Poll-How many days do you scout for hunting deer?

Discuss the science of figuring out our prey through good detective work.
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How many days do you spend scouting a year?

0-10
7
13%
11-20
17
30%
21-30
10
18%
31-40
7
13%
41-50
6
11%
51-60
1
2%
61-70
0
No votes
71-80
0
No votes
81-90
1
2%
91-100
0
No votes
100+
7
13%
 
Total votes: 56
mainebowhunter
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Re: Poll-How many days do you scout for hunting deer?

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Mon May 09, 2016 11:08 pm

Just taking a guess, 100+


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Tufrthnails
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Re: Poll-How many days do you scout for hunting deer?

Unread postby Tufrthnails » Tue May 10, 2016 12:16 am

Thanks for the input guys I am at 17 days for this season and generally before coming here I would put in 3-5 days scouting a year. I already feel way more prepared for the season even if I wasn't able to scout at all for the rest of the season. Some of you guys got a lot of time on your hands 100+ days makes me jealous. And whoever said it about about negotiating for scouting days with the family hit the nail on the head for me. I have a crazy schedule that lets me do some more scouting during the week when they are at work and school, but it is limited in the amount of time I can put in to individual scouting trips. If I had a normal 5 day work week I would not be able to get more then 8-10 days in probably.
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mainebowhunter
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Re: Poll-How many days do you scout for hunting deer?

Unread postby mainebowhunter » Tue May 10, 2016 12:39 am

Tufrthnails wrote:Thanks for the input guys I am at 17 days for this season and generally before coming here I would put in 3-5 days scouting a year. I already feel way more prepared for the season even if I wasn't able to scout at all for the rest of the season. Some of you guys got a lot of time on your hands 100+ days makes me jealous. And whoever said it about about negotiating for scouting days with the family hit the nail on the head for me. I have a crazy schedule that lets me do some more scouting during the week when they are at work and school, but it is limited in the amount of time I can put in to individual scouting trips. If I had a normal 5 day work week I would not be able to get more then 8-10 days in probably.


I am self employed :D So if I get a slow day, in between projects, I duck out of work for the afternoon or the morning. Its great...but the pressure of supporting a family falls on my shoulders. If there is no work, there is no unemployment check. There is no sick time or vacation time. I don't work, I don't get paid. That being said, I am very blessed. I would not trade "working for the man" for anything.
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ZSV
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Re: Poll-How many days do you scout for hunting deer?

Unread postby ZSV » Tue May 10, 2016 1:59 am

I chose 11-20, but the number is probably closer to 11. I work 24 hr shifts and my wife works 12 hr shifts on days I don't work. We save $$ on daycare costs, but I don't get many scouting days. Which is fine with me, family first. My numbers will go up here in a couple years when my youngest is in kindergarten :).

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Tufrthnails
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Re: Poll-How many days do you scout for hunting deer?

Unread postby Tufrthnails » Tue May 10, 2016 2:54 am

ZSV wrote:I chose 11-20, but the number is probably closer to 11. I work 24 hr shifts and my wife works 12 hr shifts on days I don't work. We save $$ on daycare costs, but I don't get many scouting days. Which is fine with me, family first. My numbers will go up here in a couple years when my youngest is in kindergarten :).

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Not scouting but when my son hit preschool my hunting days went through the roof. Especially during rut. Many many times I was going in the woods at 9am and leaving the woods 2pm due to having to drop my son off at school on my off-shift weeks. And now I am doing the same for scouting. We did the same thing to save money before he was in school I would keep him when I was off shift and Grandma kept him when I was on shift. My wife is a teacher so she works a normal sched, but is home to keep him during the summer which works out good for us.
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PK_
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Re: Poll-How many days do you scout for hunting deer?

Unread postby PK_ » Tue May 10, 2016 3:03 am

Goose egg for me last couple years. Haven't even looked at GEarth since last season.

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Tufrthnails
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Re: Poll-How many days do you scout for hunting deer?

Unread postby Tufrthnails » Tue May 10, 2016 3:12 am

PK_ wrote:Goose egg for me last couple years. Haven't even looked at GEarth since last season.

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Holy Smokes man! That seriously surprises me you must have a mountain of scouting data built up to be as consistent as you are. Especially since you are hunting FL.
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Re: Poll-How many days do you scout for hunting deer?

Unread postby JoeRE » Tue May 10, 2016 9:02 am

Once or twice a week year round. Size of each trip varies greatly from 1 hour to 6 hours. Rarely is it a full day though.

I do think the rule of thumb to scout twice as much as you hunt is accurate for maximizing your success.
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IkemanTx
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Re: Poll-How many days do you scout for hunting deer?

Unread postby IkemanTx » Tue May 10, 2016 10:52 am

11-20 this year, but it should have been higher. I really have to be more diligent next year.

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Re: Poll-How many days do you scout for hunting deer?

Unread postby Jackson Marsh » Tue May 10, 2016 12:31 pm

Right now I'm at 11 days (60 miles) of actual boots on the ground, with more to go. I have a few marsh spots that I have a real good feeling about but haven't walked them yet. I plan on scouting more over the next month and will hit some hill country this summer. Plan on running a couple of cameras too. This off season has been really efficient, the spots I've found, especially in the hills, I feel really good about. The topo study and aerial study can make your limited time on the ground very productive.
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Re: Poll-How many days do you scout for hunting deer?

Unread postby Buckshot20 » Tue May 10, 2016 2:53 pm

I am considering scouting as committing a couple hours of boots on the ground so with that said I'm probably somewhere between 10-20 this year. I cyberscout everyday and one thing I can say for certain is the beast has made every trip more efficient. I am going to try and sneak away this weekend for a couple hours and I have a few spots picked out that I know will be holding deer. They really are starting to get predictable. I haven't found as many sure beds as I would have liked but the deer are definitely there.

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Re: Poll-How many days do you scout for hunting deer?

Unread postby wickedbruiser » Tue May 10, 2016 10:56 pm

Post season boots to the ground when conditions are right...1-2 days a week up to about 3rd week of April. Rarely all day scouts. Other than that I'm always on the lookout all year whether it's cyber, driving, or in the timber hunting.

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Re: Poll-How many days do you scout for hunting deer?

Unread postby bowhunter15 » Thu May 12, 2016 3:31 pm

Last year was bad. 2 days of boots on the ground scoiting in the spring. Turkey hunting boosted that number by checking out new properties. I also had bear and elk that distracted from my whitetail efforts.

This year has been better already. Half dozen days of boots on the ground, which continues to rise with turkey season. Trying to make this year a whitetail year.

That being said, my online scouting vastly outweighs boots on the ground due to travel distance, work hours, etc. Generally my boots on the ground trips are mainly confirming or discounting spots I find online. It is challenging to identify particular deer this way though.

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Re: Poll-How many days do you scout for hunting deer?

Unread postby Mibowfreak » Fri May 13, 2016 1:04 am

I have really poured it on this year. With a workshop, scouting, and prepping treestand locations, I am already over 30 trips into the swamps. That number will jump way up there once my summer scouting and running trail cameras start.
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Re: Poll-How many days do you scout for hunting deer?

Unread postby woody-san » Wed May 25, 2016 12:13 am

This year I am going to be in the 11-20 range. I've done 5-6, all or half day, boots on the ground ventures. There will be a few more in the summer months to pick out best trees where I haven't already, set trail cams, or follow up on spots I wasn't able to fully scout in the spring. My spots are 1.5-2.0 hours away, so I'm not able to get down there as much as I would prefer. I do some public scouting during our late firearms and primitive seasons. I kind of treat that as scouting with a gun in my hand.


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