Scouting bust

[brkissl82]

Scouted a very remote spot yesterday. It was a nasty walk. The frozen lake made it a little easier than it would be during early season. Early season a canoe would be needed to access. It was almost 2miles. I had very high hope about this spot. When I got there I saw zero tracks in the snow. I wasnt sure how many deer would be in there late season but I thought I would see rubs or other deer sign but i saw ZERO deer sign. No beds. No rubs. Nothn. I was shocked. Seem like there were good trails going through the nasty cover but nothn that made me think it was worth hunting. I was bummed to say the least. I thought the extreme remoteness and difficulty getting to it would make it a sanctuary.

[brkissl82]

Heres a Google earth view that made me think it would be worth looking at

[brkissl82]

20200120_051838.jpg

20200120_051830.jpg

I think I got the pic thing figured out now

[Dave0317]

I’m not going to say it’s not a good spot, yet.

But, just because something is far away doesn’t automatically make it a sanctuary.

I would look for prime habitat first, if it is a significant distance away or has some serious terrain obstacles on the way, that is a bonus.

The chunk of land you have pictured looks like fairly monotonous woods. I’d look around that area to see if there is a spot that has a more abrupt change in vegetation. Like where pines meet up with deciduous trees. The topography May be great where you pictured, but if the vegetation type changes also, all the better.

[Jackson Marsh]

Kinda looks like a spot I scouted a few years ago that almost killed me

[Huntress13]

What kind of trees are in there? Probably not much there for them to eat?

[Dewey]

Remote doesn't always mean a sanctuary or big buck hot spot. I have many spots I can go at least 2 miles in any direction and I can guarantee without even going there that I will find zero deer sign. That spot pictured just doesn't have the ingredients for deer to spend any amount of time there.

[DaveT1963]

Remote spots are typically reliant on pressure. IME a deer, especially a mature buck, is not going to walk any further than necessary form destination spots (food, does). Pressure is usually that factor (can be adequate cover in prairie land, etc.).

I think it is a mistake to jump to the most remote spots as first option. Scout your way back until you see two things 1) lack of human sign and 2) increase in deer sign. I typically have my best luck at the convergence of those two spots … and that can be right next to a road, parking lot, building, sanctuary or it can be over a mile or two away.