Scout same areas yearly/annually?

[MNarrow]

I am a big proponent of scouting some areas multiple years in a row, a lot can happen during the course of a season and even from year to year. Once I started scouting some spots every year it became much more clear to me what areas get used more often by mature bucks and what spots were kind of one and done areas. It isn't easy to hit them all but after you know an area you can usually cover the ground in a fraction of the time it takes you to scout it the first time. I sometimes plan my scouting routes to check an old spot on the way to a new area I need to scout more.

Great point. Quality over quantity.......instead of having a large inventory of mediocre bedding areas where you don't know exactly what's going on, have fewer really slam dunk areas that you know in and out.

[headgear]

Starting out it really helped me gain a better idea of what spots were the best of the best and what spots I need to keep in the back of my mind but maybe not make a priority. Even if you are scouting in season and hit a spot late oct, that area might not get hot until early nov so you could think it is dead but come back that next spring you might see all kinds of sign. That can better help tip you off on the timing of some of these areas as well.

[Kraftd]

I know I did and I think others have noted that trying to spread yourself too thin early in honing your beast scouting technique can be detrimental. I tried to hit all of the property close to me in the first couple of years, but realized I wasn't covering any of it all that well or really learning it. Like Booige mentioned, once you spend the time to really pick apart a property over a couple of years, going to new properties and crossing off the 90% like Dan talks about becomes much easier.

There are also properties that simply require at least an annual check. I have some smaller properties that may or may not hold a bigger buck in a given year. Largely based on how et things are and what the food sources are. Lately in my area every year has been so different from the last two I've really backed off off-season scouting and rely more on in-season. What allows me to do this is having built a good understanding on these properties over the last 5-10 years.

I''ll pick properties and routes in that allow me to scout my way in and check multiple historic bedding areas, etc, on one route and hunt when I hit sign, or keep scouting.

This year will be interesting as many fields didn't even get planted by me because of the cool wet spring and early summer. Cautiously optimistic it will have more deer stacked on public. Last year was exact opposite. Everything was flooded well into October and pushed most of the deer onto the margins and private.

[MNarrow]

I know I did and I think others have noted that trying to spread yourself too thin early in honing your beast scouting technique can be detrimental.

I will have to keep this in mind for sure!!!