Your most effective means of scouting - poll

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Your most effective means of scouting - poll

Glassing
3
3%
Cameras
8
9%
Topos & Boots
81
87%
Shining
1
1%
 
Total votes: 93
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seazofcheeze
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Re: Your most effective means of scouting - poll

Unread postby seazofcheeze » Tue Jul 19, 2016 12:23 pm

I use them all, but it all starts with maps and boots.

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Re: Your most effective means of scouting - poll

Unread postby Edcyclopedia » Tue Jul 19, 2016 11:59 pm

Can you hunters put into words how many of the majority of the mature +3.5 deer you think came from the top choice?
For me: My three -8 pointers came from boots on the ground.

Another thought came to mind... How many came from the same honey-hole as well?
My buddy killed two great bucks from the same tree stand (40-acre patch), I on the other hand, have 3-different spots that my deer came from a 2-mile radius.
Sure wish I had a honey-hole ;)
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Re: Your most effective means of scouting - poll

Unread postby Buck snort » Wed Jul 20, 2016 12:38 am

Edcyclopedia wrote:Can you hunters put into words how many of the majority of the mature +3.5 deer you think came from the top choice?
For me: My three -8 pointers came from boots on the ground.

Another thought came to mind... How many came from the same honey-hole as well?
My buddy killed two great bucks from the same tree stand (40-acre patch), I on the other hand, have 3-different spots that my deer came from a 2-mile radius.
Sure wish I had a honey-hole ;)


Honey holes are great, but they also can be way over hunted.

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Re: Your most effective means of scouting - poll

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Wed Jul 20, 2016 12:42 am

I cannot think of any Profession that would rely on one tool to complete all tasks. No one tool will provide all that is needed. I am a military planner and I can tell you each tool set from each service is needed to execute a plan effectively. We can make adjustments and sometimes we can not use all the tools we would like - but when we can use all the tools available the campaign is usually more effective and efficient. Each asset has specific strengths and weaknesses - a good planner understands them and utilized the appropriate tool for the specific task at hand to ensure the overall strategic objective is accomplished. This same analogy/process can be applied towards scouting deer IMHO.

Like stated above all the tools mentioned should be in your tool box when and if applicable. All can be used to increase and enhance your overall success as far as I am concerned. Sure you don't have to have all the tools and you can be successful with one or two - however, [glow=red]the person that uses all available tools, understands their strengths and weaknesses, plans for their use and then deploys them in the right environment[/glow] will have much more information available and IMHO be more successful then the person that only relies on one tool.
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Re: Your most effective means of scouting - poll

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Wed Jul 20, 2016 12:49 am

Edcyclopedia wrote:Can you hunters put into words how many of the majority of the mature +3.5 deer you think came from the top choice?
For me: My three -8 pointers came from boots on the ground.

Another thought came to mind... How many came from the same honey-hole as well?
My buddy killed two great bucks from the same tree stand (40-acre patch), I on the other hand, have 3-different spots that my deer came from a 2-mile radius.
Sure wish I had a honey-hole ;)


Its what / why I spend so much time scouting. Honeyholes change from year to year, always looking for a new one or two or three.

They are great to find but many times a honeyholes can make you a "codependent" deer hunter. Your success is totally dependent on one hot spot. I really push myself to not get stuck hunting areas like that. Not to say I am not going to keep hunting it till it goes stale. I have seen guys lose a "honeyhole" and all of the bucks / deer they were killing stopped.
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Re: Your most effective means of scouting - poll

Unread postby Jackson Marsh » Wed Jul 20, 2016 12:52 am

Buck snort wrote:
Edcyclopedia wrote:Can you hunters put into words how many of the majority of the mature +3.5 deer you think came from the top choice?
For me: My three -8 pointers came from boots on the ground.

Another thought came to mind... How many came from the same honey-hole as well?
My buddy killed two great bucks from the same tree stand (40-acre patch), I on the other hand, have 3-different spots that my deer came from a 2-mile radius.
Sure wish I had a honey-hole ;)


Honey holes are great, but they also can be way over hunted.

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Honey - holes are earned not given...I'm constantly searching for additional great spots. It starts with aerials and topos, progresses to boots, then you have to hunt it or trail cam it to confirm suspicions. Usually my assumptions are wrong, but this past season two of my assumptions proved correct. Theses areas will produce for me in the future. There are very few short cuts, it takes time in the field and a lot of luck.

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Re: Your most effective means of scouting - poll

Unread postby hunter_mike » Wed Jul 20, 2016 1:08 am

I voted maps and boots by far. It takes a lot of walking to gain a big enough mental picture of an area to decide which areas were truly the best. I used to end up spending time hunting areas that i had no good reason to really hunt, i couldnt confidently say that i was hunting in a spot i truly knew a good buck moves during daylight. For me it has taken years of observing and scouting to decide where i am focusing my efforts now.

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Re: Your most effective means of scouting - poll

Unread postby stash59 » Wed Jul 20, 2016 3:16 am

I chose glassing. Only because that's what's easiest for me to do right now. With my chronic Lymes. In the past it's been boots on the ground after I did map work.

I think Dave laid it out best. If we can use ALL the tools. We will increase our success!!

When you really analyze things. Most of the consistently successful guys on here. Use all the tools.
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Re: Your most effective means of scouting - poll

Unread postby csoult » Wed Jul 20, 2016 4:10 am

Boots and topo
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Re: Your most effective means of scouting - poll

Unread postby Edcyclopedia » Wed Jul 20, 2016 4:25 am

DaveT1963 wrote:I cannot think of any Profession that would rely on one tool to complete all tasks. No one tool will provide all that is needed. I am a military planner and I can tell you each tool set from each service is needed to execute a plan effectively. We can make adjustments and sometimes we can not use all the tools we would like - but when we can use all the tools available the campaign is usually more effective and efficient. Each asset has specific strengths and weaknesses - a good planner understands them and utilized the appropriate tool for the specific task at hand to ensure the overall strategic objective is accomplished. This same analogy/process can be applied towards scouting deer IMHO.

Like stated above all the tools mentioned should be in your tool box when and if applicable. All can be used to increase and enhance your overall success as far as I am concerned. Sure you don't have to have all the tools and you can be successful with one or two - however, [glow=red]the person that uses all available tools, understands their strengths and weaknesses, plans for their use and then deploys them in the right environment[/glow] will have much more information available and IMHO be more successful then the person that only relies on one tool.


I understand and now-a-days that can make the most complete hunter.
I'll be 50 soon and the internet was not available until 10-15 years ago, I had to purchase topo maps, I had to purchase aerials and it was cumbersome to add this extra tool to my bag.
Always striving to better my knowledge somehow...

What I'm asking everyone is if you shot 10-worthy bucks over your career and you believe 2-were attributed to cameras, 3-to scouting & 5 to-shinning, I would expect shining to be the top..

Mine has been reading deer sign, look at topo's, understand the property, revisit for a good plan and kill what I hope to be there.
Cameras will likely force me to stay / sift through a property longer, if I think the intel would be good for the current conditions...
Expect the Unexpected when you least Expect it...
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Re: Your most effective means of scouting - poll

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Wed Jul 20, 2016 5:53 am

Edcyclopedia wrote:
DaveT1963 wrote:I cannot think of any Profession that would rely on one tool to complete all tasks. No one tool will provide all that is needed. I am a military planner and I can tell you each tool set from each service is needed to execute a plan effectively. We can make adjustments and sometimes we can not use all the tools we would like - but when we can use all the tools available the campaign is usually more effective and efficient. Each asset has specific strengths and weaknesses - a good planner understands them and utilized the appropriate tool for the specific task at hand to ensure the overall strategic objective is accomplished. This same analogy/process can be applied towards scouting deer IMHO.

Like stated above all the tools mentioned should be in your tool box when and if applicable. All can be used to increase and enhance your overall success as far as I am concerned. Sure you don't have to have all the tools and you can be successful with one or two - however, [glow=red]the person that uses all available tools, understands their strengths and weaknesses, plans for their use and then deploys them in the right environment[/glow] will have much more information available and IMHO be more successful then the person that only relies on one tool.


I understand and now-a-days that can make the most complete hunter.
I'll be 50 soon and the internet was not available until 10-15 years ago, I had to purchase topo maps, I had to purchase aerials and it was cumbersome to add this extra tool to my bag.
Always striving to better my knowledge somehow...

What I'm asking everyone is if you shot 10-worthy bucks over your career and you believe 2-were attributed to cameras, 3-to scouting & 5 to-shinning, I would expect shining to be the top..

Mine has been reading deer sign, look at topo's, understand the property, revisit for a good plan and kill what I hope to be there.
Cameras will likely force me to stay / sift through a property longer, if I think the intel would be good for the current conditions...


If I was forced to use only one tool today without a doubt it would be cameras - but then I would be doing boots on ground as I deploy them so they are both probably legit #1s?

However, this is still a difficult question to answer as my tactics and tools have changed alot over 35 years bowhunting. In my early years the vast majority of mine were a combination of Boots, glassing and good ole fashioned time on stand. Boots let me learn new ground, identify bedding, rutting areas, staging and located feeding areas - but seldom told me what actual deer were present. But I really wasn't hunting a specific mature buck more like just a bigger buck as I worked up from my first forked horn. Topos and aerials also were not always readily available without spending a lot of money and ordering individual 7.5 maps and satellite photos, which got expensive so I did not. It is only within the last decade or so that electronic versions were so readily available. In my early years most of the time I seldom had a topo or aerial photograph of the areas I was hunting for WT Deer. To be honest, the first 10-15 years I started bow hunting most of my better bucks were from passing little bucks until a good buck walked by - I was in a good area due to scouting (boots) and maybe glassing.

During the last 15 years I have targeted specific bucks and that required a totally different approach. Boots on ground get me familiar with the lay of the land and features but really doesn't tell me anything about what the bucks look like or their age. But I started to really rely on observation stands and glassing at that time in Montana. With the discovery of trail cameras, I was then able to identify specific target animals in a way I could only do through glassing before. Since I hunt so many different WMAs this changed the game for me. So in the last 1/2 of my deer hunting exploits, cameras have took over and led to "finding" most of my target animals, with glassing a close second - but I still do boots on the ground every year.

Shining was never legal in most areas I hunted so I never really did it.

So I guess my answer would look like this
first 15 years - boots on ground, glassing and time in stand were all equally used
Last 15 years - Cameras is #1 as it gets me on "a specific animal" and then I use aerials/topos, boots on ground and glassing to complete the puzzle - and it seldom is in the same order - I might find one buck through glassing, another by finding a great bedding and staging area and then setting up a camera, or it could be that I use minerals and a camera and find a buck and then study the surrounding ground with topos and aerials and then do boots on ground - it really is a mixture for me and not sure I could ever go back to what worked before?
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Re: Your most effective means of scouting - poll

Unread postby Dewey » Wed Jul 20, 2016 5:56 am

Jackson Marsh wrote:
Buck snort wrote:
Edcyclopedia wrote:Can you hunters put into words how many of the majority of the mature +3.5 deer you think came from the top choice?
For me: My three -8 pointers came from boots on the ground.

Another thought came to mind... How many came from the same honey-hole as well?
My buddy killed two great bucks from the same tree stand (40-acre patch), I on the other hand, have 3-different spots that my deer came from a 2-mile radius.
Sure wish I had a honey-hole ;)


Honey holes are great, but they also can be way over hunted.

[ Post made via Android ] Image



Honey - holes are earned not given...I'm constantly searching for additional great spots. It starts with aerials and topos, progresses to boots, then you have to hunt it or trail cam it to confirm suspicions. Usually my assumptions are wrong, but this past season two of my assumptions proved correct. Theses areas will produce for me in the future. There are very few short cuts, it takes time in the field and a lot of luck.

[ Post made via Android ] Image

Agree 100%.

My best bucks were all earned by not only scouting but years of observing and narrowing down spots until I was in the tree I needed to be in.

As far as honey holes I have a few that have produced well over the years. One for instance produced my two largest bucks. Basically it started out as a spot I discovered over time that nice bucks always seem to travel but never held to tree large enough to hold a stand. I kept close watch on the area for 4-5 years and finally had a tree large enough to hang a stand. First sit I killed my largest buck and exactly one year later on my second sit I killed my 2nd largest buck. That stand consistently over the years produces my best buck sightings. Honey holes like that are extremely hard to find. Sometimes you luck into them but most times they come from years of obsrving and planning.

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Re: Your most effective means of scouting - poll

Unread postby DaveT1963 » Wed Jul 20, 2016 6:36 am

Dewey wrote:
Jackson Marsh wrote:
Buck snort wrote:
Edcyclopedia wrote:Can you hunters put into words how many of the majority of the mature +3.5 deer you think came from the top choice?
For me: My three -8 pointers came from boots on the ground.

Another thought came to mind... How many came from the same honey-hole as well?
My buddy killed two great bucks from the same tree stand (40-acre patch), I on the other hand, have 3-different spots that my deer came from a 2-mile radius.
Sure wish I had a honey-hole ;)


Honey holes are great, but they also can be way over hunted.

[ Post made via Android ] Image



Honey - holes are earned not given...I'm constantly searching for additional great spots. It starts with aerials and topos, progresses to boots, then you have to hunt it or trail cam it to confirm suspicions. Usually my assumptions are wrong, but this past season two of my assumptions proved correct. Theses areas will produce for me in the future. There are very few short cuts, it takes time in the field and a lot of luck.

[ Post made via Android ] Image

Agree 100%.

My best bucks were all earned by not only scouting but years of observing and narrowing down spots until I was in the tree I needed to be in.

As far as honey holes I have a few that have produced well over the years. One for instance produced my two largest bucks. Basically it started out as a spot I discovered over time that nice bucks always seem to travel but never held to tree large enough to hold a stand. I kept close watch on the area for 4-5 years and finally had a tree large enough to hang a stand. First sit I killed my largest buck and exactly one year later on my second sit I killed my 2nd largest buck. That stand consistently over the years produces my best buck sightings. Honey holes like that are extremely hard to find. Sometimes you luck into them but most times they come from years of obsrving and planning.

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image


Now that is a cool story - waiting for a tree to grow big enough.... that takes Beast Hunting to a different level
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Re: Your most effective means of scouting - poll

Unread postby Hawthorne » Wed Jul 20, 2016 6:44 am

I use to have a honey hole I shot 5 nice bucks that would qualify for the Michigan book. Every one of them the last week of October. In fact I never saw a nice buck in that stand any other time of year. I lost that property it changed hands. The guy that bought it I explained to him that tree and the time of year to hunt it. I'm sure he's shooting nice ones out of it now. That spot I found by pure luck. First time I hunted it I shot one

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Re: Your most effective means of scouting - poll

Unread postby Dewey » Wed Jul 20, 2016 7:10 am

DaveT1963 wrote:
Dewey wrote:
Jackson Marsh wrote:
Buck snort wrote:
Edcyclopedia wrote:Can you hunters put into words how many of the majority of the mature +3.5 deer you think came from the top choice?
For me: My three -8 pointers came from boots on the ground.

Another thought came to mind... How many came from the same honey-hole as well?
My buddy killed two great bucks from the same tree stand (40-acre patch), I on the other hand, have 3-different spots that my deer came from a 2-mile radius.
Sure wish I had a honey-hole ;)


Honey holes are great, but they also can be way over hunted.

[ Post made via Android ] Image



Honey - holes are earned not given...I'm constantly searching for additional great spots. It starts with aerials and topos, progresses to boots, then you have to hunt it or trail cam it to confirm suspicions. Usually my assumptions are wrong, but this past season two of my assumptions proved correct. Theses areas will produce for me in the future. There are very few short cuts, it takes time in the field and a lot of luck.

[ Post made via Android ] Image

Agree 100%.

My best bucks were all earned by not only scouting but years of observing and narrowing down spots until I was in the tree I needed to be in.

As far as honey holes I have a few that have produced well over the years. One for instance produced my two largest bucks. Basically it started out as a spot I discovered over time that nice bucks always seem to travel but never held to tree large enough to hold a stand. I kept close watch on the area for 4-5 years and finally had a tree large enough to hang a stand. First sit I killed my largest buck and exactly one year later on my second sit I killed my 2nd largest buck. That stand consistently over the years produces my best buck sightings. Honey holes like that are extremely hard to find. Sometimes you luck into them but most times they come from years of obsrving and planning.

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image


Now that is a cool story - waiting for a tree to grow big enough.... that takes Beast Hunting to a different level


In hindsight I wonder what may have happened if I had tried some ground hunts in previous years. There was a row of fast growing popple so knew given a few years they would be large enough for a stand. Now 8 years later I have multiple trees to sit in as they are all large enough for a hang on.

[ Post made via iPhone ] Image


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