Scounting Journals

[fishlips]

At about this time every year, I get excited to get out in the woods to scout. I know there is still some archery and late gun seasons open here in Wisconsin, but after being up in a tree for most of the season, I always get excited to get out and scout all those spots that I have been marking in my free time. Anyone else suffer from this?

In all honesty though once I started to know what to look for while I was out scouting, I have really enjoyed the scouting a lot more than I used to. I won't quite go as far as to say I like it more than hunting, but it really makes that time from January until spring turkey season go by a lot faster. This year I have taken things a step further and put together a binder of all the properties that are close to my house (within a half hour) and have started to fill it with aerial maps and spots that I plan on scouting this winter / spring. I am really excited to get out there and dig in. I know some of the scouting trips will kick my but due to the terrain, but I feel like this will be the first winter / spring where I will have a plan in place for scouting which should help make my scouting missions more efficient (this is essential due to the increased responsibilities at home with a little one at home now).

Does anyone do anything similar to this? If so, what do you add to your scouting journal that has proven to be especially helpful come hunting season?

[Swampthing]

One thing that sometimes gets overlooked at least it did by me was picking out the actual tree or trees . At first when I went scouting I would get home and talk all about this awesome area I found but never picked my trees out.

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[fishlips]

I have done this before as well. I had a spot I found last year that I hunted during gun season this year. I got lucky and had three nice bucks come through, but I did not connect on any of them. I got lucky the tree that I picked and I believe I had a doe that was coming into estrous that was close by. I just dove into this spot last weekend and found out where the bed was and it was only 40 yards from the tree, but I couldn't see in there because it's in a cedar swamp. I did however get right into the bed and look for trees that I could set up in and look right into the bed. I can only hunt this spot for gun season as the public area isn't open until gun season.

This is definitely something I have struggled with though. I find one of the hardest things for me is that once I find these spots is to come up with a plan on how to approach the spot, when to set up, and where exactly to set up. I have gotten burned by thinking I could set up in one of those three trees over there. That is a great point and I have learned the hard way that usually there is one specific tree that you should hunt.

[Black Squirrel]

I keep a hunting journal/scouting journal all in one. Probably should be seperate. As I am hunting, I am evaluating the tree I am in, and that along with where/if I see a target deer, I will make a note of any adjustments I need to make in the off season. On my private land spots, I like to prep the hunting tree soon after the season closes.

[MOBIGBUCKS]

One thing that sometimes gets overlooked at least it did by me was picking out the actual tree or trees . At first when I went scouting I would get home and talk all about this awesome area I found but never picked my trees out.

[ Post made via Android ]

X2

Here is the one that I used to overlook. I used to be happy as heck to find a nice buck bed. Now, I take more time to make sure it is sign left from a deer I want to hunt. Big tracks, high rubs, etc. In addition, I look more for the primary bed areas versus the satellite or seldom used beds. In a lot of cases, I never find the primary bedding spots. I'm still working at gettiing better to find these areas.

I love scouting and I'm anxious to end this season and begin preparing for next year

[KLEMZ]

fishlips, I think your idea of a binder is a great idea. the amount of information available on this forum and internet scouting is overwhelming. Anything you can do to keep it all straight will be helpful. Personally, I have found a few things that help me remember all the spots (and details) i have found while scouting.
-pre plan waypoints and terrain edges you want to walk, ( pre-enter waypopints on a gps with aerials/topos of your area so you can efficiently check them all)
-leave your gps ON the whole time you are scouting so you have a record of every spot you walked and areas you may have missed. Write detailed notes in a notebook of every bit of sign you deem worthy and create a waypoint for that sign. When you get home, download your scouting mission onto a mapping sofware (Google earth, Expert gps, Topofusion). Print a hard copy aerial/topo of your scouting trip with all the waypoints and the exact path you walked. Write detailed notes on the map itself. Note areas you missed for future scouing.
-put your marked up maps in your binder.