Average Distance Covered Scouting

[Ack]

I think it’s important to slow way down and really pay attention to the details instead of just covering the miles. There is a time and place for speed scouting but for the most part many guys walk way too fast and miss everything.

Good point. I've been guilty of this in the past and almost did it again yesterday, but caught myself and went back to investigate more.

If I'm taking my time I'll cover 2-4 miles in the springtime, but have done some in-season speed scouts that cover up to 5-6 miles.

The public areas around me aren't so big that it takes a lot of time or miles to get in and out.

[creepingdeth]

1-2...Last year was my first for scouting. Props. were all within 30 mins. or less for travel, so each Sat. AM I hit one. Knew what I wanted to check out before I arrive so a quick in, spend a little time in spots I wanted to see, quick out. All my areas were new to me last year so I'd walk the property the first go around, and then back for a 2nd look for the data. After my first year (2017), I have a few of those spots that aren't worth going back to, so I'm looking for more, better areas. Love scouting and my plan is to spend at least as much time sneaking around as sits next year.

[First Sit]

Depends on the area for me but a lot of areas I have 1 mile each way just to and from truck before I ever even get to the area. Plus when I'm scouting I tend to really cover every little detail transition, points, islands, etc it racks up the miles fast!

If I'm in a completely new area I will highlight potential areas and walk transitions I burn through a ton of ground marking good areas on GPS and try to get the whole picture I then come back another day when I'm not really burned out and focus in on the prime areas and really figuring them out.

I will also try and figure out a prime area when I'm in it the first time as well so it really depends especially if its a smaller area or a very large area I've broke down into several days. Sometimes I want to get the big picture of everything before I decide I want to invest time there. I just scouted a completely new marsh last weekend put at least 10 miles in and burned through everything I thought was good, found probably 5-6 good mature buck beds however I found a lot of areas that are just hammered with hunters even potential good areas that had stands and that eliminated a lot of the area fast. The marsh wasn't huge I just wanted to cover every transtion, point, isolated tree, etc and get the big picture of whats going on and how I think deer are going to react come season so I covered a lot of miles in a small area.

[daveynewman]

I'm a firm believer in less is more. I'd rather pick a chunk out and do as minimal as i can in that area. And soak up any info I can get from it.

[Ghost Hunter]

I chose 2-4 miles. But that is out of season WMA scouting for me. In season on farm scouting is usually between 1/4-1/2 mile at most. On WMA in season I might walk 3/4-1 mile most of time. I generally keep note of where I need to be when over years. It does change from year to year. Dependent on food supply.

[First Sit]

I think it’s important to slow way down and really pay attention to the details instead of just covering the miles. There is a time and place for speed scouting but for the most part many guys walk way too fast and miss everything.

Good point. I've been guilty of this in the past and almost did it again yesterday, but caught myself and went back to investigate more.

If I'm taking my time I'll cover 2-4 miles in the springtime, but have done some in-season speed scouts that cover up to 5-6 miles.

The public areas around me aren't so big that it takes a lot of time or miles to get in and out.

I agree and disagree if you only scout small you will also miss things and it will take you longer to see the big picture. You might not see the big picture of everything at first and you might over look areas. This is especially true if its your first time in the area. It also depends on how tough getting to the areas is as well it might take me a while just to get into tough marsh areas and I might only rack up 2 miles. I do both scout fast and burn through ground hopping from area to area I've marked as good spots or I might spend a full say in a football field size area just really depends. This past weekend I noticed a pattern in a extremely heavily hunted area which would have been tough to noticed without walking the distance I did seeing a pattern with other hunters.Oonce I figured it out it revealed areas that I found at least 3 mature buck beds that might have taken a couple years of hunting that area to figure out. I found 6 buck beds total, 3 were in traditional points and isolated trees that I had GPS marked the others not so much as they bedded in the over looked areas.

I was doing some late season scouting 2 weeks ago and burned though 9 miles in 4 hrs ran through a few areas but all of them were 1-2 miles apart with no really good areas between them but those were areas I was familiar with and I was just checking tracks in feeding locations and following to bedding.

[Lastcast#1]

Usually around 4. Did 6 today. Depends on property and what my goals are that day. I dont track the hours. Normally between Jan 1 and April 1 I am around 200 miles or so of boots on the ground, not including return trips.

Chad

[elk yinzer]

Average is probably right around 5. This time of year I'll usually make a whole day of it and do 10-15 miles covering multiple areas. I am grateful I have that kind of room to roam and millions of acres in my home state I still want to explore. In season I usually take quick little trips just to check out specific areas for fresh sign.

[Rob loper]

first i'm cyber scouting looking at a property and locating where i think everyone else is gonna be hunting {dry land} then i try to locate key terrain features known for buck bedding . then on foot i'm looking at these spots that i have cyber scouted that interested me or would be good terrain for buck beds points, bowls, islands ,all with soft transitions single trees out in cattails etc then i then confirm these spots and note them . then and i was just was told this sunday . look for rubs going in and out of these areas and note it then in early season go in and see if that sign is fresh if it is its time to hunt if its not wait a a few days and go back and check {go to the sign leading to this bedding as far away from beds as you can avoid your presence at all cost } when it opens up its time to hunt it
the walking distance when scouting? if its 1 mile or 5 miles or 100 yards off a parking lot thats it . its not really how far you walk its the areas your looking at and the beds you find
some spots might be off a trail or road where the deer is watching you walk in then other spots could be 5 miles its really what are you scouting . are you scouting deer ? or are you scouting for mature buck?
if i'm hunting deer i'm in the woods all over looking at every rub scrape or trail . if im hunting mature bucks im scouting certain terrain features i have now learned where mature bucks like to bed or prefer to bed the distance or time you put in scouting is important to a point but the most important thing is what or where your scouting and understanding these spots and how the deer are using it

[headgear]

Yep 2-4 sounds right for most of the stuff I scout. Sometimes less when I am pounding a small area and sometimes a lot more when I hit a new spot for the first time and have several areas mapped out I want to focus on. Time is a factor too, less time is usually means less miles and I have a specific plan in place, love to wander when I do get some extra time.

[E72]

2-4 . Will be Out again this weekend . Spending way more time this winter/spring scouting . I too slow WAY down if I see sign I really like . I want to cover everything surrounding that sign , Also find and gps mark trees to sit . So sometimes I don't cover as much as I plan doing that .

[JakeB]

I once drove 4 hrs to a new WMA, walked 14 gps miles, then drove 4 hrs back home.. That was a long day.. I got carried away and tried to check every spot I had been eyeing on GE. Did I mention it was a long day? The place ended up being overrun with hogs.. I take some buddies shoot a few hogs after deer season but that’s it.

Average 2-4 near home. If it’s a considerable drive I’ll try and walk as much as I can in the amount of time I have while I’m there.

[headgear]

As many have mentioned already slowing down and taking in all the sign is key. I often pull one of those Red October crazy ivens and if I am in an area I like or start to see sign I will turn around often or make small loops through an area to make sure I don't miss anything. You can grid or zig zag too, I can't even tell you how many times I have walked by sign and found it just by peaking behind me once in a while or seeing stuff from a slightly different angle.

[ChasingFLATS86]

depends if I'm scouting remote areas or close overlooked areas. 2 weeks ago I did an all day scout that was over 8 miles of walking. If I am scouting stud close to the roads I may get 1 or 2 miles. I never really worry about the number much.

[magicman54494]

I'm not even sure what the importance of this question is. Distance covered really means nothing. That being said, I almost always have a plan of what I want to look at before I set out on foot. I do a lot of cyber scouting and like to have a plan. I like to print maps and mark them up and take them with me. I might walk a mile just to look at one spot. The main thing is to stay focused and take your time. it is not a race. Someone else mentioned looking backward. I agree! Things look different and it's easy to miss sign. It's much better to scout a small area well than to scout a big area poorly. Most of my scouting runs are 2 miles or less. my longer ones are in the 4 mile range, for what it's worth.