What's up? Is no one scouting?

[stash59]

I guess everyone is locked down at home already. I plan on taking walks every day, until I'm under house arrest. My hips aren't healed enough to do real scouting yet! But they need more walking time.

I know a few Beast oldtimers are gunshy about sharing details. But just saying you got out and you had a good day or a bad day would suffice. I'm tired of the corona virus thread being the only thread with any action. Common Beasts!!!!

[Moose]

If this week gets slow and weather holds out i would like to do some scouting.

[Dewey]

Been scouting every weekend since early January and really picked up now since I’m not working anymore. I’ll be out every single day this week. It’s crunch time now to get done before guys start turkey hunting. That’s typically when I first take a break a bit to avoid messing people up.

Not gonna bother posting scouting reports anymore. Takes too much time that I would rather be spending on doing something else.

[Trout]

Our snow is just now starting to disappear. South facing slopes are starting to melt in places with less snowfall. Only a foot or so left around the house. Some warm weather is on the way this week, I'm hoping it melts the bulk of what's left so I can go crazy scouting till green up and trout fishing picks up. I have been out here and there a handful if times since the season ended. Been focusing on places I didn't scout in season, finding some nice stuff I completely overlooked. Today I found my first bwhat I would call primary buck bed of the spring scouting season. Posted a quick and short video in my hunting journal. It's been used a lot this winter and I think it was being used in the fall as well. Found two good trees to hunt it for each of the wind directions I think it's used, both have good cover and quiet access routes. Cant wait, now to find some more.

[cspot]

I haven't done as much scouting this Spring as I would like. Not all Corona related. I did drive over to Ohio today to check out one spot. I think there is some potential there, but I wasn't overly excited with what I saw. It was nice to get out though.

[Josh_S]

Did a 2 day out of state scouting trip a couple weekends ago. Drove north and scouted some big woods last weekend. Took advantage of the nice weather today and did some yard work.

[Hawthorne]

I’ll be out this week

[Ack]

I’ve spent several hours walking the last few weeks. Scouting, looking for bucks I didn’t recover and shed hunting has kept me busy in the woods.

Haven’t found a single shed this year, when last year it seems I was tripping over them everywhere.....oaks/acorns really scattered the bucks this past winter.

Still have a couple new areas to get into, but have been waiting for the water to recede just a bit more before I get in there. I’m quite surprised how much drier it is now than it was during season.

[gsquared23]

I was out today for a bit, very thick area that would be hard to hunt, not a lot of buck sign. Enjoyed the exercise. I’ve been out 7 times this year, have a handful of spots that I need to hunt a few times. Nothing that I’m too excited about, but better than what I’ve hunted in the past. Maybe I’ll finally find a real buck spot.

[KLEMZ]

Been scouting every weekend since early January and really picked up now since I’m not working anymore.

Same here.


Today I walked to a pre-determined terrain feature expecting to find primary bedding. I did find bedding there, but was unsure it was a primary big buck spot. There where plenty of small droppings and tracks (fresh) to throw me off. But there were also hints of OLD, degraded, big tracks right in some of the beds. I followed a trail away from a bed that had hints of old big tracks (no big poop obvious).

As I followed the trail I kept note of what kind of cover it coursed through. I was happy to see it followed an openish line rather than through rabbit cover. One thing I have picked up on is that big bucks love "corridors" through heavy cover. They need room. They need room for their racks. Especially when in velvet. This holds true for trails and also
holds true for bedding areas. Big bucks will always have room to easily move around.

As I followed the trail, I entered an area that was generally a bit more open, (in a thick nasty area). I immediately noticed a couple bare ground spots the size of a bed. I found 8-10 singular beds within a 60 yard radius. Some of them where bare spots among the cottonwood leaves. Som (e of them where crushed vegetation type beds. I interpreted the bare spots to be early season beds because cottonwoods drop leaves early and a buck would have to be laying there in early season to block the leaves from landing in the beds. The crushed vegetation beds would be more recent bedding.

This next part is kind of funny. I found a mylar balloon within 10 feet of what seemed like the best bed in the area. It was the only bed being used currently (shedding hair). I followed all the exit trails out of the area and came up with a few good setups (I think!). The best setup is watching a couple scrapes about 75 yards from the edge of the bedding. Unfortunately, there are no real trees to sit in this spot (surprise!). I did get a ground setup that I think may work on the scrapes! I hope!

[jkelley1487]

I’ve wrapped up my winter and spring scouting for the year. It’s starting to get pretty green here and the ticks are back out. I’m starting to transition over to bass fishing tournaments and getting my boat ready for em. Good luck to the guys still at it.

[headgear]

Got out a little this weekend, still 20+ inches of snow in most of the woods so mostly checking on old spots and looking for overlooked stuff.

[Boogieman1]

When I’m fishing, I’m scouting. When I’m arrowhead hunting, I’m scouting. When I’m walking the dogs, I’m scouting. And when I’m driving down back roads, you guessed it.... I’m scouting. Always on the lookout for clues and pieces to the puzzle!

[austin1990]

I've done some trapping, which allows me to get some scouting done as well. Ain't had much time, we're still pretty busy at work, but I figure we'll start slowing down this week for a while at least. Maybe I can get a lot more scouting done soon. Did find a couple good spots I'd like to check out again this fall.

[Jackson Marsh]

I covered 17 miles this weekend., it felt great to get out.