cyber Scouting

[Wolfshead]

When you are "cyber scouting" and looking for areas that you could/would hunt, could you list the things you look for when you first pull up an area you are interested in?
Also could you touch on these questions in your experience....
1. what draws your attention to that area in the first place?
2. what are the things that tip you off that there are possibly going to be deer there?
3. how do some areas look good when others do not?
4. OR why will areas produce when others don not?

Really trying to learn as much as possible and would like to develop a "check list" of things to start off my searches

thank you all in advance

[oldrank]

I look for marsh-swamp-wetland areas. These hold most bedding. It is pretty easy to find them cyber scouting. I then do my recon into the area for confirmation. Some areas pan out others do not. I learned this from Dans videos n it has stream line my scouting tremendously.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Jeff G]

what kind of land is it?

1. hill, swamp marsh
2. points, mini points, islands
3 public access
4 wheres the pressure
5 water hazards to keep people out
6. wind
7. seasonal food source

[TNstalker]

I like what the list Jeff G had an don't forget parking lots on public there can be some good spots real close to there an u may not see them on a map if it's flat ground. Found an bedding area up by an old farm house at a public spot of mine. Nothing on the map to make me wanna look there till I saw that sitting there. Also have found several beds close to roads. Watch me the DVDs Dan has every time someone post a map look at it see what u can see an look at what the other guys mark see if u could spot what they saw. An I like the where's the buck threads on the scouting forum I think they are good practice too! An just bc it looks good on the maps don't mean it has everything the buck wants or needs to bed there. Some spots are just a bust.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[seazofcheeze]

1. An area that typically produces or has the potential to produce good bucks.
2. Difficult human access, bedding areas, transition lines, food sources. Each one is a +1, the more the better.
3. See above. Easy access, lack of bedding area, homogeneous terrain/vegetation, lack of preferred food sources for an extended distance.
4. More of the same. Better producing areas seem to have, in no particular order, better caliber of deer, better bedding, less human activity, more preferred food sources, better hunter access (e.g. a spot where you can access undetected by deer via a creek, river, steep drainage, etc. where deer are unlikely to detect your entry).

I will add that practice helps. After you cyber scout a spot, you put boots on the ground. I like to record what I found and then compare that back to my cyber scouting. Was I right, if so, can I find similar areas with the same features, terrain, vegetation, etc.? Was I wrong? If so, why? Is it a low deer density area, am I focusing on the wrong terrain features or vegetation? If you follow a process of comparing your cyber scouting assumptions to your actual findings, you will start to see patterns emerge and that's how you get more efficient in my opinion. I don't think there are any absolutes in deer hunting, but I definitely think there are patterns and probabilities. My goal the last few years is to identify a seasons worth of high percentage spots and put myself in those highest odds spots during the season.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Hawthorne]

I scouted a piece of public the other day that backed up to some good looking private. It was a long walk to get back there from the public access. I found more hunter sign coming off the private onto the public than I did the other way around. Scratched it off my list.

[ Post made via Android ]

[seazofcheeze]

I scouted a piece of public the other day that backed up to some good looking private. It was a long walk to get back there from the public access. I found more hunter sign coming off the private onto the public than I did the other way around. Scratched it off my list.

[ Post made via Android ]

I did that this spring. Found a dynamite looking spot on aerials WAY deep from the parking. Got there and there's an illegal stand and it's obvious the guy is coming from the private.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Hawthorne]

I scouted a piece of public the other day that backed up to some good looking private. It was a long walk to get back there from the public access. I found more hunter sign coming off the private onto the public than I did the other way around. Scratched it off my list.

[ Post made via Android ]

I did that this spring. Found a dynamite looking spot on aerials WAY deep from the parking. Got there and there's an illegal stand and it's obvious the guy is coming from the private.

[ Post made via Android ]

Same here I found at least 4.

[ Post made via Android ]

[PK_]

1. Where people don't want to go
2. Where people wouldn't think to go
3. Where people don't like to go
4. Where people won't go

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[justdirtyfun]

PK has the people aspect mentioned.
I see most of the 'cyberscouting' as reading how a mature cautious buck uses the terrain.
Since we don't run GPS collars on all these deer it is time spent studying and confirming or refuting a theory. The beast is one of the few places where deer behavior is considered first then picking a spot comes from that information.

The most predictable spot that gives you the best odds will be what to look for. Try making a best guess then get in the field to confirm. And be aware how difficult and time consuming this is. Stick to a type of terrain or single wind direction till things become clear.

[ Post made via Android ]

[BassBoysLLP]

1.) Where the property is in the big picture. Is it a "keystone" property?
2.) Quality of properties surrounding the property. This can take a fair amount of research and glassing. A property is generally only as good as the neighborhood. Know thy neighbor.
3. Access. The best public often has brutal but clean access.

[ Post made via Android ]