right blend of everything for them to love that spot and you can't see everything from the air. Cyber scouting is an amazing tool but if you don't walk the ground you are going to burn up a lot of hunting time in average spots. Every now and then I stumble upon a primary bedding area, one of those spots you just know you will eventually score a nice buck out of. It might not happen this season but if I keep it up I know I will get one at that location. Find a pile of those areas and you are set for a long long time.
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Re: Hunting spots blind (cyber scouting only)

Unread postby Justin85 » Fri Aug 15, 2014 8:15 am

dan wrote:
I can also say the maps you have marked for me, well you are batting far better than 10% Then last map you marked was so accurate a person would've thought you had scouted it prior :)

The out of state property I did Sunday was pretty rough... It was mature forest that looked like it had not been logged in 100 years, and there were trails cut across or near some of the bedding areas... Some areas are certainly better than others for cyber scouting.


Sounds like you scouted a spot I scouted the day before :D.


I found "A" lone bed in a spot where it SHOULD have been...also leads me to believe it was a mature deer...it was right by a trail, where he could see the obvious people coming and going, but maintain multiple back doors out. Topo was misleading too haha.


For having never hunted this flat of terrain or this marshy of terrain, your dots on examples on here certainly have put me on places ibdoubt I'd have checked. Thanks for all that you do and share. Now if my DVD will ever get here lol

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Re: Hunting spots blind (cyber scouting only)

Unread postby ozzz » Fri Aug 15, 2014 8:27 am

Hills are definitely easier than most other terrain in experience.
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Re: Hunting spots blind (cyber scouting only)

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Fri Aug 15, 2014 9:33 am

One other thing about Dan and the spots he is picking... He is searching for bedding of MATURE BUCKS. I know a number of guys that can find buck beds of young bucks all day long- there's a vast difference and a completely different animal he is looking for when searching for bucks that have made it past their fourth birthday.

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Re: Hunting spots blind (cyber scouting only)

Unread postby Justin85 » Fri Aug 15, 2014 2:02 pm

Got my DVD today and just watched it. Definitely makes me rethink that I've looked at and what I will look at.

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Re: Hunting spots blind (cyber scouting only)

Unread postby dan » Fri Aug 15, 2014 9:48 pm

Singing Bridge wrote:One other thing about Dan and the spots he is picking... He is searching for bedding of MATURE BUCKS. I know a number of guys that can find buck beds of young bucks all day long- there's a vast difference and a completely different animal he is looking for when searching for bucks that have made it past their fourth birthday.

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Exactly... Sometimes I fail to get that point across. Most of the areas I pick do have buck bedding at some point or another during the season if the pressure at that spot is not to intense, but whether or not it has worn visible beds, and big buck sign is going to dictate whether or not I think the spot is worthy.


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