How far from the road?

[tbunao]

I saved my regular season tag so I could have an opportunity at a late season buck. I did well early season with mapping and hunting areas I've never put a boot in. Well I have 2 days coming up in December and I'm determined to make it happen.
Anyways the question... How far away from the road and parking areas do you begin to cyber scout. I've been doing the 1/2 mile.

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[tbunao]

I'm also ignoring spots close to the road and parking because from what I see that is all the normal hunter has.

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[bwwma]

Depends on terrain for me. There are some overlooked spots next to roads, found 2 scrapes less than 75 yards from road fresh mess and beds. I hunt hill/bluff country.

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[bwwma]

I don't really have a certain distance for cyber scouting, if it's easy walking hunters will walk long ways. If it's super think, steep or wet probably not.

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[hunter_mike]

Yep depends on terrain, how difficult a spot is to get to. Lots of guys will walk a mile down a nice logging road but very few will walk 200 yards thru knee deep ice cold water.

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[Dewey]

Yep depends on terrain, how difficult a spot is to get to. Lots of guys will walk a mile down a nice logging road but very few will walk 200 yards thru knee deep ice cold water.
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Exactly
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[Zap]

Around here we have on average a road around every section of land(one square mile). That's the general rule although some places it may be two miles.

So, if you walk a mile in your at another road...

But seriously, the deer cross the roads.....yes they do. They cross the roads regularly. I have seen their dead bodies alongside the road.

Now a mature buck may only cross the road after dark unless he is looking for a date. But in the rut anything goes. And he may cross a road in shooting light all year to get where he wants to go.

So, most guys park at the parking lot and walk in.....not along the road. I have found a lot of deer crossing within 100 yards of parking lots. Most parking lots funnel hunters a certain way when they walk in. The deer are aware of this and plan accordingly.

Watch for fence crossings. Four strand wire fences on public are usually easier to get thru in a few spots.
Another good scouting tool is to walk a drainage. It does not have to be a big valley, just a place where water flows thru and there is some water usually year round. Look for where the deer cross...if its wet it is easy to see tracks.
You can walk in the water and not leave scent.

Find the fence crossings and drainage crossings, look at aerial and topo and try to relate it to bedding to food pattern.
Drive the road and find the fence crossings and walk the drainage and find the crossings....scouting without leaving scent.
You can walk the drainage to set up and leave no scent and walk the road to set up and leave very little scent on the gravel/blacktop but you want to get in where the fence is hard to cross not where the deer cross.

So park with the mob but walk the road to a crossing and set up or walk the road to a drainage and walk the drainage in and then set up. If there is a good population of deer in the area and you know what fresh tracks look like you will be on them in short order.

You can walk the transitions also but many other hunters do that.

[James]

I was on to a very nice shooter on public that was bedding approx 1/8 mile from the road. If people looked hard they could definitely see me in my tree from the road. It was a specific spot that had enough water that routes hunters away from this bed and into timber giving this buck a nice safety zone.

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[cedarsavage]

I've shot deer within a 100 yards of my vehicle and up to a mile back, shot one 150 yards from a packed parking lot this season

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[dan]

I have shot big bucks 100 yards from the parking lot, and as far as two miles deep... You gotta get away from the thinking that you have to be far from your truck, and concentrate more on "where don't anybody hunt" ... Sure, that might be way back, but more often than not, my best spots are a stones throw from the parking lot.

if YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT, READ THIS ARTICLE:

http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/ ... ext-to-the

[DEERSLAYER]

I have shot big bucks 100 yards from the parking lot, and as far as two miles deep... You gotta get away from the thinking that you have to be far from your truck, and concentrate more on "where don't anybody hunt" ... Sure, that might be way back, but more often than not, my best spots are a stones throw from the parking lot.

if YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT, READ THIS ARTICLE:

http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/ ... ext-to-the

What Dan said. I always used to say "hunt the people". If you find where they are not going then that's where you can expect to start finding the deer your looking for. Usually that means real close easy walking or way back. Sometimes there are just seems in between hunters that sit in the same old spots time after time and a buck can get some age on him running those seems. Sometimes it's as simple as crossing a creek or going into a wet area with some hip boots. Some of my best spots have been hunting where you can't even see a deer until it's about 12 yards away or closer. A lot of people, especially gun hunters, don't like to sit in area's with such limited visibility.

[headgear]

But seriously, the deer cross the roads.....yes they do.

You sometimes just have to ignore roads and trails and look at the terrain and decide if it's worth a scout or not. Pre determining anything based on distance might have you missing some good areas.

[justdirtyfun]

I agree with headgear. Picturing the area without the roads sometimes gives a important but overlooked detail. Another common trait is hunters won't park, then walk BACK the road in. The 'front' area becomes overlooked.

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[tbunao]

The one I harvested this year was only 150 from the road and a parking area. I understand the hunting where hunters won't go or overlooked areas. I guess what I should of said was, when taking a map and x'ing out areas where you feel the most people will go so that the map will leave you with a few un x'd areas where you can focus on. Obviously water situations, tracking back up the road areas but when looking at the map, in general how far do you feel most go

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[bwwma]

If it's easy walking ridge top loggin roads they'll walk a long way a mile+. More difficult walking = less distance from my experience.

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