In Season Scouting?

[Hunter74]

I am in kind of a dilemma hear, to be honest I didn't really put in the amount of homework I should have post season last year. I'm hunting all the same properties as I have the last several years and thought I had a good idea of what was happening on them but so far I'm wrong. So my question is how do you go about scouting or trying to figure out what the deer are up to during the season without messing up your area too much? What kind of things would you look for and how would you go about setting up once you did find a promising spot?

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[Zap]

Private?
Anyone else hunt there?

[Hunter74]

Ya its private and on both properties I've been putting my two cousins in were I thought the best spots to get an opportunity to shoot a deer and putting myself in lesser spots or areas that I thought would be kinda hit or miss just to experiment a little. I'm mainly trying to get my two cousins on deer because its my one cousins first year and my other cousin hasn't shot a deer in 4 or 5 years as well as get myself on a fat doe. So I'm looking to set up on high activity areas to get my cousins and myself shooting opportunities to fill the freezer. But so far just my one cousin has seen deer two nights out of the six we hav sat, my other cousin and I haven't seen a single one. I'm also looking at some public properties that I've never set foot on but through shining and glassing know they have a fair number of deer on.

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[Zap]

As far as shootin does, I never set a stand to hunt from on private that I control hunting access to UNLESS I am sure that I will have a good chance to kill one from it.

Before I set a stand to hunt from I want to set observation stand/glass/shine/whatever.....to determine where I should place it.

That way I do not ruin spots with entry/exit routes.....

[dan]

Observation from a distance is a good idea, but does not work everywhere... I would look at the food sources for deer sign and then think about where the deer should be bedding and get close as possible scouting the perimeter of the bedding with stand on my back. If it looks good hunt it that day. Don't get your scent in there and then leave and hunt it a different day. They will smell you have been there and change there pattern.

[kenn1320]

Million dollar question, 3 guys on how many acres? What is the make up of the property(ag crops on the property)? Whats the make up of the land around you? Soft or hard mast on your land? Thick understory, or park like setting? If you have hunted it a season or two, you should have a general idea of the deer travel patterns. If you don't, then I suggest the observation type stand just to get a feel for where the deer are going. If 3 guys are hunting and only 2 deer have been seen on 6 hunts, something isn't right. I'm not sure how long your season has been open, but do you feel your over hunting it? Does bed close to the food source for convenience, and in some situations can be tough to set up on. Long story short, find the food source, and you found the deer. Good luck to ya!

[Hunter74]

The piece my 2 cousins have mainly been hunting is a sixty acre piece. It consist mainly of old farm fields that haven't been planted for a long time. About 7 years ago part of it was planted with pines and they range in size from about 3ft to 10ft tall. In about the middle of the land there's a neck of hardwoods that's about 80yrds wide that comes out from the big piece of woods that the property borders to a 2 or 3 acre patch of large white pines. The neck is about a 120yrds from the big hardwoods to the pines. It used to be all the deer where bedding in the big woods and filtering out to the front of the property through the neck. Now it seems like they avoid the neck. It is possible there bedding in one area of the neck up on a hill where its pretty thick.

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[Hunter74]

Also I didn't clarify that the land is all rolling type terrain not real big changes in elevation but smaller hills and valleys. It's been mainly my cousins hunting it because I don't think its really big enough for three people and I was starting to think it was over hunted but the last 2 sits where the only time they have seen deer, a doe with 2 fawns one sit then 2 small bucks and a doe with 2 fawns the next night. The biggest thing is it seems the deer have changed the way they use the property and I'm wondering how you guys go about figuring out what's happening without burning out the property?

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[dan]

I would pick out little sections go in scout and hunt that day... Different section spot the next day I hunt. That property is pretty small, and burning it out, especially for big bucks should be a major concern. Hunting it sparsly and hunting other spots besides this one will help preserve this one.

[kenn1320]

I would guess the deer have changed how they use the land, and the lack of seeing them is the proof. Not to sound negative, but that is a small piece of land, and if its mainly open field, then they are likely hunting a small portion of it that can hold a stand, which means they are over hunting it. Its very likely the deer are bedding in the tall weed fields, or on the neighbors. "IF" there is an area "THEY" have not hunted, or walked thru to get to their stands, and it will hold a stand, go hunt it on the right wind. If it doesn't pan out, you might be best to hunt somewhere else.

[Hunter74]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll have to try hunting the property a little different. I know the deer are there and using the property there just using it differently than they did a few years ago and I'd like to try to figure out what there doing and where they seem to be bedding without trumping all over... What do you guys look for to determine if an area is a very likely doe bedding area without getting too close to where you would spook them out?

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[dan]

What do you guys look for to determine if an area is a very likely doe bedding area without getting too close to where you would spook them out?

Thickness of cover, terrain type and transitions, and the deer sign going in and out...

[Hunter74]

Thanks Dan. As far as terrain features do does typically look for about the same things as a buck? Such as points or elevated areas a third of the way from the top or are they usually more concerned with thick vegetation and sticking closer to the food source?

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