2 days to scout what would you do?

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adrenalin
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2 days to scout what would you do?

Unread postby adrenalin » Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:29 am

Ok so I got this Saturday and Sunday to scout out a new spot, then that's it till hunting season. Next weekend I'll be in Madison all weekend and then the next weekend kicks off my fishing and chartering season till fall. So seeing I only have 2 days to scout what would you look for to get the most out of the first 2 weeks of bow season next fall. Finding actual buck beds might only get me 2 or 3 hunts if I'm lucky, I usually hunt 6-7 times in the first 2 weeks so how can I maximize my time in a good spot. This is marsh/ swamp hunting public land. Where would you hunt if you didn't have actual beds to hunt?


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Re: 2 days to scout what would you do?

Unread postby dan » Sat Mar 26, 2011 9:34 am

I am always hunting buck bedding areas (outside the rut)... Either ones totally scouted out, or those suspected to be buck bedding areas. But to me, there really ain't much else to look for unless your scouting for rut. The farther you are away from buck bedding the worse your odds for seeing daylight movement.
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Re: 2 days to scout what would you do?

Unread postby Singing Bridge » Sat Mar 26, 2011 10:59 am

adrenalin wrote:I only have 2 days to scout what would you look for


I would head for the buck bedding areas with the most potential and do my best to get a couple of them set up.

adrenalin wrote:Where would you hunt if you didn't have actual beds to hunt?


I would hunt transition lines in the marsh as close to suspected beds as possible- near points / islands / tree lines in the marsh / thickets in the marsh. Look for runs approaching the transition line from those areas through the cattails or whatever cover is present and set up playing the wind. Oversized tracks in these perimeter transition zones may tip you off.
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Re: 2 days to scout what would you do?

Unread postby gjs4 » Mon Mar 28, 2011 8:17 am

I would have my eyes bleeding from reading aerials prior.....and then a ton of pictures when youre there.... will look so different during hunting season. Would start at bedding, then creeks on the property, determine food sources, know your doe bed, property lines any tidbits on neighbors, etc.... and write a few pages of notes every night on what youre going to hunt on what phase of the rut
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PLB
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Re: 2 days to scout what would you do?

Unread postby PLB » Mon Mar 28, 2011 10:30 am

I guess a lot depends on when you will be hunting this property?? All season, early, rut or late?? Also what size of property is it?? What type of food sources, terrain, etc....???
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Re: 2 days to scout what would you do?

Unread postby MOBIGBUCKS » Tue Mar 29, 2011 3:26 pm

How did it go?
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Re: 2 days to scout what would you do?

Unread postby adrenalin » Wed Mar 30, 2011 10:51 am

MOBIGBUCKS wrote:How did it go?

Pretty good, I wasn't expecting much out of this new spot, but was suprised at the amount of buck sign. The one chunk I looked at had rubs pretty much everywhere and a few buck beds. I think it does hold some deer, more scouting and some hunting will tell for sure though.
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Re: 2 days to scout what would you do?

Unread postby UPbowhunter » Wed Mar 30, 2011 1:29 pm

First thing scout out good spots with ggogle earth, pick spots to check out. Find doe beds then buck beds. My point here is to me Im probably in the minority here but you have to know where they are so not to spook bucks in their beds. if your hunting earleir than the rut, if your hunting the rut, you will also need to know where they bed. Then conect the doe bedding areas with the lighter buck trails, mark up a map with exact trees that will work with different winds. mark pinch points and lower spots for a good idea how the wind will work thru the property. Rubs and scrapes are allways to be marked also with a dirrection of travel. But this weekend comeing up finding bone in there would be the funest part for me! If your farm is like mine you have to help the farmer out by killing does, find isolated oaks away from beds where you can extrude does without causeing to much caous in the main chunck of woods. My deer in the early season will bed close to the oaks, in the green cover that is still up around them. low impact entry routes help, mark them on the map too. Let us know how it looks on sunday night.
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