Anyone seeing a return on their winter / spring scouting?

[whitetailassasin]

If you see me in the kill threads this year, you'll know! I don't put a of stock into my findings this early, we have a early doe and youth season before opener that puts deer on high alert, pressure beds, and they vacate most early season feeding patterns unless secluded or safe.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

We have none of that here. Low deer numbers but no pressure. And its also why I am running cams on terrain features that have nothing to do with food. Its all back in the timber on trails with old rubs. Buck bedding area that is used regardless of what food is producing. I expect when the apples start dropping, it should only get better. Since the season opens in September, its possible to catch a buck on an early pattern.

My only real goal now is to figure out if there are any mature bucks using the area. So now, I just put bucks in those beds. (or in proximity to them)

Think that would change for you if you did not have the pressure?

I do believe it would change. It's changed the other way already. It's why I've had to adapt tactics, I hunt public so it gets pounded. Mature bucks, even younger bucks are back to bed super early and don't rise until late even on the opener in areas I hunt. Before youth and early doe, it wasn't uncommon to see 20 deer in the morning and same for evening for first 3-4 days of season, then taper of with pressure as season progresses.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Hawthorne]

If you see me in the kill threads this year, you'll know! I don't put a of stock into my findings this early, we have a early doe and youth season before opener that puts deer on high alert, pressure beds, and they vacate most early season feeding patterns unless secluded or safe.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

We have none of that here. Low deer numbers but no pressure. And its also why I am running cams on terrain features that have nothing to do with food. Its all back in the timber on trails with old rubs. Buck bedding area that is used regardless of what food is producing. I expect when the apples start dropping, it should only get better. Since the season opens in September, its possible to catch a buck on an early pattern.

My only real goal now is to figure out if there are any mature bucks using the area. So now, I just put bucks in those beds. (or in proximity to them)

Think that would change for you if you did not have the pressure?

I do believe it would change. It's changed the other way already. It's why I've had to adapt tactics, I hunt public so it gets pounded. Mature bucks, even younger bucks are back to bed super early and don't rise until late even on the opener in areas I hunt. Before youth and early doe, it wasn't uncommon to see 20 deer in the morning and same for evening for first 3-4 days of season, then taper of with pressure as season progresses.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Very true. I also remember when late December was a great time to bow hunt in Michigan. Then they extended the muzzleloader season a week and started a late firearm doe season.

[ Post made via Android ]

[whitetailassasin]

If you see me in the kill threads this year, you'll know! I don't put a of stock into my findings this early, we have a early doe and youth season before opener that puts deer on high alert, pressure beds, and they vacate most early season feeding patterns unless secluded or safe.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

We have none of that here. Low deer numbers but no pressure. And its also why I am running cams on terrain features that have nothing to do with food. Its all back in the timber on trails with old rubs. Buck bedding area that is used regardless of what food is producing. I expect when the apples start dropping, it should only get better. Since the season opens in September, its possible to catch a buck on an early pattern.

My only real goal now is to figure out if there are any mature bucks using the area. So now, I just put bucks in those beds. (or in proximity to them)

Think that would change for you if you did not have the pressure?

I do believe it would change. It's changed the other way already. It's why I've had to adapt tactics, I hunt public so it gets pounded. Mature bucks, even younger bucks are back to bed super early and don't rise until late even on the opener in areas I hunt. Before youth and early doe, it wasn't uncommon to see 20 deer in the morning and same for evening for first 3-4 days of season, then taper of with pressure as season progresses.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

Very true. I also remember when late December was a great time to bow hunt in Michigan. Then they extended the muzzleloader season a week and started a late firearm doe season.

[ Post made via Android ]

I used to always see deer December bowhunting and usually fill a doe tag late season. It's almost a ghost town on public. And most of the food is private and even those guys (friends that hunt private) aren't seeing movement until last light or after.

It's just one of the many ways things can be affected that matter for success. Because of the shift in pressure from one area one year to the next, the beds I find in winter/spring scouting, can be hard to interpret into success the following year(s). I try to also put together what crops, how other food sources where, pressure, etc into the equation and when those are duplicated hunt these areas. It's goes back to a thread discussion we had on how long it takes to learn an area. I try to take my scouting and apply what I can, but see it as a 2-3 year investment of gaining Intel for future kills.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[JoeRE]

WA that is a good point. Spring scouting should be done in context with what might change next year. In farm country there are crop rotations. Mast crop changes year to year as well and let me tell you that has a HUGE effect on what sign you find the next spring. That was glaringly obvious to me this spring, we had almost no acorns last year and the oak flats (and surrounding bedding) that are often torn up were nearly devoid of sign some places, other areas had more sign than I expected. It takes several years to see those patterns, one of the reasons keeping notes can be so helpful.

In my situation last year's lack of acorns is going to help me quite a bit this coming fall, looks like a bumper crop of acorns and many other hunters will be busy hunting last year's sign which will be pretty inaccurate in some areas.

So yea, I always see a return on my scouting...last year's, the year before, and the year before that. If a person is taking a bunch of vacation to hunt deer, I have always suggested splitting it in two and spending spring scouting, or spending it scouting as soon as you tag out last fall.

[mainebowhunter]

WA that is a good point. Spring scouting should be done in context with what might change next year. In farm country there are crop rotations. Mast crop changes year to year as well and let me tell you that has a HUGE effect on what sign you find the next spring. That was glaringly obvious to me this spring, we had almost no acorns last year and the oak flats (and surrounding bedding) that are often torn up were nearly devoid of sign some places, other areas had more sign than I expected. It takes several years to see those patterns, one of the reasons keeping notes can be so helpful.

In my situation last year's lack of acorns is going to help me quite a bit this coming fall, looks like a bumper crop of acorns and many other hunters will be busy hunting last year's sign which will be pretty inaccurate in some areas.

So yea, I always see a return on my scouting...last year's, the year before, and the year before that. If a person is taking a bunch of vacation to hunt deer, I have always suggested splitting it in two and spending spring scouting, or spending it scouting as soon as you tag out last fall.

Thats why most of my spring scouting is really dependent on what I find when it greens up and when I find what produces for food. Its also part of my reasoning for scouting a lot more area than I can hunt in one season. I don't really depend on any one area for success the next season. In the piece I am talking about, I have 5 different sections / spots that all have bedding in them. All of them are .5 mile apart all around a central hub. I am hunting different beds I found this spring in each one of the spots. My thought is...these bucks may use any one of these beds as the season progresses. My goal is to never be stuck to one spot becoming a "one area wonder"

I also have spent a lot of time this spring trying to find primary bedding areas...areas the bucks use no matter the food. Tough to find I know that. And, I am also thinking about one of my best spots...mature use it every year. No matter the food. BUT only have success when 2 trees produce. So really been thinking / scouting a lot to try and understand if there is something I can do to put the odds better in my favor.

WA your right about the time it takes. And no matter how much I know about an area, the next year, still learn something more.