How Do You Handle Your Summer Scouting?

[wolverinebuckman]

I have found some pretty sweet areas during pre green scouting. Public land is a new thing for me, so most of these areas are completely new to me.
I want to break down the spots a little better before the season, so I'm curious, how late into the summer will you access the general bedding area for scouting... Especially if you don't know exact bed locations.
And, on the known beds, how close will you get this time of year while familiarizing yourself with the area?
Any other summer advice?

How do you handle your summer scouting?

Thanks,
Chris

[headgear]

The mosquitos would carry me away so I don't do summer unless I have to.

[Hawthorne]

I hang cams back from bedding, glass, and shine. I don’t invade bedding areas much in summer. If I don’t have my bed scouting in by then I was very lazy in winter and spring

[mauser06]

I don't step a foot in the woods unless I'm running my coondog. Biggest reason is it's hard to see much and the fall/winter sign, aside from rubs, is mostly gone or hard to see. And, IMO, bedding, patterns etc will likely be different from fall...so fresh sign you see now, could be misleading.


I will get cameras out on mock scrapes starting in late August on field edges or logging trails etc. Just more of an inventory type thing. I didn't think it'd work, but I had bucks of all ages working one last time I did it..in velvet and continued on through the season...steady use.

[oldrank]

I may hit a spot or two for some late ground intel but mainly I am glassing for inventory of the bucks in the general area.

[rfickes87]

I don't step a foot in the woods unless I'm running my coondog. Biggest reason is it's hard to see much and the fall/winter sign, aside from rubs, is mostly gone or hard to see. And, IMO, bedding, patterns etc will likely be different from fall...so fresh sign you see now, could be misleading.

I will get cameras out on mock scrapes starting in late August on field edges or logging trails etc. Just more of an inventory type thing. I didn't think it'd work, but I had bucks of all ages working one last time I did it..in velvet and continued on through the season...steady use.

SO TRUE!

I first started this beast style racket in the summer of 2016 when I found this site. I was hunting into mid/late October near beds I had found in summer, lol. Man oh man the things I've learned since then haha. Once those antlers get hard and hunters are out pre scouting and hanging stands and even a week or 2 into season, I truly believe those bucks are right back to bedding in the areas we've all found in early spring before green up. (just a general observation, I'm sure that's not 100% but is the case of the majority of bedding)

[rfickes87]

I have found some pretty sweet areas during pre green scouting. Public land is a new thing for me, so most of these areas are completely new to me.
I want to break down the spots a little better before the season, so I'm curious, how late into the summer will you access the general bedding area for scouting... Especially if you don't know exact bed locations.
And, on the known beds, how close will you get this time of year while familiarizing yourself with the area?
Any other summer advice?

How do you handle your summer scouting?

Thanks,
Chris

Take an hour and listen to Dan's podcast #5 on summer scouting. This would be perfect for you given that you've already done your spring scouting homework.

[Dewey]

If I need to scout something I will do it no matter what time of the year it is even during the summer. I have scouted in August and killed a buck in the same spot a month later. The worst kind of intel is the intel you never get.

[Enkriss]

I relocated for work. I have just started looking at maps. I have no choice.

[tgreeno]

There is never a bad time for scouting!

If you need intel, get it! If you don't, stay out! If it's an area you're not hunting this season, it really doesn't matter.

That being said, I like to get the majority of my scouting done Feb-Apr.

[Lockdown]

If I need to scout something I will do it no matter what time of the year it is even during the summer. I have scouted in August and killed a buck in the same spot a month later. The worst kind of intel is the intel you never get.

Yep.

I basically bathe in mosquito spray. Word of wisdom from me learning the hard way, bring the can of spray with you. After an hour you’ll sweat it off. There’s nothing worse than finding yourself out in the thick with all the bugs when the spray becomes ineffective.

Last year I spent some time scouting marginal bedding and suspected overlooked bedding on familiar properties. Mainly places I had little knowledge of. Worst case scenario it helps stack the good stuff, and you just might find some worthy early season bedding.

If you need the intel go get it.

[Enkriss]

I just bought snake boots for summer scouting.....

[Dewey]

The only time I will avoid a certain area in the summer is if I know a good buck is around. In that case I’m a lot lower impact only glassing from long range. A lot of areas I hunt cannot be accessed anyway until opening day so glassing is really my only option there.

[consummatesportsman]

Don't be afraid to scout new terrain at any time. I'd advise against going into stand sites you already know well though- leave those well enough alone.

I've spent most of my hunting career as a cedar swamp dweller. Last year I stumbled upon my first hill country bedding that I'd ever found- in August. I didn't realize I was looking directly at beds until something small and yellow caught my eye, then another, and another.... They were kernels of corn- right in the beds. The deer would gorge all night a mile away in corn fields, then head back to bed where they'd chew their cud. It was an eye opening experience considering I'd never seen any hillside beds before.

I trudged all over that place learning how they used the terrain. What I'd found was one buck/doe bedding area, several smaller doe bedding areas, and a wild apple orchard. I then set cams, and only checked them once before season. Over the next several months as the leaves came down, the place came alive with buck activity. I gained some seriously high quality intel for future seasons.

Had I not dealt with the bugs/sweat/fear of 'messing up an area' I don't know that I would've learned this hill country nearly as well without those little yellow kernels guiding the way. Now I know exactly what to look for without needing the corn kernels to highlight the beds for me.

Late summer scouting turned out to perfect timing for gaining both general deer hunting knowledge as well as new area intel.

[RidgeGhost]

The deer would gorge all night a mile away in corn fields, then head back to bed where they'd chew their cud. It was an eye opening experience considering I'd never seen any hillside beds before.

Thats a pretty cool find! Can't say I've ever seen that, but also we don't have any corn fields