Transformation of a beast- When to start scouting for next year? Where to start and what to do?

[upstateNYhunter518]

Hey fellow beasts!

I have been out in the woods scouting and moving trail cameras around my 400 acre property almost every weekend since the season ended. Do you think this will have any affect over deer movement/core areas for next season?

I wanted to hoof it around in a weekend or two and scout the areas on the property I have yet to go to or stayed out of during the season. Is it a bad idea to walk the entire property? Should i focus on only a few areas (200 acres) this year and maybe the other 200 next year? I have been on much of it, but that being said I feel i should better know the inhabitants of the deer herd in my area. I can give tidbits of info on the general area of whats on the ground everywhere (vegetation, water sources, oak trees) but i still have yet to really pindown a bedding/feeding pattern or trails. You can only collect so much info walking through an area one time. There is a lot of property ive only been on once and i am eilling to keep going through it till i got it, but i dont want to do more hurt then good.

There are deer tracks and sign around the entire property, but I have had a really hard time finding trodden paths that i can pinpoint and use as info for the future (more then the couple areas that I am familiar with, gas line crossings and such) As far as bedding, ive found beds in several different spots on the property but nothing that sticks out as primary bedding sources. Or how do you know what is a primary bedding and something thats satellite bedding?

I really want to investigate more and see what i find while there is snow and I can track them from/to bedding. I also dont want to hurt my chances too badly for next season. I hear guys say they only put trail cameras in areas they dont plan on hunting, but for maybe like the next season. I planned on using cameras now to try and collect intel on where bedding/feed is so I can start working on my stand setup locations. I have lots already of course, but probably not in the right spots, noting my minimal success stories. I am really transforming my thinking to being a beast hunter, but this also changes the majority of what I already do.

I need to gather info now for hunting this upcoming season, not wait another year. Is it bad to put a trail camera in an area right now i am thinking about hunting next fall? Will it even help? Should i COMPLETELY stay on the outer edges of the property with cameras?

On another note... I need a mentor. Anyone interested? Someone who may help guide me along here for this upcoming season. I am spending as many hours as possible in the woods, listening to podcasts, watching videos, reading hunting books. A fire has erupted in me and I dont know what else to do but keep seeking more and more information. Does anyone else share this same passion and willing to give a guy some guidance?

[cdg097]

You are doing post-season scouting, you are not harming anything by diving into areas you have not been to or that you haven’t been to in a while. Go over everything, but focus on the stuff Dan and the others key on, at least initially, would be my thoughts on the subject. Best of luck to you!

[upstateNYhunter518]

You are doing post-season scouting, you are not harming anything by diving into areas you have not been to or that you haven’t been to in a while. Go over everything, but focus on the stuff Dan and the others key on, at least initially, would be my thoughts on the subject. Best of luck to you!

Thanks for the feedback! When do you think would be a good time to start backing off? I think once I find some really good sign in a certain area, I will gather as much info as possible to plan an attack. Then stay out of there until the summer/fall. I will maybe venture in there once in the summer during scouting ventures or land management days, then once a couple weeks before the season opens (on a rainy day). Other than that, come late summer/early fall I plan on doing some glassing missions, and also some observatory sits. See if I can pin point a certain area on the land I hunt that is getting deer traffic during shooting light.

I would like to make a small food plot this spring/summer/fall. I also wanted to make some improvements for access routes and setting up future stand sites for next season. I have a carry in hang on stand I broke myself in with this season and plan on getting a ton of use out of it. I would actually like to invest in another, So I may be able to leave that setup in a spot for a couple hunts if needed. Its a little heavy with everything so I would really like something a little bit more mobile. If that does not happen, if I have specific trees/spots picked out and get them ready for easy access/setup I can certainly manage with what I have.

Any tips or pointers you would give while getting out there this winter?

[backstrap19]

You sound a lot like myself a while back. I had all of the willingness in the world, I wasn't afraid of some work, and I wanted to spend countless hours in the woods. Lucky for you, because those are important qualities! I also thought there was a holy grail/magic formula that i could apply universally and i would automatically be killing big bucks constantly. I was hitting people up for advice, and I was getting GREAT advice, but i brushed past it and kept asking for more. I was hoping for something like, "find the thick brush 50 yards from the easterly facing gas line at 1600ft elevation, and the big buck will always be living there." Well, i never found that holy grail of specifics, however, i did start killing better bucks and being on better deer more often. then things started to click. I realized that the deer woods were an evolving thing, and my level of scouting and critical thinking was proportional to my success. sorry for the long rant, i guess i was walking down memory lane after reading your posts. here are my current thoughts on scouting and when, and how much is too much. i am in the woods more in jan/feb/march than i am any other time of the year. i do a most of my scouting this time of year. i do the second most scouting in season. i rarely go into my spots during the summer or early fall before season opens. once i determine the spot is solid from my scouting or previous season encounters, i leave it alone. the next visit i make to it, i have a bow in my hand. i know many guys want trail cam pics of the big buck they are after, and that is a great thing to do. however, i dont' do that (much to the dismay of my hunting buddies who want to see the bucks!) if i already know the big one is there, i dont need a pic. all i can do is mess it up by tromping in there to chase down that pic. i'll take a pic of that deer while my hands are on his antlers! keep your scouting simple, but do not overlook a single acre. be thorough. you'll be surprised at the areas that focus deer traffic. aside from the rut, deer need 2 main things. safe resting/hiding places, and food. find both of those things and how they navigate from one to the other. sorry that this got long and a little off topic. you sound like you have the dedication, desire, and ability to raise your game. i applaud you for asking for help also. some people are too proud to do that, and they just spin their wheels. you'll make it, i wish you the best of luck.

[Doublejake]

I don’t think that your going to hurt anything for the next season if you go in and scout it now.
I have been scouting a bunch of new Public locations and I am planning on it this weekend even though the weather forecasted is in single digits. I personally think that now is a great time and then revisit the areas in the spring after snowmelt.
Far as Cameras I have definitely over pressured and messed up my Hunting area because I had to check then every weekend Only to see the spot slowly taper off and be no good.
I’m not going to be placing cameras anywhere near I plan to sit for a hunt. I have been patterned by the Deer I was trying to pattern. He simply moved over on his travel route 70 yards out of my sight etc. only to be killed by someone that had never hunted the area before. Simply because he knew where everyone else was. It was a checkmate surprise.
I typically get a Deer with my bow every year and considered myself a descent hunter.
Regardless of what I thought or think 2019 is going too be completely different as far as my tactics are concerned.
1. no Cameras around suspected Stand sites
2. no permanent stands, completely mobile
3. Not sticking to one good location and over Hunting it
4. Scouting out new areas ALL year long
5. Sitting observation sits pre season from a distance
6. Using milk weed to get a better understanding of the wind and thermals for the location rather than checking weather site etc.
7. Less focus on washing my Hunting clothes and trying to be scent free and depend more on my skills of the territory I’m in and stand placement.
8. Only hunt fresh daytime sign and know the difference from nighttime sign.

[Doublejake]

I don’t think that your going to hurt anything for the next season if you go in and scout it now.
I have been scouting a bunch of new Public locations and I am planning on it this weekend even though the weather forecasted is in single digits. I personally think that now is a great time and then revisit the areas in the spring after snowmelt.
Far as Cameras I have definitely over pressured and messed up my Hunting area because I had to check then every weekend Only to see the spot slowly taper off and be no good.
I’m not going to be placing cameras anywhere near I plan to sit for a hunt. I have been patterned by the Deer I was trying to pattern. He simply moved over on his travel route 70 yards out of my sight etc. only to be killed by someone that had never hunted the area before. Simply because he knew where everyone else was. It was a checkmate surprise.
I typically get a Deer with my bow every year and considered myself a descent hunter.
Regardless of what I thought or think 2019 is going too be completely different as far as my tactics are concerned.
1. no Cameras around suspected Stand sites
2. no permanent stands, completely mobile
3. Not sticking to one good location and over Hunting it
4. Scouting out new areas ALL year long
5. Sitting observation sits pre season from a distance
6. Using milk weed to get a better understanding of the wind and thermals for the location rather than checking weather site etc.
7. Less focus on washing my Hunting clothes and trying to be scent free and depend more on my skills of the territory I’m in and stand placement.
8. Only hunt fresh daytime sign and know the difference from nighttime sign.

9. AND Keep better logs of the Data I have collected from scouting because I know that I will NOT remember everything that I wanted to.