Scouting Help

[RCValley]

I found a piece of ground I think has some terrain features that would support buck bedding but I've never hunted/scouted using the Beast techniques. I've watched the videos, listened to the podcast, and lurked around on here for a while. The orange dots are spots I think bucks might bed, the white and yellow lines are man trails, and the other white lines are private property. I have a friend that has hunted this area for 7 or 8 years and he is the only guy in there. There is thousands of acres north of this that gets pounded with all types of hunting. To the south is a paved road, then south of that is 120 acres of clear cut that butts up to about 15-20 acres of crops(the crops are about 3/4-1 mile away from the spots I marked). The dominant wind in this area is SW/WSW. Any guidance or tips are greatly appreciated.

[Bigburner]

Its a tough time to scout it now but just from the looks of it there are tons of transitions in cover and points sticking out in those changes in cover type. I see a ton of potential in a place like that. I also think you made some really good assumptions regarding your buck bedding. At this point I just think it would be a matter of hunting it being so close to season. Whats nice is that place seems like it would have options for multiple sits on different wind directions so you can hunt the area without burning it in one hunt. Nice looking tract for sure. Good luck with it.

[RCValley]

Its a tough time to scout it now but just from the looks of it there are tons of transitions in cover and points sticking out in those changes in cover type. I see a ton of potential in a place like that. I also think you made some really good assumptions regarding your buck bedding. At this point I just think it would be a matter of hunting it being so close to season. Whats nice is that place seems like it would have options for multiple sits on different wind directions so you can hunt the area without burning it in one hunt. Nice looking tract for sure. Good luck with it.

Thanks for the info. I think I have an understanding of this style but just wanted some reassurance!

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[RCValley]

Anybody else have anything to add?

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[PK_]

There is a lot there. I would take a block of it and scout every inch of it. Scout the bedding until you understand exactly how the deer are using it and why. Pick out your kill trees for the best spots you find. Take what you have learned and make educated guesses for how that will translate to other blocks within the area with similar style bedding areas. During season, discretely spot check the potential 'staging areas' near your suspected bedding areas, when you see promising sign, setup. After you hunt a bedding area, dive in and scout it, try to figure out why it did or did not hold a buck. Save the block you burn now scouting and hunt it late season, it will probably be good again by then. So now you have a better understanding of how to go about hunting the area and you also have some sure fire spots for that tough to hunt late season after what might be a tough time hunting the other areas "blind".

From the marks on your map, you have the right idea. A couple of your dots I think the bucks might be back inside the swamp a bit further, just off those points. If you get to one of those points and don't find a bed, make sure you look close for rubs, tracks, trails leading into the swamp off the point. I have walked to the tip of a lot of points like that and thought 'hmmmm, no bed?" Then I would find an old rub or some faint trail leading deeper into the swamp and I would follow it and then jump a buck just beyond the transition on some hump or by a tree or some brush I would have never known he was there and would have written off that point if I hadn't pushed the few extra yards.

Good luck.

[dan]

Your spots look good... There are some other spots that look great too... I would zoom in close to each section and look at the potential bedding that way... Its hard to see whats going on backed off that far with the zoom. If I get a chance later today I will mark some more spots for you...

[dan]

[RCValley]

Awesome info guys! I truly appreciate the help, and hopefully I can post some pics of a successful hunt off that piece.

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